One Single Step - Chapter 2: Popping the question.

Disclaimer - as a lowly uni student, I do not own this fictional team, I do, however, have intellectual copy write on the idea.

Notes - I know I updated this morning, but I want to try and get as many chapters up as soon as I possibly can. So, here is another one, please review. Oh yeah, and sorry it is so short, they will get longer. I promise.

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The ducks table was surprising filled to maximum capacity. Something that rarely happened throughout the school year. The population of it today, however, had something to do with the end of the school year, and the fact that by the end of the week, the ducks would be split up.

Within the week, the ducks would be spread to the far reaches of the country. Florida, Texas, California, Illinois, New England, and Minnesota. It was a scary and daunting thought that maybe, the ducks, who were brought together with this line up by the Goodwill games association, but stayed together because of friendship and love, could be split up, for good.

But there was still one more week, with a few events to look forward to, and the Ducks were planning on making the most of it. Besides, in the next week, they had to deal with Prom and Graduation, so it wasn't officially over yet. All the seniors seemed to be buzzing with excitement, even those who didn't usually go to the school dances. Apparently, the Prom was the event to be seen at. The Ducks, however, were not necessarily looking forward to it as much as some others. To them, it would just be another dance. And after four years of Eden Hall dances, it was noting really exciting. (although it would be the last ever meeting of the DDD, dateless and desperate ducks. The collection of ducks that never had dates to anything who would stand in the corner and bitch and complain about everything from the decorations to the way that others were dressed. Usually, a lot of fun was had by them)

Dean Portman, bash brother, and guy who was usually against anything the resembled either school or spirit (other then of course, Hockey) had to admit that he didn't necessarily mind the idea of the Prom this year. He was actually looking forward to it. He would have the best looking date out of all of them. His wonderful girlfriend Julie Gaffney. He had asked her romantically ("Proms coming up" "I know" "Go with me?" "Who else would I go with?" "I don't know?") and she had accepted. And although she had assured him that it would be no big deal to her that they were going to the prom, she had gone out and brought a dress the very next day. That reminded him, he had to get cracking on the tux situation.

Just because he had his date, did not mean that there were not others that were slower then him in that department, Luis Mendoza, the duck that usually had a date finalized before the Prom was even announced, was afraid to ask out the girl that he had been crushing on, Audrey Madden, because he was certain that she would say no. And Adam Banks, well, he was delaying for a completely different reason.

He was jumpy around Dean, and the bash brother would have thought that Banksie was going to ask him to the prom if it wasn't for one other thing. Graduation was the following day. And that meant that families would be coming to celebrate. And Adam was smart, he knew that meant that the Portman's would be coming, and they would be bringing Joanna.

Joanna Portman, Dean's little sister, and one of the prettiest girls that the cake eater had ever set eyes on. She was…wow. And all he wanted to do was ask her to accompany him to the prom. Well, truthfully, he had already asked her, and she had told him that she would not go with him unless he asked Dean for permission. And that was what he was going to do now, ask for permission, and probably get his ass kicked for it. Gee, the things you do for the right girl.

He knew that Dean had worked out that something was going on. The enforcer was not as dumb as he looked, but the one thing that shocked him was Dean's forwardness. "Out with it Adam"

"Out with what?" he asked nervously, trying to sound calm. Dean rolled his eyes, this was getting pathetic.

"You have been dancing around for days" he replied, and then smirked before continuing "And you are not very good at it

"Can I take your sister to prom?" Adam asked him. He had blurted the question out. In his mind, Adam had prepared this whole little speech about how much he liked Joanna, and then a list of reasons why Dean should let them go together, but he had opened his mouth and the words had spilled out. Not it was out there, and he just had to wait for the answer.

Dean looked across the table to the other boy, feigned thought for a second, and then sighed "No"

Adam looked crushed. At Dean's side, Julie shook her head placed a hand on her boyfriends arm, deciding she would be best at pleading Adam's case with him. "Dean, let Adam take her to the prom. They have a lot of fun together, you know that. And as much as you hate it, Joanna really likes the cake eater, and Banksie likes Jo…"

Dean sighed. It was something about the soothing qualities in her voice that made him do what ever she said. He would have to watch out for that, or Julie could have him doing anything in the world for her. Not that he wouldn't anyway, but there were some things that she would be able to take advantage of if she thought that she had the power to do so.

Looking back across the table, he realized that now he had no choice. He would have to let the rich boy take his precious little sister to the prom.

"Fine" he muttered, and Adam practically cheered. "But there will be rules. You will pick her up from where she is staying…with a gift. You will treat her nice, you will dance with her when she wants you to, you will get her a drink when she asks…are you following?"

"Yes Dean" Adam replied, feeling as though he should salute. He didn't care that Dean was giving him all of these rules. All he cared about was that he was going to be taking Joanna to the prom. His cheeks were beginning to hurt because he was smiling so much.

"Good, because I am not done." Dean smiled. Julie rolled her eyes. Dean and Joanna were best friends, and as much as he didn't usually admit it, he was highly protective of his little sister. For years, the only Duck that Dean would let Joanna meet was Fulton, and that was because the Portman Family had practically adopted him at first sight, which meant that Joanna had adopted him as a brother and there was no way that she would ever find him attractive, or him her. But then she had met the others, and within minutes, her and Adam were sending each other vibes. "Hands will be kept in respectable places, when the night is over, you will escort her back to where she is staying. You will kiss her on the cheek and on the cheek only. You will not invite yourself in, and you most definitely will not be having sex with my sister. Do you understand that preppy?"

