Hi all. After being inspired by a number of fics on this site, I have decided to write my own. Hope you like it. Review this story so I know what I'm doing wrong or right.

Disclaimer- Although Steven Brill is my long lost uncle and will relish the thought of turning over his mighty Ducks empire to me, I have to wait until the restraining order is cleared. Until then, Disney and Uncle Steven own the rights.

Everyone expected Adam and I to end up together. The kids who would fall in love in high school, be geniuses with the books, obsessed with playing hockey after college and marry, fresh out of college as virgins, ready to create a family.

Gag me.

I am nothing like Adam. My parents have good jobs and all the kids are out of home so we are well-off. But not disgustingly so like the Banks'. I am an A student with a smattering of smart subjects (English and French) but I am not a library nerd. And I love hockey but I do not spend my waking hours thinking of how to get drafted to the NHL as a child prodigy.

Oh yeah. I'm also not a virgin.

I snapped out of my daydream to hear Connie's voice outside the door. She was giggling with her boyfriend. I sighed and grabbed my runners lying on the floor. When she giggled like that I knew it was time to leave the room to the lovebirds.

'Hey Jules, we were just…' Connie broke off the sentence in a fit of giggles.

I could see why. Her boyfriend's beautiful angelic brown curls had been shaved off, leaving a criminal behind.

' Jesus, Charlie. Rob any banks lately?'

'Thanks for your input Jules. I think it looks good. And Connie seems to like it. Hey, do you want to feel it?'. He leant towards me with his bald head.

'No thanks Charlie. I will leave you two to get acquainted with Charlie's hair, or lack of. Just make sure he doesn't use my razor when shaving his legs in the morning please?'

'I'm a back, sack and crack waxer type of guy Jules', I hear as I shut the door behind me. Connie began to giggle again. Those two were like living and breathing Dawson and Joey. Although without the stupid floppy haircut that Dawson wore for almost the entire series.

I walked out of my dorm building and into the sunshine. I could smell the freshly shorn grass as I began to jog towards the soccer field. Connie and I had lived in McIntyre Dorm since we began as Freshman. As scholarship jocks (who managed to get out of a slump in first year and win the state title), we were given free accommodation. Connie originally lived off campus, leaving me in the clutches of a perky blonde cheerleader called April. I am ashamed to say that I actually started to recite some of the cheers when watching football games. When Connie heard me do that, she decided that living on campus wasn't such a bad idea. At least, I like to think that was why.

I had reached the soccer field and began to jog around the perimeter. I could see Fulton and Portman sitting on the bleacher seats talking to Guy which I found strange. Guy had become a fully fledged jock in sophomore year and spent more time on the football field and with the football guys than with his lifelong friends. This was one of the reasons why Connie and Guy broke up. I think she should have dumped him after he refused to stop wearing that ugly green hat when they were in 5th grade.

'Jules!'

I saw Portman waving frantically at me. Not that I could miss him.

'Hey guys, what's happening?' I smiled at Fulton who winked at me in return.

'Hey Jules', Guy smiled at me. I didn't really like him. He hit on me at a football party before he and Connie had ended. I slapped him in the face and was ready to go for the testicles when Portman pulled me off him.

'Not much. You up for a party tonight? Tim Harding is throwing some massive dig at his house on the beach.'

'Of course I'm there. I have to get away from the Connie and Charlie show for a while'.

Fulton laughed at Guy's reaction, as he scowled and looked away. It seemed that he still had trouble picturing his ex girlfriend and his ex best friend together.

'We'll pick you up at 8' Fulton told me as I moved off to continue my run.

Fulton was one of my best friends. He was my confidante, my protector, my buddy. There was no Dawson-Joey romance going on. He had been in love with Tammy Duncan since he was 11. She reciprocated the feeling this summer and they were having the cutest long distance relationship. I had become friends with Tammy through Connie and Fulton, and loved her to bits. I was thrilled.

Of course where Fulton comes, Portman goes.

Dean Portman. The rugged, handsome jock who strips in the penalty box and once bought a miniature pig to school for fun. The guy who makes everyone believe that he is this tough, smoking, leather wearing hooligan, when he loves to sit at home in his sweats and wife beater, watching the Notebook. Ok, maybe not the Notebook but he did like She's the Man.

He was also the requisite first.

