A/N - thanks for the reviews, I've replied to them all individually.
"I feel like a tool" Julie complained adjusting her feet in her bronze strappy wedges.
"You look hot though" Connie reassured her friend.
"No you look hot" Julie told Connie.
The girls had decided to do the casual glam thing by teaming glamorous tops with casual jeans.
Connie had left her long dark hair out to set off the royal blue of her satin halterneck.
Julie on the other hand had curled her shoulder length blonde hair and she had decided (well Connie had decided for her) on a bronze satin camisole with a jewel brooch gathering in the centre of her cleavage, showing that little bit of extra skin.
"These shoes hurt" Julie complained.
"No they don't you have to tell yourself they're comfortable" Connie nudged Julie as they arrived at the door to Casey's apartment.
Connie ushered Julie ahead.
"Julie Gaffney! When did you get a tattoo?" Connie saw the small chinese symbol on Julie's left shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, law school, I lived in a frat house" Julie explained.
"You're so bad!" Connie teased grabbing Julie's arm and knocking on the door.
"I"LL GET IT!" they heard several voices following by loud scuffling.
"Some things never change" Julie laughed suddenly feeling excited at the prospect of seeing her old friends again.
The door flew open and Averman peered out eyeing the girls suspiciously.
"Charlie there's some strange girls at the door" Averman said seriously.
"Averman!" Connie scolded.
"And they know my name!" he hissed looking very afraid.
Connie and Julie tried their hardest not to laugh at Averman's confusion.
"What?" Charlie appeared at the door and almost dropped his drink on Averman.
"Hi! Aves you idiot that's Connie and Julie!" Charlie regained his composure and realised who they were.
"No way!" Averman exclaimed.
"Yes way now aren't you gonna give us a hug and tell us how much you've missed us" Connie laughed.
"That's not the Connie I remember" Averman protested.
"Shut up" Connie rolled her eyes and batted him on the arm.
"Oh yeah that's Connie alright, but you look like such a girl" Averman let the girls into the apartment.
"Dude she's here" Fulton hissed to Portman.
The pair were in the bathroom. Portman was making himself look good and Fulton was teasing Portman for making such an effort.
"I feel like I'm 16 again" Portman confessed.
"Funny you don't look like it" Fulton laughed.
"Not helping" Portman complained.
"Hey the girls just walked in and they are looking F. I. N. E." Luis stuck his head in the bathroom.
"Great, Julie's out there looking 'F. I. N. E.' and I'm in here looking like a dickhead" Portman complained again.
"You know what would help?" Fulton had an idea forming in his mind.
"What?"
"If you stopped your bitching and went out there and said hi. Leave the rest to me" Fulton pushed his friend out into the living area.
"Portman oh my god, hi!" Connie gave Julie a not-so-subtle shove into Portman's direction.
"Hi" Portman managed to choke out. Connie was looking good but Julie…………..Julie was looking amazing.
"Hey Portman" Julie was freaking out on the inside. He looked so hot in his black shirt and loose jeans.
"Hey Jules" Portman replied just as nervously.
"Aren't you gonna give her a hug?" Connie asked cheekily.
Portman and Julie froze looking much like deer caught in the headlights.
"Oh um yeah sure" Portman held his arms out and stepped forward, enveloping Julie into a hug.
Julie accepted his hug and breathed in his scent. It was a moment she'd been dreaming about since she graduated.
FLASHBACK
"Congratulations! We finally graduated"
"Who'd have thought I'd graduate hey!"
"Don't be silly Dean, you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for"
"You don't have to be nice to me Julie"
"I'm not, it's the truth"
"Yeah um, okay, whatever"
"So do you wanna hang out sometime before we all leave for college?"
"I can't, I'm leaving for Chicago tonight and I promised Fulton I'd hang with him"
"Oh, okay, well I guess this is it then"
"Yeah, have a good life Catwoman"
"You too Portman"
The two graduates thought about giving each other a hug at that point but with Portman's latest girlfriend breathing down their necks they settled on a friendly handshake instead.
"Bye"
"See ya"
END FLASHBACK
Julie and Portman finally let go of each other and tried to downplay their blushing by glaring at their smirking friends.
"Beer anyone?" Russ broke the tension by dangling a six pack of Heineken in front of them.
Julie, Portman, Charlie and Connie gratefully accepted hoping that a few beers would smother their nerves.
Fulton accepted one and tried not to laugh at the foursome. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife, especially Julie and Portman.
"I'm gonna go call Tammy" Fulton spoke to break the silence.
"He's so whipped it's not funny" Russ butted in looking at Fulton's retreating back sadly.
Connie grabbed Julie and the girls made a beeline for the couch where Adam, Ken, Goldberg and Guy were engaged in a conversation about the prank war on Varsity.
"You should have seen Jules, she was like a regulation sniper, little miss stealth" Goldberg recalled the story.
"How would you know Goldie, you had an army helmet covered in mesh and leaves on. If I recall correctly you complained that you couldn't see a damn thing" Julie laughed.
"And you wouldn't take the damn thing off either" Ken added.
"I remember a certain brunette calling me incredibly stupid!" Guy turned to Connie.
"You honestly expected me to call you, wait lets see what was it, oh yeah 'ruggedly handsome'!" Connie laughed.
The entire group erupted into laughter prompting the rest of the Ducks to join in the conversation.
"Ruggedly handsome, oh Guy that's so funny!" Goldberg had tears streaming down his face.
"Not as funny as Portman's stripper routine" Guy turned the tables onto Portman.
Portman just shrugged "Roping had been taken, what'd you want me to do? and I remember Goldberg yelling "TAKE IT OFF" and dancing on the bench"
"Hey! I thought you could use some encouragement" Goldberg protested.
"And the ladies loved it" Luis looked at Connie and Julie.
Julie kept her eyes down. She'd loved every second of Portman's little escapade and thinking about it now still made her blush.
Portman glanced at Julie carefully noting that she wouldn't look anyone in the eye.
He was still watching her when she lifted her head and looked straight at him. Startled to see him looking at her she gave him a small, almost seductive smile before looking away again.
Does she still like me too? Dean wondered.
"Pssst Charlie come here" Fulton waved his friend over.
"What's up Fult?"
"Tam's just had the best idea" Fulton was bursting at the seams.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, so we order the pizza right, tell them that we'll pick them up. then we tell the guys that the delivery boy's called in sick and we have to get the pizza's ourselves"
"What good would that do?"
"Plenty good, especially if we're all too drunk to drive, we volunteer Portman and Jules to get it. Just think, night time walk in the summer air, under the stars, they've got to get it together by the time they come back"
"Fulton you're a genius!"
"Well technically it was Tam's idea"
"Well Tammy Duncan, soon to be Reed, is a genius!"