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.

"This is the third time you've called me this week, Mr. Reed." Rachel was sitting on the outside hallway of her dorm, legs dangling down over the trees in Georgia. She was smiling intensely, but tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. "You better watch out or you'll find yourself charming me on top of being the real you."

"Uh huh." Back in Minnesota Fulton was pacing his room, cell phone pressed tight against his ear. He wasn't sure what it was, but every time he talked to Rachel his stomach clutched, his heart raced, and he just couldn't sit still. It was the greatest feeling ever. "I just wanted to talk to you again, shrimp." Charlie's nickname had stuck.

"Anything exciting happen today?" She waved over her shoulder as her suitemate left for the night.

He stopped in the middle of the room, realized that he had called about absolutely nothing, and shrugged.

Rachel smiled into the silence. I bet he's shrugging right now.

"I guess I just called…I just called to say hi." The understanding hit Fulton in the gut and he realized that for the first time in his life he was completely focused on a girl and that he wanted to keep calling her just to say hi. "Hi."

Beau pressed another kiss to Charlie's lips, backed away, and then stepped forward and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her against him, and sighed.

"Three months, huh?"

Beau dropped her head against his chest and sniffled. She hadn't thought the prospect of going home for the summer would be so hard. "We can do this. People do long distance relationships all the time." She smiled up at him. "You are simply not aloud to leave your house, see other people, talk to other girls, and you must call me at least six times a day."

He bent his knees, looking into her eyes. "Can do."

Fulton slapped Charlie on the shoulder, dropping the last giant bag from the Blazer onto the sidewalk in front of the airport. "Are we ready to do this, Mayland?"

Charlie suppressed a jealous wave that ran through his body. Fulton was flying to North Carolina with Beau and would actually be staying at her house for the next several weeks while he coached in-line hockey with her and spent every free moment with Rachel. He wasn't worried about Fulton and Beau being together. He was just insanely jealous that Fulton was getting to spend time with Beau when he would not be able to. Beau had offered him the in-line coaching job first, but the money hadn't been enough. He could make more working at Jan's during the day and at the Minneapolis Chop House as a server at night.

He grabbed Beau's face between his hands. "I love you. Travel safe, babe."

She kissed him, smiling against his lips, her eyes watery. "I love you too."

Fulton and Rachel were standing in Beau's back yard two feet apart and just staring at each other. Beau watched them from her bedroom window briefly, but it was too uncomfortable and she finally closed the shades and picked up the phone to call Charlie…for the second time that night.

"So…hi." This from Fulton as he dug his hands into his back pockets and then nervously removed them to run his palms over his short hair.

Rachel was fidgeting herself and returned the non-committal greeting. "Hi."

"I'm glad you came." "I'm glad I'm here." They spoke at the same time and then laughed. It seemed to break the tension and Fulton took one big step forward, enveloping Rachel in his arms and lifting her up to kiss her deeply. When they finally broke apart Rachel was uncharacteristically speechless. Fulton looked at her, still holding her tight against him. "I've been thinking about doing that every single day since you left the airport in January." He set her down gently and looked away. "Rachel, I lo…"

She smacked a hand over his mouth, cutting him off. "Oh no. Wait. Don't say that."

He was hurt. She could see it immediately. "Okay. Whatever." He started to back away and she grabbed his hands.

"Fulton. We haven't seen each other in months."

"We've talked almost every day."

She sighed. "Right, but it's not the same and you know it. This is going to be an amazing summer. Give it time…then you can say it." She smiled up at him. "Give it time, and then I'll say it."

A week later and Rachel was saying 'I love you' to Fulton. Every chance she got. She realized after just a few days with him that while their first conversation about the three magic words had been rational and well thought out, it was completely wrong for them. She was in love and she wasn't going to run from it.

Beau had thought she would see Fulton more, but when they weren't coaching together he was somewhere with Rachel. And it made Beau more than happy. It was the first time that Rachel had been in love.

The rest of the summer was fairly uneventful, except for the phone call that Beau got from Cole Procida. They had gotten close throughout the first season. As the only two freshmen they had experienced much of the same things and they talked often during the three months off from school.

