Julie had decided to skip Dinner in the mess hall. She didn't feel up to facing any of the other Ducks right now. Connie had understood and promised to bring her back something in case she got hungry later.

She grabbed her History textbook from her bag. She had decided that she may as well get some studying done since she'd have to work like mad to catch up on the work she'd missed. Unfortunately for her she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

She opened it to reveal Rick Riley. "What the hell do you want?" she demanded trying her hardest not to let her uneasiness show. He had this sick grin on his face and she was only too aware that she was all alone.

"Julie, Julie, Julie. Can't I see how my favourite goalie is doing? That nasty Scooter should be taught some manners don't you think?" Rick replied the grin getting wider.

Julie's uneasiness was beginning to be pushed over the edge. "Riley what is it you really want? You'd better make it quick. I have stuff to do" Julie said sternly trying to force as much bravado into her voice as she could.

"Well if you really want to know" he started and gave her a hard shove back into the room.

"What the…" was all Julie could get out before she felt Riley's alcohol scented breath on her nose. He was trying to kiss her! She couldn't believe it. She had to do something fast before the situation got way out of hand.

"Oi! Get off her" she heard the low pitched growl as she felt Riley being dragged off of her. Julie looked up to see Portman standing over Riley with a fierce look in his eyes. This was something she'd never seen in him before and it was scaring her.

Portman waited for Riley to get up before he started the pounding. Julie was terrified. This was the side of Portman she never knew existed. Sure he could be bully when he wanted to but he was known to her as a gentle giant, this was too much for her to handle.

"DEAN STOP IT!" she yelled at the top of her voice but Portman didn't seem to hear her. He just kept punching Riley over and over again. Riley was at the state where he was barely conscious and definitely unable to fight back, let alone defend himself.

Julie felt hot tears stream down her face.

"DEAN NO!" she screamed at him grabbing his arm. Portman snapped out of his state and Riley dropped to the floor, his face a bloodied mess.

He just looked from Riley back to Julie. He saw the tears fall down her cheeks and he reached out to wipe them away but she pushed his hand away. He looked at her stunned.

"Julie?" he said softly sensing she was upset with him.

"No, just go away" she said firmly turning away from him.

"Julie please" he said stepping towards her. He wanted to take it all back, he wanted to hold her in his arms and take away all of her pain.

"GET OUT NOW" she screamed at him spinning around to look at him.

He could see the angry fire behind her eyes and he hung his head in defeat. "Jules, I'm so sorry" he said leaving her room and taking a conscious but wobbly Riley with him.

She leapt over to the door and slammed it shut behind him, turning the lock. She leaned her back against the door and slowly slid down it sobbing when she hit the floor.

She stayed like that until Connie came back to the room.

"Julie?" Connie whispered when she opened the door. Julie moved to let her in.

"Julie why's the door locked?" Connie asked feeling confused. That's when she saw the blood on the floor.

"Oh my god, what happened in here?" Connie asked freaking out. She ran over to Julie and started checking her arms, legs and face for any cuts or bruising. There was nothing new other than the ones she'd received that morning.

"Riley, Dean, fight" was all Julie managed to get out between sobs.

Connie sunk onto the floor next to Julie and put her arms around her. She didn't press for any further information. She knew that Julie would tell her when she felt like talking.

………………………………………………………..

Portman had dumped Riley back at his door, not even bothering to alert his roommate that he was lying there. All he could think about was the look Julie had given him before she screamed at him to get out.

She was afraid of me he realised suddenly feeling claustrophobic. I have to get out of here he thought mindlessly wandering through the halls of the dorm building looking for the nearest exit. He found one and pushed open the doors and walked into the cool night air.

He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care. All he could see in his mind was Julie's face, the tears, the fear. "The fear of me" he said aloud sinking to his knees in the snow.

He'd seen red when he saw Riley trying to kiss Julie. He knew that she didn't want him to kiss her, he'd seen her struggling to get him off of her. It was like something had woken the monster up from inside himself and he had unleashed all his anger on Riley. He thought she'd be pleased that he showed up when he did. He never meant to go that far but all he could see in his mind when he was pounding Riley was Julie's face as she was struggling to get away from him.

He hated himself at that moment. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why she'd yelled at him. He'd scared her badly. He'd shown her just how violent he could be. He'd shown himself how violent he could be.

He'd never had a reaction like that to anything before, not even when he was playing hockey. This was the first time he'd been unable to pull himself away from his anger. He was so deeply in love with Julie that he'd kill anyone who tried to hurt her.

Portman sunk his head into his hands and asked himself when did I become such a monster?