Life's Full of Little Surprises
Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of the 'Mighty Duck' characters or the rights to the "Mighty Duck" franchise, that honor belongs to Disney. So I would appreciate that I wouldn't get sued over something I don't own.
Summary: Dani's life couldn't be going better. She has finally made it to the Olympics, doing the sport she loves the most. But... after arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota things change. First she is constantly badgered by her brother, then she falls for one of his friends, and, of course, there is always a stalker!
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AznIntegra- I can't end it with the this chapter? I'm sorry, but I kind of have to. I'm glad that you think it is really good, but all good things must come to an end. Yes, Julie wants to murder Marianne, but no she can not. Why? Because we need Julie to stay out of jail. It would be bad if Julie went to jail. It is ironic that Julie, Piper, and their mother were in Chicago and met up with Dani... But you never know what can happen. That's they way life is.
mickEmousina- Thank you so much! I like to know that people like what is going on. You basically hit the nail on the head with the amount of OC's. I just wanted to show that all of the Ducks had their own lives and do their own things. Thanks again!
Angelrain32515- Yes, Julie and Dean got together. I'm glad that you have stuck around for 64 chapters and that you have enjoyed them. It is sad that it's over, but that means new things are going to happen and that everyone is going to grow up. There are a lot of situations going on in this story and I hope that it wasn't too tedious for anyone; I'm glad you fell in love with them.
dramaaddict- What took me so long? Brain freeze. I was trying to figure a lot of stuff out and couldn't think about the previous chapter. I'm glad you waited around though.
nibler- Yeah, Adam and Dani broke up. I'm sorry, but it had to happen. Everyone wants a happy ending. Yes, in the beginning I said that Dani had had medical problems when she was younger. That will most definitely make an entrance in the sequel, which I will have. It might actually be a big point, but I haven't decided yet.
Thank many, many thanks to brokenwriter, NikChic, Mrs. St. John Allerdyce, Sweet-Romantic, figgieskater9, and mdgirl18!
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Dean sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard, wondering what the hell was going to happen when he got to Eden Hall. He had had the time of his life with Julie when she was in Chicago, even if she had only been there a few days, but now that she had been back in Maine and had time to think, maybe she didn't feel the same way that he did anymore. That thought, and the uncertainty of how is friendship with Julie would be affected, scared the crap out of him, "I have never been whipped before." He whispered, banging his head on the headboard.
"Sucks, doesn't it?" A voice in the doorway asked.
Dean looked at his door and sighed, "Yes, dad. It does."
"I felt the same way when I first met your mother." Kal replied, "And to be quite honest, I still am. The right women will have the effect on you." He stepped inside his son's room and sat down on the rolling chair at the foot of Dean's bed, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Do I have a choice?" Dean asked.
"Of course you do." Kal replied.
Sighing, Dean ran his hand through his hair. Normally his dad was the person he would go to for advice, but he had never needed advice about girls before, they just sort of flocked to him. Besides, this was Julie, not some one week floozy that he wanted to get with because he was bored, "It's about Julie."
"Oh... The plot, like gravy, thickens."
"Dad!"
"Sorry, son." Kal replied, "Continue."
"It's just that over the past year I've noticed that I kind of started feeling a little... friendlier, I guess you could say, around Julie." Kal raised his eyebrows, "What? No remark to match?" Kal shook his head and motioned for his son to continue, "Well, when she was here we kind of..."
"Oh God." Kal said, "You two didn't..."
"Dad! No!" Dean shot back, "You're the adult, get your demented mind out of the gutter, please."
Kal sighed, "I had to ask." He said, "So in about 10 to 15 years if your mother finds out about this little conversation I can safely tell her that I asked all of the important questions. You have seen your mother angry, correct?"
Dean shuttered. He had and he never wanted to again, "Never get an Italian women mad. They tend to get you in trouble."
"I learned this the hard way." Kal said, "But continue on with the story."
"Well," Dean said, "She was upset and I was consoling her... And giving her a shoulder rub..."
"Um-hum." Kal said.
"And I sort of ended up making out with her on the roof of The Rink."
Kal furrowed his eyebrows, "How did you end up making out with again?"
"She complimented my eyes." Dean mumbled.
Kal sighed, "My god, you really are my son." Dean snorted, "Well, that sounds exactly like something that I would do when I was 16. I would do almost anything when I got a compliment when I was your age."
