Author's Note: When it comes to the way Becks is, I had a little bit of trouble with his character considering we don't see enough of him on the show, which somehow saddens me. lol So, I am hoping that I am as close to his character as I can be. Please let me know what you think. Also, thanks to all of the people who actually put some input about the bet, it took me forever to come up with something so I hope this seems fitting.

Chapter Three
Some Things Never Change

After Daniel finished up with the book at the office along with sending his town car to take Betty to the printer, he finally had a night where he could unwind from being editor-in-chief of Mode. He and Becks had plans to have drinks at one of their usual hangouts. These two usually used this bar to pick up countless women, but tonight was going to be interesting considering they had plans to meet up with someone from their past.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Daniel mentioned as he and his best friend walked along the sidewalk in Manhattan. His hands were tucked in his pockets, and his head was filled with mixed emotions.

"Oh, please, Daniel. You're dying to see Julie just like I am. We let the 'Ice Princess' slip away from us once, but if it were up to me, it won't happen twice," Beck said with vengeance in his voice. He was bound and determined to make sure that things would not be like they were back in the day.

"Like she'll let either of us be that lucky," Daniel said as he stared down at his shoes.

"Oh, ye have little faith, my friend. I was talking to Stacey earlier and apparently, Julie isn't just visiting New York. She just moved here from LA not even a week ago so I am sure we'll see more of her around town."

Daniel gave Becks a skeptical look. "Neither one of us won that bet in college. Remember, we did about everything we could without any luck."

"Yeah, but that was then. 'The Ice Princess' has to of thawed some since then."

Julie Madison had gone to college with Daniel and Becks, and she was seen as a challenge. Becks and Daniel had considered to her to be the ultimate score in terms of their man-whore reputations if either one of them could get her to sleep with him. She wasn't like any of the other women in their lives where she would jump into bed with either of them at the drop of a hat. Julie was probably the only woman in their past that had enough sense to say no, to see through their ulterior motives.

Both of them had been notorious for their reputations which started back in college. The two of them have a strong competitive streak especially when it came to the women they wanted to have sex with. That hadn't been a secret particularly with the way both of them would gloat about it any chance they got until the next woman came along. Julie was seen as the girl who neither one would let the other live down that he had slept with her first, but to no avail, nothing panned out. They both had amply opportunities, but both had fallen short of being victorious.

Daniel shook his head with a chuckle. "You never cease to amaze me. You'll never let her go, will you?"

"Hell no!" Becks chimed in. "She was a major hottie back then, and there is no way in hell that I am going to let you live this down if I get to her first."

The two of them had almost arrived at the bar when Beck's cell phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked down to see who the call was from. A devilish grin appeared on his face as he looked up at Daniel before he answered.

"Hey there, lovely lady," he said in his normal smooth-talking manner.

"Oh, Becks," the woman giggled. "I just called Julie to let her know that I couldn't make it. She mentioned that she's sitting at a table away from the bar in the back."

"Stacey, you're amazing! We'll get together soon, okay?"

"Oh, you know it. I can't wait."

"I'll call you later. Bye, babe."

Becks closed his cell phone before he shoved it back in his pocket. He had this smug look on his face. The two of them entered the bar. Daniel took in a deep breathe as the two of them began their search for the one who got away.

"She's at a table in the back." Becks mentioned as he began to look around to see if he could find her.

After a few minutes, Daniel nudged Becks when he spotted Julie. "There she is."

Becks grinned with a look in his eye like a cat on the prowl.

Julie Madison sat at a table in the back of the trendy bar. She wore a black cocktail dress with thin straps that showed off her slender curves. She had wavy brown hair with natural highlights. She hadn't seen Stacey since her last visit to New York which had been a couple of years ago. Julie was about to get up to leave when she noticed two familiar faces coming toward her.

"Wow, Daniel, look, it's 'the Ice Princess'," Becks said as the two of them made their way to Julie's table. "I mean, the lovely Julie Madison."

She looked up in their direction with disgust. She couldn't believe she had fallen for one of Becks' schemes, and of course, Daniel came along. She crossed her arms as she waited to see what they wanted.

"Typical," she said under her breathe. Her face tensed slightly. "Oh God, look what the cat dragged in," Julie said annoyed as she rolled her eyes. "Old habits die hard."

Without asking, Daniel and Becks took it upon themselves to take a seat in the empty chairs at Julie's table. She was surrounded.

"Come on, Julie, can't I even get a hello?" Becks said with a smile.

