Chapter Title: Finding Out and Bragging Rights

AN: I see so much happening with this story. And I hope like it. I don't see this as a long drug out story though. So don't expect that. I hope you guys like this. Let me know what you think.

Guy couldn't believe what he had seen. He had to be imagining things. Connie and Charlie? Kissing? What the hell was going on? He had to keep himself in check, because what he really wanted to do was go up to Charlie and pound the crap out of him. He was surprised had kept himself in check. It was the next morning and he was still in shock. Charlie had wrapped his arm around her waist and she laid her head on his shoulder. That should have been Guy. He knew he had thrown away his chance with her. But how could she have moved on so fast? And with one of his best friends?

He knew exactly where to go to get information he wanted. He'd go over to Jesse's later. He had to know something. Hopefully he would be able to get the picture of the two of them together out of his head.

When had this happened? And why hadn't they told him? He would have understood. Yeah, he would be been pissed at first. But that's because his best friend was dating his ex-girlfriend.

XXXX

Julie woke up that afternoon to a cold bed. They had fallen asleep after talking for hours. Where could he have gone? She thought as she walked down the hall. She heard someone downstairs and walked into the kitchen. He sat at the island talking on his cell phone.

"I know mom, I'll be back tomorrow night." He said with a sigh.

Julie ran her hands up his back feeling his tense muscles under her touch. He turned his head to face her and smiled. She smiled back bunching up his shirt to massage the tension in his shoulders. He hung up the phone a few seconds later

"How long have you been up?" She asked laying her chin on his shoulder.

"A few minutes." He said twisting his neck feeling it crack.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I've been working too much, and now I'm paying for it." He said letting his head fall against her shoulder.

"Come with me." She said taking his hand.

She led him into the living room and told him to lay down on the couch after she pulled off his shirt. She straddled his back moving her hands up and down his back. He was starting to relax when she placed a kiss between his shoulder blades. He lifted his head and turned to her. She kissed him lifting herself up so that he could roll over on his back. His hands were in her hair pulling her to him. The phone rang but neither of them pulled away. She heard Jason on the answering machine and she pulled away. She looked at the clock with wide eyes.

"Oh God." She said getting off of him.

"What?" He asked giving her a weird look.

"I was supposed to picked up him and Shannon like…right now."

"Go. I'll be here when you get back." He said getting off the couch.

"Come with me?" She asked putting a hand on his arm stopping him.

He nodded before she went upstairs to change. Ten minutes later they were headed to the airport. She hadn't said much but didn't pull away when Portman took her hand. She looked down at their hands with a smile. She was glad he was there with her. Twenty minutes later they were walking through the airport looking for Jason and Shannon. Julie heard her name being called from far off and she turned and saw Jason.

"Come on." She said pulling Portman with her.

"He won't ask a lot of question's will he?"

"He likes you. Don't worry." She said squeezing his hand.

Jason stopped a few feet from them with Shannon standing behind him.

"Now I know why you were late. Hey Portman." Jason said nodding his head at him.

"Hey." He said glad that he already knew Jason.

"This is Shannon." Jason said moving from in front of her.

"Hi." Julie said smiling at the brunette standing in front of her.

"Hey." She said giving her a weak smile.

"This is Julie and her…Portman?" He asked giving them a questioning look.

"My Portman?" Julie asked laughing. Portman stood there in shock.

"I don't know what else to call him!" Jason said throwing his arms in the air in mock defeat.

"He's my boyfriend." Julie said looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm her boyfriend." Portman said nodding at Jason.

"Okay then. Lets go." Jason said picking up their bags.

"That went well." Julie said as Jason and Shannon walked ahead of them.

"Better than I expected." He said draping his arm over her shoulder.

She was still holding on to his hand that was draped over her shoulder. Jason saw them and rolled his eyes.

"Jules give me the keys."

"You're not driving my car." She said shaking her head at him.

"I'd liked to get to the house in one piece. That won't happen if you can't let go of his hand." He said putting his hands on top of the car.

"Here." She said handing him the keys.

Portman got into the back seat and Julie followed after him. She laid her head on his shoulder as he placed a hand on her knee. Jason watched them from the rear view mirror but neither of them noticed. He was glad his kid sister was finally happy.

XXXX

Connie stood outside Charlie's apartment. Jesse had called her not long after Guy left and told her what was going on. She wished he hadn't found out the way he had, but she couldn't take it back now. Charlie opened the door looking like he had just gotten out of the shower. He hadn't even put a shirt on yet; he had at least thrown on a pair of shorts before he ran to answer the door.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

"Hey." She said returning his smile.

"Come on in." He said letting her inside.

"Guy knows. He was just over Jesse's. He told him he saw us last night." She said folding her arms over her chest.

