Romeo and Julie - Chapter 12

Disclaimer - Ducks are Disney's, Rebecca, Courtney, Meredith, Gareth Walsh (AKA Dirty old pervert) Matt and any other character that you don't recognise belong to me.

Notes - Each time I say this, and each time I mean it. This is the longest chapter at 7288 words. Amazing. It seems that as soon as I start typing, I cant stop. This one was a lot of fun for me to write. A little more relaxed, Julie/Dean banter but no real fighting. Also, a few comments are made through out the chapter. They are meant in jest. But if any offence is taken, I am extremely sorry.

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Connie covered her mouth with her hand and looked at her friends, shocked. "That must had been horrible"

"It was"

"Is Meredith Ok?" Connie asked Julie. They were at hockey practice the next afternoon, and it was unfortunately the first opportunity that the team had to explain to Connie what happened the day before at the detention. She was one only member of the team that had not been at the detention, and so she did not know what had happened between Old Man Walsh and Meredith.

"Meredith is fine." Julie told her. She looked around the rink and smiled quickly at the others. Orion was not present at the practice, he was at a coaches conference, and had told his team that they could run their own practice. No one was suited up, no one had their sticks out, and no one had thought to bring a puck along. They had all managed to convince Captain Duck, the reincarnation of Captain Blood, to just let them play 'Ducks Hockey'. And the team was very much enjoying the old rule of 'Play or play around'. They were just skating in lazy circles, socialising. "You know Meredith, it would take a lot more then just a sleazy teacher to make her break"

"She looked like she was pretty close to it though." Guy told his girlfriend, skating slowly by her side. Connie nodded. "You should have seen the look on her face Connie, she looked so, helpless."

The bash brothers skated up behind the three of them. "I was about ready to get up and pound him one"

"You and me both Fulton" Dean replied.

"We all were ready for that" Guy informed the other boys.

"I can tell why" Connie replied. "I wish I had of been there"

"No Connie" Julie replied, skating a little slower then the others (she was not the best skater in the world, she was good, but she didn't get much practice, because really, all she had to do was take her place between the posts) "I was traumatised just to watch it. You are lucky that you didn't see it."

The others sped up to rejoin the rest of the group, but Dean slowed down a little to skate beside Julie. "Are you ok?"

"Just, had a…" Julie paused. The old Julie would have no problems telling the old Dean what was on her mind, but now, with everything different and confusing, she was unsure if she would be able to trust him with her thoughts. "I am fine"

"Jules, if something is wrong, you can tell me." He took a breath, and then, took her hand in his. Julie tensed and was about to pull her hand away from him, but then he stopped and got her to stop to. They stood together for a few moments, Julie's hand still in his. "Lets pretend that I haven't been annoying you lately, and that we can still talk to each other, about everything."

She was so touched by his sincerity. This was the old Dean, the caring best friend Dean who would listen to her ranting and raving, even if he had no idea what on earth she was talking about. This was the Dean that did not go out of his way to annoy her. He would joke with her, true, but he would never annoy her on purpose. This Dean was nothing like the Dean that had made himself known over the last few weeks. Julie couldn't help but wonder if this Dean would ever return.

"I had a bad dream last night" Julie sighed, carefully pulling her hand away from him and skated away. She was unsure if she wanted him to follow her and talk about it, of if she wanted him to leave her alone. Dean followed.

"Walsh?" he questioned.

Julie looked at the ice, watching as her skates carved lines in the smooth surface. "I just don't believe that there are men like that out there, who would, prey on people like that. I didn't really want to go to his class today"

"I wouldn't either" Dean told her, still skating by hers side. He grinned a little and punched her playfully on the arm. "But you are a strong girl, you could take him on"

"I am not a bash brother like you" Julie grinned, and then stopped herself. It was a compliment that in her mind sounded so innocent, but when it was out there, in the open between them, it sounded so much like she was flirting with him. All she had to have added was a giggle and a hair flip and she would have been a cheerleader. It was pathetic. She rolled her eyes and hoped the Dean would not pick up on it.

"Don't need to be" Dean told her. He either didn't hear her tone, or he had thankfully ignored it. . "With a well placed punch and a kick to the royals, you could do some serious, serious damage"

"A kick to the royals?" Julie could not help but laugh. It was nice that they had gotten this far into a conversation with Dean without arguing. Maybe things could get back to normal. Maybe she was getting her wish, and they would be able to forget this whole insanity of him loving her, and go back to just being friends. To being casual and comfortable. "Are you sure you want to tell me this. You could annoy me again, and I will be forced to deliver a kick to your royals."

"If it is justified, you can kick me as hard as you want" Dean told her, smiling brightly. "But if not, I am going to have to put itching powder in your Duck's jersey."

"What, more pranks. Have you learnt nothing from the 30 days detention you have been given?" She asked.

