Sorry the update has taken so long. School/work has been crazy, and the holiday didn't help.

Chapter 8: Gummi Worms

Julie pulled the covers around herself as the August storm pounded their top floor apartment with rain and hail. She turned up the volume on the Walkman, playing the CD that Portman had made for her just before leaving to head back to school in Texas. As she listened to "Waiting" by Trapt, her thoughts drifted back to earlier that evening, when they had been together last…

I wanna meet up with you
And show you what I'm thinking
I'll take you anywhere
That you wanna go
I'm sitting here bored and lonely and
You know that anytime you're free
To show me how you feel
We'll take it anywhere that you want to go
Anywhere that you wanna go

Their last night together began with dinner at the Portman house. It was only Julie's second time to visit, and she couldn't get over the fact that Portman's parents were the rich, high society types. She had figured his family hadn't been poor since Dean had gone to Morgan Park in middle school, but she never would have guessed that his family actually had a significant amount of money and social clout. Several things had become apparent to her as she studied the interaction between father and son. Observation 1: Dean's tough guy act was, in general, a rebellion against his father, who was very civilized. Julie was sure that he and Dean had experienced many arguments about "The Grunge Period," as she now referred to it. Dean's mother was beautiful, intelligent, and very critical. Julie pitied Dean's 14 year old sister, who was slightly overweight and awkward, and was sure to be a victim of Victoria Portman's critical eye. Dean's older brother, on the other hand, was a sexier version of Dean. Julie had to force herself to look away from Chad, who did not have Dean's beautiful eyes, but made up for that in his dark and brooding facial expressions, which were the source of the sexiness.

Julie had managed to make it through another dinner without embarrassing herself, and she and Dean chatted with Chad for a few minutes before leaving to go back to Julie's apartment. "Sorry you had to see the old hag again. Living here in Chicago means that she may draft you into one of her fruity woman groups," Chad said, checking his hair in the hall mirror. Dean was sitting on the front staircase, tying his shoes and shaking his head.

"Nah, she knows Julie is too busy. Besides, mom remembers where Julie and I met… hockey practice," Dean laughed.

As the couple headed into the garage to leave in Dean's Camaro, Julie noticed the three BMWs parked in the garage. Observation 2: Julie was sure that Dean's rejection of the finer things in life had increased the career pressure that his dad had placed on him. Again, she was glad that her family had supported all of her decisions. Seeming to know what she was thinking, Dean said quietly, "I'm sure your parents are a lot different than mine. You're not screwed up like Chad, Carrie, and me. Maybe I can meet them sometime soon."

Julie smiled as Dean held open the car door as she climbed inside. "Be prepared for a house full of blondes," she laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Dean was uncharacteristically silent as they headed onto the expressway and back to her apartment in a different area of Chicago. Julie caught a glimpse of one of Dean's dark and brooding expressions and revised her earlier assessment that Chad was the sexiest of the bunch. "What are you thinking about?" Julie whispered, reaching over to place her hand on his shoulder.

"Everything," he sighed.

"Tell me," she said softly, her hand traveling up to the back of his neck.

He sighed again, glancing over at her briefly before looking back at the traffic. They were silent for a few moments as the air conditioner whirred, clearing out the hot Midwestern August heat. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm going to become my parents. I'm already becoming my dad… A&M… management school…" he lamented, leaning his elbow against the door.

"But you didn't pledge… that's something different," Julie said, turning slightly in her seat to face him. She knew where this conversation was going; they had repeated it many times before on IM and on the phone.

"I don't really want to talk about it again… I just want to think about you. It's my last night with you for a while, and I want to enjoy it and not think about my problems," he said, smiling slightly.

Julie tucked the conversation into her back pocket as usual, and allowed the subject to transition to which movie they would be pretending to watch at her apartment.

"Can you believe that it's been three weeks since we got together?" Dean said after a comfortable pause. He exited the expressway onto the city street that lead to Julie and Connie's apartment.

Julie shook her head with a smile. "It's hard not being able to see you whenever I want, but I think I'll learn to deal with it. Besides… it's not for forever." Her voice had a slightly questioning tone has she glanced over at Dean.

"Nope, it's not going to be for forever. One of these days one of us is going to graduate college, but I have a feeling that you're going to be first," Dean said somewhat cryptically. Julie opened her mouth to respond, but Dean whipped into the small parking lot beside her apartment and turned off the car. "Shall we?" he said, leaning over to peck her on the cheek.

Connie had taken Charlie shopping with her that morning, and the two were at Charlie's new apartment about 5 blocks away. Julie had told Connie that it would be okay if they wanted to stay at the girls' apartment, but Connie had insisted, saying that she owed her after "The Drunken Incident" at the beginning of the summer. The girls hadn't managed to unpack completely; Julie had convinced her parents to let her head back to Chicago a week early to move her belongings into her new apartment, but the girls had been so busy with Charlie and Dean that they really hadn't put away much more than the necessities. "Maybe once I go back to A&M, you'll be able to clean your apartment, that is, unless you are too overcome with sadness to function," Dean said as Julie flipped on the light to reveal the moving boxes piled around the living room.

