Allie was horrified. She felt glued to the spot, damn it legs. Run! She ordered feeling every pair of sympathetic eyes boring into her soul, as she stood there dumbfounded.

"Mom" Portman started but was stopped by Allie shaking her head. She wasn't going to make him choose between her and his mother. She was just going to have to deal with it.

"Dean lets go" Mrs Portman snapped dragging Sarah along behind her. The woman was completely oblivious to the death glares the rest of the Ducks were sending her, especially Julie and Fulton.

"I have to go" Portman said quietly to Allie.

"I know, I'll see you later" Allie managed to get out. She was trying her hardest not to cry in front of anyone. They couldn't know that the words of his mother had gotten to her; it would just make things worse. Besides she's upset because she's just lost her husband.

"I love you" he whispered and leant in to kiss her cheek. He almost got there before his mother interrupted.

"NOW DEAN!" she bellowed outraged that her son was attempting to kiss the girl who, in her opinion, killed his father.

"I love you too. Go" Allie told him as he shot her a torn look. She hated seeing him look like that.

The Ducks remained silent as Allie watched Portman's retreating back. Every so often he'd look back at the group.

When Portman was no longer visible, Allie made a bolt for the exit, ignoring the Ducks calling after her. All she wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

She ignored the looks from the other pedestrians as she ran down the street still covered in blood.

Stopping every now and then to catch her breath as she ran the 12 blocks from the hospital to Eden Hall she made it back to her dorm room carefully checking the hallway to make sure there were no Ducks lurking outside her door.

Satisfied that no one was there she opened the door and entered, shutting it behind her where she collapsed against it and sunk to the floor.

She stared ahead numbly not having the inclination nor the energy to move. She replayed the scene in the waiting room over again in her head and this was enough to bring her to tears.

She just let them come, one after another they flooded out releasing all of the pent up emotion she'd been carrying ever since she'd left the hospital.

And that was how Hayley and her new boyfriend had found her when they returned to the dorm.

"Hey what the? Allie? Linda? Are you there? Something's jamming the door" Hayley called through the tiny gap Hayley had managed to create.

Allie shifted so that she was now against the wall rather than the door as she let her roommate and best friend in.

"Allie?" Hayley asked seeing her friend on the floor against the wall.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Hayley became increasingly concerned when she saw Allie's face when she looked up at her. Then she noticed the blood on her hands and clothing and Hayley became alarmed.

Allie didn't respond, all she could do was just stare blankly at Hayley.

"Shit! Um I'm gonna go get her boyfriend, can you please stay with her for a few minutes, I'll be right back" Hayley asked her boyfriend Paul who was on the school's swim team.

Paul nodded glancing at Allie awkwardly. He'd never dealt with a girl dilemma before and it scared the shit out of him, especially since the girl was covered in blood.

He took a step into the room and cautiously sat down in front of Allie leaving a rather large gap in between them. If she suddenly lashed out then there was a good chance he could move in time.

Allie looked over at him feeling bad for him at having to babysit his girlfriend's roommate whilst she was having a breakdown.

"Um hi" he tried to break the ice when he saw her look at him.

"Hi" Allie replied looking back down at her shoes.

"PORTMAN! OPEN UP!" Hayley banged on the door to the Bash Brother's dorms.

She continued banging in a frenzied panic until the door flew open and a pissed off Fulton answered with.

"For fucks sake he's not here" before realising who it was.

"What do you want?" he asked sourly.

Hayley ignored the icy reception "Where's Portman?" she asked.

"Not here, probably with his stupid fucking mother, why?" Fulton was still angry at Portman's mother for what she'd said to Allie at the hospital.

"Damn, um do you have his number, its really urgent" Hayley asked.

"Is it Allie? Is something wrong?" Fulton was getting the idea now and he was worried.

"I don't know" Hayley answered realising she actually didn't know what was going on. All she was thinking about was that Portman would be able to calm her down, well comfort her since Allie seemed so calm that it was kinda scary.

"Where is she?" Fulton demanded pushing Hayley back so he could leave the room.

"In our dorm" Hayley replied half surprised that Fulton was rushing to her roommate's rescue and glad at the same time that he was sort of being civil to her. Something she thought would never ever happen again.

The pair raced across the courtyard towards the girls dorm building with Fulton miles ahead of Hayley.