"I only have 29 days left." Dean corrected her, then sighed heavily. "But I also have a feeling that I am going to be working on that damn personal reflection for the rest of my sentence."

Julie rolled her eyes. "Well, if you had of been serious about it, and not written about green eggs and ham"

"Hey, don't start" Dean stopped skating and moved in front of her to stop her from skating away from him. "It was a tribute to my favourite author"

Julie smirked. "The only one you can read"

"Ah, wounded" He exclaimed, holding his shoulder and wincing. "See, now who is being annoying and mean!"

"Annoying and mean!" Julie exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at the other boy. She launched herself at him, wrapping and arm around his neck and throwing her weight at him, trying to get him to fall over. "Annoying and mean! I will show you annoying and mean"

"My cue to run" He smiled, shrugging her off of him gently and skating away from her. He got to the other side of the ice and pulled Adam in front of him. "Save me Banks, she is going to kick me in the…delicates"

"The delicates?" Adam smirked. The other Ducks had stopped their conversations and turned to where Portman still had their star centre taken hostage. Dean was hiding his six foot two inches of body quite unsuccessfully behind Adam, who was smaller in both height and width.

"Well, I didn't want to use the real word, innocent ears and all." he shrugged. Adam smiled and pulled himself away from Portman. He was nobody's human shield.

"Innocent?" Connie, who was stating with Guy only a few feet away, turned and growled at the enforcer. Dean backed up a little, scared of the girl. "I will have you know that I am not as innocent as you all think I am!"

"Wasn't referring to you Cons" Dean replied, defusing her anger. "I mean, we all know that Germaine corrupted you long ago"

"Then who were you referring to?" Connie asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Dean indicated to Charlie with a small not of his head. "Captain Duck"

"What" Charlie looked up from where he was kneeling, retying his skate lace. He stood, testing the skate, and then began to chase after him. Dean had already started skating, laughing as he went. "Hey, come here, I am going to kick you in the delicates"

"Have to catch me first" he yelled over his shoulder.

Charlie only got a few steps away from where he had been, he could not be bothered chasing after him. He called across the ice to Mendoza, who was trying to learn how to figure skate with Ken. "Luis, go after him, no one can out skate you"

Luis grinned. "What is in it for me?"

"A shiny penny" Charlie bribed.

"Throw in your History tutors phone number, and you have yourself a deal" Luis told him.

Charlie thought for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Deal"

Luis speed across the ice and jumped on Dean's back. "Ah, Go away Mendoza"

"So, is everything ok with you two now?" Connie asked, stopping beside Julie as all the other boys went to watch the fight between Luis and Dean. From where they were standing, it looked as though Dean was winning.

Julie faked a confused look. "Who?"

"You and Dean?" Connie smiled, knocking her friend softly with her shoulder. "Friends again"

Julie sighed. It seemed the Connie was back in girly friends mode, and she would not be able to get out of this conversation without analysising every single little thing that she had said to Dean recently, and everything that he had said to her. "We are always going to be friends, and that is the problem"

"Why?" Connie asked.

Julie shrugged. "If he wasn't my friend, then, I don't know, things would be different"

"You would date him if he wasn't your friend?" Connie asked her.

"Probably not" Julie replied, sighing. "If he wasn't my friend, he wouldn't even know I existed. Boys like Dean Portman don't waste their time with girls like me."

It was something that she had actually thought about before, not just for Dean, but for every member of the team. If they had not been brought together by Hendrix hockey to be Team USA, then there was no way that any of them would be friends. Even before that. The ducks were different people, and even those that were not that different were people who never would have met. If it had not been for Gordon Bombay, There would be no ducks.

Ken would still be in San Francisco, probably figure skating. Russ would be in LA, trying to manage with what he had. Adam would still be a Hawk, and still be picking on the District 5 kids. Averman, Guy, Goldberg, Connie and Adam would all have given up on hockey a long time ago due to lack of inspiration. Fulton would still probably be getting into all types of trouble on the streets. Luis would be in Miami still getting into trouble with the ladies (not much of a difference there, except now he was in Minnesota and getting into trouble with the ladies). Dwayne would be on his fathers ranch, roping cattle and launching a country music career. Dean would more then likely be getting into trouble on the streets of Chicago, and Julie, well, she was sure that she would be no where as happy as what she was now that she played Hockey. 13 individuals, who even if some weird twist of fate did end up one day being all in the same room, there would be no way that they would bond if it wasn't for hockey.

Hockey brought them together, Bombay kept them together. And the Ducks have flown together ever since.

But Connie grinned. "This boy called Dean Portman is wasting his time with you"

"He is wasting his time." Julie told her friend. He was wasting his energy on her. "But he just wont let it be"

"Because he loves you" Connie replied.

