Chapter Title: Sometimes Things Don't Turn Out The Way You Plan

AN: I won't give too much away for this chapter. But something big does happen in this chapter.

Connie looked around her room in wonder. All of her boxes were downstairs in Fulton's truck waiting to be taken to Connie's dorm room. Connie wished Charlie could be with her but he had found out that he had to go to Canada to try out for a team who's name Connie couldn't remember. She wanted to be happy for him, she really did. But she couldn't help but feel like she was being cheated out of having a real relationship with him. She'd see him less than Julie saw Portman. She didn't know if she could do that to herself. She was going to be starting college in less than a week and she didn't want to always worry about Charlie and how he was doing.

Fulton stood against her doorframe watching her. He hadn't known her as long as Charlie, Guy and Jesse had but he figured he knew her well enough to know something was wrong. He didn't know how bring things up when it came to her. She was known for being a loose cannon if you said something she didn't like. Connie saw him staring at her and she gave him a weak smile. He walked into the room and Connie wrapped her arms around his waist. Fulton rubbed her back not knowing what else to do.

"You'll look after Charlie won't you?" Connie asked looking up at him.

"So that's what's wrong." He said nodding his head.

"Yeah." She said giving him another weak smile.

"He doesn't need me to look after him. He can look after himself."

"I know. But it would make me feel better knowing you had his back."

"I can do that."

"Thanks Fult." She said with a sigh.

Connie had always been the one that everybody could depend on to be strong. Truth be told she was only like that because Guy had needed her to be that way. She loved the guy to death, a part of her always would. But he could be insecure when he wanted to be. She didn't have to be strong with Charlie. He accepted her for who she was.

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Julie was doing the same thing Connie was almost a thousand miles away. She didn't have anyone to reassure her that things would be okay though. Her dad was out of town and wouldn't be home until the day before she had to leave. She had never felt so alone in her entire life. These would be the last few days that she would be in this house for longer than a couple of weeks. And her dad couldn't tell his boss that he needed time off. That had been happening a lot lately.

To make things worse she hadn't talked to Portman since Fulton left. Every time she tried to call him he wasn't home or he was sleeping. There was no way he was sleeping eighteen hours a day. Something was going on and Julie wanted to find out what it was.

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Portman stood outside the house he had lived in for almost his entire life. Things were going to change and he knew he was ready for them. He was taking a chance on something he believed in. His mom understood what he was doing and had said that she would support whatever he decided to do. That was the beauty of having a single mom. She was willing to put all of her faith in her oldest son not knowing what the outcome of things would be. He needed to thank her for all the things she had done for him. He didn't do that enough.

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Charlie stared out the plane window wishing that the plane would hurry up and land. The last time he had been on a plane Connie had been with him. Why hadn't he asked her to come with him? Because she was moving her things into her dorm room this weekend. He wanted to be there helping her, he hoped she didn't overreact when he told her what he had found out while he was in Canada.

The plane soon landed and Charlie was the first person off. He looked through the crowd for anybody he knew.

"Spazway!" Someone yelled getting his attention.

Charlie jerked his head in the direction he heard the noise from and saw Bombay coming towards them.

"You are the last person I thought would ever call me that." Charlie said smiling at his former coach.

"I had to call you that at least once." Gordon said picking up the bag Charlie had dropped.

They talked about everything that had happened since graduation and how everyone was doing.

"You and Connie are together? Is Guy okay with that?" Gordon said pulling out of the Airport parking lot.

"He wasn't at first. Now he is."

"And Portman and Julie finally got together huh?"

"Yeah. After all the times the Ducks tried to get them together they got together on their own." Charlie said with a chuckle.

"I always told you guys to leave them alone."

Charlie didn't respond, he just looked out the window.

"So what happened in Canada?" Gordon asked not looking at Charlie.

"What makes you think something happened?" Charlie asked getting defensive.

"You would have mentioned it already if it was bad."

"It's not bad. I just want Connie to be the first person to know."

