Romeo and Julie - Chapter 2

Disclaimer - (which I forgot last chapter) The Ducks belong to Disney. The only character I own, so far, are Meredith, and a few other not so prominent characters.

Feedback - Knock yourself out. Well, no, not literally, that would be bad. Thank you to the three who reviewed my last chapter (Pure-Pen, CakeEater'sGirly99 and JavaJunkieGurl)

Notes - I am loving writing this fic, so I hope that you enjoy reading it. I have millions of ideas for it, I just don't know which ones will make it. A few people asked in their reviews if I could really see Dean as Romeo, and I am going to answer that with a big YES, it would be funny, true, but drama is something that is meant to be fun and rewarding…(and you can so tell I am going to be a drama teacher!)

Warning - Slight Portman cussing, but other then that, it is safe.

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"Do you know how many lines I have in this bloody production!" Dean asked as he collapsed into his seat at breakfast the next day.

"Portman, what was your first clue that your role would be big" Russ asked. "The play is called Romeo and Juliet, you are Romeo…"

"But I was reading the play last night…" Portman began.

"You can read?" Averman asked. Portman looked at him and glared. Averman turned back to his food.

"Romeo has these big sections where it is just him talking." Portman sighed, pulling the playbook out of his bag. "And he is not even saying anything of substance, he is just talking…I can hardly understand any of it"

"All the characters have them. It is called a soliloquy." Adam explained.

"A solili-what?" Fulton asked.

"Soliloquy. Or monologue, where a character talks to himself, revealing his thoughts without making it sound like he is talking to an audience." Julie told them. Portman nodded, understanding.

"Well, it still sucks that I have to learn this whole damn play" he grumbled.

"I do to, Juliet has large sections as well" Julie reminded him. Portman was just about to point out to her that Juliet seemed to have a lot less to say then Romeo when the warning bell rang and they had to head off to Maths.

Whoever the genius was that put Maths in the morning, followed by science, followed by geography, then history needed to be shot, and quick. Even the first break between science and geography was not enough to help them through the day. By the time that Portman had collapsed into his seat in English, he was so caught up in the crap that had been piled on him from the rest of the day, that he had forgotten that he was Romeo.

Meredith entering the room was enough to remind him however. "How was your reading guys?"

There were a few "fun" and "yeah, greats" from around the room. Most were sarcastic.

"I was thinking that we could have a quick discussion before we jump into reading the play. Does anything have anything to say about the play, or their character. Any questions, comments, queries?" Meredith asked. No one moved. "None, ok. Then I will take it that you all had complete understanding of the text." Again no one replied. "Well, lets get straight into reading then."

For the rest of the lesson they read the play aloud, each of them taking on the personas of their character. Much as Meredith assumed, the boys had some issues with the wording. As comical as it was to see the big tough ice hockey players stumble over the words written in front of them, she had to remind herself, and the rest of the class, not to make fun of each other.

They got through a substantial amount of the play just by reading it, but at more then one time Meredith wondered if it was the right thing to have them perform it. It seemed like it would never be ready for others to see.

The bell rang dismissing them from class. "Wait, wait…"Meredith stopped them all. "I want to arrange another practice session some time after school hours…"

"Cant, hockey practice" the ducks all replied, all smug that they had gotten out of a practice session.

"I spoke to Orion. You have practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays." a few people groaned. Why did she have to have spoken to the coach. "The way I see it, you should consider yourself lucky that I am not asking you to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Today is Tuesday. There will be a practice today, and every Tuesday till we perform. It is up to you if you attend, and this time, I will not fail you if you don't turn up. But remember, it will be you who embarrasses yourselves if you are not ready to show this to the public in a few months time."

That afternoon, the entire cast turned up to practice.

*****

"Stop, Stop, Stop" Meredith called, jumping off of the desk she as sitting on and moving to the middle of the improvised performance space that was still created by the circle of chairs. The three actors standing there all stopped.

"Charlie, Portman, Fulton. How long have the three of you been friends?" Meredith asked. Charlie looked at the other two and shrugged.

"I don't know. I have known Fulton since before we were even the ducks. And we have both known Portman since the games…" he explained.

"And you would say that you are pretty close?" She asked them. "I mean, you two are the bash brothers, and Charlie, well, you all get along well? Being on the same team, you have to have a certain amount of trust in each other, right?"

"Well Yeah" Fulton shrugged looking at the others.

"As your characters, you need to find a way to portray what you have in real life. Portman, Fulton, there was a reason why I cast you two as these characters. Romeo and Mercutio trust each other with their lives, and if the two of you cant make it believable that these young men are close, like brothers, then I have no idea who could." Meredith explained. "So lets try that again, try to relax into it, and try to just say the lines as though you, Fulton and Charlie are having a conversation after a game or something."