"Yeah, see, Dad, that's just a little too much information." Dean said, groaning.
"Not like that." Kal replied, "Let's get off this subject because I am going to end up putting my foot in my mouth and your mother will have to kill me." Dean nodded, "Dean, how do you feel about Julie?"
Sighing, Dean mumbled, "I think she's absolutely amazing and I am completely pathetic."
"Same with me about your mother." Kal replied, "Look son, if you really like her as much as you say you do, then talk to her. She obviously responded in a way that didn't involve you getting slapped, so don't avoid it."
"Yeah, don't avoid it." Dean and Kal looked around to see Dani leaning against the door, "Do you have any clue how long Piper and I have been trying to push you two together?" Dean's jaw dropped. What? "Even Fulton what like 'What the heck is the matter with them?' I don't even comprehend why the other Ducks can't see it."
"Thanks, Dan." Dean replied sarcastically.
"Well." Kal said, "I'd love to stay, but I have to go change and stare nervously into the mirror."
"Why?" Dani asked.
Kal sighed, "Well, I got a call about three days ago from your Aunt Mickie." Dani nearly squealed, but she managed to contain herself, "She said that she has moved here and that she wants to reignite our sibling relationship and she wants me to meet her significant other." Dani now managed to stop herself from laughing, boy was he in for a surprise, "So, she suggested that we go out to lunch and I want to look good."
"Dad, you're her brother." Dani said.
"Yeah, she doesn't care what you're wearing." Dean added, "And besides, you're the older one."
"I hope you're right. About her not caring, I mean." Kal sighed as he left the room.
"Nifty." Dani said, "Boy is he in for a surprise." She mumbled when she knew that her father couldn't hear her.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"Well, when I was in Philly I saw Aunt Mickie, you know that." Dean nodded, "Well, I also met this significant other."
"So." Dean said.
"Name's Evey." Dani replied, "Short for Evelyn." Dean's eyes widened, "Yeah, dad's definitely not expecting that." Dean nodded, "So, when are you going?"
"Now." Dean replied, "I've been putting off going for the past hour because I wasn't sure that I wanted to see Julie so soon."
"Dude, get over it." Dani said, sighing at how idiotic her brother could be, "Look, Jules is totally into you. As much as I hate to admit it and as much as I know that that big head of yours will only get bigger, she's crazy about you as a friend and as someone she would want to go out with."
Dean sighed, "You sure, Dan?"
"How many times have I been wrong about this?" Dani asked, "Honestly?" Dean gulped. Dani did have a point, but was that how Julie really felt, or had everything changed over the summer?
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All of the Ducks had arrived at Eden Hall for their Junior year, but they were all off in different directions at the moment. Julie was extremely nervous, but also extremely excited, to see Dean. She only hoped that she wasn't going to be made a fool of. Although she knew that Dean was at Eden Hall, Julie had yet to see him. She was sitting with Tammy and Fulton, who's conversation she had a feeling she was intruding on, "Hey, Fulton?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Fulton replied, slightly disappointed at having to be pulled away from whispering sweet nothings into Tammy's ear. Julie could tell that those two were going to be the talk of the school.
"Have you seen Dean?" Julie asked.
Fulton nodded, wondering why Julie was asking, "Yeah." He replied, "He's still in our room. The Dean and Alumni got wise and put us back together. Can you believe they wanted to put us with other people? Why do you ask?" He added, sounding like an afterthought. When Piper told him that Julie had turned up in Chicago over the summer and that they had seen Dean and Dani, Fulton couldn't help but wonder what would happen between the two.
"Just wanted to talk to him." Julie said, "Excuse me."
Julie walked off, towards the dorm rooms and Tammy chuckled when she was out of hearing range, "Now that is the march of one brave little toaster."
"'Brave little toaster', baby?" Fulton asked, immensely confused.
Tammy sighed, "Fulton, it's obvious that something happened between them when she was in Chicago. Maybe he hit on her. Maybe she hit on him. I don't know, but it's something that she needs to talk to him about. That's why she raced off."
"But 'brave little toaster'?"
"I was watching the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Oz leaves Willow and Xander said that her drunken dance was the dance of a brave little toaster." Tammy explained, "He did leave her, after all, and she was trying to get through it."
Fulton furrowed his eyebrows, "What does that have to do with Julie and Dean?" He asked.
