Romeo and Julie - Chapter 12

Disclaimer - I don't own em.

Notes - Shorter then the last ones, but not really short. Hope you like it, review it.

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"Dude, that side needs to go up a little bit."

They were hanging a banner. On two ladders that the Duck's had borrowed from the Manual Arts department, stood Fulton and Ken. They each held a corner of the big paper banner which read 'Thankyou Meredith' and they were trying to secure it to the wall above the stage. On the ground, Dean and Julie were holding the ladders steady, and informing their friends if the banner was straight.

"Now it is to high, it needs to go down" Julie told Ken, who lowered his side of the banner.

"No, then it is to low, up again!" Dean told Fulton. Fulton just shook his head and pressed the Banner against the wall, making the adhesive stick.

"Dean, I have to agree with Julie." He told his friend as he began to climb down that ladder. Obviously, he no longer cared about what the banner looked like and whether or not it was straight. "You are annoying"

"Hey, don't say shit like that, I am holding your ladder" Dean smiled, shaking the ladder softly as his bash brother tried to climb down it. "Be a terrible shame to lose a bash brother"

"Then he would be a splat brother" Julie sighed, laughing to herself. She looked up when she realised that none of the others were laughing, and then went bright red. "I know, that was lame."

"Yeah, channelling Averman" Dean replied.

"Harsh but fair" Averman smiled, coming up behind the group and looking up at the sign. He tilted his head to the side and smiled sarcastically. "I think it looks about right."

"Well, tough, I suddenly don't feel safe being half way up a ladder and relying on Portman" Fulton grinned, happy that his feet were on the ground again (well, not the ground, he could very easily still be thrown off the stage by Portman, but he felt safer then being on the ladder. )

"I am hurt that you would say that!" Dean exclaimed sadly, slapping his smiling friend on the back. "I remember when we used to be tight. We used to be close…brothers even. And now we are letting a girl come between us."

Julie looked up from where she was discussing something with Ken. "I am not coming between you."

"Never said that you were coming between us." Dean replied, then grinned at Fulton slyly. "Your roommate on the other hand"

"What!" Julie asked confused, looking between the boys. "She is not…"

"Coming between us, but she is there" Dean replied.

Fulton shrugged and jumped down off of the stage. "I have no idea what you are talking about"

"Fulton and Rebecca, sitting in a tree…" Dean sang, following his friend.

"Speaking about her ex boyfriend who only dumped her days ago" Fulton finished for him. Dean looked at his feet. Hey, shouldn't they be in his mouth.

"Oh" was all he could say.

"Yeah, Oh" Fulton smiled, collapsing into a seat in the front row and reaching into his backpack, sneaking out a bottle of soda. There was no drinking in the classrooms, but he had never been one to follow the rules. "Me and Beck are just friends"

"But you like her" Dean laughed, sitting in the seat beside his friend and pulling a bottle of soda out of his own bag. What could he say, he broke the rules to. "You think she is pretty"

"Not a total hag" Fulton shrugged, and hoped to god that his friend could not see the pink that was invading his cheeks. He could not believe he was a blusher. It annoyed him, and made it easy to tell when he was thinking something he shouldn't be.

"Liar" Portman smiled, shoving his elbow roughly into his friends ribs. He saw the blush his friend was sporting. It was almost as much fun to make Fulton blush as it was to make Jules blush.

"Yeah, ok, she is pretty. And she is nice, and she has more brain cells then that stupid bimbo that Wu was dating, but that doesn't mean that I like her" Fulton admitted. There was no way that he would be able to get out of the conversation now.

Dean shrugged. "I beg to differ"

"And I beg for you to shut up" Fulton replied, wondering if there was anyway that he could twist the conversation around so that he would be the one with the power. He just settled with standing, returning his drink to his bag, and indicating to the others in the room. "We have work to do"

"Yeah, ok, but later on, we have to talk about all this" Dean replied, also standing.

"Oh really" Fulton giggled brightly. "You going to paint my nails and braid my hair as well"

"Well, your hair is long enough" Dean told him, pulling a strand of black hair that had escaped the bandana his friend was wearing. Fulton slapped his hand away.