Portman folded the play book in his hands and began reading again. "Give me a torch: I am not for this ambling. Being not heavy, I will bear the light."

Meredith once again stopped them. "Ok, better, but you are still not getting the beat of the talking. Just because it is written in lines, does not mean that it is said that way. Read those two lines that you just said as a complete sentence, only pausing when there is a comma or any other punctuation point.

It was their second week of practices. Every day in class plus a Tuesday and they had managed to struggle through a preliminary reading of the script, and now they were standing and talking through it, getting a feel for the words. For what was not the first time in that week, Meredith wondered if it was such a good idea to do this.

By the time the bell rang Meredith had the beginnings of a head ache. "Ok, tomorrow I want to go through one of the Romeo and Juliet scenes, more then likely the party scene, so this means that yes, you will see two of the ducks flirting with one another…"

"More then usual" Banks mumbled, a few people around him heard what he said and couldn't hold back their chuckles.

"Which means that we will be bringing a little extra maturity to class tomorrow, wont we?"

"Yes Meredith" they all chorused as they left the room.

*****

Julie was surprised to see Dean sitting on his bed, reading Romeo and Juliet. She knocked on the doorframe and entered when he looked up at her.

"Interesting reading?" she asked, sitting on Fulton's bed. No one really knew why Fulton had moved into the dorms, most of the Minnesota ducks still lived at home and not in the dorms with the others. But when Portman had come to the school, he had moved in with his bash brother. The common theory was that things had gotten so bad for him at home that he had moved to save himself.

"Come to laugh at me have you?" He asked, throwing the book away and collapsing back onto his own bed.

"Laugh at you Portman, why would I laugh at you?" Julie asked. Portman looked at her, shocked.

"You saw me at practice." he told her. Julie thought back over the two practices that they had had today, both the play and Hockey, but nothing was jumping out at her as something that he could be ridiculed over.

"Portman…"

"I don't understand this shit." he sighed. "Jules, you know me right, I have issues expressing myself in normal English, and this is seventeenth century shit. I cant do this…"

Julie was shocked. From the day she had meet Dean Portman, he had always had the attitude that there was nothing that he couldn't do. And if there was something he couldn't do, he would give it a try anyway. She had never heard him say that he didn't understand, even if it was obvious that he didn't.

"Portman, its fine…" Julie began. "You know, there is no shame in asking for help"

He sat up and looked at her, smiling the classic Portman grin that it seemed not many girls in the school could resist. "There is no shame in just offering to help so that your very proud friend can get by with his reputation in tact…"

"Do you want to go over some of it. I could teach you a way to read it that helps me understand…" Julie offered. Portman grinned, picked up his book and sat on the floor, resting his back on his bed. Julie sat the same way on the floor resting on Fulton's bed. She had managed to locate his copy of the play from the pile on his desk.

"Ok, lets go over what we will be doing in class tomorrow." Julie told him. "Go from your line at the top of the page. Get to the end of the first line…"

Portman cleared his throat. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand"

"Now what is being said here?" Julie asked. Portman shrugged.

"He is talking about gas I guess." He told her. When Julie looked at him confused, he went to explain himself. "Profane is a gas right?"

"That's propane Portman." she informed him, smiling. Portman groaned angrily and threw the book over her head onto Fulton's bed. "Hey, don't get discouraged. Come on, we can do this a different way. Read a section, tell me what you think it means, and then, tell me what you would say."

"What I would say?" he asked her.

"Yeah, if you were with a girl that you liked, you tell me what you would say to explain what Romeo is trying to get across. I will do the same for Juliet."

"Ok" he sighed, opening the book. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this. My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

"Ok, and what is Romeo saying?"

"First he says that his hands are unworthy." he paused to see if he was right. Julie nodded. "Then he says that his lips can smooth a rough touch…Is he talking himself up so that she will kiss him?"

Julie smiled. "Yeah, but in a really romantic way. How would Portman say that?"

"Words are meaningless, I can say it all in a glance." he told her. Julie laughed, she couldn't help it. It was amazing how many people in this school were afraid of Portman and his tough boy act. But she was one of the ones, like the other ducks, who knew that he was just a big kitten. "I guess I would say…'hey ladies, Want to make out with a bash brother'…"

"You actually use that line?" Julie asked. Portman nodded. "How many of them reply with 'Sure, Where's Fulton?'"

Portman glared. "One in five." Julie laughed. "Hey, but to be fair, one in five of the girls who he uses that line on ask about me…"

"Fulton doesn't use that line" Julie replied, assured. "I may not know Fulton as well as others, but I know that he would never use a line like that." before Portman could argue with her, she drew his attention back to the play. "But honestly, if you were really in love with a girl, love at first sight, and you were not just occupied with allowing her the privilege of making out with a bash brother, what would you say."