He was the first to arrive in the dorm demanding that Paul tell him who the hell he was and what the hell he was doing in the room.

"Fulton he's with me" Hayley arrived amidst the yelling.

"Oh sorry" Fulton realised his mistake when Hayley went over to the guy and kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for staying with Allie until she came back.

Fulton looked at Allie who was still on the floor with her legs curled up to her chest. She had the same vacant stare and her cheeks were stained with dried tears. Fulton had never seen her look so upset before.

"Allie?" he whispered kneeling in front of her.

Allie didn't respond, she kept staring at the floor.

Fulton reached out and touched her shoulder. Allie tried blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill out but it didn't work.

Fulton put his other hand on her other shoulder and this set her off. She started sobbing uncontrollably as Fulton pulled her into his arms.

Hayley watched as her ex-boyfriend consoled her best friend. It broke her heart to see Allie like that and for her to be crying like that it must have been pretty bad.

"That's it, let it all out" Fulton prompted as he pulled the girl into his lap and rocked her back and forth as she wept. He had the thought that with all the stress of the earlier incidents and trying to save Portman's father, the completely unnecessary comments by Portman's mother was definitely the straw that broke Allie's back.

Paul turned to Hayley and whispered "Um.. maybe I should go"

Hayley looked up at him and realised how uncomfortable he looked.

"Okay" Hayley replied "Um I think I might just leave these two alone for a little while too" she decided that it might be best to let Fulton calm her friend down on his own.

Hayley went over to her friend "I'll be back in a little while okay honey" she said as she kissed her friend's hair.

Allie nodded, keeping her face buried in Fulton's shoulder.

"Hey guys!" Linda's bright voice came through the door. Hayley caught her before she ventured in too far and pushed her back out into the hallway.

"Um it might be a good idea if you went and found Charlie for a while" Hayley indicated to the two figures on the floor.

"Is that Fulton?" Linda asked with wide eyes. Hayley knew what she was thinking.

"Yeah but its not what you think, something really bad has happened and Portman's not around" Hayley whispered closing the door to their dorm.

"What happened?" Linda asked.

Hayley shrugged "I dunno, she's not talking"

"Maybe Charlie knows" Linda thought about how her boyfriend always knew what was going on.

"Wanna tag along?" Linda threw Hayley a bone sensing that the girl was dying to know what was going on.

Hayley nodded "You coming too?" she asked Paul who was trying to conceal his eagerness.

The scene in the room between Fulton and Allie had intrigued him, especially when he realised that Hayley's roommate was the girl who was dating Dean Portman and the guy was Dean Portman's best friend.

"She said WHAT?" Linda was fuming.

Charlie had just told the three students the whole story, starting at Julie's story about Portman's weird behaviour at the airport to the scene that her and Allie had found at the rink to the scene at the hospital and everything in between.

"Man no wonder she's so upset" Paul put his two cents in.

Charlie gave him a and you are? look but he didn't question it.

"And Fulton's with her now?" Charlie asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, he's the only one who's really calming her down" Hayley replied still feeling a little disturbed at the way he was holding her and kissing the top of her head as he whispered stuff to her.

"So Portman's gone with his mom?" Hayley asked in disbelief.

"Only cos Allie told him to" Charlie stuck up for his friend and teammate.

"Sounds just like her doesn't it?" Linda tried to nip the brewing fight in the bud while she had the chance.

"Yeah it does" Hayley agreed.

"So we're gonna get a couple of pizzas and just hang out, you guys wanna join us?" Charlie invited Hayley and Paul to hang out with the Ducks. Linda was automatically invited of course.

Hayley looked at Paul who shrugged.

"Sure, thanks Spazzie" Hayley laughed.

"Watch it cheerleader" Charlie warned half joking. Spazzway was one nickname he really hated.

"Mom you had no right to say that to her" Dean was tired of listening to his mother bag Allie. Sarah had long retreated off to bed saying she was tired. Dean couldn't blame her.

"It's the truth isn't it? If she hadn't have meddled then your father would still be alive" Mrs Portman was firm in her belief that Allie Taylor had killed her husband.

"And if she hadn't have screamed then I'd be dead, and you'd be dead and Sarah would be dead" Portman tried the shock approach with her but it wasn't working.