He pulled his bandana off, brushed his hair back and put it on again, making sure all of his hair was covered by it. "Hey, shoulder length is the new style cut this season"

"Ladies, are you done?" Julie asked, rolling her eyes as she approached.

"Almost" Dean grinned at her. "Why?"

"Because I heard what you were saying." Julie informed them "And if you do anything to hurt Beck, I will draw and quarter both of you!"

"And we believe you" Dean smiled, resting his shoulder around her shoulders. Julie rolled her eyes and shrugged him off.

Fulton smiled softly. "I wouldn't hurt Beck, Jules. She is…"

"The one you wish to marry" Dean finished for him.

Fulton glared at him. He looked around a little, and realised that Julie had disappeared (probably rolling her eyes as she went), but Fulton wanted to mess with his friend. "And you want to marry Julie, so you can call it even"

Dean went silent, and looked behind him. He took a deep breath when he realised that Julie was gone. Didn't mean he wasn't going to make Fulton pay. He would save it up for later, when he thought he was safe, when he was not one edge…

"Guys, she is coming" Connie called softly from the door.

"Hide" Guy added.

"Hide" Dean asked as he watched people scramble for places to hide. "Who's stupid idea was that?"

"Portman, just hide" Russ replied.

Dean shrugged and jumped over the row of seats that he was standing in front of. He would just lay on the floor. That was a good enough hiding place. Not very imaginative, but there was no way that he was going to go and try to stuff himself into some crack in the wall. He was to big for that sort of stuff. He landed on the floor on the other side to find it lumpy and complaining.

"Oh, you weigh a ton" Julie groaned. Dean cleared his head, and realised that he was laying on Julie, who had obviously had the same idea. He was suddenly light headed, laying on the floor of the school auditorium, pressed up against Julie. This was all to much to deal with.

"Oh, hello" Dean smiled weakly at her as she shifted under him a little, trying to find a comfortable spot. He was still on her, crushing her into the itchy carpeting. "Sorry, didn't know you were there"

"Why don't I believe that" Julie muttered.

"I don't know, why don't you?" He shrugged. She thought that he planned this? If he had of thought of it, he probably would have planned it, but this was all just a strange coincidence. Some one up there either really loved him, or really hated him.

"Hey, I thought you said that she was coming" Charlie called from some where in the Auditorium.

"She was coming" Connie replied. She was probably hidden somewhere with Guy, because she sounded annoyed at being interrupted.

"The cowboy is outside running interference." Luis called. "Giving us time to hide"

Adam laughed. "How long does he think that we need?"

"You really do weigh a ton" Julie mumbled after a few moments of silence. Dean looked down at her.

"Sorry" He whispered, wrapped and arm around her and rolled so that he was laying on his back and she was cradled on his chest. "That better"

Julie bit her lip and tried not to look into his eyes. "A little"

"What do you mean, a little" He asked her.

"Nothing" She replied. "There is nothing that we can do, we just have to keep hiding"

He nodded and closed his eyes. He needed to concentrate on something other then the girl that was pressed against his chest. She was breathing in time with him, and for some reason, that was the only thing he could focus on. When ever he would take a deep breath, she would to, making the muscles in her stomach contract against his. This was to perfect, and Dean wondered if she thought so to.

"Dean"

"Yes" He asked, he didn't realise that his hands had settled on her hips.

"Could you move your hands" She asked him. Dean smiled and ran them carefully up her back, tracing the line of her spine. Julie shuddered. "I meant, could you move them away from me"

"If you honestly want me to do so" Dean said softy. He hoped she could not tell that her request had hurt him. Was she that repulsed by him that he could not even hold her like this? The way he saw it, it was an innocent embrace, because there were so many other things that he could be doing to her at that moment. And it was taking all of his self control to hold himself back. She shouldn't be asking me to stop touching her, Dean told himself, she should be offering me a knighthood for being such a gentleman.

"I honestly want you to" Julie replied. "Please"

"Ok" Dean nodded to himself and dropped his hands to his side. Now the way he was laying was uncomfortable, there was an automatic ache in his shoulder, and he was sure he had just put his hand in gum. "Better?"

"Much, thankyou" Julie replied, for the first time looking into his eyes. Dean brought his hand up to her cheek and ran his fingertips down it softly. Julie closed her eyes and smiled.