"Well." he thought for a few seconds. " 'I may not be the man that you are looking for, and I know that I have said some pretty stupid things in the past, my mouth always seems to get me into trouble, but, if you give me the opportunity, I can show that this mouth is good at other things to…baby'"

Julie smiled. "I was just about to ask you where Portman went, until you slipped in the 'baby'"

"But, was I right?" Dean asked.

"Sounded alright to me" Julie told him. "Ok, next we move on to Juliet's lines. 'Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hands to much, which mannerly devotion shows this, for saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, then palm to palm, a holy palmers kiss."

"Is she trying to get out of kissing him by offering to hold his hand!" Portman asked, outraged. "I hate girls like that…"

Julie stopped herself from saying anything at his sexist comment. "Well, you have to admit she has a point. She is in her fathers house, her dad has just set her up with a very good looking and rich young man…"

"Cake eater"

"Paris" she corrected, smiling. "Her mother is around somewhere, her dad is a powerful man, and she has no idea who Romeo is. Of course she is not going to go make out with him…"

"Bad excuse if you ask me" Portman replied. "Ok, put that in Julie-speak."

" 'I know you are not perfect. No one is, but I would not judge you, mainly because I do not know you. Start slowly, and we will see where it goes.'" she replied. Dean grinned and turned to his next piece of the play.

"Have saints not lips, and holy palmers to?" he sighed "well, that is easy, he is trying to convince her that all those other people he mentioned all kiss as well."

"Dean would say?"

"Dean would say 'Give me a chance'"

"'Aye, Pilgrim, lips they must use in prayer'" Julie replied. "She is just making up more excuses, more then likely referring to the fact that back then, premarital sex was frowned upon."

"Frowned upon!" Portman gulped. "What did teenagers do in those days."

Julie rolled her eyes. Portman had a bit of a reputation, but that was something that she really didn't want to talk about. "Well, Juliet is only 14 when she marries Romeo…"

"Oh, so they found a way around it." Portman grinned.

"No, early marriages were not that uncommon. Paris says something like 'younger woman a bride and mother make.' meaning that quite a few girls Juliet's age and younger were married. "

"Oh" Portman nodded "Julie says"

"Julie says 'I don't think that is such a good idea…what you are talking about is a sin…'"

"'O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.'" he said. "Dean says 'Hey, it may be a sin, but, well, pray about it and kiss me anyway.'"

Julie laughed. "'Saints do not move, though grant for prayers sake'" she smiled, leaning forward a little. "'don't use that religious crap on me. It wont work'"

"Then move not, while my prayers effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged'" he smiled to himself, leaning forward a little also. " 'You started the religious crap babe, and now you are getting stroppy at me for using it against you?"

They sat for a few seconds, their faces inches apart. The script called for them to kiss at this point, but neither of them made a move to do so. Portman's gaze travelled to Julies lips, he would be lying if he was to say that he had never thought about kissing the teams female goalie.

Julie tensed a little. Playing Juliet to Portman's Romeo was one thing, but she had completely forgotten that she would have to kiss him. It was no big deal to her…what was she saying, of course it was a big deal for her. Just because he was Dean Portman obnoxious enforcer who laughed when ever he injured another hockey player, he was Dean Portman, an extremely good looking guy that she had felt connected to since meeting at the games.

Suddenly Portman laughed "This is going to be so strange kissing you."

Julie smiled and looked away. "Yeah, odd…'Then have my lips the sin that they have took?'"

"What?"

"The next line Portman, wake up. Romeo has been discussing the sin of his lips and by kissing her, she is asking if he has given her his sin, and tainted her." she explained.

"Oh" he nodded, going back to the play. "Sin from my lips, O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." he read. Julie looked at him to see him staring at her again. "I want to kiss you again…"

Julie couldn't blink. She refused to, because he was slowly getting closer and closer to her. His hand made its way to her cheek, brushing a piece of hair away and moving her closer to him. What was he doing? Was he going to kiss her?

He moved closer to her, pulling her closer at the same time. Her eyes shut, she could fell his breath on her skin. It was amazing. He was going to kiss her.

"Portman!" the door flew open and Fulton entered. Julie pushed Portman away from her and managed to scramble up onto Fulton's bed. Fulton turned and jumped slightly. "Jules, not that I don't love it when I have a beautiful girl on my bed, but what are you doing here?"

"We were just going over Romeo and Juliet, but I think we have had enough for the night." Julie told him, gathering her things and getting ready to stand. Portman stood and whispered something to Fulton, who smiled.

"I will see you guys tomorrow in class" Julie smiled.

"Hey Julie" Fulton asked, moving up beside her and leaning against the door. "Want to make out with a Bash brother?"

"Sure, where's Ken?" she asked him. "Night boys."

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Another chapter done. Tell me what you think by reviewing.