An unlikely pair, walking hand in hand down the tree-lined park path. A tall, thin boy with raven black hair, dressed in designer jeans and expensive converse. His grey eyes fixed upon the ocean colored ones of the girl whose hand he held, who was smiling at him with all her heart. The rips and tears in her jeans weren't the common fashionable tears, but caused by the years that she had worn them. Her shirt was once a darker blue, now nearing the color of the sky. The fact that she was barely making ends met and getting enough to eat didn't show at all in her smile.

Unbeknownst to the other happy couples strolling down the path, these two were forbidden to be together, risking almost everything they had just to walk together on this summer evening. The boy was set to inherit a huge fortune upon his 20th birthday. His mother, who could decide if he got the inheritance, did not support his love for the girl with whom he walked. If she heard about him seeing her again, he'd be disowned and gone from the will, left out on the street with nothing but the clothes on his back and his dishonored name. But he didn't care, because he was in love.

She worked for a small bookstore, making minimum wage. His uncle owned the bookstore, and she had been told that if she was caught with him, she'd lose her job. She would also be evicted from the shabby apartment that she lived in, whose rent she could barely pay as it was. Her job was the only way to pay her bills, taxes, and feed herself, and without her apartment, all she had was her name. But she loved him, and that's all they mattered to her as she walked with him that evening.

Secretly, he was formulating a plan in his head whilst they walked. He didn't even really want the inheritance, much less his father's companies. Perhaps, if they were lucky and quick, they could run away together before they got stuck in this town.

Her voice pulled him back into the arms of reality:

"Devin? Look at that, those branches, there!" He looked to where she was pointing. Two branches, one from a very tall tree and one from a short tree were reaching towards one another, finally intertwining halfway along the distance, twisting together and holding onto each other firmly.

"They're just like us," she smiled.

"What do you mean?"

She laughed, and chimed, "Because they're from completely different trees, but they're still remaining intertwined firmly, never letting go. We're from completely different worlds, and our lives are still intertwined."

He grinned at her widely. Her unique way of looking at the world always kept the days interesting. She should have been a world-renown poet, not a bookstore clerk. They continued to walk through the night. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"I figured it out, Allison."

"Hmmm? You figured out what?"

"How we can be together! I can't believe I didn't think of this before!" He turned her around to face him, grasped her shoulders firmly and grinned wildly at her.

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but this has got to work!"

"Oh, sweetie, I already thought that," she grinned back, "What's the plan, Romeo?"

"That is the plan!"

"…I think you just broke your record on how fast you've lost me with one of your schemes."

Devin laughed. As much as she loved his crazy ideas, she was starting to worry about this one. At least he kept everything interesting and her always on her toes.

"Romeo! We'll pull a Romeo and Juliet! You're a literature nerd, you know what happens! Except…we'll reverse roles!"

Allison shook her head, "You know those things never work. It always ends up just like in the play – everyone dead. And I'm not letting you kill yourself for this."

"We'll reverse roles! Oh, it's perfect," he said, barely acknowledging her protest, to her slight annoyance.

"Just hear me out, Ali. It's simple, really, a complete modern day Romeo and Juliet! Here's the deal," he explained to the still skeptical and bewildered blonde.

"You check into a hotel under a false name. Use Juliet Capulet. Quit your job at the bookstore, and say you're leaving town to be with relatives that need your help. Meanwhile, I'll open a new, secret bank account and put some money in it, under the pseudonym Romeo Montague, so we can have some money to get out of this town. My friend at the bank is a hopeless romantic, he'll help me with that. He'll be like the Friar in Romeo and Juliet! Then, I take a potion like the one Juliet took and boom! Everyone thinks I'm gone. There's some old, creepy, family tradition to not move the body 24 hours after discovery. So once I wake up, still in my bed, I'll steal out the window and met you…here! It's pure genius!"

Allison blinked at his rant. She bit her lip and pondered for a long while, watching the excited grin on his face. He had always dreamed big.

Finally, she laughed, they were both dreamers, after all. "Oh, what the hell! Let's do it! It's got to work."

Devin laughed excitedly and swung her around. She laughed along with him. He set her down and kissed her.

"Two days and we're free, Allison."

Allison smiled, "Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night til it be 'morrow. Night, love."

They kissed, and they parted.

~~~~~~~~~Three Days Later~~~~~~~~

A young, brunette woman watched them lower a coffin into the hole in the ground from a hilltop. A tear rolled silently down her cheek as the wind blew her newly dyed hair. The black clad people who were attending the funeral tossed flowers down over the casket. After they departed, the gravedigger began to shovel dirt over the grave, preparing for the headstone that would read, "Devin Hall."

"Goodbye," the woman said and turned, walking down the hill to the road. She walked along the road until it led her to a park, and walked along a path until it led her to the trees where she promised to meet her love all those hours ago.

Underneath a tree sat a raven-black haired man, his eyes concealed with sunglasses.

"You're late, Juliet." He stood and dusted off his pants. "I didn't think hair dying took so long."

"Sorry, Romeo. I was at a funeral."

"Whose?"

"Just a name's, not an actual person's."

He smiled, "Oh? What name?"

"Devin Hall."

He laughed, "Fascinating. Because I was just hearing about the mysterious, hurried disappearance of an Allison Reed."

"Really? I wonder what happened to her." They both laughed and smiled.

"So they really thought it was me in the box?" Romeo said after a minute, looking out to the trees absently.

"Yup. Good thing Friar traced you and got me there in time. Your plan to use weights to replace your body after you woke up in a coffin at the funeral home worked like a charm. Once again, your cunning has defeated their inferior minds."

"Oh, I'm good! I'm glad we got those weights in there so quickly and nailed it shut."

Juliet nodded and laughed. Romeo smiled.

"C'mon, let's get the happy ending the real Romeo and Juliet didn't."

The pair walked down the same path they had as Devin and Allison, now as Romeo and Juliet.

Author's Notes:

Originally, they died. XD Devin overdosed and Allison got hit by a car. But then I decided that they deserved a happy ending, Romeo and Juliet's second chance, if you will. I'm also starting to notice almost all my stories have a reference to Romeo and Juliet. It must be an unhealthy obsession. =D

Anyways, please read and review!

~Juliette