Disclaimer: Neither Meme nor I own the Ducks, or anything else you recognize from the movies.

I sip my coffee again and make a face. Ok, maybe I put a little too much sugar in it. I want to talk to Connie, I really do, I just don't know where to start. I know she's been through the same thing and will probably understand more than most people, but I dunno…I still can't bring myself to start talking.

I sit there in silence for a few more minutes while Connie sips her tea and squeezes my hand again. I'm glad she's not pushing the issue. I need to do this on my own. I haven't talked to anybody about how I felt. Not even Danny. I'm Dean Portman; I'm not supposed to get upset over stuff like this, right? I'm a Bash Brother. We're the tough guys…yeah that's what everyone thinks. Fulton and I are just like everybody else. Contrary to our image on the ice, we do actually have feelings and we do care about stuff and our friends and family are the most important people to us.

Yet, I still haven't told Fulton any of what I'm about to tell Connie. It's not that I think he won't understand. I know he will, I just…can't bring it up. Something stops me whenever I try, but oddly, with Connie that's not happening. I want to talk to her…maybe it's because she's a girl. Girls are supposed to be good at this stuff. I take another sip of my coffee and again make a face. I push the cup away from me and start to fiddle with a napkin. Connie looks at me, amused.

"Something wrong with your coffee?" she asks, a smile playing on her lips. I'd never noticed before, but her whole face lights up when she smiles. I give her a small smile and begin to shred the napkin.

"Too much sugar" I mumble, as way of an explanation.

"You can have some of my tea if you like" she chuckles, offering me her cup.

I shake my head. "No, it's alright. I'm not thirsty anyway."

"I didn't buy you that cup of coffee because I thought you were thirsty. I bought it because you needed something to warm you up" she said, not withdrawing the extended hand holding her cup. "Take it. I'll drink you sugary coffee, I like it sweet."

Sighing, I take the cup from her and sip it slowly. "Thanks." I say in a low voice. I have to admit she's right. I'm freezing. I should've brought a coat, but it just didn't enter my head when we left my room.

"You're welcome." Connie replies with another smile that lights her face up. She takes a sip of the coffee I had discarded and I notice she makes the same face that I had made. I can't stop a chuckle from escaping. She looks up at me, amused. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." I reply, shaking my head. Gripping the cup in both hands, I take a deep breath. I look up at Connie. She's looking back at me with an expectant look on her face, but doesn't say anything. I spoke quietly. "You know, I thought I'd live with my parents forever. Well, not forever, but you know what I mean. But now…now I live with my aunt and my parents barely speak to each other. I just don't understand how they could fall in love, get married and have two kids, then suddenly decide that they're not right for each other. I mean, what did they do? Think 'Oh, no. I'm not actually in love with you. In fact, I don't even like you'?"

I paused for breath. I was on a roll now. It felt like some sort of emotional floodgate had been opened and once I started talking about how I was feeling, I couldn't stop. Connie still didn't say a word. She simply waited for me to continue. "I don't know. I know, in the long run, this is better for us all…or at least it's supposed to be. They argue just as much now as they've ever done. They were always putting Danny and me in the middle of their arguments and they still do now, except it's more me than Danny. Danny has it easy. He's all the way in Boston, doing the college thing. He doesn't have to listen to their stupid arguments over who's got the better fuck buddy this week. They don't want to 'interrupt his studies.'"

I make air quotes with my fingers as I say this. I know fine well that Danny isn't the perfect student that they like to believe he is. His 'studies' more often than not involve girls. But that's not the point. "But what about me, huh? What about my studies? I'm not just some dumb jock who can't read, who only likes to beat up people for the fun of it. I'm not Cole, or Riley. There's more to me than that! I want more from life than to make people scared of me, but do they care? No! All they care about is themselves and getting one over on each other. Sometimes I feel like I don't even exist as their son anymore. I'm only there for them to pass insults through. Or so they think. I've never actually done it. I mean, who would call their fifteen-year-old son's mother a dirty, disgusting, bottom-feeding, trash-bag ho? My dad actually called my mom that once when he was talking on the phone. I swear he watches too much wrestling. I think he forgot I was in the room, but he didn't even apologise when he turned round and saw me there. My mom's just as bad. I've blocked out most of the things she's called my dad, they're far worse than that."

My hands are clenched into fists now and I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I blink them away furiously. I can't cry. It would be like I was five years old again, but Danny wouldn't be here to calm me down. I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths. Next thing, I feel an arm wrap itself round my shoulders. I open my eyes and realize that Connie has gotten up from where she was sitting and was now sat next to me, wordlessly giving me a one-armed hug. I sigh again. "I just wish…I wish that everything could go back to normal. Mom and dad would stop fighting all the time and we would be a family again. I could move out of my aunt's house and back in with my parents and Danny, when he's not at college." I pause, "but I know it's never going to happen. They're more likely to kill each other than kiss each other."

I drain the last of the tea from the cup that was still gripped in my hands. I'm slightly surprised to realize that I feel a lot less depressed now. I guess it's true when they say that talking about your problems helps. I notice Connie still hasn't said a word. She hasn't moved her arm from around my shoulders either. I have to say, I quite like the feeling of it being there. I'm quite sure that she thinks I'm pathetic though. A big tough hockey player, a Bash Brother no less, practically crying over his parents' divorce. I look at her and give her a small grin. "I'm pathetic, huh?"

punkteacher - Thank you! We're working on our commas, we know we do it. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Banksiesbabe99 - Thank you so much! Portman's depressed, lol. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!