"Uh, Becks, still the smooth-talking man whore, I see." She said dryly as her eyes narrowed. She stared at him briefly with suspicious look.

"My, how things haven't changed," Becks observed as he realized she was just as frigid now as she was back then…maybe even worse.

"Ouch, nice try," Daniel chimed in before he flashed Julie a confident smile. "Julie Madison, it's been what? 10 years?"

Ten of the most peaceful years of my life, she thought to herself. She cleared her throat before she spoke. "Ah, Daniel Meade, editor-in-chief of Mode magazine, how did you manage to convince daddy-dearest Bradford to let his womanizing "I would rather sleep with the models that get work done" son have that position?"

"You haven't changed. Still a frigid bitch, I see." Beck said annoyed by the fact that his plans weren't as easy as he imagined.

"Yeah, well, you two always seem to bring that out of me." Julie smirked.

"Can't we let bygones be bygones?" Daniel asked, pleading for her to give them a little leeway.

Daniel had been right about Julie and the way she was toward them. It was like she always saw the two of them scheming and plotting a way for them to get her to sleep with either one of them.

"Well, Mr. Editor-in-Chief, if you and your obnoxious friend here want to buy me a drink, maybe…just maybe, you two can convince me otherwise. And who knows, maybe you could convince me to thaw a little." Julie grinned at Daniel as she softened the expression on her face.

Is she trying to be flirty? Daniel wondered to himself as he watched the look on her face.

"Maybe a drink would do you good," Becks suggested with spite. "Hopefully, it will get your panties out of a wad, and you won't feel the need to be such a bitch."

Julie rolled her eyes at him.

"So, Julie, what can we get you?" Daniel asked as he watched her carefully.

"I was going to order a Cosmo," she paused as she thought about who she was stuck with for the night. "But since I have you two as company, I guess, I'll have a beer."

"Uh, I'll go get our drinks," Becks volunteered. He shot his best friend a "get her to chill out" look before he got up to get their drinks.

"I heard you've moved here from LA, was it?" Daniel asked nonchalantly as he had propped an arm on the back of his chair as he faced her.

"I see news travels fast," she observed. "I guess, you could say that." She narrowed her eyes slightly at him before her defensive expression softened.

"So, why the change?" Daniel's eyes became fixed on her. He stared at her, trying to figure out the woman behind this cold exterior that she insisted to have when he and Becks were around.

"I am not much of an LA kind of girl." Julie explained with a shrug.

She drew in a deep breath as her eyes glanced down at the table before she caught Daniel staring at her. She studied the expression on his face, but she couldn't figure out what the small smile on his face meant with that look in his eyes.

She pursed her lips and continued. "Once I figured out what Los Angeles had to offer besides the gilts and the glam, it just wasn't where I wanted to live anymore," she explained. "Don't get me wrong, I like LA, but it lost its luster."

Daniel nodded without saying a word. Neither one of them broke their gaze from each other. It was like the two of them were trying to size up the other person.

Becks had three long neck beer bottles in his hands as he made his way back to their table. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed the two of them sharing an intense moment. He developed a smirk on his face before he said a word.

"So, what did you two talk about while I was gone?" Becks asked as he placed a beer in front of Julie and slid the otheranother one to his friend.

Julie's eyes shifted, breaking her gaze from Daniel. She cleared her throat. "I was just telling Daniel about why I moved here from LA."

"And why did ya, Julie? Did you miss me thatmuch to come back?" Becks asked before he sat back down in his chair and took a swig from his beer.

Her eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to Becks with that grin on his face. "In your dreams," she laughed. "Besides, LA wasn't all it was cracked up to be and seeing someone like you reminds me why I should have stayed," she hissed. Without missing a beat, she grabbed her beer and took a long drink.

"Now how in the world could anyone get tired of the endless parties and booze that Hollywood has to offer?" Becks asked with a chuckle. "It sounds like my kind of town."

"Well, not everyone is like Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton," She scoffed. "Some of us actually have jobs, you know. Becks, let me know when whoring around is something that should be put on a resume or better yet;, let me guess, you have it in bold print on yours."

Now wasn't the time, but Daniel couldn't contain a laugh when it came to what she had said. Becks and Julie always seemed to spar with against each other with a battle of words and once again, Julie 1 Becks 0. All Becks could do was glare at Julie before he started to down his beer.

Julie silently laughed to herself before she looked at him with an innocent look like she hadn't done anything wrong.

"As I was saying, Daniel, I've always considered New York to be home. There's just something about the city that different from anywhere else I've been."