"Don't say that." Julie muttered. That was the first time that some one other then Dean had used the 'L' word. It felt odd.

"Why, it is obvious. He loves you, and you love him" Connie smiled.

"You are right" Julie grinned, and Connie laughed, she had no idea that it would be so easy to get her friend to admit it. Julie just smiled and continued on with what she was saying. "But you know what else Connie? I love Guy"

"WHAT" Connie screamed.

"And I love Adam, and I love Charlie. I love Fulton and Ken. I love you. I love Goldberg, Russ, Dwayne, Luis, and Averman" Julie replied, then looked across the where the boys were still mucking around, pushing each other but laughing their asses of while they did so. "Ok, maybe not Averman"

"Ok, I get it, you love us all" Connie rolled her eyes at her friend.

"And in his own special way, Dean loves us all to." Julie told her. Connie nodded, understanding. Every one on the team loved one another in their own special ways. Even super macho Dean loved them all. "He would never admit it of course."

Connie smirked at her friend. "But he loves you differently. At least as far as I know. I mean, I don't think I have ever seen him kiss any of the others…"

"How do we know he doesn't swing both ways?" Julie asked jokingly. The two girls had skated around the rink, and now they were approaching the gang. Dean had Luis pinned face down on the ice, and was holding his down with his own body. "I mean, if that is not a poster for gay loving"

Connie could not help but chuckle. "One, That's Mendoza. Even if Portman did like men, he would never go for Mendoza. He is to…pretty" Julie laughed as well as Luis finally threw him off "And two, stop denying that he is in love with you."

"Can we stop talking about this, please?" Julie sighed. Connie shook her head.

"No, I don't think so" There was no way in hell that she was going to let Julie get away without getting all the gossip. She felt so left out recently, what with getting her relationship with Guy back on track and Julie spending time with a lot of time with Rebecca, who had broken up with Nathan.

"Connie, I don't pester you about your relationship with Guy" Julie told her friend. She knew that it was not going to be a good enough excuse.

"Well, that is where you and I differ, cat lady" Connie laughed.

Julie sighed. Connie had left her with no choice, time to use drastic measures.

"Hey Guy" Julie smiled, tapping her friend on the shoulder. "Come here"

"What Jules?" Guy looked over his shoulder at the girls, and then longingly at the fight before him. Fulton was shaving piece of the ice with his skates, and Dean was taking handfuls of the shavings, shoving them down the back of Luis's pants.

Julie grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in the direction of Connie, away from the fight. Guy whimpered in complaint. "Distract her so I can get away"

"With pleasure" he smiled, kissing her softly. Within seconds, all thoughts of Julie, and the Dean and Luis fight were out of both of their minds.

The fight soon broke up, and the others began skating away from the action. Julie skated alongside Russ, who was talking to Dwayne.

"I cant believe you forgot the rope!" Russ mumbled, not for the first time that afternoon.

"I am sorry y'all" Dwayne said, once again, not for the first time that afternoon.

Then Goldberg got involved in the complaints as well. "Orion tells us that we have a free skate, and you forget the rope!"

"Leave him alone Goldberg." Julie grinned. She patted Dwayne on the shoulder as she passed. "We don't mind Dwayne."

When she got past the boys, she stopped at the next group that she came across. Fulton, Portman, Luis and Ken were standing around just talking. The front of Luis's old Miami jersey was wet from where Portman had held him against the ice, and he gave the occasional shiver.

They were having just a random discussion about random things when suddenly, Ken groaned.

"Oh great" He mumbled as the group looked towards the door. Courtney the bubbly, giggling cheerleader just entered. "What is she doing here?"

"Ah, trouble in paradise Wu-Man?" Fulton asked.

"Hide me, maybe she hasn't seen me yet…" Ken replied, moving to stand behind the bash brothers.

"Ken!" Courtney smiled again, waving at him.

"Shit" Ken replied, still standing behind the bigger boys. Fulton went to move away from in front of the little bash brother, but Ken grabbed the back of his shirt and held him in place. "Hide me, maybe she is blonde enough to think I was a figment of her imagination"

"Hey Ken!" She giggled "I can see you hiding from me"

"Crap." Ken replied, pushing between Dean and Fulton to stand before them. "Portman. Hit me. Hard as you can. Knock me out. I cant deal with her now…"

"Ok then" Dean grinned, balling a fist and pulling it back.

Julie caught his hand. "Portman, you lay one finger on him, I am cutting off your royals."

Portman lowered his hand, looked frightened by Julie. "Sorry man, the threat is to believable."

"That's ok" Ken sighed and glanced over to where Courtney had taken a seat on the bleachers. He wondered if there was anyway to sneak past her. When he realised that there was no way that would work, he sighed. "I guess I have to go face the music"

"I thought you liked her?" Julie began.

