Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…

Italics indicate character thought.

Hmmm. Well, no girls because they just aren't that prevalent in collegiate hockey. Plus, to be honest, I was ready to see someone different than Connie and Gaffney. 

-

"It was unbelievable, Parker!" Beau held the phone between her ear and her shoulder and slung her bag over her shoulder, hefting her stick a little higher. She was waving her hands around wildly as she recounted her practice to her brother and she kept dropping things. "I mean, Jesus! You'd think they'd never played with a girl before!"

Parker sighed. "Hey, Jesus had nothing to do with it."

"Drop it, bro."

Now he was short with her. "I will not drop it. You are freaking out and I hate that when I can't be there with you." He sighed. "Beau, did you give them a chance? Really give them a chance?"

She paused, thinking. "Why do they need a chance? They were treating me differently than there were treating everyone else and then that jerk, Tommy Lex," she said his name mockingly. "He called me a bitch. I'll show him a bitch."

"Beau, you've got yourself so worked up that you aren't even listening to me." He waited a beat, knowing she would argue. "No," he cut her off. "You're not listening, or even thinking for that matter." Back in his Harvard dorm room, Parker sat up on his bed, gesturing with his hands as he spoke, so very much like his twin. "You've got to give them a chance to get used to playing with you, just like you need a chance to fit in. You need to back off on the hormones a little and become a part of the team gradually, not freight train your way in." He waited. He could feel her smile, and her resolve.

"I'm not…okay, I was freight training my way in." Beau spoke softly, embarrassed because her brother always knew the true her. "But I don't like that term. Makes me sound like some big cow of a girl stomping all over men."

They laughed together and Parker heard her sniffle. "Oh geez. You're not crying are you? Why?"

Standing outside of the ice rink, Beau wiped her watery eyes and grinned. "Yeah, I am. I'm crying because I know I made an ass of myself today. And I'm crying because I miss North Carolina. And I'm crying because I need to be a part of something here or I'm going to go crazy. And mostly I'm crying because I wish you were here. Why did you have to be all smart and get into that fancy schmancy Ivy League school?"

He was getting ready to answer her, to reassure her, when she sucked in her breath. "What is it?"

Beau looked up to the other end of the building and saw Charlie walking slowly towards her in the dusk, his head down and her gloves dangling from his hand. "It's this guy…he's on the team…the one from my class with the bra thing."

Parker burst out with a laugh. "Well go ahead then, girl. Don't want you to miss out on that."

Beau rolled her eyes, needing to wipe another tear away and looked up at Charlie, motioning for him to give her a second. He nodded and she turned her back to him, lowering her voice. "Alright, Parker. Thanks for letting me cry to you." She sighed, knowing every phone call would be this hard while she adjusted to their separation.

"I love you," he reassured

"I love you too. So much." She didn't see Charlie raise his eyebrow at this, his face falling a notch. She was getting ready to hang up when her brother stopped her.

"Hey, Beau?"

"Yeah."

"Give those boys a chance to get to know the real you. The one underneath the tough badass hockey player. They deserve that." With that she disconnected, sniffed, and turned around to face Charlie.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Are you crying?" "So, I'm really embarrassed about today." They both started speaking at the same time and laughed. "Yes, I am." "You shouldn't be embarrassed." They answered each other in unison. Beau pointed at him. "You go first."

Charlie held up her gloves. "You left these inside." As she took them he absently scratched over his ears, pulling on a piece of hair still wet from his shower. "Look, Beau. Those guys…they aren't bad guys. It's just that hockey is their life and they don't deal well with something changing any part of that at all. Me and the other Ducks…we've played with girls, but for them it's new."

Beau leaned back against the wall, thinking about what he had said. "I understand that, Charlie. I really do. It's hard to come here and be a part of another team. But…it can be my life just like it is theirs." She dropped her head, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Crap, quit with the crying. She sniffed again. Great. "But I feel like such an idiot for the way that I acted."

"Don't be embarrassed!" He reached out and touched her shoulder, then pulled his hand back quickly. "You stood your ground and that's important with these guys."

She looked up, eyes dripping and shot him an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry. I'm one of those people that when I start crying I can't stop."

Charlie crossed his arms across his chest, looking to his left at the horizon as the sun set. "I'm sorry your boyfriend isn't here for you to cry to. Sounds like you guys are missing each other."

"Hahahaha!" Beau doubled up in laughter. "Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend!" When Charlie whipped his head around to look at her, she couldn't help but laugh even harder. "Parker is my twin brother."

"Oh."

She laughed again. "You're a man of many words, Conway." She sniffed again, a lingering effect of the tears.

"You seem to have that effect on me." Charlie felt his gut tighten when the moonlight reflected off one of her tears. He reached out and wiped it gently from her check, smiling when her eyes flickered up to meet his. He slid his hand around the cup the back of her neck and pulled her gently towards him. He waited to watch her eyes close as their lips met before closing his own and sinking into the kiss.

She slid a hand up to rest on his chest and a small murmur escaped against his mouth. After a brief moment, she pushed him very gently away and smiled. "There is no way that this can be a good idea."

He laughed, tugging her loose hair gently and beckoning her to follow him. "No kidding. We can discuss all the pros and cons while I walk you back to your dorm." She nodded and grinned a little as he slid his arm around her waist and looked down at her. "Try not to trip or lose any buttons or beat anyone up on the way home, okay?"

So I'm starting to realized that this story is no where near being done, as I have a lot of things I'd like to explore with the Wolfpack, Charlie, Beau, and of course, Parker. My question for you guys is this…do you prefer a story that all goes together but has like 900 chapters, or would you rather one story and then a sequel story? Please review and help me out!