She looked up at the bar while she pushed her beer away. "A beer's not going to cut it tonight." A sigh escaped from her lips. "I assume you need another beer, Becks." She giggled as she noticed Becks had finished off the one he had.

Becks grumbled something as Julie got up from their table. She leaned over to grab her purse.

"Daniel?"

Daniel gave her a nod before she left to get them all another round of drinks.

"She sure showed you," Daniel chuckled softly, concealing his face with his beer.

"Yeah, yeah," Becks rolled rolled his eyes. "She's a piece of work. Damn, this is harder than I expected."

"I told you this wasn't going to be easy." Daniel reminded his friend before he took the last sip of his beer.

"We'll see about that. Not for me, but you on the other hand…"

Becks trailed off, unable to say what he had in mind when he saw Julie coming back to their table with a Manhattan martini with two cherries in one hand and their beers in the other.

"Well?" Daniel asked intrigued by what Becks had started to say.

"Later, bud."

Julie cleared her throat as she made it back to their table. She held out her hand with both beers. Both Daniel and Becks took a beer from her.

"Consider it a peace offering, Becks." Julie smiled, more relaxed than she had been all night with the two of them.

Becks gave her a nod, unsure of what to say. He didn't want the tense to surface between the two of them again like it was earlier.

The rest of evening had been fun once Becks stopped trying to be at odds with Julie, and she stopped being so cold toward the two of them. After a couple more rounds of drinks, the three of them shared some laughs about their college days. Becks and Daniel were also surprised by Julie and her knowledge of sports. Something that neither one of them didn't expect from the girl they remembered from back then.

"Well, you two," Julie began as she ran a finger around the rim of her martini glass, "I think I am going to call it a night." She took the last sip of her martini.

"So soon?" Daniel wondered before he looked down at his watch. "It's only 11:30."

Julie chuckled softly. "Yeah, well, I have long day tomorrow. I'm not the boss of a magazine or anything like that where I can set my own hours," she said playfully.

"Neither am I," Becks mentioned.

"But I am not like you. Thank God." Julie giggled softly. "I never thought I would say this, but somehow, I managed to have fun tonight."

"Yeah, we did too." Daniel smiled.

"You know, Julie, when you aren't all frigid, you aren't actually kinda fun to be around." Becks said with a wink.

Julie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, when you aren't trying to get into my pants, you aren't half bad yourself," she sighed as she got up from her chair. She grabbed her coat from the back of her chair and slipped it on along with her purse.

"We should get together, more often," Daniel offered as he finished off the last of his beer.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Julie grinned.

"It could be fun," Becks chuckled.

"What's your definition of 'fun'? Let's be realistic, the two of you just had drinks with me. No strings attached? I don't see that happening twice," she laughed.

A sly grin crossed Beck's face. "Oh, you never know, we could surprise you."

"I doubt that when it comes to you two especially you, Beckett," Julie said, shaking her head. "But we'll see."

"So, we'll be seeing you around," Daniel smiled.

"Only time will tell," she nodded. "Enjoy the rest of your evening doing whatever it is the two of you do."

"Take care." Daniel offered.

Julie wrapped her coat around her and flashed both of them a smile before she made her exit.

"Bye Julie," Becks called out over his shoulder, watching her leave.

"Now what did you want to say earlier?" Daniel asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"You know, Daniel, I've been thinking and it's pretty clear that Julie Madison and I wouldn't be hitting the sheets anytime soon, but you and her, I see some potential there." Becks observed with a smirk.

Daniel laughed. "You have to be kidding me, right?"

"Apparently, you didn't see the way you two were looking at each other earlier."

"Whatever, dude."

"Come on, hear me out. I noticed this connection between you two tonight whether you did or not."

"You're funny, Becks."

"I am serious, Daniel. I want to make a bet with you."

"Not another bet that involves Julie Madison," Daniel sighed.

"Oh please, you love the thrill of the chase." Becks stared at him. "Admit it."

Daniel just rolled his eyes before he conceded. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I've been thinking," Becks began with a glimmer in his eye, "That assistant of yours…Betty; I always hear you talking about how great she is and all that's she's done for you, but what if I could 'borrow' her for a little while."

"You borrow Betty?" Daniel gave him a curious look. "You do realize she's not like any assistant I have had before, right?"

Becks laughed. "Obviously, considering you haven't slept with her."

"Betty's not like that."

"I've noticed. As I was saying, Betty gets to be my assistant if I win."

