"This can't be happening, please tell me this isn't happening!"
"Julie calm down, it'll be okay," Gunnar told her reassuringly despite feeling just as upset about this as her.
"How is any of this okay?" she asked with wide eyes, "It is definitely not okay."
He sighed and walked towards her, grabbing both of her hands with his and offered her a familiar teasing smirk, "We always knew there would be a re-match."
"But not in the second round! You do know what this means, right? One of our teams will be playing for gold and the other for bronze. We weren't supposed to meet up until the last round."
"Ssh Julie, there's nothing we can do about it but play our best," he kissed her temple, "and now I can flirt with you on and off the ice."
She groaned but leaned into him to accept his arms around her waist, "I can't believe this is happening."
Gunnar laughed at her antics, even though this really wasn't ideal, there was nothing they could do about how they were seeded. Both USA and Iceland won their series by winning the first two match-ups in the first round. Russia and Canada would be facing each other in the second round while it would be the long-awaited re-match between Iceland and USA. Whoever won the best of three games in both series would move on to play for gold, while the losing opposition would fight it out for bronze.
The only good news was they had another week off to prepare for their new opponents. Both Stanssen and Bombay made it clear to their two star players that they needed to keep clear heads and focus on their respective teams and not each other. Gunnar just hoped they didn't blur the lines to much. He both looked forward to and dreaded going against her. She was easily the best goalie in the tournament, more than once her Ducks won games simply because she kept the puck from crossing the goal line. He often wondered how different their game would have been last year with her minding the net instead of Goldberg. But he couldn't deny that he was excited about the opportunity to see how he and his team measured up to their old rivals. After last year's bitter loss there was a lot to prove.
Gunnar tightened his hold around her waist and slowly rocked her back and forth, "Come on beautiful, we are going to be late meeting up with everyone."
He was glad to feel a laugh bubbling inside her as she looked up at him with those sparkling blue eyes, "Gunnar," he stilled at the softness of her voice, "I believe in you. No matter what happens I want you to know that."
"Julie," his eyes searched hers, her words touching him deeply, "thank you, I believe in you to."
Gunnar noticed the flash of a frown on her face before it was swept away with another stunning smile. Grabbing his feisty girlfriend by the hand, he led them out into the hallway and onto the elevator. Before the doors even closed they were facing each other, their bodies being pulled together as though a magnet brought them towards one another. Julie's hands settled around his lower back and Gunnar held one arm around her shoulder and his other hand caressed her jaw-line as they kissed. When the doors opened to the lobby floor they had their foreheads together and both were breathing deeply.
They walked hand-in-hand and met up with their two teams still waiting on a few other guys in the lobby. Once the news broke Charlie had suggested they head down to the beach and clear their minds and just have a little fun. A lot of friendships had been carved between the former rivals and a lot of them were nothing short of devastated. Both felt each of their teams deserved a shot at gold.
Stanssen and Bombay were made aware of their player's plans and scheduled to have a large bus drop them off and pick them up. Unlike their last adventure the ride was pretty quiet as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Connie and Julie were whispering to each other and an occasional giggle could be heard, and their normal cattiness and laughter was slowly easing the rest of the guys' attitude. And by the time they arrived they were all in better moods and the old familiar jokes and regular banter had started anew.
The only girls among the large group spread out their towels and lay beside each other and continued their discussion. Julie looked over and could see the confusion marring Connie's pretty eyes, "So what are you going to do?"
The Ducks forward sighed lightly and shrugged, "I don't know. I really like him still but I can't just forget what happened. That and," Julie watched as Connie's gaze studied a certain Iceland player from afar, "I just don't know."
Julie bumped her friend's shoulder with her own and whispered, "Want me to ask Gunnar to check into it?"
Connie immediately flushed and pulled her gaze back to the ocean, "What are you talking about?"
"Fine, fine, I'll leave it alone. I will just say that he's turned out to be a really great guy."
"Seriously, what are you going on about?" Connie glanced to her blonde friend and the girls started laughing again, "Julie I can't like him!"
"Right, just like I can't lo-like…Gunnar," the goalie stunned herself at nearly stating that she loved him out loud.
The brunette's eyes widened and took in the surprised look on her face, "Oh Julie, I really am happy for you. He's been so good to you."
"I know, that's why it's killing me knowing it will all end soon," Julie sat up and brought her knees to her chest, burying her head in her misery.
Leaning up to sit beside her, Connie gently asked, "Why does it have to end? He's in love with you; it's not hard to tell." Neither of them noticed the shadow of someone approaching.