"God, I did." Ken exclaimed. "At first she was perfect. Sexy, caring, sweet, knew how to so this thing with her…well, that is not the point, the point is, she was cool. Then she changed. She morphed into this evil, annoying, giggly monster that wont rest till she has my soul. All I hear now is yap, yap, yap. Yesterday, she wanted to talk about my feelings. I mean, I may have been a figure skater, but that does not mean I am completely in touch with my feminie side. And she wants to plan our future. She wants a child, named Hugh. Hugh Wu!"

Portman slapped him on the back. "Welcome to the world of steady girlfriends, my friend"

"You should follow my motto Wu, love them and leave them!" Mendoza informed him. Ken laughed.

Julie chuckled. "And you wonder why have the girls at this school hate you and the other half avoid you!"

"Avoid me, as if" Mendoza replied firmly.

"When was the last time you had a date Mendoza?" Julie asked, hands on hips, waiting for him to prove her point.

"Well, that would be…" Mendoza paused, thinking quickly, and then realised that the goalie was right, it had been a slow month. "Hey, I am just letting the girls simmer at the moment, ok"

"Simmer…"

Ken let out a pained laugh "Can we get back to me, and the man eater that I unfortunately call my girlfriend"

"Then you know what you have to do don't you" Portman informed him wisely. "Dump her"

"Dump her." Ken echoed. "I have never dumped anyone before"

Luis rested his hand on his friends shoulder. "First time for everything"

"How would I dump her?" Ken asked. He felt like such an idiot, mainly because he had never had a girlfriend before. Courtney was his first serious girl, and now, he wanted out. But he also didn't want to hurt her.

"Just be honest man" Portman told him seriously. "Tell her that she is ripping out your soul and you are saving her life, because if you spend any more time together, you are going to murder her."

"Seven words" Luis grinned. "I'm not gay, but I can learn"

Ken rolled his eyes and turned to the other bash brother. "Fult, I trust you more on this subject"

"Ah, wounded, again" Portman exclaimed, grabbing his arm as he did earlier.

"What should I do?" Ken asked, ignoring Portman.

"If you don't want the relationship to continue, dump her, definitely" He replied. Ken nodded. "It is not fair on either of you to continue"

"Shit bro, when did you become doctor Phil?" Portman asked, slapping his shoulder. Fulton grinned as he gave his friend the finger.

"Any advice Jules" Ken asked, turning to her. "I mean, you are like, a girl"

Julie grinned, and then faked an angry look. "Like a girl?"

"I am sorry, that sounded wrong" Ken apologised quickly. Julie smiled and realised that Ken was so preoccupied about what he had to do that he was not really thinking straight about that he was doing at that point in time. "But you know that to us, you are a goalie before you are a girl"

"I will take that as a compliment Ken" Julie grinned, patting his shoulder reassuringly.

Dean grumbled. "You would have bit my head off."

"Be a gentle as possible with her" Julie told him softly. "You might be thinking that he is a bitch right now, but she is still a girl. Delicate"

"Thanks Julie"

"And Ken, one more thing." She told him as he began to skate away. "What ever you do, do not say 'Its not you, its me'"

Ken smiled. "Ok"

"Why cant he use 'Its not you, its me' " Luis asked Julie and Fulton both rolled their eyes.

"Because that is code for 'Well, it is you really'" Fulton told him. Julie smiled. Fult was a boy who understood it all. He was an sky scraper. So many levels.

"Oh, I should stop telling girls that when I break up with them then" Luis mused. They all had to laugh.

Still chuckling, Julie smiled. "You are pathetic Mendoza"

"Pathetic?" he questioned. He was about so say something else, when he was cut off.

"What do you mean it is not working out?" the screeching scream came from the bleachers were Ken and Courtney both sat.

Luis sighed. "Ah shit, she is not taking it well"

"Really?" Fulton asked. "What was your first sign?"

Courtney's screech reached them again. "Ken, what do you mean!"

Adam and Charlie skated over, and the rest of the team followed. "Come on guys, just try and ignore it"

"Ignore that, good luck" Averman replied.

"What is going on?" Goldberg asked.

Dean grinned. "Ken wants out"



"Well, we got that much." Goldberg grinned. "And Courtney is not taking it well"

"She'll cheer up." Luis replied nonchalantly. "Plenty of guys are around to rebound with"

"Mendoza, if you are planning…"

"No" Luis held up her hands. "I don't take Ken's sloppy seconds"

"Why, you took Riley's" Dwayne smiled. Every one looked at him, not expecting the quiet Texan to say something like that. Dwayne was a believer in the old saying, if you cant say anything nice, then don't say anything at all, and it was amazing that he had a vicious enough bone in his body to make a comment like that. To Luis no less. Luis was one of his best friends. The others continued to stand in shock, Connie was the first to start laughing.