Cole seemed extra excited when he called just four weeks before they were supposed to return for late July practices. He had found this great apartment he said, when he had been visiting Pennington with his mother. It was two bedrooms, good sized, totally affordable. Sophomores didn't have to live on campus he reminded her.

"What are you asking me, Cole?" Beau was throwing roller-blades into a bag and needed to get out the door if she was going to have time to pick up Fulton and make it to meet their team.

"What are you, deaf? Do you want to share the apartment with me?" When she didn't say anything he rushed on. "It'd be perfect! We have the same schedules, you're super neat and clean so I wouldn't have to vacuum, we get along great…" she could hear him grinning. "And we could have some totally kick-ass parties!"

She could feel the excitement and knew the idea was taking root in her brain. Her own apartment. Her own space. No whack-job roommates. "Cole, I would totally love to but I have to talk to my parents first. I'll call you tonight."

"Feel good to be back at school?" Mr. Mayland was standing in his daughter's door, watching as she hung up a poster next to a large framed photo of her and her brother at a concert. He and his wife had driven with Beau across the country in her little Honda Accord and a U-Haul. They were flying back that night, but he was already sad to see his little girl's bed in a room other than one in his house.

She turned and smiled at him, sitting down on the bed. "Yeah. I miss home a lot, but this is…" She didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying what she was thinking.

He sat down beside her, patting her knee. "It's a new home, right?" When she smiled broadly at him he nudged her. "I went to college, Beau. I played on a hockey team. I know what it's like." He gave her a quick hug, glad they were as close as they were. "I'm just glad you like it here so much." When her eyes started to fill with tears he figured he better get out of there before he sent her into real histrionics. "I, um, am going to go get another of your boxes darlin'."

He hurried down the stairs, enjoying the cooler air of Minnesota. When they had packed in North Carolina it had been stifling. He was looking at the ground when he hopped into the U-Haul and ran smack into Charlie Conway. He steadied the boy before shaking his hand.

"Charlie! Great to see you again, son."

Charlie returned the beaming smile. "You too, Mr. Mayland! I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier to help, but my mother," the older man noticed the tone to the way Charlie said the word. "She needed help with something this morning."

He clapped Charlie on the back. "Not a problem. I'm just happy you're here now." He paused, feeling the need to say something more. This boy was rapidly becoming a major part of their lives. "Charlie, I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you've done for Beau in the past year or so. She needed someone and it sure sounds like you have been…I think amazing was the word she used."

It took a lot to make Charlie blush, but this certainly did it. He nodded. "She's done a lot for me too, sir. Your daughter is very very special."

They were both standing at the back of the truck looking up at the apartment building. "That she is, Charlie." He cleared his throat. "This should probably be the part of the conversation where I tell you that if you ever break her heart I'll break her legs." He said it so uncertainly that Charlie couldn't help but laugh.

"You're too late, Mr. Mayland. Parker told me that same thing when Beau and I first started dating last year." He wasn't sure if it was the appropriate thing to say, but it sure felt right. This wasn't a family that ran from their pasts.

Mr. Mayland considered this, sad but not upset. "That actually doesn't surprise me at all." He looked at Charlie. "So if that's out of the way, I'd like to just say that a love like what you and Beau seem to have doesn't come along every day. Take care not to lose it."

Charlie nodded, surprisingly touched that the man cared enough to have this conversation. "I'm trying my hardest, sir."

Cc: Thanks and thanks again! Glad you're liking each chapter. Sorry to have you grinning in the school library!

Duckfluff: I'll check out the recommended story. Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the chemistry!

BellaLou: I LOVE your reviews. Thanks for taking the time to write so much. It is really great to get those reviews! I'm glad you were happy with the Guy/Connie part. I was very unsure about it, but felt like the situation was realistic and that was very much how Guy would react to that, so we'll see. As for updating, my work hours are weird, so I have big blocks of time where I can write and de-stress!

antiIrony and preciousbabyblue: I have a cat named Ralph. He's a spaz, so I thought it was appropriate for Guy's cat who keeps running into things.