"Because Connie, I'll be in Maine and he'll be in Iceland. There is no telling when we will see each other again, and who knows what people will come into our lives," she turned her tortured gaze on her friend, "I can't make him wait for me, that isn't fair to him. And he's going places, you know it just as well as I do, a player like him will make it to the big leagues. In a few years all of this will just be a memory."
"Sounds like you have it all figured out," Gunnar's sudden voice was angry and hurt, "So you already decided for us, is that it?"
"Oh. Uh," Connie stood as Julie hugged herself tighter, "think I'll go now."
"Yah, good idea," Gunnar told her rudely and stood in front of his girlfriend who remained hiding her face in her arms and knees. Connie quickly rushed off and the silence that lingered between the couple was thick with hurt. "Julie."
But the Ducks goaltender started shaking and simply could not look up to see the pain she knew would be in his eyes. Here she had wanted to enjoy the rest of their time together and she destroyed everything so foolishly.
"I thought we understood each other," Julie cringed at the pain of his words, and as he continued speaking the knife went deeper and deeper into her heart, "all this time you've been holding back?"
A sob wracked through her body uncontrollably. Seeing her so upset Gunnar couldn't stop himself from kneeling before her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders and back. "How could you not see I want to be with you beyond this summer? I thought you knew that, I thought you wanted the same thing. Was it all a lie?" Gunnar felt another sob shake her already quivering body. His accent was thick with emotion, "Don't cry Julie, I can't stand it."
But she couldn't stop even though she didn't deserve to cry after hurting him so badly, she didn't deserve his touch. How could she do this to him? After all the wonderful things he'd done and said, she just didn't deserve him period.
"Will you talk to me please? I need to know what you are thinking. Look at me, don't break my heart like this."
Julie felt his warm hands gently pry her head upwards; she closed her eyes painfully as more tears rolled down her cheeks. Gunnar swallowed with agony at the broken look on her beautiful face. "I'm," she wheezed with eyes still closed to block it all out, "I'm sorry G-Gun-Gunnar."
His grip tightened on her face as she sobbed out his name, her shattered voice pulled at his heart, "Please don't cry," he whispered and pulled her against his chest and he felt her hot tears burn through his shirt, "you can't get rid of me that easy, I'm not going anywhere."
She felt his hands on her face and he positioned them so they both kneeling, he was so close she could feel his breath on her face. And when she heard him tell her to look at him she finally did as new tears spilled over. His eyes were such a vivid and clear grey she felt her heart skip a few beats. She hated herself for putting them both through this, maybe if she'd talked to him instead of just getting lost in her thoughts she wouldn't have ruined things between them.
"I got scared," her voice was so unstable and thick with guilt, "I fell in love with you and can't stop thinking I'll lose you when this is all over."
A slow-burning smile turned up the corners of his lips, "You love me?"
"What?" Her tear-filled gaze widened but his gaze encouraged her to tell the truth, "Yes."
"Julie," he pulled her against him once more and whispered into her ear, "I love you, too."
"Gunnar, I'm so sorry."
"Ssh, everything will be okay now, can I just hold you for a while?"
She nodded against him and he slowly pulled back. In steady moves he moved behind her and brought her back to lean against him with his arms wrapping around beneath her chest. And for a couple hours they simply sat there holding onto one another and looked out over the ocean as their bond slowly gained more strength.
Eventually he quietly asked her to tell him what was going through her mind to make her think he would just drop her at the end of the tournament. Overhearing her say they would go their separate ways had really hurt him deeply. Then when she mentioned things had been fine until Dean Portman said something and it got her thinking about the what ifs, Gunnar had to fight down his urge to go after the guy interfering in his life. His issues with Portman would have to wait because his beautiful Julie needed reassurance. Hell, he needed the reassurance too, the way she talked made it seem like she was settled on walking away. He couldn't let that happen, no matter what.
After hearing her fears it made a little sense, she was in love with him and was scared he would turn his back on her. But he loved her too and there was no way he could abandon her. He never thought his feelings would grow to be this strong for her, but he was glad they did. It made the risk of taking a chance and being together so very much worth it.
"Promise me you'll come to me when you start feeling like this. We need to talk about these things."
"I will, I promise," she told him still feeling relaxed against him, "I am sorry Gunnar, once the fear of losing you caught hold I had a hard time dealing with it. I thought I was doing the right thing by letting you go. I see now that I couldn't have been more wrong."
"You really have no idea what you mean to me Julie," he whispered and kissed behind her ear.
She smiled, "Maybe, I think, I'm starting to get an idea."