"Look, I'm telling you I don't need any medicine." Julie growled at the nurse. Portman shot awake at the sound of his friend's voice raised in agitation. He realized that his teammate was attempting to get out of the bed.

"You have a nasty break you have to be in pain." The nurse was arguing.

"If she says she's not in pain she's not."

Julie jumped and looked to the chair where her protector had been sleeping minutes ago. Now he was wide awake and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"But."

"Just go away." Julie said and Portman saw that she was again the girl he'd first met if looking a little worse for ware. In a huff the nurse left.

"Thanks." Julie said to him and there was now he saw pain in her blue eyes.

"Jules, you are in pain why did you lie t her and say your not?" There was no annoyance in his voice just curiosity.

"I don't like feeling fuzzy headed." She confessed.

"Got you." He said with a nod. That was one of those things he could definitely appreciate that sentiment.

"Hey did you are probably hungry." She said after a minute then nodded over at a trey on the swivel table.

"Your not?"

"I'm not a breakfast person."

"You always eat though." He pointed out.

"Only when we're in training." She explained and he realized what she already had, she'd miss the last game of the season, not to mention the dance.

"Tel you what, I'll eat if you will." He said moving for the table. He positioned it across her lap then moved to sit on the side of the bed.

"I'm not," But he was uncovering the main plate and she saw the eggs and over cooked bacon.

"Come on it's not that bad." He said and she realized she must have been making a disgusted face.

"Right, it's hospital food Portman, have you ever had to eat this?" She muttered using the knife to move the running eggs.

"Ok, point taken." He said then added after a minute of thought. "Tell you what you split this with me and I'll buy a burger on the way back to Eden hall."

"You will?" She asked and he smiled at the sound of surprise in her voice.

"You bet."

*****

"Where are we going? I have to get back and pack and."

"The scholarship's safe." Portman said and as he took the turn she glanced over at Portman.

"That still doesn't tell me where we're going." Julie pointed out.

"Just sit back and relax." He told her and shifted into cruse control.

"I don't know if I can." She muttered.

"Sure you can, think about it Jules, here in your seat you have no worries, no exams, no homework, no hockey, no danger just you and me and the open road." Portman said and they were shifting into high again.

He was right, they were on a back road and there were no other cars in any direction. Julie rested her head back against the seat and slowly the thumping music and the thrumming of the car lulled her into a peaceful mood. "Better?" Portman asked a time later, they'd been going at a steady pace and she was so relaxed that she didn't even flinch when she saw the speedometer.

"Much, this was just the thing." Dana sighed.

"Good, from what I gather yesterday was not the best day."

"I'd say, then to be stuck in that stupid hospital." She said and the disgust in her voice made him smile.

"I know the feeling. The first time I had to stay in the hospital I was ten and broke my collarbone." He admitted.

"Ouch, she winced in sympathy.

"Yeah, it was." There was a little smile in his voice. "Then there was Nurse Burney." Portman said and she glanced over at him then.

"Burney?"

"Well, she kind of reminded me of my uncle Burney."

"Your kidding?"

"Nope she had the same mustache."

That did it Julie broke into uncontrollable giggles.

Portman took a turn then glanced over at her; she seemed to definitely be feeling better." That was a good thing, he didn't like to think of the feeling that had come over her last night, that rage at the thought of what Riley had done and what he could still do. Now he fought that back, using the sound of his base and the purr of the engine to lull him as well. Then he asked.

"So hamburgers or fried chicken?"

"Chicken?" Julie glanced over hat him; she'd finally managed to get herself under control.

"Well, if we head back on our current route we'll pass both Burger palace and Dolly's chicken pagoda."

"Hum, what do you like better?"

"Truthfully?" He asked and she nodded.

"The palace." Portman said and Julie nodded.

"Then the palace it is." She said.

*****

They pu8lled in to the lot of the fast food place and before she could open the car door Portman was around the hood and handing her the crutches.