Luis saw red "That it, your dead!"

"Would you just clam down, please" everyone on the ice paused, thinking that the exclamation had been directed to them. But as they turned, they realised that Ken had just yelled at Courtney, who was still shrieking at him.

Guy was shocked. "Wow, never thought I would ever hear Ken yell that loud"

"Yeah." Connie nodded, and then turned so that her back was facing the fighting couple. They deserved privacy, but the Ducks could not leave the ice without passing them. "Didn't know the little bash brother had it in him"

Soon, all the team was standing in a straight line, facing away from Ken. They knew that if any one else was to enter, they would look foolish, standing in a straight line with their eyes directed straight ahead.

"I did, remember when he bashed that guy at the games" Portman smiled proudly.

"My bro taught him that" Russ remembered. "Still proud of him"

"Yeah" Adam replied. "He grew up heaps over the last few years"

"We all have" Guy smiled. "Except for Maybe Averman"

"Bite me" Averman retorted

"Case and point" Guy laughed.

"We grew up together" Connie emphasised.

"It is sometimes hard to believe how we got this far" Charlie mused. Sometimes the captain of the ducks honestly scared himself when he looked at the team, especially the original D-5 ducks. They were like a completely different team to the people that he used to meet at the pond and fire pucks with. The others all agreed silently with him. "I remember when we used to play on the pond"

"What do you mean I am controlling!!!" The high pitched scream interrupted their reminiscing.

"You are controlling" Ken bellowed, and once again, the team was amazed that the smaller guy had such rage in him. "I can not make it any clearer."

"The pond still rocks." Connie replied, trying to divert the conversation away from the fight again. There was so much tension in the air from the fighting couple that she was amazed that the Ducks could even have another conversation.

"Yeah" Adam replied "I agree, although I never played there"

"It is so much different from your cake eater ice" Charlie smiled. He couldn't help himself, it was all something that the team could talk and joke about openly now. "Hawk boy"

Adam replied. "I am going to get you for that Spazway"

"So scared" Charlie made himself shake in fear.

"You better be, he has a good right hook" Connie laughed. "Or have you forgotten the punches he threw at the JV/Varsity dawn showdown"

"Lucky shot" Charlie dismissed casually. "I was letting him win…let him have a false sense of hope"

"Just like D-5" Guy replied jokingly. "We never lost, just let every one else win, so that they would think they were better then us"

Adam couldn't help himself. "We were better then you"

"Hey, who won that year" Charlie exclaimed.

"Who won the year before?" Adam returned.

Charlie laughed. "Don't forget what team you are on Banskie!"

"I am annoying!" the scream broke into the conversation.

"Well, yes!" Ken replied. "Very!"

Adam sighed, moving on. "Jesse told me that once"

"I miss Jesse" Averman told the group.

"So do I" Guy added. "The Oreo line…"

"I don't" Goldberg informed the others. "Who am I kidding, of course I miss him. We represented the brothers back then!"

Russ laughed. "He technically got me on the team"

"Ahem, excuse me." Charlie asked. "Who spoke to Bombay about the roster slot"

"But you lot never would have met me if I didn't go to the games to heckle Jesse" Russ countered. Charlie nodded.

"And me" Goldberg added

"True, and Goldberg." Russ sighed sadly. "Ah, good old LA"

Fulton turned to his friend. "You miss LA?"

"Sure"

"I miss Maine sometimes" Julie admitted.

"I miss Texas" Dwayne added, but everybody already knew that.

Luis sighed. "I miss Miami"

"Shit you lot are whiney" Dean announced. "I don't miss Chicago at all"

"Bullshit" Julie exclaimed.

Dean smirked. "Calling me out on that are you Gaffney?"

"Yeah, you miss home. You don't miss the town, but you miss your mom, Dad and Sister" Julie accused him. Dean shrugged nonchalantly.

"And his dog" Fulton added from her other side. "Don't forget about his dog. He dreams about Muttley"

"Leave the Muttster out of this Reed" Dean growled at his best friend before turning back to Julie. "Yeah, ok, I miss them"

Courtney interrupted them again. "I am what?"

"Control Freak!" Ken exclaimed.

"I am not a control freak" Courtney replied, outraged. "But why are you wearing that shirt, I told you to burn it"

Ken just yelled. "Controlling"

"So, you have a dog?" Julie asked, Drawing Dean's attention away from them.

"Sure" Dean replied. "Yorkshire Terrier"

"Oh, so cute" Julie grinned.

"Cute? Cute!" He yelled. This was all to much. "I am sorry, but Muttley is not cute. He is a little scruffy thing. Mutt is a rock and roll terrier"

Fulton would not help but add the comment that was on the tip of his tongue. "And you almost cried when you had to leave him"

"Fult, shut it" Dean growled.

"Well, here, take back your jacket" Courtney screamed.