Julie laughed and gave him a friendly shove, which was a cover that she used when feeling especially attracted to him. She diffused the situation with a shove or a tickle before things got too serious. It's not that she wasn't serious about Dean; she just didn't know how to handle the serious feelings that she was having.

Dean, on the other hand, was ready to marry Julie immediately and have 15 kids, but he didn't dare tell anyone. Instead, he had to be content with the IM conversations and the phone conversations, and the occasional visits.

"Okay, so we're pretending to watch re-runs of Law and Order: SVU?" Dean said as he flipped on the TV in her bedroom, tossing the remote into a chair.

"Fine by me," Julie said, kicking off her sandals and sitting down on her unmade bed. Dean tossed her a pillow and they both snuggled up together to silently enjoy their last night together. There would be time for talking later.

Connie sighed inwardly and tried not to roll her eyes as Charlie loaded another action movie into the DVD player. "This is a great one, you'll like it," he said, hurrying back over to the couch and putting his arm around her.

They had been watching action movies since 4 pm, and it was really starting to get old. Connie thought about Julie, who was probably making out withPortman in their apartment. Who knewPortman was such a romantic? It was almost as if theguy thatshe had known in middle school and high school was a totally different person than the 20 something Dean Portman that was now in love with her best friend. Connie couldn't help but be jealous of Julie, who was undoubtedly having a very romantic night. She, on the other hand, was watching Face Off 2 with Charlie, who hadn't made a move on her the entire night. He hadn't even kissed her. It wasn't as if Connie didn't like Charlie; she had expected him to be more romantic and sweet and less of a regular guy. She thought back to her relationship with Guy and remembered the passion that they used to have. Granted, a lot of that passion came from the fights that they used to have, but there was always the make up sex. With Charlie, there was no fighting, but there was also no passion. The first week or so had been cute and sweet, but Charlie was still so into hockey that Connie wasn't sure she could compete with his love for the game.

Connie dozed off and was startled when her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Julie. "Hey Jules," she answered, glad to hear from her friend.

"Cons, will you come home? I'm really lonely. Dean just left to go home so he could get to the airport really early in the morning. I need to have a cry session with you," Julie said, her voice tight from holding back the tears.

"I'll be right there, hon…" Connie said, closing her flip phone and getting up. Charlie looked at her quizzically and she said, "Portman left to head back to Texas and Connie is upset. I've gotta go be with her. I'll see you sometime tomorrow, okay?"

Charlie stood up and helped Connie up off of the couch. "Okay, give me a call whenever," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek and a quick hug.

"Um, okay… talk to you later," she said, a little confused as he sat back down on the couch and turned his attention to the movie. She paused for another second or two before turning on her heel and quickly leaving the apartment. She would definitely have something to cry about with Julie tonight.

Connie made it back to their apartment in about 10 minutes after stopping at the gas station to pick up Julie's favorite candy, Gummi Worms. "Jules, you here?" she yelled into the darkened apartment, walking toward Julie's room.

"I'm in my room," Julie yelled, sniffing loudly and blowing her nose into a tissue. Connie opened the door and smiled slightly at her friend, who was in her pajamas and had the covers around her shoulders. "Are those Gummi Worms?"Julie whined hopefully. Connie smiled and tossed her the bag.

"Let me go put my pajamas on, and then we can have a good cry together. I've got my own things to cry about tonight," Connie said, walking out of the bedroom to her own room across the hall.

"How was your night with Charlie?" Julie asked, turning off the TV so that she would be able to hear Connie talk.

"Oh, it was alright until we started watching movies at his apartment. By the time you called, I was ready to strangle him. Does that boy not have any sexual desires?" Connie yelled from her closet, pulling on a pair of shorts.

Julie laughed from the other room, stuffing another worm in her mouth. "Didn't you show him your boobs? That usually wakes a guy up," she laughed.

"I stuck them right in his face accidentally on purpose, granted, I did have my shirt on. I bet you don't have to show your boobs to Portman to get him to kiss you," Connie said, walking out of her room and flipping off the light. She flung her pillow onto Julie's bed and flopped down, helping herself to one of the worms.

"Well, you go first. I don't have anything interesting to tell, I just have to lament about Dean being gone. Sounds like you have something to get off your chest," Julie said, looking over at her friend.

"Please don't tell anyone this… well, I doubt Portman would tell anyone, but don't tell anyone else... Charlie hasn't kissed me on the lips in about a week… it's like he's all of the sudden not attracted to me any more. I even tried kissing him on the neck and sitting on his lap, but he just kept watching the movie and told me to pay attention because the good part was coming up soon," Connie said, violently tearing a worm in half as Julie chewed thoughtfully.

"I don't understand… did something happen? Did you have a fight?" Julie said.

"I wish we'd have a fight! It would be more interesting than this! I know that Guy and I hardly ever got along, but at least it was interesting. I'm not going to be able to stand this if--" Connie began, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"I bet that's him right now," Julie said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"I bet it's Portman coming back to tell you that he can't live without you. You're so lucky…" Connie whined as they both got up and walked into the living room. Connie looked through the peep hole and immediately gasped.

"Who is it?" Julie whispered, running to the door.

"It's… It's Guy," Connie said, her hand over her mouth.

To be continued…

(Woohooo, a cliff hanger!)