"Dude you sure took your sweet time. How long does it take to apologise" Fulton ribbed his roommate when he eventually made it back to the dorm.

Portman tried to choose his words carefully. He was pretty sure that Julie didn't want the Scooter situation to be common knowledge among the Ducks. He knew she'd tell Connie and swear her to secrecy and that Banks knew half the story but he didn't want to be the one to spread the gossip around.

"Yeah, Julie wanted to hang out. You know, to get the awkward phase over and done with" Portman answered knowing that it was probably the most lamest excuse ever.

Fulton raised his eyebrows "Julie wanted to hang out? You sure it wasn't you who hung around to annoy her" he said. Fulton knew that Portman had a tiny crush on Julie. In fact the whole team knew that Portman regarded Julie as one of the "special" girls who caught his attention.

"Yes, it was Miss Julie who wanted me to stay" Portman pouted flipping the stereo on so that he wouldn't have to talk to Fulton anymore.

Fulton wasn't taking the hint as he leapt up to turn the stereo down "You've been in her dorm this entire time?" he asked wide eyed. He sensed that there was something that Portman wasn't telling except that Fulton's mind was wandering down a very different track than the one that contained the truth.

"Yes we were in her dorm the entire time and no, nothing happened you sick man" Portman said crabbily reaching to turn the stereo back up.

Fulton decided to give up and quit talking. If Portman didn't want him to know then he wasn't going to tell him no matter how hard Fulton pressed him for info. He leaned back against the wall and silently continued with his math homework.

……………………………………………………

"So you and Portman looked pretty cozy when I walked in here" Connie teased ducking to avoid the pillow that Julie had just thrown at her.

"Shut up, nothing happened" Julie protested deciding to play along with Connie's teasing. At least talking about Portman was better than talking about Scooter.

"Yeah right, why was he helping you to your feet then? Spill Gaffney!" Connie sat upright like a puppy begging to a treat.

"Connie, there's nothing to spill, honestly! He came over – went nuts at poor Adam and tried to make me feel better. That's all" Julie glared at Connie almost daring her to say something else.

Connie ignored Julie's stare "So how'd he make you feel better?" she asked grinning.

Julie shook her head "You don't quit do you?"

"Nope" was the reply "Now quit being a gossip hog and tell me!"

"Okay, but its really boring. He just told me how much of an idiot Scooter is and that next time he sees him he's going to pound his face in. We joked about Goldberg a bit. Nothing mean though. Um, oh I called him a girl, he tried to wrestle me but we fell. He helped me up and then you walked in. End of story"

Connie sat processing what Julie had just told her. One thing stuck in her mind though. "Jules, didn't you say Scooter came over when Dean was here? How come Portman didn't just follow him outside and beat him up like he usually would?"

Julie thought for a moment "I don't know, it is kinda weird isn't it?" she agreed with Connie.

All of a sudden the confused look on Connie's face was gone and a huge smile replaced it "Oh my god! That is so sweet!" she exclaimed.

Julie's face still looked confused, "What is?" she asked

"Don't you see? He chose to be with you over beating someone up! That's like a first for Dean Portman. Oh my god he really likes you!" Connie exclaimed proud of herself for coming to this realisation.

Julie scoffed "What? You're insane. He was just being a good friend that's all" Somehow Connie's words had caused a spark somewhere deep within Julie. Could Dean Portman possibly like her? no that's crazy! He could have any girl at Eden Hall, why would he waste his time on her? he was just being a concerned teammate that's all Julie decided.

"Are you sure you're alright, you kinda spaced out there for a moment" Connie asked a little concerned for her friend.

Julie snapped out of her trance, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about Scooter is all" she lied.

"NO Jules! Don't think about him. Think about someone good like Portman" Connie giggled.

"Jeez Connie can you just shut up about Portman. I don't like him and he doesn't like me. We're just friends. If you were in my position Portman probably would have done the same thing for you. I know he would" Julie reasoned wishing her friend would stop talking about Portman. She was terrified that Connie would realise she was transparent and see what she was starting to feel for Portman.

The sensitive, funny, caring Portman that had spent almost the entire day with her just to make sure she was okay. The Portman who'd backed away from a fight to take care of her. That was the type of guy she wished she could be with, that was the type of guy she thought Scooter was until his true self reared its ugly head.

Connie looked at the clock sitting on her bedside table "It's almost dinner time. Are you coming Julie?" she asked.

Julie looked at her watch. She had missed an entire days worth of classes. Great! Not only was she going to have to avoid Scooter and the Varsity dickheads she now had to come up with an excuse to explain her absence from classes all day.