"Didn't even know you had my jacket!" Ken replied, taking back his leather and suede Ducks jacket. "You dirty thieving Klepto!"

Julie chucked at Ken's choice of words, and then turned back to the conversation she was having with Dean. "You almost cried"

"What can I say, I love the dog" Portman shrugged. As much as Fulton annoyed him fro telling her about Muttley and the attachment that he had to the dog that he and his little sister found in a cardboard box on the road side and kept, he didn't mind telling her, because if they were talking, they were not listening to Courtney and Ken fighting. He did have to admit, however, that it was nice not to be involved in a fight for once. "Dean is looking after it for me while I am here."

"That is so sweet"

Dean glared at her softly. "Don't talk about Mutt and use words like sweet and cute"

"Wasn't." Julie shrugged. "I meant that it is sweet of your sister to look after the dog."

"Oh:" Dean replied, sorry that he had jumped to the conclusion. "That's ok then"

"Does she, Dean, I mean, play hockey?" Julie asked suddenly.

"No, I wish she did" Dean replied truthfully. "Baseball is more her thing. Hit a home run on her first time up to bat."

Julie grinned. "Wow, must be proud"

"I am…" Portman smiled. It was true, when he was younger, he had tried to push his little sister in hockey like him, and she did play, she just didn't enjoy it as much as he did. Joanna 'Dean' Portman was a baseball star, and that was all that mattered to her. Dean could not be prouder.

"Why do you call her Dean?" Julie asked. It was something that had been eating at her ever since the detention. Why did the Portman's call Joanna Dean? What did they call Dean when he was at home? Did they call him Portman? Or did he have some other name all together? It was driving her crazy, her inquisitive mind wanted to know. "I mean, that is your name and everything"

They were interrupted again. "You know what Wu, you can go to hell"

"Hell, no, I am not going to go there, because I don't want to have to share it with you" Ken replied.

"Ah, Wu, that was the wrong thing to say!" Connie said from the opposite end of the line.

"He is in for it now" Adam told the group.

"Three, two, one" Fulton counted, and then, the sound of a palm hitting a cheek echoed around the arena.

"Ouch" Averman smiled. "The Wu Man, getting the slap."

"And that, was a well placed slap" Luis grinned. He would know, he had been slapped a few times in the past years.

Julie sighed. "Poor Ken"

"He did deserve it" Dean told her.

"That's true" She shrugged.

Fulton laughed. "He will bounce back, don't worry about it"

"Of course he will, he is the little bash brother, it is in his genes" Dean added.

"Umm, do we need to explain to you that you are not all really related, you just say that you are" Russ asked. Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Well gee, thank you for clearing the up Russ, I never would have realised that I am not related to the Asian kid" Dean told them, Everyone except for Julie laughed. "I was speaking metaphorically"

"Don't refer to him like that" Julie mumbled.

"How would you prefer I referred to him Jules? As non American?" Dean asked.

"He is an American" Julie replied

"I know he is American. He is an Asian American" Dean told her "He was born in Korea, but he has lived here almost all his life, he is an Asian American. He doesn't deny his culture, so we shouldn't … He is Asian Julie. Just like Russ, Goldberg and Jesse are Black"

"African American" Julie replied softly.

Dean just continued on with his little speech, all the others were listening, amazed at the depth of their friend. "And Luis is…from one of those Latino countries"

Luis had to laugh. Usually he was offended by those type of comments, but this time, with the tension in the air, not only from the fight that Ken was having with Courtney, but also the storm that was brewing between Julie and Dean, he had to laugh. "The word you are searching for is Cuba"

"Thanks man, Cuba" Dean replied.

"Your ignorance astounds me!" Julie exclaimed.

"Ignorance is bliss." Dean laughed. "Or so they say!"

"Are they fighting, again!" Charlie asked Adam.

Adam smiled a little. "When are they not fighting these days"

"They were going so well" Charlie rolled his eyes.

Adam put on his best whiney child voice. "Please. Mommy, Daddy, I hate it when you fight!"

Every one stopped, and stared at Adam before bursting out laughed.

"Banks, that sounds much to natural coming from you" Averman told him.

"What? The comment about fighting, or the fact that he said mommy" Charlie asked, still laughing. From his side, Adam hit his friend in the chest. "Ouch"

"Hey, I love my mom, and I am not ashamed to admit it." Adam informed the group.

"Nothing wrong with admitting you love your mom" Averman replied, holding up his hands. He then grinned and looked at Guy "Nothing wrong with admitting you love Guy's mom either!"

"Oh, would you shut up" Guy groaned, running a hand through his hair. "So she did one modelling job 20 years ago and you lot are not letting her live it down"

Fulton laughed. "Oh, she loves it when we play around with her like that"

"I hate it when you guys do it" Guy sighed.