Betty gets to be my assistant if I win. Those words rang out in Daniel's mind. Betty was more to Daniel that just some girl in his life that he would toss aside once he was done with her. Obviously, Betty was more than just an assistant. She was his confidant, and she had done more for him than he imagined that anyone else would have.

"Nope, I won't do that to Betty. I mean, sleeping with Julie is huge, but there is no way in hell I would put Betty through that even if I didn't win. She doesn't deserve to be put through that and God knows what you'd have her do. I have a feeling what you would make her do things that would be ten times worse than what I made her do to quit after she started to work at Mode. She doesn't deserve anything you'd put her through."

"Damn, Daniel, I wasn't expecting you to be all over-protective of your unsightly assistant. My God, she's just a girl who works for you. It's not like she's your mother or something. Hell, you aren't dating her. I don't even see why you'd remotely give a shit."

Daniel sighed heavily as he knew better than to try to explain Betty to Becks. His relationship with Betty had definitely been something that he wasn't used to or could even describe if he wanted to actually. She definitely was different from any assistant he had before and quite frankly, she wasn't like any woman he had met with the exception of Julie.

Betty and Julie were the two women in Daniel's life where things weren't like any of the others. Betty was a friend, his assistant, the one he went to when he couldn't figure something out and somehow she knew what to say. On the other hand, Julie was a challenge. He wasn't sure what to think when it came to her and the way she was toward him. Daniel had always known that Julie despised Becks for the way he was with her, but she wasn't like that with him and he couldn't figure out why she wasn't. Seemingly, Becks and Daniel were cut from the same cloth, but apparently, Julie didn't see it that way.

"You know, if you don't sleep with Julie, you have to let me have dibs on every hot lady that comes through Mode and that reputation of yours goes up in smoke. If you can't land Julie, then you're a wash-up, a has-been. Daniel Meade, the one who failed at getting the gold. Too bad I'll never have a chance with her. She's hotter now than what she was back then." Becks said with a sly smirk as he was setting Daniel up for failure.

"You think I am going let you win that easily? Oh please, Julie tends to be a bitch from time to time, but I don't act like you do when it comes to her. She always manages to see through your typical 'approach' to women. She's not some giggly blonde who is willing to throw herself at you."

Becks folded his arms and leaned back in his chair as he took in what Daniel had to say. "I don't see you having that much luck with her. She seems to be dead-set against either of us wooing her, but I am sure you can handle a challenge. I'm sure you dealt with women like her before, remember Sofia?"

Daniel's jaw tightened slightly as Becks brought up her. The one he thought was the one that managed to make a mockery of their relationship all for a stupid article for her magazine.

"Let's not go there." Daniel groaned. "But yeah, Julie's a challenge, but she's worth the trouble to get there. To hear you finally admit that I am the one who got the 'Ice Princess' to melt and that it was me who gets her all hot and bothered among other things."

"Yeah, whatever, man. We'll see if it ever happens," his friend laughed. "So, I definitely get dibs on any woman that comes through Mode Hell, I would make you get the word loser tattooed on forehead, but I am sure your dad would throw a shit fit over that one and there's no way you'd be able to wear enough makeup to cover that up."

Daniel laughed at the thought, but he knew damn well that he had no intentions of losing this bet to his best friend.

"And if I win?"

"Like that will happen, but if you win…come up with something, dude. Even though I am sure I'll get what I want regardless of this bet or not."

"You know, Becks, I would like to see you attempt to get to know Betty. You don't give Betty enough credit where it's due. She's not like my other assistants. Of course I haven't slept with her. I don't see Betty as a conquest, but you may learn something from her. You could be surprised."

"You've got to be kidding me? You sound like a something off a sappy romantic chick flick or some shit like that," Becks scoffed.

Daniel just shook his head. "If I am willing to give up my reputation for this bet, then you have to be willing to actually get to know someone who totally isn't your type."

"Um, sure," Becks reluctantly agreed. "If I win, I get to have dibs on every woman that comes through Mode and if you win, I guess, I'll actually attempt to get to know Betty." He rolled his eyes at the absurd thought of having to talk to Betty about something besides leaving messages for Daniel or asking her to connect him to his friend at the office.

The perturbed look on Becks' face said it all as it seemed to be a mixture of disgust with a little bit of concern. Daniel wasn't used to seeing that look on Becks' face, but it definitely made him have a little smirk on his face.

Daniel was determined to win this bet, to see Becks do something he never thought he was capable, and Betty could do his friend some good.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave a review! ;)