I looked at the clock as it ticked over to 7.47. I was already dressed for the party; Connie and Charlie had also decided to come along. In fact, all the team was going.

Junior year put a split through the Ducks that no one thought would ever happen. Everyone thought we would be best friends forever and go to the same college and go through life living in the same street. But little by little, we drifted apart. Not so much that we were not friends- we played on the same hockey team. But we stoppe hanging around each other 24/7.

Charlie and Connie finally took the step from friends to lovers; this cheered all the Ducks up as Charlie had been in love with Connie for years, but managed to conceal it by dating a string of strange girls that didn't really care about hockey. I guess he was making sure they didn't perpetrate every part of his life like Connie did. Linda, Charlie's steady girlfriend for over a year was not a fan of any of us and vice versa. Her and Connie managed to have a screaming match in gym one day about how meat was not murder (or it was according to Linda). She was a bit of a psycho.

Adam became obsessed with hockey. It got worse after his brother Chase was drafted by the Calgary Flames and became an overnight sensation. Adam has been scouted by colleges since he was 12 and it looked like he would become the next Sidney Crosby. As we were varsity, he was the star player; but also played for the Junior Varsity when they needed players, as well as being an assistant coach. Charlie and Adam were still close and still shared a dorm but his fixation on hockey was scary for the rest of us.

Averman fell in love. He decided that training during the off season was not a bad idea. He bulked up and grew taller, lost the glasses and his off the wall comments started to be funny. He became the class clown, and managed to score himself one of the nice cheerleaders who actually thought of Connie and I as girls.

Goldberg found the home economics lab and spent most of his time in there. As Aves was his best friend, he joined him in the gym, losing some weight but mostly bulking up more as a combination of his cooking and weights. He became known as Mr. Mom, and fed most of us during junior year.

Luis stopped playing the field and settled down. No I'm kidding. But after Mindy thought she pregnant (one of the three girls he had on the side), he decided that being the school's Love God was probably a bad thing. He broke up with all the girls, started track and became All-National.

Guy became a football meathead. Connie dumped him sophomore year because of this, and the fact that he was caught under the bleachers with my ex-roomate April. He bulked up, so he is kinda hot in the 'I think I'm king shit' way.

Ken got a serious injury from figure skating in sophomore year, which meant he had to sit the whole season out. He grew as tall as Portman as well as growing his hair long and facial hair. He looked kind of like an Asian Fulton.

Jesse Hall came to Eden Hall junior year, after his brother Terry got sent to juvie for drugs. He became our second star player after Adam (became better than Charlie) and colleges have had him on their list for years.

Dwayne joined the equestrian team and became an overnight sensation, bringing with it some new skills on the ice, as well as a few skills with the ladies.

Russ left Eden Hall in sophomore year after the death of his father, Norm. He was coming back for senior year and Ken had informed us that he was 'one scary motherfucker'.

However, there were times when we all decided to hang out. Movie nights, parties and occasional get togethers at Casey's Diner were always fun times when we forgot about other parts of our lives and focused on the team. Of course, we were now Varsity.

I sighed as I looked at the photo of Ken, Portman, Fulton and I. We were our own little foursome within the team, and the day this photo was taken was no exception. Connie had just received this amazing new camera (photography had become one of her hobbies) and was taking random pictures on campus. She managed to take a photo without any of us looking. Fulton had Ken in a headlock and they were both smiling, while I was laughing at them and Portman was smiling at me while holding out an arm to protect me from their horseplay. It wasn't the most perfect staged picture- but it was definitely us.

A knock on the door broke into my thoughts. I grabbed my jacket and opened it.

'Heya' Fulton looked the same as always in dark denim jeans and a black tshirt.

" Hey Fult. This is ok for one of Harding's parties isn't it?' I twirled around in my dark denim miniskirt and an aqua tshirt. I couldn't have been bothered getting overly dressed up. Unlike Connie, whose pink minidress made Charlie take her back to his room immediately….

'You look great Jules, as always…whoa, make-up and all?' I nodded. It was senior year after all. Might be time to live a little, find some guys who don't just know me as the 'bash girl'.

I closed the door behind me and we walked down the corridor. Girls with rollers and gowns on screamed 'HI!!' to Fulton as they dashed between each others rooms. Rolling my eyes, I saw Ken and Portman waiting on the front steps, talking to a blonde girl wearing an outfit not unlike mine.