"Explanation?" Julie asked. They each looked at each other for who would be able to explain it to them.

When no one did it, Goldberg decided to tell them. "Guys mom was in playboy"

"What!?" Dean, Russ, Adam, Luis and Dwayne all yelled.

"It was not playboy." Guy protested. "It was Trans Am weekly"

"Guy, it could have been Playboy, she was draped across that car…" Averman began.

Guy yelled. "Shut it Averman"

"What was she wearing?" Portman asked. Julie rolled her eyes at the predictability.

"Very little" Charlie laughed.

"Guys, can we not!" Guy asked. He seemed really on edge about it all, and Julie wanted to tell them to drop the subject, but she knew that no one else would listen to her. "I am going to be explaining this all to a therapist one day, and I don't want to add the fact that all of my friends drooled over her."

"That's not fair" Luis exclaimed. "We cant shut down this conversation now. I only just found out about this"

"Mendoza, if I find out that you so much as ask any of these guys for the pictures…" Guy growled.

"You mean they have copies?" Dwayne asked, surprised.

"I do" Goldberg smiled.

"I do" Charlie shrugged.

"I do to" Averman claimed.

"Jesse does to" Charlie added. Then, they all turned to Fulton.

"I do…" he replied, but he seemed somewhat ashamed about it.

"Dude, why have you been holding out of me?" Dean asked his friends, genuinely hurt.

"Shit, as soon as we get out of here, I am going to destroy each of your copies" Guy announced.

"You will have to track down Karp and Peter, they were the suppliers. I am sure that Tommy Duncan has a copy to." Goldberg told him.

"You mean…" Guy was almost crying. "Tommy Duncan, the little freak, has had a half naked photograph of my mother for years now. I think I am going to cry"

"So if this Tommy kid has seen it, does this mean we can" Luis asked.

"Some one hit Mendoza" Guy told the gang, rubbing his temples.

"Ouch"

"Thank you" Guy replied. He didn't know who had hit him, he didn't care, he was just glad that some one had.

"So this is it then" Courtney asked. Julie looked over her shoulder quickly, it looked like the fighting was over. "This is goodbye?"

"Yeah Courtney, this is goodbye" Ken replied calmly.

"Thank god, it is almost over" Averman sighed. Connie slapped him.

Courtney sniffed and took a deep breath, holding back a flood of tears. "Well Ken, it was the best while it lasted"

"Yeah, it was" he smiled weakly..

At her side, Dean was laughing to himself. Julie slapped Dean in the stomach. "Dean, stop laughing"

"I cant" He mumbled, holding his sides. "This is so classic"

"Come on Portman, shut it" Fulton told his friend.

"You are going to make some lucky woman very happy one day Ken Wu" Courtney smiled.

"And you are going to drive some poor man insane" Ken told her honestly. "But you are beautiful, so at least you have that going for you"

"Oh Ken, you are so sweet" Courtney grinned and hugged him quickly.

"My god, he just insulted her, to her face, and she is hugging him?" Fulton smiled.

"Blonde" Dean shrugged.

Julie hit him again. "Hey"

"Sorry Jules" he laughed

Courtney was talking again. "I will see you around, right?"

"Sure, we go to the same school" Ken told her. "Be pretty hard not to see each other"

"I will still come to the games. I think I would have to, I feel as though I connected with your friends…" Courtney replied.

"She connected with who, exactly?" Adam asked.

"His friends, apparently" Guy shrugged.

Dwayne laughed. "Did any one ever speak more then two words to the girl?"

"I never did!" Connie replied.

"Raise hands" Averman laughed. "Who actually liked her"

No one made a move to raise their hands. Fulton was the only one who spoke up. "Ken did, to begin with"

Russ laughed. "And he was the only one"

"Bye Ken" Courtney whispered, and then turned to leave.

"Bye Courtney" He called after her. The door to the rink opened, and then closed. Ken let out a cheer. "And she is gone"

"Well done Ken" Portman smiled at his friend as the team all turned to face him again.

"It feels like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders" He smiled, stepping back onto the ice and do a few quick figure skating jumps. "Ding dong the witch is gone."

"That's not nice…" Connie began.

Ken laughed, it was obvious that he could care less. "But it fits. Really it does!"

The door opened and closed again, and Ken turned, scared, thinking that it was Courtney coming back. He relaxed when he realised that it was only Rebecca. She was running, and had a huge smile on her face. The team all skated over to where she was.



"Where was she going in such a hurry." Rebecca asked, obviously meaning Courtney, who probably bumped into her on the way in. "Looks like some one just told her that there is no Santa Clause"

"What!" Dean exclaimed. "There is no Santa Clause"

"Funny, as always" Rebecca smiled. "Guys, there is something I think you should see!"

"What?" Russ asked.