"Gee Cowboy, we a hidden, let her in already" Goldberg's voice called from the corner of the room. And the tender moment between them was broken.

"What are you doing?" Julie hissed, jerking away from him.

"Sorry, your hair was in my face" Dean mumbled. Julie nodded to herself, then pulled her hair so that it was all over one shoulder, wondering why she had thought it would be such a good idea to where it loose today.

"Then I should be saying sorry" Julie mumbled.

"No, its fine, honestly." Dean replied, lifting his arm above his head, flexing it, and then dropping it to his side again. And once again, his hand brushed against the gum.

This was horrible. The carpet was making him itchy, his body heat had no where to go, so his back was hitting temperatures that he felt he could fry an egg on. He was tensing his stomach muscles to that has abs felt defined ageist Julie's stomach, he was trying not the think of the dull ache in his shoulder that had just graduated to a pain, and above all else, he had Julie on him, and he couldn't touch her. She would not let him touch her.

It felt so right, the way she rested on him. If she was to lower her head to his chest, it would tuck nicely into the gap just under his jaw. Then, he could wrap his arms around her back, and it would all be perfect. She fit perfectly into his arms. He wondered if she thought so to.

"Julie." He asked softly. Julie looked down at him again "Are you comfortable?"

"Well, yes, why, are you?" She asked, suddenly realising that it may not have been comfortable for him to be lying with her on him. "Do you want me to move?"

"No, I am fine like this." He replied quickly. "More then fine…"

Julie's jaw dropped. "You are so…"

"I don't mean like that Jules, although having your body pressed against mine is very nice" He admitted. Julie rolled her eyes at him. He was so damn predictable sometimes. She relaxed a little against him as he continued on. "I was just laying here, thinking, you fit comfortably in my arms…"

Julie sighed. She knew where he would be leading with his conversation. "Don't do this Dean"

"Don't to what? state the facts?" Dean asked her. "Well, I am sorry. We do fit together well. We always have"

"Why are you pushing this?" Julie asked him softly. This was going to lead to a fight, she could tell that it would. It was impossible for them to discuss what was going on between them without if turning into a fight. She didn't want to fight with him, especially now, when she physically could not get away from him. Julie was afraid that one of these times, she would end up saying something that she would live to regret.

"Because I honestly don't believe that you don't want me" Dean told her. It was the truth. Julie could tell him a million times that she didn't want him, but there would always be something there, something more that would stop him from believing it.

"You are so full of yourself" Julie sighed.

"Julie, Be honest" Dean mumbled.

"All I have ever been is honest" She replied.

Dean almost laughed. "And now I am the one who doesn't believe you"

"Tough" Julie growled at him.

"Tough?" He asked. She nodded and Dean went on. "Ok, tough"

"What is that suppose to mean?" She asked him, looking into his eyes. The intense eyes that she had been avoiding meeting for a while, not only today, but it felt like she had been avoiding his gaze since the first time that he had kissed her.

"What it means Jules, is that I am not sure I want to try anymore." he told her. Julie looked suspicious.

"You will leave me alone?"

"If you decide that that is what you want. I never expected you to jump into my arms Jules, but I also never expected you to hurt me like this…" Dean replied carefully.

"Hurt you?" she interrupted. How was this possibly hurting him?

"But you have made your decision." He continued on, ignoring her interruption. "You want Matt"

"Matt?" Julie questioned. Then she remembered. Matt, the boy that she was meant to be smitten with. The boy that she was smitten with. "Oh yeah, Matt"

Dean grinned brightly. "What was that tone?"

"Nothing, you are right, I want Matt" Julie told him.

"No you don't" Dean accused.

"I do" She whispered, outraged. Dean laughed to himself.

"I just mentioned him, and you acted as though you didn't even know who I was talking about!" he relied. He could not believe it, without even meaning to, he had called her bluff. Must have been something that he subconsciously picked up from Fulton.

"No I didn't." Julie replied weakly. She had to work out a way to get the conversation back to something other then what it was turning out to be. "How could I forget about Matt?"

"Because he is your lab partner. Only your lab partner, and you have no feelings for him what so ever" Dean accused, his smile brightening.

