Julian pulled up to Cheertown in the late afternoon. The building was decorated in the team's colors, a huge banner proudly proclaiming the victory at Nationals.

"They never do anything subtly, do they?" Marti glanced out the window, looking a little weary. She really didn't want to get out of the car, knowing that one or the other Hellcat would great her with a tackleglomp and enough pep to fuel a medium-sized engine.

"It is kind of charming, though." Julian shot her a sideways glance that indicated he wasn't talking about the squad.

"If you say so." She smiled at him, hand on the door handle. "Guess this is it."

"I'll see you?" A little hint of fear flickered over his face and he bit his lips in a nervous gesture.

"You will." With a grin, she scattered his worries. "We have a deal, remember?"

He matched her expression and leaned into her for a kiss. They broke apart when Nikki let out a scoff in the backseat.

"Give me a call." Marti turned to the girl. "You make sure your dad calls me, okay?"

Nikki grinned from ear to ear, nodding eagerly.

"It's so great you two are already ganging up on me." Julian looked from his daughter to Marti.

The cheerleader shrugged. "Us girls gotta stick together." She gave him a quick peck on the lips before she got out of the car to get her bag from the trunk. "I'll see you."

Julian nodded for an answer and for a moment, his gaze lingered on her before he drove off.

Marti looked after him, then inhaled deeply to steel herself before she turned and headed into Cheertown.

#

The party was in full swing after Dean Laverne had finished his well-intentioned yet painfully boring speech. If half the squad hadn't been slightly drunk even before the speech, there might have been a riot.

But now, there was music and dancing and plenty of booze and it didn't matter how tiring the speech had been or that the next tournament would begin all too soon. All that mattered was having a little fun now after a couple of very stressful weeks.

Vanessa had announced there would be no practices for a week which had been the most exiting news after the victory. They all needed a break, time to regroup, especially now that Alice would be the new team captain. It would be a new start, another chance, for all of them.

Marti was dancing with Darwin who had only recently recovered from his sprained ankle. She had her arms wrapped around his neck as they were twirling to the music.

Suddenly, he stopped, looking at her. "Marti, you're vibrating."

She quirked her eyebrows at him but then realized he was right. Her cellphone was vibrating in the back pocket of her jeans. "You know me. Always on duty."

She had one missed call from an unknown number and a text message from Julian.

"I want to wake up with you."

Her heart skipped a beat and a huge grin spread on her face as she read it.

"Good news?" Darwin asked, trying to steal a glance at her phone.

"Pretty good, yeah." Marti still couldn't shake off the grin as she pushed the callback button.

Julian picked up on the second ring. "You told me to call you."

"Yeah, tomorrow or in a few days." Marti had to cover her other ear to be able to understand him. While she was surprised about his call, she couldn't help but enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach.

"Am I bothering you?"

She wasn't sure if the disappointed tone in his voice was real or not. With their somewhat skewed history, she wouldn't blame him if he actually believed he was bothering her.

And something else caught her attention as well. She closed her eyes to concentrate on it. "Where are you? Is there music playing?"

"Yes."

"Wait... that's..."

Darwin tapped her on the shoulder, pointing to the door, where Julian stood, cell phone pressed to his ear.

"... our music," Marti finished her thought.

He smiled at her and it was that dazzling smile that was so hard to resist, that wooed judge, jury and slack-jawed girlfriends alike. He hung up and came sauntering through the crowd.

Seeing him here wasn't that far out but it still took her completely by surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked, the phone at her ear.

He took it from her hand and flipped back to his own text message. "I want to wake up with you," he read aloud, one eyebrow raised curiously. "Did I not make myself clear?"

Marti scoffed, unsure if she thought this to be obnoxious or charming. Or maybe a little of both. "You did but... what about the deal?"

Julian gave her the phone, straightening, suddenly appearing all businesslike. "Well, you said that when we got home, you wanted me to date you, right?"

"Yes."

"I haven't unpacked yet."

She looked at him for a long moment until she finally understood. "You know, since you're so keen on technicalities... you should've been a lawyer."

He grinned at her, all but bouncing on his feet, exuding an impossible amount of boyish charm. "So what are you saying?"

Marti pondered the option for a long moment. She had come up with that condition for a reason. They had rushed head first into this and there had been damages on both sides. Now that they had another chance, she didn't want to ruin it again, she wanted to take it slow. Even after this short amount of time, there was too much at stake already.

"What about Nikki?" she heard herself ask. Of their own accord, the fingers of her hand had started playing with the hem of his shirt.

"I dropped her off at her friend's house. She couldn't wait to tell her all about her trip and how she'll become a flier for the Hellcats."

Marti grinned. "Seems like I left some permanent damage there, didn't I?"