'Fult, who is…oh my god!' I screamed as she turned around to face me.
'Jules!'

'Tammy!'

Yes, we did the whole scream the name and hug and jump up and down deliriously happy thing. It was a little more girly than I liked, but Tammy seemed to bring it out in me.

'Sorry Jules, it was a surprise- even Fulton didn't know', As he pulled her to him, I couldn't help but notice the happy grin on his face. Ken winked at me- so he was the one who Tammy had entrusted. Knowing our little foursome, she tried to inform at least one of us that she was coming, and usually took it in turns.

'Hey Julie, you look hot. Always knew you had it in you to find that make-up case we bought you…' Tammy laughed as I gave her the middle finger salute.

'Come on guys, lets motor- so many girls, so little time'. Ken jumped into the SVU drivers seat and we all piled in. I was next to Portman, who gave my hand a squeeze as Ken took off.

'You do look hot' his lips brushed my ear softly. And then as soon as it happened, it was over, his head turned towards the window, hands on his head. I sighed softly. It was happening again.

Tim Harding lived in a major mansion type place on the beach. His parents were in Europe and his brother Rob, who was a sophomore at UM, had come back to 'chaperone', which included getting the two kegs and numerous bottles of alcohol and retiring to his room to get stoned with 3 of his mates and his girlfriend. I could see that ending with an orgy.

Ken parked the car and we jumped out, Fulton almost getting run over by Adam's BMW in the process. Adam wasn't the greatest driver, and having a very tipsy Averman and Goldberg 'Dude, we hit the cooking sherry' wasn't doing him any favours. Also in the car was Averman's girlfriend Tasha, who looked annoyed at the boys antics. She perked up when she Tammy and I standing there laughing.

'Thank god! Some sane individuals! I thought I would have to hang around these idiots all night. I think I need a drink now. Why didn't you tell me that Adam was the worst driver in history?' She shuddered..

We laughed and walked up towards the house. I saw people everywhere- it looked like the whole senior class and most of the junior and sophomore classes had shown up. Tim stood at the front door in his football jersey, a beer bong in one hand and a large jesters hat on his head.

'Welcome all! Thanks for coming, Fulton, Portman, Kenny- you guys bring a bit of Fast and the Furious with you wherever you go. Jules- looking hot and hellooooo, who have we here?' He grabbed for Tammy's left breast, only to be stopped by Fulton's rather large arm.

'Tim, this is my girlfriend Tammy. Tam, this is Eden Hall's self appointed sex god running back'.

'Nice to meet you Tim. Most importantly, Brenda is happy to meet you', Tammy giggled as she patted her left breast.

'You call your left breast Brenda?' I asked quizzically, as Tim took a drunken bow and fell over. Amazingly, he didn't spill a drop of the beer bong.

'Yeah and the right one is Kelly. You know, from 90210'. I laughed as I pointed to my own.

'Peyton and Brooke, One Tree Hill'. Tammy and I were in hysterics, clutching one another and spluttering the names 'Peyton and Brenda'. The boys took one look at us, and moved into the house, shepherding us with them, still giggling.

Suddenly, the music stopped and cheers and whistles became louder. We walked into the loungeroom to find Luis doing backflips and breakdancing on the wooden floor.

'Good looking dancer.' Connie came up behind me and gestured to Luis with her eyes. Connie and Luis had a thing going on after the break up from Guy and Mindy but it hadn't lasted beyond casual sex. It was strange- we were the only two girls on the team and we tended to stick with people IN the team- Connie with Guy, Luis, Charlie and a drunken one night pash with Dwayne and me with Portman.

'Yeah, he got buff as. I cant seem to take my eyes off his torso..' Tammy was riveted to the scene in front of us. As was I.

Luis had gotten very fit from running, hockey and little things like breakdancing and capoeira that he did in the off season. His head was shaved and his skin was the colour of caramel. He was hot. I noticed the crowd watching him were mostly girls. And Adam. I still couldn't work out whether Adam was gay, or just wanted some tips.

'Stop staring at him! He is one of the family for gods sake' I hated when Charlie used his 'family' analogies when talking about the team.