"That's not true." Julie replied quickly. "I like Matt. Hell, I might even love Matt"

"Yeah, but it is not romantic love" Dean informed her. "You love him like I love raw cookie dough"

"You like raw cookie dough?" Julie asked suddenly. "So do I!"

"Julie, stop changing the subject" Dean replied. "You don't love him. You could never love him."

Julie's jaw dropped. Who did he think he was, telling her who she could love and who she couldn't. She reminded herself to kill him as soon as she possibly could. "How would you know who I could love?"

"He is not your type." Dean replied with finality.

"And what is my type, oh wise bash brother?" she asked him. She was interested to knew what he thought her type was. Would he just automatically describe himself?

"Not Matt. You like guys who can look after you, not wimpy little science brains like Matty Goddard. You need a man who can understand what you are talking about when the conversation turns to hockey. You need a boy who would get excited over you, not some new advancement in the sciences of micro-whatever. You need a guy like…"

"You?" Julie asked.

"Well, if that is your suggestion" Dean shrugged.

Julie shook her head at him. He could not be any further from the truth. "You don't understand, I don't care if he cant look after me. I can look after myself. What I need a is man who can challenge me. Who can stimulate me mentally and emotionally. I need a man who can talk to me about the socio economic situation in Africa, not a man who can talk to me about hockey. I need…"

"I get it." Dean replied, lifting a hand and pressing it against her mouth, silencing her so that he could fit in what he needed to say. "You think you know what you need, but believe me, Matt would bore the hell out of you within days."

"You think so do you" Julie asked, muffled though his hand. She wondered if she should bite his hand to get him to move it.

"I know so" Dean replied, pulling his hand away and dropping it once again to his side. Once again, it landed in gum. "But it doesn't matter what I know. Because you are so set in your ways that you would not listen to a word I have to say anyway."

Julie rolled her eyes and dropped her head, wincing as it collided with his collar bone. "Why is this all so complicated all of a sudden?"

"What?" he asked. He was stuck somewhere between wincing, because she cracked her head harshly onto his collar, or smiling and inwardly rejoicing, because she was now somewhat relaxed against his chest.

"Life" She mumbled, her words muffled in the fabric of his shirt. "Our friendship"

"Because it is not a friendship anymore" He admitted truthfully. Julie looked up at him, lifting her head from his shoulder. "It is a relationship"

"It is not a relationship" she told him firmly.

"It is." he replied. "Cant you see that"

"Dean, cant we just go back to when it was not this hard" She asked, resting her head on his chest again. Her ear was pressed against his heart, and she was following his heartbeat

"Life is hard Jules" he replied.

"And you are making it harder" Julie accused.

"You are making it harder on yourself" He replied strongly. "Stop hiding who you are"

"You are hiding to" She accused, once again lifting her head.

"I would say out of the two of us, I am the honest one" Dean retorted. Julie shook her head.

"You are honest, but hiding who you really are" Julie told him. She pressed her hands onto the carpet just above his shoulders and lifted her body a little so that she would be able to look down at him. So that she could trick him into thinking she as in control, that she had the power. "Dean Portman, to every one else you are the big scary enforcer who enjoys loud music and bashing people up. In the last few days, I have found out that you are more. You are Dean Portman, older brother of a girl who uses your name, proud owner of a Yorkshire terrier and someone that has a completely different nickname around your family. You never told me about any of this"

"You never asked." He replied, shrugging. "How does that make me a hider?"

"It just does" she replied.

"So then everyone is hiding" He smiled. Then he shook his head. "There are things that should just stay hidden"

Julie smiled. "So then hide what you think you feel for me and lets go back to the way it was"

"I cant" Dean replied. It wasn't so much that he couldn't hide his feelings, it was more that he didn't want to hide what he felt for her. "And if you can hide what you feel for me, then I think that you should go to oz and ask the wizard for a heart"

"God, what is it with you and old movies?" She asked. Dean shrugged dismissively.

"Just something else I have been hiding"

"I deserved that" Julie smirked at him.

They remained in silence for at least a minute before Julie whispered. "Dean, say something"

"I don't think that there is anything left to say" Dean replied. Their whole conversation had confused him, and he honestly didn't know what to say to her.