"Thanks." Julie replied wondering if maybe sleeping in that hospital chair had effected Portman's brain, he was never so solicitous.

"Ok, so what do you want to eat?" He asked and she looked up at him as he held the door of the fast food restaurant open.

"Um, just a cheese burger."

"Right." He responded and suggested she take a seat while he place their order. As she sat there Julie watched Portman go and thought about the news about her brother, he'd be fine. She still didn't know how she'd ever repay him or Fulton but she'd find a way. They'd come through. It was odd; she'd learned a long time ago that the original ducks weren't so bad. She could remember laying awake and wanting to go home her first night there. It hadn't been that she was afraid of being away from home but, she'd only really done this twice, once for the Good will games and then for last year. That had been so hard but with the problems with Varsity she'd not had much time to feel bad. But on her first day back all she'd been able to think was that she was so far from home and not mere miles. She'd been just about in tears thinking of her home when the phone rang.

"Hello?" She hated the shake in her voice, the way she hoped it would be Gramps. She was a big girl and should be ok. Not to mention this was her second year at this.

"Hey Jules, it's me," Connie Morrow the only other female duck said and Julie frowned.

"Connie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing here, I just wanted to see if your ok, you know being so far from home."

"I um yeah." The smiled found it's way onto her face. It was funny, she'd thought they would never have clicked, Connie being pretty and popular but even now, the reason why people liked Connie showed, and she just knew things.

"Hey wanna have a little fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah, want to oh you know, break curfew, meet me at the edge of campus and catch a late movie?"

"Wait don't we have five thirty practice?"

"So? What coach doesn't know and all that."

"Good enough." Julie had to grin, Connie could be so bad.

"Ok, here we are." Julie looked up to find her team mate unloading a trey of food on the table. She frowned when she saw the amount of food Portman placed before her.

"That's all for me?"

"Yep and don't give me that, I'm watching what I eat, you need protein and along with fat these burgers had plenty of that." Then he sat the milkshake down adding. "And there's your dairy."

"You have it all figured out." She had to smile, he really was sweet, or could be when he wanted to be.

"Sure do," he said removing his own meal from the trey and setting the plastic carrier aside.

Portman was glad to see her mood had lightened. He knew it was probably because of the news about the scholarship and what Fulton had found out. Still, he was glad to see her shoulders straighter and even with the shadow of pain in the back of her eyes the light that was the Cat lady.

"You know I don't know what I'm going to do for four weeks.' Julie said around a bite of her sandwich.

"Well, you could take up that thing women do, with the little metal rod you know the one with the hook." Portman said and she narrowed her eyes at him.

'There is no way I am learning to crochet." She said making a face.

"Come on I bet you could make all kind of cute little hats and things." He teased. Sitting there Portman felt as if for the first time since joining the ducks that he was not just Mr. Bad boy, he was just a guy talking to a girl over lunch. It hit him then what was different about her. She made him feel both like a typical guy and that he had to protect her. It wasn't that he didn't believe in her own abilities but whenever he cared about someone that was just how it was. Sure he liked the team but they were all different and.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Hum?" Portman glanced across the table at Julie and wondered what to say, should he tell her what he'd been thinking? Should he tell her he thought he was falling for her? Wait a second, he thought, he wasn't a girl, he didn't go around talking about his feelings, and he went around doing things like busting heads and belching. Wait, he didn't do that either, he sighed and shrugged. What he was a basket case and all because of this pretty girl?

"Just thinking about break, you know what I want to do first." He told her.

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing the minute I get home.

"What's that?"

"Sleep."

"I hear that.' He smirked.

"How about you?"

"There's this concert, it's the day after I get back."

"Cool which one?"

"P.O.D." He said and she smiled.

"Their not too bad."

"You like them?" Now he was the one surprised.

"Yeah, I like pretty much anything." She said and as they talked on Portman realized just how little he really knew about the girl sitting across from him. He was however looking forward to learning about her though.

TBC