"I cant tell you. You are not going to believe it till you see it for yourself, but we have to hurry, or we will miss it all! Come on!" Rebecca exclaimed. The ducks made their way off of the ice slowly. Rebecca jumped a little, bouncing on the balls of her feet impatiently, trying to make them hurry up.

"OK" Charlie smiled, patting her on the head as he passed. Rebecca snapped her teeth at him and they laughed.

"Now guys, Hurry up." She groaned. "Kick off your skates, don't even bother with shoes, we need to move."

"Well, we have been given an order guys" Charlie sighed.

"That's right captain Duck." Rebecca said quickly. "Chop chop"

Dwayne asked as Rebecca grabbed random hands and began pulling the ducks from the arena. "What are you taking us to see"

"Something that I know you will love as much as I do" She told them cryptically. "I ran all the way from the courtyard."

"You must be tired" Fulton smiled at his friend.

Rebecca smiled. "Just waiting for a certain Bash brother to offer to carry me!"

"Cant, bad back" Dean told her seriously, resting a hand on his lower back. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Not talking about you" she replied, wrapping an arm around Fulton and giving him a sweet and innocent look.

Fult smiled. "Jump on"

They all ran to the front of the school. It was a strange look, because they were all still barefoot, except for Beck, who was being carried on Fulton's back.

"Ok, good, we didn't miss it" she smiled as they got to the teachers car park, which was beside the Eden Hall main office.

"Is that…Cop cars?" Connie asked.

"Cop cars!" Rebecca confirmed.

Russ laughed. "Shit, hide the black boys"

"Calm down Russ" Rebecca grinned, climbing down off of Fulton's back and sitting on the ground. "And watch it all unfold"

The Ducks all sat and watched the front door of the main school building, waiting for any type of movement. Only a few minutes passed before the door opened, and a few police officers exited.

"Movement" Adam exclaimed. The whole team looked to where he was pointing.

"Old Man Walsh" Dean announced. Two police officers were leading Old Man Walsh from the building. They got to one of the cars, and the police officer pushed the man into the back of the car, closing the door behind him.

"They are arresting Old Man Walsh?" Dwayne asked.

"Or at least taking him in for questioning" Russ nodded.

"Either way, he is gone" Dean yelled happily. "Gone. Gone. The bane of my existence. Gone!"

"Look y'all" Dwayne smiled, pointing to the front of the school building again. The Dean and Meredith had just exited the building with a few police officers. Meredith shook the hand of one of the officers, and then made her way down the front steps. Dwayne stood, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted "Meredith!"

Meredith looked up, and then quickly made her way over to where the ducks and Rebecca were sitting in the corner of the parking lot. When she approached, she sat down with them.

"What's going on" Julie asked as they watched the cop cars pull out of the parking lot and take off down the street.

"Sorry to say, that due to numerous discrepancies, Gareth Walsh has been fired from the Eden hall Faculty." Meredith told the group. "He is also being questioned by the police for items found in his house."

Dean was grinning like it was Christmas, and so was Julie, but for a completely different reason. Meredith looked relaxed as well.

"A sicko like that has no business being anywhere near children" Meredith announced to the group before standing and leaving them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pixi13 - This one was for you. Ken broke up with the cheerleader. He did it well to. Meredith was smart getting them out of there. And there was no way in hell I would let her leave Rebecca in there all by herself. Especially with the pervert. Old Man Walsh's character was a surprise to me. I had intended him to just be a name that was mentioned once or twice, but now he is a pervert who got fired. Cool. I am glad you liked the poem. I had like 12 Pixie sticks and then tried to go to sleep. Didn't happen, but the poem did.

Kayla - Well, he didn't get beaten up, but he got fired. So I hope that is ok with you. Go ahead and say what ever you want o about Old Man Walsh, I don't mind. I am glad every one hates him. I hate him to. I wish that I had teachers like Meredith. I never did, and it was not fair. Meredith is the teacher that I want to be someday. Loud, crazy, a lot of fun yet still as tough as nails.

Bloody Raine - I agree, Meredith rocks. There is just something about her. She still acts like a teenager, but the Duck's respect her authority. And I agree, Dean is a deep person. The story of Dean's little sister and her name will be explained later on in the story. Very deep. Now go, rent breakfast club!! Fantastic movie.

Megan - I loved the breakfast club to. When I was like 5, I thought that Bender was so cool. Molly Ringwald pisses me off though.

Cathryn - Yeah, Matt is a wimp, but as for him hooking up with Julie, you will just have to wait and see. And you sort your M&M's by colour? I sort them alphabetically! (Ah Tara, you are hilarious!) I am also glad you liked the poem. I laughed my head off as I wrote it.

Baby52098 - I am glad you like this fic. Thank you for all the nice things that you said about it. I hope you continue to read to see what else happens.