Julie felt paralyzed, even breathing made it seem as though several small needles pierced her brain over and over again. She couldn't move, couldn't close her eyes. There was no stopping the sudden tears. There was only pain. The most severe and intense pain she had ever experienced. It took everything in her to even speak up earlier and now she just didn't have the inner strength to fight.

From just looking at her Gunnar saw how terrible she was feeling. They had known that sudden flashes of light brought on headaches, he didn't want to think of what she might be going through with the brightness of that professional camera flash. That burst of light caught them all off guard and Julie had to be in a world of hurt. He was afraid to even touch her, but he had to do something to help her.

"Julie," his voice was kept very low as he neared her, "close your eyes. Come on love, I know it hurts but I need you to trust me."

She wanted to nod, or to speak again, but she just couldn't. It was as though she felt crippled. Finally she eased her eyelids shut and the darkness was welcomed.

"Good, that's good," Gunnar whispered, "I'm going to pull your sunglasses down and put them over your eyes."

Julie stood there and tried to block the onslaught of pain. She knew he was being as gentle as possible, but even with his careful and steady hands the movement of her sunglasses being moved from on top of her head to cover her eyes made her entire body quiver.

The others circled around and kept quiet, they were all deeply concerned and worried to see their beautiful friend hurting so much. They watched as Gunnar slowly moved to stand at her side and hesitated for a few moments. Finally he looked to Adam then Olaf and Fulton before gently speaking once more.

"Julie, we need to get you to the hospital…"

"…No," she managed to push out as more tears were violently pushed from her eyes. The last place she wanted to be was a hospital filled with bright lights and people screaming and crying out.

Gunnar flinched at the hurt in her voice, if only he could take her pain away. He would take it all away and put it on himself if he could. Julie was strong, they all knew that, she had to be in unbelievable pain to be this still, her silent tears told them all just how much she was really hurting.

"We take her back to the hotel," Olaf whispered among the group.

Gunnar nodded his agreement and looked back to his girlfriend, "I'm going to carry you. I'm sorry Julie, it's going to hurt."

She whimpered brokenly when her friends helped steady her body as Gunnar picked her up. Olaf quietly suggested they take her to their room since no one would dare to bother them, she would be left alone. It was known that Connie and Julie's hotel room could have several visitors at any given time. But no one, other than maybe Julie or the coaches would ever approach the room assigned to Gunnar and Olaf. Thankfully the restaurant they chose was only a few blocks from their hotel.

The atmosphere was somber and serious as Adam, Fulton, and Olaf formed a protective barrier around Gunnar and Julie. The walk was slow and purposeful. Gunnar had no problems carrying Julie for that long of a trek, she was pretty light and it was no secret his long years of dedication to hockey had provided him with a good deal of strength. He was simply worried that he would move a certain way that would hurt her even more.

When they arrived to the hotel Fulton viciously glared and shushed Dwayne and Luis who were nearly shouting at them in greeting. Once they saw what was going on they joined them in heading to the elevators. They wanted to do anything they could to help their teammate.

They stepped off when they got to their floor, rounded a corner and saw a teary-eyed Connie looking them all over. She wiped away any errant tears and frowned, she was about to speak when Olaf put his finger to his mouth to silence her. Following them all, she stopped with the large group as Olaf opened the door to the room he shared with Gunnar. The couple silently made their way in and Olaf blocked the entrance to anyone going after them.

He crossed his arms and glared at them each before his gaze finally settled on Connie, "Is there medicine that will help in your room?"

"I'll check but," she was still amazed at the quietness of his voice, "what happened?"

Adam simply shook his head, "Later, right now we need to just take care of her. Take Robertson and Mendoza, they can help you look. Pretty sure it's a migraine, a really bad one."

Connie, Dwayne, and Luis nodded together in agreement and hurriedly shuffled off to look for Julie's medication. Adam sighed once they left and the three boys made their way into the Viking's hotel room. Gunnar kept the lights off and had just settled Julie onto his bed. Her body was shaking as he pulled the blanket over her; he wanted so badly to touch her and reassure her but didn't want to risk causing her pain.

He was thankful the others were staying quiet as Olaf indicated they should talk out in the hall. Adam quickly spoke up and offered Olaf to stay with him and Charlie for the night, in which the tall Icelander was quick to agree. Gunnar thanked them each for their help tonight and glared at the sudden and loud disturbance of three Ducks running towards them. He crossed his arms and eyed them each dangerously before Connie thrust a bottle of pills at him looking a little sheepish. Reading that the pills were pain killers, he nodded and closed the door on the rest of them.

There was still a little light left in the long California day so Gunnar, as silently as possible, moved to close the curtains. He blinked as he adjusted to the darkness of the room, there was just enough light to see subtle shapes and outlines. Making his way into the bathroom, he closed the door and turned on the light to better read the instructions of the medication. Filling a plastic cup with water from the sink he left and turned out the light. It took another second to get his bearings and eventually made his way towards her.

He kneeled beside Julie resting on his bed and gently removed her sunglasses. The tears had stopped falling, much to his relief because he really hated to see her cry. "Julie," he called out to her gently, "I have some medicine for you. Here," he helped her rise to her elbows and her eyes opened painfully as he placed two pills in her mouth. She swallowed them down through a groan but remained sitting up slightly and looking at him afterwards. He put the cup on the nightstand beside his bed and turned back to her, wanting nothing more than to hold her until every ache faded away, "What can I do to help you? Tell me Julie, I'll do anything."