"Your father would never have pulled the trigger" Mrs Portman replied.

"Are you insane? Of course he would have, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill us and you know it" Portman was starting to raise his voice.

"Don't you raise your voice with me young man, I am your mother and you will respect me" Mrs Portman snapped.

"Sorry" Portman sighed as he sunk down into the armchair feeling defeated. He wasn't going to win this fight.

"How are you feeling now?" Fulton asked after two hours of consoling and comforting.

"Hungry actually" Allie replied in a hoarse voice causing Fulton to laugh.

"Ducks are having pizza, wanna go get some?" Fulton asked.

Allie shook her head "Nah I don't think I can be around lots of people right now, especially the Ducks, no offence but I don't think I can handle them walking on eggshells around me scared stiff they'll say the wrong thing. That and its guaranteed it'll end up in a fight because someone will say something the others think is wrong"

"I understand and I'd put money on Goldberg and/or Averman to make the stupid comment" Fulton laughed kind of feeling glad that she didn't want to be around the rest of the Ducks right now.

As much as he'd never admit it, he was starting to enjoy being the one that Allie wanted to be around.

He stole a glance at her and realised that he thought she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, even with all the blood and the tear stains.

Dude stop it, she's your best friend's girlfriend! He scolded squishing down any urge he felt to lean over and kiss her.

"Fulton why are you looking at me like that?" Allie asked before she looked at her hands and realised she was still covered in someone else's blood.

"Oh sorry, no wonder. I think I'd better go have a shower and get changed. You wanna hang out here for a while?" she added.

Phew that was a close one Fulton thought as Allie had just provided him with a cover.

"Um yeah okay" Fulton choked out trying to keep his cool as she smiled at him and moved off of the bed to gather her shower stuff and some clean clothes.

"Make yourself at home, I'll be right back" Allie told him as she left the room.

Fulton let out the breath he was holding.

Get a grip Fulton, she'll never be yours.

"Isn't Mr Bash the Bash Man coming?" Goldberg asked between mouthfuls of pizza. He used the nickname Fulton had given himself when he told Goldberg and Charlie that Portman was staying in Chicago.

"Doesn't look like it" Charlie replied taking another slice of the pepperoni with extra cheese pizza.

"Oh well more pizza for me" Goldberg replied laughing at the protests the other Ducks put up when they realised he was calling dibs on Fulton's slices.

"So how is she?" Julie asked Hayley quietly.

"Not too good, Fulton's the only one she'll talk to" Hayley replied.

"If anyone can make her feel better Fulton can" Julie replied smiling.

Her smile was quickly replaced by a frown "God I wanted so badly to kick that woman's ass"

"If I knew where she lived I'd go kick her ass right now" Hayley replied.

"Hey wanna find out?" Julie asked with a cheeky glint in her eye.

Before Hayley could accept Charlie stepped in.

"No ass kicking tonight girls" he warned.

"Aw why'd you have to go and ruin the fun?" Julie pouted.

"Yeah Charlie, I reckon we go and TP her house" Averman stood behind Julie and Hayley and held his fist up in a gesture of a united front.

Julie and Hayley rolled their eyes and laughed.

"You'd TP a house that belongs to Portman's mother whilst Portman is in it?" Charlie was attempting to be the voice of reason.

"Oh yes, the giant man I'm afraid of, I forgot about him" Averman retreated back to his seat next to Kenny who rolled his eyes and took another bite of his pizza.

"I think Allie'd probably kick all of our asses if we did anything to Mrs Portman, you know what she's like" Charlie reasoned.

This got the agreement of the rest of the Ducks.

"Doesn't make it right though" Luis spoke up. He too was thoroughly disgusted at the way Mrs Portman acted.

"What she said I mean" Luis added for those Ducks who were confused as to whether he meant that Allie kicking their asses was wrong or what Mrs Portman said was wrong.

"Here, here!" Goldberg held his cup of coke up in the air.

The rest of the Ducks, plus Linda, Hayley and Paul did the same thing.

"Well that's a first, we all actually agree on something" Connie commented from Adam's lap.

"Oh shut up Moreau" Charlie laughed.

"So what do you feel like?" Fulton asked when Allie returned.

He could feel and hear his stomach rumbling as it told him that he was hungry.

"I dunno, do you just wanna go for a walk downtown and get whatever?" Allie asked.