"We really have nothing to say to each other?" she asked. She never thought that she would see the day that she would run out of things to say to Dean. Even now, there was so much left unsaid.

Dean shrugged. "I could plead my case again, but that will do no good"

"Dean, I am…"

"Don't say you are sorry" Dean told Julie quickly, cutting off the rest of her statement. "Because you are not"

"Ok" Julie smiled falsely at him. She needed to make it seem like the tension in the air between them was non existent. She looked up and around as much of the room as she could see from her spot on the floor "Wonder where Meredith and Cowboy are?"

"Small talk, fantastic…" Dean sighed, and rolled his eyes a little. "Jules, if we have nothing to say, lets just not talk"

Julie nodded and rested her head on his shoulder again. There was not enough space for her to lay beside him in the small row, and her neck was beginning to ache from the way that she was sitting. Her comfort overcame her pride, and she settled against him. She could tell that he was surprised, pleasantly, because his head began to pound in his chest.

And it was then, that she realised that Dean had been right about one thing. They did fit together comfortably. Her head fit neatly into the gap of her shoulder, her hips rested softly on his, and if she had let him leave his arms were they had been, he would be holding her nicely. If things were not so complicated…

She looked up at him again, and realised that his eyes were closed. He looked like he was asleep. Julie couldn't help but wonder if that was what he looked like when he was asleep, peaceful and so, childish. A different type of childish to the way he acted. With his eyes shut, he looked so innocent, he looked everything that he was not. He ceased to be a bash brother when he slept, and he became the other Dean. The terrier owning, proud of his sister, completely different name Dean that she had been catching glimpses of.

She shifted, and he did not open his eyes. She smiled and reached up to his hair, fingering a strand to the side and then, without even thinking about it, she lent forward and pressed her lips to his.

He didn't kiss her back, instead, he pushed her away softly.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, opening her eyes. Julie bit her lip and looked away from him. She had no idea why she had just kissed him, it all just seemed so natural for her to do so, and now he looked angry. "You cant have your cake and eat it to. Jules, you made your bed, and now you have to lie in it. This is not a matter for not buying the cow but getting the milk for free"

"That's a lot of analogies." she mumbled, trying to break the tension.

"Julie, work out what the hell you want, and then get back to me." He replied, shifting her away from him and standing. As soon as he got to his feet, the Auditorium door opened.

"Surprise" the ducks all stood and yelled. At his side, Julie sat on one of the chairs. Neither Dean nor her had participated in the screaming.

Meredith stumbled back, her hand on her chest. "What the hell!"

"Just a little celebration, nothing fancy, to thankyou for getting us out of detention the other day. And so thank you for getting rid of Old Man Walsh" Charlie announced, moving to stand beside their teacher.

Dean silently went to join the group. He didn't know how to deal with the whole Julie situation. Had she not just spent all that time convincing him that it could never happen? and then she had kissed him. Why had she kissed him? Oh god she frustrated him sometimes.

Dean turned back to what Meredith was telling the others. "First off, I didn't get rid of him. His adventures in child pornography got him fired. And secondly, it is wrong to party about it. Take the banner down, we have to practice."

"Is everything alright Meredith" Luis asked. The rest of the group seemed concerned by the crabby mood that their favourite teacher was in.

"Yeah fine, just peachy." She sighed sarcastically. "I have been given all of Walsh's geography classes. Which means I am super busy. So get to work. Now, has Rebecca Roman or Matthew Goddard arrived yet?"

"They are in their own classes." Guy replied, confused. The rest of the group seemed confused to. Why would Matt or Rebecca be coming to one of their classes? "We all have English at the same time"

"Yeah, I understand, but I have arranged for them to come here once a week" Meredith replied, sitting in one of the seats.

Dean looked at her teacher. He understood that she had offered Beck the roll of musical director, but he had no idea why she would need Matt. "Why do you need Matty?"

"Because he knows how to run the school sound and lighting systems" Meredith replied. She was doing a quick roll call while Luis and Ken climbed the ladders and took down the banner that the others had spent so long of getting almost perfect.

"Of course he does" Dean rolled his eyes and made his way to the back row to sit down and thinking.