"Sure do" Adam smiled. Dean could have told him that he would have to jump out of a plane with out a parachute, and he would have done it, just so that he could take Joanna to the prom. (Sure, if he had of jumped out of a plane without a parachute, he would have died and then not been able to go to the prom at all, but he was speaking metaphorically people!) He was going to the prom with Joanna Portman that was all he cared about.

"Hey everyone" Fulton called as he entered the dining hall, carrying a giggling Rebecca over his shoulder. It was no longer a strange occurrence to see the two of them like this, it seemed that Fulton always was carrying her around this days. Strange as it was, most also admitted that it was honestly so adorable. "We have great News"

"Oh wow, there is going to be the pitter-patter of little feet in the Reed Roman household" Averman laughed. Fulton and Rebecca shook their heads at the other boy.

"Did you ask her to marry you?" Ken asked. Fulton shook his head. Seriously, he loved Rebecca, but who in their right mind would get married when they were 18.

"Ok, enough guessing" Rebecca grinned "I got into Julliard" Every one at the table cheered. As much as it seemed cliché, the ducks had adopted her as one of their own. Beck was a smart, funny girl who was easy to talk to and made Fulton extremely happy. It was almost impossible to hate her, and if they did hate her, then they would lose Fult, who in himself was a great friend to all.

Julie was the first to stand and embrace the other girl (after practically pulling her from Fulton's shoulder, of course) For the last four years, herself and Rebecca had been roommates at Eden Hall, which had led to a close friendship. And now that they were roommates who were dating roommates, their bond was a little closer.

Fulton crossed to the seat that Julie had vacated and sat beside his friend. Dean looked at him and asked. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Fulton replied casually.

"This morning when you left the room, you had an envelope from that fancy University." Dean replied. "The one that you have been jonesing for since you read the information"

"Its Beck's big day man, lets not spoil it" Fulton replied softly. Dean didn't need any more clarification then that. He understood. The university had rejected him. And that was a shame. Fulton had studied his ass off for those damn exams, and he had actually done better then Dean had. He had done better then a few of the team.

"That sucks man" Dean offered, and Fulton smiled.

"I know, but lets bitch about it later, huh?" he replied. Dean smiled, knowing that when they went back to their room that afternoon they would probably spend all their time complaining about the university. They might even get to burn something. Fun!

"Ok, I am going to do it" they heard a voice from the other end of the table and watched as Luis Mendoza, who had been staring at Audrey Madden for what felt like days now, stood. He looked as though he was finally going to go cross the room and ask her to prom. But then, as suddenly as he stood, he sat. "No, I am not going to do it"

Fulton sighed and wondered where on earth the old Mendoza was. The Mendoza who as a freshman was dating a senior girl. The Mendoza who had a thousand and one pick up lines and had used them on a thousand and one girls. The Luis Mendoza who found the 'right' girl almost as often as he changed his shirt. I guess this time what he was feeling for this girl was real.

"Just ask her Mendoza" Russ Tyler said from his side. "I mean, you have never had issues with asking girls out before. Remember the junior prom. You had two dates"

"I can't just ask her" Luis sighed. Why couldn't the others see that it was just not as easy as walking across the room and asking Audrey to Prom. What if she said no, then he would be up the proverbial shit creek, paddle less.

"If you don't hurry up, she will go with some one else" Ken informed him. Luis glared at the other boy for a few seconds before standing. He sat just as soon as he had stood.

"No, cant do it" He replied. A few people went to talk to him about it, but no one realized that there was some one approaching the table. Audrey cleared her throat, and every one looked at her.

"Hi guys" she smiled nervously at them. A few people waved at her, and Connie, Beck and Julie all offered her friendly smiles. "Luis, could I talk to you for a second outside?"

Luis stood and followed her out.

"So…" she began as they entered the hall outside. Luis smiled nervously at her, it was amazing that she could always make him nervous. That had never happened before, girls were always nervous around him, but he had never really need this nervous around a girl. So maybe that meant that this was something special. Maybe this time, what he was feeling for this girl, really was love. And not just fake love that he had told the other girls he felt, this could be real love.

"Yeah" he ran his hand through his hair, and then realized it was two early in the morning for that and that his styling product had not yet dried. Now he had a goopy mess all over his hand. He wiped it nervously on his jeans and smiled at Audrey, hoping that she had not seen it.

"Are you going to ask me to prom" she asked suddenly. Luis looked at her, amazed that she would have the guts to say something like that, she was by far one of the shiest girls that he had ever met. "I mean, I understand if you are already going with some one, or if you want to still keep your options open, but, well, I thought, that with our friendship going the way that it is, you would, I don't know, want to ask me. It is ok if you don't"

"I do want to ask you" Luis admitted to her, as they continued wondering aimlessly down the hall. Audrey smiled at him. "And I was going to ask you, I just thought, I don't know, that you wouldn't want to go with me. I thought that you may have had a better offer by now" Luis told her.

"I have had another offer" Audrey smiled softly at him. "But I turned him down, because, well, I really want to go with you…"

"And I really want to go with you to" Luis paused, took her hand in his, and smiled softly at her. Audrey grinned also. Luis was about to do something that he had never done before, he was going to ask a girl out without the aid of big fancy pick up lines. "Audrey Madden, accompany me to prom?"

"Luis Mendoza, I will be delighted"