'Does that mean we are in an incestuous relationship Captain?' Connie pouted at him, blowing him a kiss as she turned back to watch Luis.

'Jules, here' Ken had brought me a large tumbler full of vodka and orange juice and a shot full of a strange coloured liquid.

I sculled it down without wanting to know. The bitter tasting liquid hit the back of my throat as I swallowed, reaching out for the second shot glass that Ken had in his hand. He knew me too well- two shots of anything, a vodka and I was ready to party.

'Hi Julie' Kane McGregor walked past and stared at my chest, my legs and my face in that order. He was a friend of Guy's, the quarterback, and I had a brief dalliance with him after the thing with Portman. It was a bit of a mistake, considering I wouldn't sleep with him and he had an 'accident' in his pants. We swore never to talk about it to anyone, but it hasn't stopped him from trying it on every time he sees me.

'Kane, how's that girlfriend of yours?' Portman came up behind me and rested his hand on the small of my back. I shifted slightly to the right- I wasn't sure what game he was playing at.

'She's great…head cheerleader and all. Quarterback and head cheerleader are meant to be together you know? And cheerleaders give the best head if you know what I mean' He confided in Portman, eyes darting for Sarah, his girlfriend. I saw her talking to her posse in the kitchen, so I presumed he was safe.

I walked away with my vodka, shaking my head and with my back still tingling. I headed outside, to clear the crap from my mind. Finding an old tyre swing, I sat down, letting the wind sway me gently, staring out into the blackness of the night.

'Jules? You want to talk?'

I sighed. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

'Not really but you are not going to go away are you?'

'Nope'

And with that, Jesse sat on the ground, long legs folded underneath him. He had gotten so tall and broad. Hockey had made him into a man. He was never short on the girlfriend front; I thought many a time that he had a thing for Tammy, but it was never mentioned, although I would catch the odd glance in her direction whenever she was around.

'I saw Portman before and the way you shifted away from him'. Jesse was also annoyingly perceptive these days. With Terry in jail, he had to grow up faster, and became very mature. His hot headed demeanour never came out except for on the ice.

' What can I say Jess? It happened that way before- I cant risk it happening again.' I glanced sadly off towards the water.

'Tell me what happened Julie. I was around but not really involved in it all' He was right- only Portman, Fulton, Kenny and I knew the full story. I suspected even Tammy and Connie didn't know it all.

'It happened when you came back in junior year. Scooter had left Eden Hall, and we had broken up amicably, as he didn't want a high school girlfriend and I wasn't in love with him. He was interested in me- I liked that' I glanced at my hands.

'It was around the same time that we came together as a foursome- Kenny, Fult, Dean and I. It wasn't intentional- we liked the same music, laughed at the same jokes, and helped each other out on the ice and off. Going to the mall was great cause I didn't have to be dragged into every shop like with Connie and Tams- if I saw something I liked, I would try it on, with the boys waiting outside the shop for me, or coming in when I needed an opinion. But I always had a thing for Dean- he was this tough guy at Goodwill games, yet we were always on the same side. Even the whole Babe comment sucked me in' Jesse laughed softly at that, remembering how we met Russ.

'He started just like tonight- putting his hand on my back, grabbing my arm to move me through a crowded room, grabbing my hand to run faster. And the more he did it, the more he would let it linger and the more my heart would stop, then race. He kissed me for the first time at Charlie's birthday- when the lights went out for the cake, he grabbed me and kissed me. It couldn't have lasted more than 5 seconds but it was amazing'. I touched my lips, remembering every detail of the kiss.

'Then it just sort of happened. We would hold hands when no one was looking. Steal kisses behind the trees, or even behind Fulton and Ken. We would schedule 'study time' in my room when Connie was at Charlie, and didn't get a lot of studying done. We were a couple, but not to the public. Fulton and Ken caught us one day and we told them we weren't sure what it was but that we needed each other. Then, we slept together. The first time isn't supposed to be perfect Jesse, but it was. And the second, and the third…'

I broke off giggling as Jesse covered his ears.

'Ok i'll stop with the sex talk. But it went on for about 4 months, and no one suspected a thing. Then he slept with Jenna Harris, the blonde cheerleading slut who lived 3 dorm rooms from me. It wasn't even a mistake- he was worried about how fast we had both fallen and wanted to sleep with someone to see if it was real. Problem was, her best friend was my ex roommate April, who came and told me everything.