Meredith heard his tone and watched him walk to the back of the room and sit heavily. "Is there a problem Portman?"

"No, no problem" Dean smiled at the teacher who had just called across the room to him. It was good to know that Meredith understood things. She was the type of teacher that when she said the 'I am always available if you need to talk' line, you would believe her, and she would be the teacher that you would go to with problems.

"Good" she nodded, not really believing him. Behind him, the door opened, and Rebecca and Matt entered. "Oh, here you are, you are late"

"Sorry Meredith, Mr. Walken is a dickhead" Rebecca replied honestly. Matt looked as though Meredith would explode at her for her language, but she just smiled.

"Hey, maybe we can get him fired next" Averman smiled. Meredith laughed and shook her head.

"We need to get a move on." She announced to her class. "Matt, go up to the Audio-lighting booth. I am not sure when the last time it was cleaned out was, so it may need a little work. Rebecca, I see you brought something along?"

"Violin" Rebecca smiled, tapping her hand on the case that she had with her. Her black violin case was covered in rock band stickers.

"Want to show me what you can do?" Meredith asked, indicating to the stage.

Rebecca smiled, jumped up onto the stage, and took out her violin. Seconds later, she began playing the first thing that came into her head. It was a piece that she had been working on for a little while. She had written it with the hopes that the string quartet could play it at the local competition. Judges at those competitions always heard the same songs over and over, so it was nice to add something that they would have never heard before.

She had not written it all by herself, but this section was the violin solo that she had been working on. It took a haunting turn, making the whole piece that the quartet play have more musical tension. As always, she got caught up in what she was doing.

And so had the others. The Ducks, who were scattered throughout the room, doing other things had all stopped what they were doing, some even pausing mid sentence, to stare in awe at Rebecca.

She stopped abruptly, and lowered her instrument. The Ducks were still staring, and she looked at the floor. This was always the worst part of any performance, when no one would say or do anything. Suddenly, Connie stood and began cheering. Before she knew it, all the Ducks were cheering.

"That's all I have so far" she explained quickly to Meredith, who was still smiling at her.

"You wrote that?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, well, that section at least. With the quartet we have written a 10 minute piece…" Rebecca told her, and then realised that she was rambling a little, and that Meredith was yet to really say anything. "If you don't like it…"

"I love it, that was, spectacular." Meredith grinned, pulling the younger girl into a quick hug. "Rebecca, do you like to be challenged?"

"A challenge like writing a whole musical score?" Rebecca asked.

"You read my mind" Meredith replied. Rebecca bit her lip.

"I can give it a try" She replied, already thinking about ways that she could adapt the 10 minutes of music that the quartet had written into a almost 2 hour score. "I promise nothing though"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Matt opened the door of the lighting booth in the back of the auditorium, only to almost be hit in the head with a falling lamp. He caught it just before it managed to hit the ground, and shoved it back into the booth. The booth that was in fact, a mess. A complete mess.

"Shit, this hasn't been cleaned in ages" he mumbled to himself.

"No, and it looks like you are a sucker who gets the job" A voice said from behind him. Matt turned to see Julie leaning casually against the doorframe, frowning at the mess.

"Oh, hey Julie" He grinned. "Come to help out I hope"

"Well, ok" Julie smiled, sliding her hands into her pockets casually. "But I actually came to ask if we had any scientific evidence to support our biology thesis."

"We have enough" Matt replied, handing her a box of things that she took outside. The plan was the empty the booth, and then restock it correctly, then, maybe, he would be able to work with the lighting board and get some work done for the musical. "That is due in a few weeks right"

"We will be ready?" Julie asked. It felt like so long since she and Matt had worked on their assignment. But it had only been Saturday, and today Wednesday, but so many other things had happened since then.

"Yeah" Matt smiled and handed her another pile of things to put outside. Julie took it. "I meant to ask you how everything went with Dean the other day"

"Huh?"

"After you stopped him from killing me in the hall" Matt reminded. Julie smiled. She had been hoping not to have to talk about Dean.

"Ah, it went alright." She replied. "I can manage him"

"He has this strange possessive thing going on when it comes to you" matt informed her quickly.

Julie groaned and rolled her eyes. "What did he say to you?"