"What I mean is she's brave to go talk to him." Tammy said, "Dean isn't exactly known for staying with one girl too long and even though he's crazy about Julie, he might get a little skittish."
"This is true." Fulton replied, wondering just exactly what was going to happen between his best friend and a spitfire like Julie. If anything, it was going to be school news for a long time.
Julie continued her way to the dorms, not aware that Tammy and Fulton had just had a conversation about her, nor that Fulton had had a thought about her and Dean that she had just had about him and Tammy, "God I hope he still wants to be around me." Julie whispered, walking into the building. She remembered seeing Fulton come out of the last room on the second floor, so she hoped that that was actually his room.
Gulping, Julie knocked on the door and waited. After a few minutes, Julie heard, "Come in!" Yup, it was Fulton's room alright. She knew the voice of Dean Portman was the voice inside. Gulping again, Julie opened the door and walked in. When she closed it, Dean, who was leaning over his bed in order to make it for the only time that it would be made the entire school year, looked up, "Oh, hey Jules." He said.
"Hi Dean." She replied, noticing that Dean was wearing jeans and a white wife-beater and his leather jacket was hanging on the end of his bed. 'God Almighty, he looks amazing.' Julie thought, "How have you been?" She asked, trying to make casual conversation.
Dean nodded, "I've been good." He said, "Although I must admit, Chicago got a little boring after you left, but..." Dean trailed off. Maybe it wasn't the best idea for them to talk about her little trip to Chicago.
"Yeah." Julie replied, "I enjoyed Chicago." Dean's imagination went into overdrive. Did that mean that she enjoyed being with him, or that she just liked visiting Chicago? Wait a minute, why was he being to paranoid? Of course she meant that she just liked visiting. That had to be the answer. Didn't it?
"Well, I'm glad you did." Dean said, getting back to making his bed. He had promised his mother he'd make it, he just didn't specify how many times he would.
Nodding, Julie sighed, "Dean, we need to talk."
"About?" Dean sighed, hoping that Julie wasn't going to tell him that she just thought of him as a friend and that she was sorry about what had happened during her stay in Chicago.
"About what we did." Julie said, knowing that Dean knew what she was talking about.
"Oh." Dean said, "That. Look, Jules... I'm sorry about that."
Finding herself wanting to cry at what he said, Julie did her best to keep a straight face, "Really?" She asked. Dean didn't really mean that, but he face couldn't tell Julie that. She saw no emotion whatsoever and that scared her even more, "Because..." She said, taking a deep breath, "I'm not." Taking a risk, Julie decided to tell him the truth and she hoped that she wouldn't get hurt to badly.
"You aren't?" Dean asked.
Julie shook her head, "Not a bit."
In all honesty Dean could say that he hadn't been expecting that, "Jules, I... What I mean is... Well, I didn't know how you felt, so..."
"You're rambling."
"I noticed." Dean replied.
Smiling, Julie walked closer, "Well, now that we know that, I was kind of hoping that we could start back up where we left off."
"And where was that?" Dean asked, chuckling.
"You forgot?" Julie asked, planting a light kiss on his lips.
Dean smiled, "You know what, it's kind of coming back to me... But I think I need a little more..." Julie cut him off, getting what he meant. The kiss was as amazing as it had been in Chicago and Dean didn't mind fulfilling his end of the bargain. It's not like he was going to leave her hanging, he wasn't that kind of guy.
Pulling back, Julie smiled, "You want me." She stated in a very un-Julie-like way.
"Oh, really?" Dean asked. Julie nodded, "Look who's cocky now."
"Not cocky." Julie replied, remembering what Dean had told her in Chicago. Leaning forward and standing on her toes, Julie whispered into his ear, "Confident."
As Julie settled her feet firmly on the floor, Dean smiled, "And just what are you so confident about?" He asked. Julie raised her eyebrows, "You're right. Dumb question." Once again, they kissed and both of them enjoyed every second of it.
As they separated again, Julie said, "I think we better go. Dean Buckley is going to start the assembly soon."
Dean groaned, "Do we have to?" He whined, "Can't we just stay here?"
"No." Julie replied, crossing her arms across her chest.
Dean sighed, "Okay." He shook his head and pulled on his leather jacket.
Smiling, Julie took Dean's hand in hers and kissed the back of it, "Come on." Dean nodded, pulling Julie closer to him while keeping their hands intertwined. The two left the room and walked down to the main building together.