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The night before Julie left for California was filled with a lot of tears and words she didn't mean. She had confronted her dad about how he had been acting. He had always been there for her. When she asked what had changed he been honest and told her he wished she wasn't going to college so far away. He had waited until the last minute to tell her. Going to UCLA had been her dream since she started High School. Jason had gone there, and her dad didn't have a problem with that. They had fought half the night about how he was being controlling and overprotective.

She lay in bed the next morning wishing she hadn't brought it up at all. She wished she could talk to Portman about what was going on. But he was still AWOL. She was going to a serious talk with him when she talked to him again. It had been a week since she had talked to him. Not being able to talk to him was starting to worry her.

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Charlie stood outside Connie's house looking up at the house that he had spent over half of his childhood in. He wanted to take a mental picture of it so he wouldn't forget it. He had a feeling Connie would never talk to him again when she found out what he had to say.

He walked to the door and knocked before walking in. That's how he had always come in. No one had ever told him he couldn't. To be honest all the Ducks did that. He heard someone in the living room so he walked down the hall to the room. Connie was lying on the couch talking on the phone. She saw Charlie come in and she smiled at him. She sat up letting him sit down then she laid her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair trying to find the right words to say. Connie hung up the phone a minute later then looked up at him. When he didn't say anything she knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" She asked closing her eyes.

"I found out something while I was in Canada." Charlie said sounding unsure of his self.

"What?" Connie said as her eyes flew open.

"If I want to get drafted by the team I want I have to be up there by next weekend."

"That's okay. You'll come and see me whenever you can right?"

"Yeah."

"The way you were acting I thought it was something serious. Don't you ever do that to me again Charlie Conway!" She said smacking him in the chest.

Charlie pulled Connie close to him then started laughing. He had worried over nothing. Maybe Jesse and Fulton were right. Maybe he did make things worse than they were. He'd work on that.

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Julie was loading the last of her bags in the car as her dad came out of the house. He walked over to her and pulled her to him. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. But she couldn't make herself say them. They stood in the driveway holding each other until her dad checked his watch.

"If we don't leave now you'll miss your flight." He said looking her in the eye.

Julie nodded not trusting herself to talk. She didn't want to cry, she had done enough of that last night. Her dad knew she hadn't meant what she had said without her telling him. She didn't know how he knew, but he did. She watched the scenery pass by as they drove down the highway. It wasn't long before they were at the airport. Julie hugged her dad at the gate not wanting to let go. Her dad pulled away once her flight was called.

"Call me when you get there." He said before she walked away.

She nodded picking up her carry-on bag. She walked away with tears threatening to spill out. She got on the plane thinking about memories that she had of her dad and Jason. Some happy, some sad. Had she made the right decision?

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Portman stood at the gate hoping things would go as he planned. He knew she hated surprises. She could just as vicious as Connie when it came to someone surprising her. She was one of the last people off the plane. He smiled when he saw her.

Julie looked through the crowd of people gathered around her gate. Russ had said that he would come and get her. Where was he? She kept looking until she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes met with his and her eyes widened in surprise. Portman made his way to her and pulled her to him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked staring up at him.

"I wanted to surprise you. You're not mad are you?"

"For surprising me? No. For not returning my calls for the past week? Hell yeah I'm mad!" She said teasing him.

He laughed as he draped an arm over her shoulders. They walked to the baggage claim talking about things that had been going on.

"So how long are you here for?" She asked as they waited for a cab.

"That's part of the surprise. I live out here now. I'm living with Russ and his brother until I can find a place."

"Are you serious?" Julie asked dropping her bags and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I had to do something. Not seeing you was making me crazy." He said lifting her off the ground.

"What about school?"

"I'll go to Junior College for year. Save up some money and apply next year."

"I love you. You know that?" She whispered as she put her forehead to his.

"I love you too." He said before kissing her.

Someone cleared their throat from behind Portman. Julie pulled away and buried her face in his shoulder. Portman sighed as Russ stood next to him.

"Sorry. I'm double parked, lets go."

"I hate you, you know that?" Julie said glaring at him.

"Yeah, and I'm the tooth fairy. I couldn't let you two take a cab. Come on."

Russ didn't say anything during the car ride to UCLA. He knew better than to say anything. Portman would more than likely rip his head off if Julie didn't smack him first.