"That you may not be his girlfriend now, but that doesn't mean that you wont be one day" Matt shrugged. Julie saw red.

"He said that?"

"Not in those exact words, but yeah" matt replied, handing over another pile of things.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Julie practically shouted.

"Its ok Jules." Matt replied, resting a hand on her shoulder to clam her a little. "It was just words"

"He is just so…frustrating" Julie replied. "He oversteps the boundaries sometimes."

Matt looked at her seriously. "Jules, if he ever does anything to hurt you…"

"Thanks." Julie smiled. "But if he does anything to hurt me, there will be more then enough volunteers to hurt him. You would have to take a number."

"People on your own team would hurt him, just because he hurt you?" Matt asked.

"It is a strange idea, true, but it is the way it is." Julie shrugged, taking another handful of stuff that was being offered to her. "Any one who hurts Connie or I have to deal with the consequences. Even if they are a Duck."

"Must be nice to feel protected"

"Sometimes I feel over protected." Julie admitted. As much as she enjoyed knowing that the boys would look after her no matter what, it was to much. "But yeah, it is like having a bunch of brothers."

"Julie…" Matt began as he held out another pile of things. Julie paused and looked at him. "Well, I was wondering. At the art gallery at town there is a exhibition in abstract art. And well, I was thinking, maybe if you wanted to, tomorrow afternoon we could blow off studying and go check it out"

"Like, a date?" Julie asked. Her mind immediately went to Dean, and what he would say if she was to go on a date with Matt. But then she reminded herself that there was not reason why she should care about that. What ever it was that was between Dean and her had to be changed. She had been saying for a week that she would rather date Matt. Now was her chance to prove that to Dean, once and for all.

"It doesn't have to be." Matt explained quickly. "But yeah, like a date"

"Sure, I would love to"

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Kayla - Are you throwing a fit? Calm down, calm down. Take deep breaths. Deep breaths are the key. When I wrote the end of this chapter, I knew that you would chuck a fit about it, since you have told me from the beginning that you hate Matt, but I have to get you to promise that you will continue to read this fic, because there will be a ending that I believe you will enjoy. Please keep reading. You really are lucky that you have good English teachers, I have always had average teachers, no fantastic ones. Yeah, I am glad Walsh is gone to. And I glad that you love the fact that he has a terrier. I was thinking of giving him a poodle. But then I thought that at least the story of finding a terrier on the road side would be more believable. Plus my step mum has a terrier, and it is cute. Connie is getting to her, we will all just have to wait to see what happens next.

Lya37 - I am glad that you have stopped lurking. I love to hear from people and I am glad that you laughed. Always laugh, it is the best therapy. And the Ducks trying not to get involved in the break up. I loved writing it. Conversation is always stupid when tensions are high. I am glad you are enjoying it, and I hope you keep reading.

Squidslilpyro - I am glad that you like this chapter. Thank you for the review.

Jocelyn (hope you don't mind, your name is two long to type out) - Yeah, science can wait! I am glad that you liked last chapter. There was always a comment in the first movie that surprised me "Guy, its your mom" that always made me laugh (and then young Adam makes a comment on "great bathroom reading" Mr. Banks, you are two young to know what to do with that!) Anyway. It always amused me that the whole team understand that comment about Guy's mom. Well, lets make her an ex model. Draped across a car. And lets torture the poor boy and say every one has a copy. Yeah, Rebecca and Fulton sort their M&M's. I had to find something to make them bond, so why not go something like that. And Walsh is gone. Hooray. Oh don't cry, there really is a Santa.

Pixie13 - I am glad you liked it. Ken's break up was all for you. Now you can do whatever you want to with the pieces. (pieces meaning Ken)

Nikkiloola - I am glad you are content. I hope this chapter makes you content to. Creepy teacher gone. And Beck out of the room. I always just thought that was common sense for her to get the her the hell out of there. I would not leave anyone, boy, girl or farm animal in a room with a teacher like that. I am glad you liked that "Fulton is like a skyscraper, he has levels" thing. That was a last minute addition. I was going to say "Fulton is like an onion. He has layers" but thought that it was overdone, thanks to Shrek. He is a great guy… And you want him to have a romance with Beck. You will just have to wait and see.

Please Review.