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"So, has anyone seen Julie?" Piper asked, standing with the Ducks before they all entered the main building for the start of term assembly.
"We talked to her for a while and then she left." Tammy said, "We think that she went up to the dorms." Piper nodded.
"Hey, look." Averman said out of the blue, causing everyone to jump, "There she is now. And she's with Portman." The group looked over and saw that Julie and Dean were, indeed, walking together, "And they are... holding hands." Averman added in a stunned voice.
"Holy crap." Charlie said.
"Oh my God." Guy added.
"That is unexpected." Connie replied.
"When did that happen?" Adam asked.
Piper and Fulton looked to each other and both voiced what they were thinking, "It's about damn time." They said, gaining shocked looks from the baffled and confused Ducks, "What?" They asked.
"What what?" Julie asked as she and Dean finally made it to the group.
The Ducks stared in silence at their friends. They could all say that they never would have expected Julie and Dean to ever be holding hands, "I think they all lost the ability to speak, Jules."
"Uh-huh." Julie replied, "Apparently."
"When did this happen?" Luis asked, pointing to their hands.
"And don't lie." Goldberg warned.
Julie and Dean looked to each other and then back to the Ducks, and then they shrugged with a simple, "Don't know." In all factuality, they really didn't. Neither of them could say the exact time that they found the other attractive, nor could they say if they were officially a couple at the moment, but they both hoped that they were.
"Would you quit staring?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, it's creepy." Dean added.
"Julie and Portman." Russ mumbled, "What?"
Dwayne stood up, "Well, I can't say that I expected this, but I can say that they do look kinda cute together." They were about to thank him, but then he went on, "Just like two love-sick little horses during mating season." That killed it. Neither one of them wanted to think about horses during mating season.
"Gee, thanks Dwayne." Dean mumbled, not quite sure where mating horses came into play. He and Julie had only just somewhat 'gotten together'.
From behind Julie and Dean, everyone heard two particularly preppy girls whisper, "Bitch!"
Julie chuckled, "I was wondering who was going to say that first." She mumbled.
"It's because I'm that manly." He said, "I'm just a stud." Julie sighed, smacking him on the chest, "Ow! Demon women."
"You better believe it." Julie replied, "I can be evil."
Dean sighed, "Is it wrong that I actually want to see that?" He asked.
"Eww!" Piper said, "Off of this subject, please. I don't need to know what you two do alone." Julie rolled her eyes, "We'd better get inside. I hear that these things are really boring and I want to get a good place where I can fall asleep if need be." The Ducks agreed and they all followed, all of them except Charlie and Adam.
"Banksie?" Charlie asked when everyone had gone inside, "What's wrong."
Adam sighed, "It's not fair." He replied, "It's just not fair."
"What isn't?" Charlie asked, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder, "What happened."
"You know what happened." Adam replied, "I'm happy for Jules and Portman, I really am, but I just don't see why Dani and I could work out."
"Dani was crazy about you." Charlie replied, trying to make his best friend feel better.
"Was." Adam said, "Past tense."
Sighing, Charlie said, "I know it hurts now, but you'll get over it." Adam wanted to shake his head and tell Charlie that that wasn't going to happen, but he didn't have the strength to do something like that, "And when you do, you will have hundreds of girls drooling at your feet."
'But I don't want them.' Adam thought, "Sure man." He replied, "I need another minute to myself. Save me a seat will you." Charlie nodded and ran inside, leaving Adam alone. All by himself, Adam thought. It was ironic that just a year before Charlie had been heckling him to get a girlfriend and now that he had been dumped Charlie was telling him to take his time and get over it, but Adam knew that that was impossible. Dani wasn't the kind of girl that he could get over; he would love her until the day he died. Reaching in his pocket, Adam pulled out a picture of Dani that he had managed to snap of her while she was looking off into space. She looked amazing. Her hair was whipping in the wind and the sun was setting behind her, so she looked like she was glowing, "I love you Danielle Portman." Adam whispered, "I always will." With that he gently kissed the photograph and placed it back in his pocket. Checking his watch, he ran into the building and onto Dean Buckley's newest boring lecture.
Oh my Gosh! It's over! Am I the only one that wants to cry? Oh, well. One must move on and that is what I plan on doing. I will have a sequel up as soon as a do some more work on my other stories. It shouldn't be too long, so I hope you all will not mind the wait!