Charlie stopped in his tracks. That wasn't good. He had planned on going over to Guys' with Connie later to tell him. He hadn't even thought about them being somewhere where Guy could see them last night. He felt bad, but he knew Connie felt worse. She hadn't dated Guy off and on for six years for nothing. Charlie pulled him to her trying to control her sobs.

"He was bound to find out somehow. It's not the way we wanted him to, but we can't take that back now." He said rubbing her back.

"I know, but I didn't want him to find out like this. I should have told him weeks ago." She said against his chest.

"We should have told him weeks ago." He corrected her tilting her chin so she was looking at him.

"It's going to be fine. Yeah, he's pissed now. But he can't stay that way forever."

"But he can make our lives miserable while he is."

"I won't let that happen."

Connie nodded trusting him. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He had always done that. Even when her and Guy were together, he would always team up with Guy to protect her from anyone that was dumb enough to mess with her. She smiled remembering when they were younger. No one would mess with her; she was on a team full of boys. And she had learned how to protect herself at an early age.

XXXX

Guy was standing outside her house when she turned onto her street. She braced herself for the worst. She silently walked up to him but he didn't notice her. She sighed before putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye then hung his head.

"You weren't supposed to find out like that." She said just above a whisper.

"Is that supposed to make me fell better?" He said his voice harsh with anger.

"No." She said letting a tear slip down her cheek.

"You know what will happen. He'll leave you as soon as things get bad."

"No he won't." She said not believing that he would say that.

"He did it with Linda!" He said not able to hold back his anger.

"You don't know what happened. I do." She said glaring at him.

"That's another thing you've kept from me. Why are you keeping things from me?" He said pushing her hand off his shoulder.

"It wasn't my place to tell you about that. It has nothing to do with this."

"He doesn't love you. Do you remember what he said after what happened with Linda?"

"He didn't say that he wouldn't fall in love again. He said he wouldn't be able to trust someone again, there's a difference." She said wishing that Charlie was there.

"You can't love someone if you don't trust them Connie. You know that."

Connie shook her head in frustration. She walked away from him and up the walkway to her house. Her mom was walking down the stairs when she came in.

"Connie, are you all right?" She said wrapping her arms around her.

"No." She said sobbing.

Amanda Moreau sat on the stairs pulling her daughter down with her. Whatever it was, it had to be serious. Connie wouldn't be crying if it were nothing.

XXXX

Portman sat on the bed in one of the guest rooms. He had talked Julie into getting out of dinner tonight so they could do something. He knew it was a long shot but he had to try. They were both shocked when he dad said that it was fine. He looked at his watch as he waited for her to come in. She stood at the door watching him with a smile. She had never seen him this nervous. Ever. And yet there he was in front of her running his hands through his hair like he was twelve and he was going out on his first date.

"Hey." She said walking into the room.

"Hey." He said pulling her down on the bed next to him.

"You ready to go?" She asked looking at him.

"Yeah. Is your dad okay with you not going?"

"I can go out with them anytime. First dates don't happen that often." She said standing up.

She pulled him with her and out of the room. She tossed him the keys knowing that he would want to drive. He tossed the keys back to her with a shake of his head.

"You're turning down the opportunity to be seen driving a hot girl around?" She asked quirking an eyebrow at him.

"I figured I'd give you the bragging rights of having a guy with my good looks in the passenger seat." He said walking around the car.

"You're delusional." She said laughing.

"Would you have me any other way?" He asked as they got into the car.

"No." She said starting the car.

The drive was quiet as they made their way across town. He was right; she did like showing him off. All of her girl friends had been gushing over him since they met him. And now she had bragging rights. She couldn't wait for that. They pulled up to the dinner where she knew her friends would be. It reminded her of Mickey's, only it wasn't a dining car. Everyone got quiet as they saw Julie and Portman walk towards them.

"It won't be that bad. You've met most of them." She said when she saw the scared look in his eyes.

He nodded in response. She was right, he shouldn't be nervous. Her friends liked him; he had met most of them over the past few summers. When they sat down at the head of the table talked resumed as normal. People were asking him how he had been catching up on what had been going on. No one asked if they were together though. That was obvious. It made things easier knowing that her friends accepted him. He just hope that if she ever came to Chicago his friends would be like this.

Everyone left a few hours later telling Julie to bring her boyfriend around more often. She shouldn't be so selfish and stingy. They were sitting out front of her house not wanting to go in.

"I told you they'd like you." She said kissing his cheek.

"I didn't expect that." He said looking at her.

"I didn't either." She said with a smile.

"The only thing left to do is for you to come Chicago." He said taking her hand.

"I can take some time off from work before school starts." She said looking at him.

He smiled nodding his head. They sat on the steps looking up at the stars. Julie was sitting a few steps lower than him and was leaning against him with her arms draped over his legs. Things were going to get stressful when she went away to college. They would be closer, but they would still have at least five states in between them. She wasn't going to think about that now though. She was going to make the most of the time she had with him. They would take things as they came.