He claimed that he was miserable and that he thought of me the whole time. I couldn't forgive him Jess, I couldn't. I had fallen for him hard, and he admitted he had too. I stopped contact with him, but that was heartbreaking for me. I needed him. And I needed the boys as well. Ken was great- he dragged me everywhere with him, without Portman around. Fulton tried, but it was harder for him as Dean was his roommate and guy best friend. He took me places where Dean was- but strangely, that worked as well.'

'So for the last 3 months, we have come to be friends again. Im not sure I can take it again if he made a move on me. But on the other hand, I kinda want him to because I miss him as a…well you know..'

'A luvvvvvveeerrrrr?' Jesse raised one eyebrow which made me laugh.

'Yeah that. So now you know. If you tell Charlie, I will kill you'.

'Jules, Charlie knows. We all knew something was going on between Portman and you. You were both too happy around one another. The funny thing is, it was great for the team.'

'JULES!!' I heard my name being screamed out by Connie. I jumped off the swing and put out a hand to help Jesse up.

'Thanks Jess, I appreciate it'

'Jules, you don't have to always talk to Kenny or Fult- you can talk to us- after all, we are family'.

I smiled and walked towards the house with him. Connie came out screaming.

'JULES!! You gotta see this!! JESSE!! Quick!!'

We rushed into the house after Connie. There, in the middle of the dancefloor was a huge black man with tattoos, and a shaved R in his thick scalp. His body was amazingly fit in a white wifebeater and black pants. Turning around, he smiled.

'Jules! Long time no see' he said, enveloping me in a hug.

'Hi Russ' I said into his massive chest weakly. Since when did Russ Tyler look like this?

After Russ had said his greetings to everyone in the team, we all went outside to find out how he was doing. He was so tall- it was strange, most of the guys had shot up in Junior year and filled out, but none were as big as Russ. He looked 25 at least and not an ounce of fat on him.

I leaned back against Ken as Russ told us about his dad and what had happened in the year after his death. His dad had cancer, and by the time he was diagonosed, he only had 3 months to live. Before that happened, his brother was shot dead by a gang as he worked in an all night grocery store, helping to pay the bills. This the team already knew- Charlie, Connie, Ken and Fulton had made the trip to the funeral.

Russ pulled the family together. He worked 2 jobs to cover all the bills while his mom got her counseling degree and studied at night. His older sister Kareisha got married and had an adorable little boy who Russ adored. When his mum was qualified, she told Russ to get back to Eden Hall to get his education- she didn't want him working in a gym for the rest of his life.

I wiped away a couple of tears and saw Connie and Tams doing the same. Russ had been through so much- yet he was back with us and looked so happy to be here.

'Dude, I'm glad you're back', Fulton broke the silence that had ended the story.

'We all are' Averman echoed, followed by a chorus of voices.

'Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Where's the beer?' Russ chuckled and turned towards the house. 'This is getting way to Oprah for my liking'.

Everyone got up laughing and began to make their way towards the party. I could hear the cheerleaders doing a cheer in the middle of the loungeroom. Any excuse for attention.

'Jules, we need to talk'. Portman grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction. I saw Jesse and Ken look back with worried looks on their faces. I smiled and nodded, and they continued back into the party.

'Dean, where are we going?' I asked him, maneuvering around trees and bushes.

'Just here'

At the end of the property was a clearing, where there was clearly some sort of football pitch marked out. The grass felt soft underneath my shoes, and I kicked them off as Dean sat me down.

'I need to talk ok? I am going crazy with you. I saw you talking to Jesse before and the amount of jealousy that I got was huge. Why do you do this to me?' He stared at me, as if the answer was written on my face.

'I am in love with you. I always have been and probably always will be. And I stuffed it all up with the stupid mistake I made sleeping with Jenna. I know you hate me. I hate myself. And I know you want to be friends and Im fine with that, but I thought you should know' I stared at him as he turned towards the darkness of the trees.

'Dean?'

'Dean?'

'Portman, look at me for god's sake!' At this, he turned towards me. I grabbed his hand, running my fingers over his palm, calloused from woodwork and shop, and hockey sticks and fights.

'I think I love you too' At this, he cupped my face in his hands, and kissed me.