Fulton nodded "Sounds like a plan"

"Well where is she then?" Portman asked getting frustrated.

He'd returned to Eden Hall against the wishes of his mother and had headed straight for Allie's dorm. No one was there.

He then tried his own dorm. No one was there either.

He then went to the common room to find the Ducks (minus Fulton) and Linda, Hayley and some other dude he didn't know sitting around laughing and eating pizza.

"Linda and Hayley left her in the dorm with Fulton" Charlie spoke up. He was the only one game enough to.

"Well she's not there now, so where is she?" Portman asked again.

"Wait? She's with Fulton?" Portman realised what Charlie had actually said.

"I guess so, if he's not at your dorm and he's not here then I guess he's out somewhere with her" Charlie tensed up waiting for the explosion.

Surprisingly there was none "Oh okay cool" Portman shrugged as he took a seat next to Julie.

The rest of the Ducks exchanged worried glances.

Of course Averman couldn't resist speaking up "Okay, who are you and where's the real Dean Portman?" he asked narrowing his eyes as he interrogated.

"Huh?" Portman replied.

"You heard me you impostor!" Averman accused.

"Averman did they put magic mushrooms on your pizza again?" Portman asked surprised he didn't have the urge to kick his ass like he normally would.

"That would explain a lot you know" Averman pondered the suggestion.

"He has a point though, you do seem really mellow" Julie said softly.

"Well Jules, if she had to be out with anyone then I'm glad its Fulton, I know he'll look after her" Portman explained.

Hayley and Linda exchanged glances. If only Portman had seen what they had seen.

"I can't believe you wanted M&Ms for dinner. You're like the only chick that would ever do that" Fulton stared at Allie as she proceeded to eat the entire contents of a large bag of peanut M&Ms.

"Yeah and I'm still hungry" Allie complained as she tossed the empty packet into a nearby trashcan.

Fulton did a double take. How the hell did she stay so skinny? He wondered discreetly letting his eyes wander over her legs, backside and torso in admiration.

Portman's a lucky dude he thought as he followed her into take-away shop that served Mexican food.

He entered in time to hear her order a large serving of nachos with everything on it.

"Fulton do you want anything?" she asked and her smile was almost enough to have him reply with you.

"Um, I'll have a beef & bean burrito" Fulton quickly replied turning away before she could see him blush.

The pair wandered over to a nearby park and sat down to eat their food in silence. Fulton watched in awe as Allie tucked away the whole thing.

"Okay now I'm stuffed!" she declared wiping her mouth with the napkin and gathering up her trash and shoving it into the bag that the shop had provided.

"Me too" Fulton had finished his burrito and helped her clean up the mess they'd made.

He accidentally brushed her hand and he retracted it quickly getting ready to say sorry when he realised that she hadn't even noticed the contact at all.

Fulton looked at his watch and realised that they had to get moving otherwise they'd miss curfew.

"We'd better go, curfews in 10" he announced.

"Oh okay" Allie replied standing up and dusting the grass and dirt off of her pants.

They arrived back at Eden Hall, Fulton with his hands stuffed deeply in his pockets and Allie holding her stomach as she started to feel the food churning around in her stomach.

Allie let out a rather large burp and immediately began laughing.

"Sorry! I'm such a pig" she laughed.

Fulton started laughing too. Man this has got to be the coolest girl in the world.

"Better out than in, I say" Fulton laughed.

"That is so true" Allie replied as they arrived at her dorm room.

She could see the light under the door which indicated that at least one of her roommates were in.

"Hey thanks for everything. I really needed that" Allie's face grew serious.

"I'm glad I was here" Fulton replied softly starting to feel embarrassed. He always got this way whenever anyone praised him for something good he'd done.

"Sorry for getting your shirt wet" Allie replied shyly.

"Hey I don't need to wash it now so you did me a favour" Fulton joked.

"Ha ha" Allie replied as she reached up and gave him a hug.

Fulton placed his arms around her, hugging her back.

"Thanks again Fulton. I know why Julie and Dean love you so much" she said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Fulton didn't say anything but his blush did all the talking.

"Night Fult" Allie said thinking he was blushing for what she'd just said about Portman and Julie.

"Night Allie" Fulton replied shoving his hands into his pockets once again as she disappeared into the dorm room.