He stepped closer to her, making sure she was the only one to hear him. "I can think of some ways you can make up for it."

She buried her grin against his neck. "I bet you can." Her arm slipped around his waist, pulling him closer. "Will you dance with me?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Here?"

She nodded. "Let me preserve at least a little bit of my integrity."

Brushing some unruly curls from her face, he leaned down to kiss her and as he did she realized how much she had already missed it. Him.

Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was some weird coincidence. Or maybe it was the DJ playing a trick on them. But as soon as his arm snaked around her back, the song changed to a slow power-ballad.

They swayed to the music and Marti couldn't care less about the looks her teammates cast at her. Most of them knew Julian at least from sight since he had helped get Travis out of jail and save the Hellcats from going down with Jake.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Lewis giving her a thumbs-up behind Alice's back (however they had gotten back together was a mystery all by itself) and Savannah beamed at her as she and Dan turned around to them.

She wrapped her arms tighter around Julian, inhaling his scent, his cologne and more. For the first time in a long while, she felt like... home, like she had finally found her place. That feeling had started when she had joined the Hellcats a year ago but thanks to circumstances and her own screw-ups, she had slipped in and out of this sense of belonging.

Especially after the trial, when she had looked around her at all the happy couples, and she had hardly ever felt more out of place. In retrospect, she may have gone to see Julian out of the basic need to be with someone. But she had come back for more.

When she had knocked on his door a week later, it had been because he understood her. He respected her and yet never failed to poke fun at the fact that she was a law-student by mid-morning and a cheerleader by afternoon. He trusted her with things she might still be a little too green to handle, not because he wanted to see her fall flat on her face but because he believed in her. If that wasn't reason enough to fall for him, those damn good looks and that low, Southern drawl did help.

Marti went on tiptoes, her fingers brushing up the back of his neck and into his hair. "Give me five minutes and then we'll get out of here."

He pulled back from her to look her in the face, eyebrow raised. "Five minutes?"

She shrugged. "I'm not going to seduce you in my sports-bra."

Slightly taken aback, he had to clear his throat before being able to speak. "Take all the time you need. I'll wait out front."

#

With one hand stashed into his pocket, Julian stood outside Cheertown, a cool bottle of beer in the other. He was about to take a sip, when someone approached him.

"Mr. Parrish?" He turned to find Lewis standing behind him. "I'm Lewis Flynn." The young man held out a hand to him. "We've met but I don't think we've been introduced."

Julian shook the cheerleader's hand. "Yes, Mr. Flynn. You are Marti's... base?"

Lewis grinned. "I see you're getting familiar with the vocabulary."

"Forcedly."

"Listen, I... never got to thank you for putting Marti on the list for the honor court. She saved my life. And the squad."

Julian shrugged. "She had a good argument." When Lewis raised his eyebrows at him, he continued, "You are her friend."

Lewis nodded. "Yeah, that does sound like her."

"So why deny you the best student counsel you could get?"

"To Marti." Lewis held out his beer bottle and Julian clinked his against it, both men drinking a sip.

They stood and drank in silence for a while before Lewis cleared his throat to speak. "Look, I don't like to pull the overly protective brother card..."

"But you're about to," Julian interrupted him, mouth quirked into a smile.

"She is my friend. We're a team. And we look out for each other. This past year has been insane for all of us and if it hadn't been for Marti, we wouldn't be here. Even if some members of the squad disagree, we owe her a lot."

"I have no intention of hurting her, Mr. Flynn." Julian picked up on Lewis' unsaid words. "I know she told you about my daughter. And believe me, if I had known where this would lead, I would have told her sooner. I never meant to upset her."

Lewis broke into a grin. "I know you're a decent guy. I'm just doing my duty here."

"Duly noted, Mr. Flynn." Julian raised his bottle with an appreciative nod.

"Lewis." The cheerleader stuck out a hand.

"Julian." He shook it.

"So... you two..."

"Yep."

"Do you two boys need to be alone?" Marti appeared behind them and both men flinched.

"No, I'm just putting your date in his place." Lewis shot a conspicuous glance at Julian.

"He's not giving you a hard time, is he?" She snaked her arm around Julian's waist, claiming him.

"I'm used to having you on my back. Lewis hardly warrants a threat." Julian fought hard not to grin.

Marti punched him playfully in the ribs. "You say such nice things about me."

"Are you ready?" Julian changed the subject.

"If you don't mind if I use your bathroom for some finishing touches."

"Oh, get out of here," Lewis scoffed, twisting his face in disgust. He patted Marti on the back, then headed inside, muttering to himself, "People in love... disgusting."

"Yeah, say hi to Alice from me," Marti called after him and he waved a hand at them. "Let's go."