She swallowed down a lump of pain, "Come here," her voice was still thick with the tension beating at her skull, "lay with me, please."

"Are you sure?" Because he wasn't sure of that at all, he didn't want to hurt her.

Julie wanted to nod but knew better than to make that movement, so she told him with the rest of the strength left in her, "Yes. You make it all better, I need you."

And in a way he needed her right now to. He needed to feel her reassurance that she was going to be okay. Seeing her hurting so much physically beat at him to where he was feeling pain as well. So he carefully moved the blanket aside and stretched out alongside her. When he realized exactly what she wanted he bit his lip in concern. Yet all the same he still opened his arm and helped her turn on her side to where she could rest her head against his chest. Both of his arms closed in around her frame and they both started to relax. Gunnar could feel her breaths evening out against his neck and finally let go of some built-up tension and worry.

It felt like no one could touch or hurt them while wrapped up together in the darkness of the hotel room, laying together as if protecting one another in his bed. Gunnar remained awake for several hours and could tell the pain pills were starting to work as her body lightly stretched against his own and she shifted to be more comfortable in her sleep. What he didn't know was that it was her focusing on the sound of his beating heart that helped slowly ease the ache in her head.

Eventually Gunnar fell asleep with her still snuggled closely against him. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but savor the wonder of falling asleep with her next to him. It felt right to be here when she slipped into dreams and as she woke to a new day. Throughout the rest of the night they slept with arms holding on tightly.

The following morning Gunnar woke to find a smiling Julie still in his arms. She was awake and her stunning blue eyes beckoned for him to claim her lips with his own. Softly they shared their first kiss of the day, both smiling afterwards.

"Are you okay?"

The deep tenor of his husky morning voice sent thrills throughout Julie's body, "Much better, thank you for taking care of me."

He kissed her again, keeping their mouths pressed together for a gentle, long moment, "No headache?"

"Really, I feel good. Gunnar," she hesitated and looked down before raising her gaze to his again, "where's Olaf?"

He chuckled, "Why, does it bother you to be alone with me?"

"No. In fact," a sudden fire entered her gaze and before he knew it she was straddling his lap, "I rather like when it's just the two of us."

"Julie," his breathing deepened just as his eyes darkened, he groaned as he peered up at her with her long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders, that adorable dimple in her right cheek, "you are so beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so," she leaned forward until her face was just over his, both were reeling from the close contact of their most intimate parts pressed so firmly together, "because I find you incredibly attractive Gunnar Stahl."

She was going to drive him mad. He remained still, fighting hard against his control as her soft lips found his. And when he felt her tongue teasing him, his mouth opened and let her in. They both moaned into the velvety touch and Gunnar's hands finally lost the internal struggle and found themselves lost in her thick hair, tugging and pulling to bring her body flush against his own.

Julie's heart and body was on fire, every touch of his hand elicited sparks of something raw and untamed. She had wanted to kiss him like this for so long but was forced into submission because of her injury. Not anymore, she wanted to feel his lips on hers, his tongue caressing her own. She pushed against him as his mouth left hers only to travel heatedly down her neck and collarbone and slowly work its way back to her lips.

She pushed herself up with her hands still on his chest. His hands came to rest on her hips and after they gazed into each other's eyes for a while he steadily sat up and wrapped his arms around her waist. He thought she had decided to slow things down, after all one of them needed to, but it turned out that he thought wrong. Julie's hands tugged at his shirt and pulled it over his head. Then her delicate fingers caressed his shoulders, arms and then roamed over his chest.

Experimentally, he dipped his own hands under the hem of her top still resting on her waist. Her mouth immediately found his and encouraged his sudden exploration of her skin. Inch by slow inch he worked the bottom of her shirt upwards, exposing her soft skin as he went. He kept going until any further and she would be completely open to him in a way never before. Her eyes were so alive as she stared at him and he could feel himself falling in love with her all over again. He watched with intense intrigue while her eyes slammed shut as his hands slowly moved over the rounded curve of her flesh.

Soon her shirt was haphazardly tossed to the floor next to his and they were kissing hard. Hands were continuing to feel and get familiar and comfortable, their chests were pressed together.

Through the haze of emotion Gunnar caught the faint sound of the door opening. Realizing what Olaf was about to walk in on, he rolled Julie beneath him to cover her body with his own, grabbing for the blanket to better hide her. He saw the acceptance in her eyes at the misinterpretation and he groaned just knowing she was okay with them taking this further. Then her lovely eyes widened when she caught the sound of heavy footfalls entering the room and her face burned crimson.

By the time Olaf walked pass the restroom it appeared that they were merely sleeping. The tall blonde let out a deep breath and quietly went through the dresser for some clean clothes before heading to the shower.

The door to the bathroom closed and both Gunnar and Julie let out a sigh of relief. They eyed each other then started to laugh. Beneath the blanket, Gunnar's arms cradled her gently and lovingly. He kissed her long and hard and then left her on his bed wrapped up beautifully. Finding their shirts he tossed hers to her and slipped his own over his head. He watched as she cutely tried to keep her body hidden from his gaze, it was no use though, seeing her bared to him like that was something he will always remember. And now just thinking about it his hands burned to touch her.

Julie tucked some hair behind one of her ears as she stood, "Guess I should get out of here."

"I don't think so," he walked to her and placed his hands on her hips and kissed her forehead, "you aren't going anywhere."

"What about Olaf?"

He smirked as her hands came up around his neck, "What about him? Julie, you shouldn't think of my best friend when I'm the one kissing you."

"Very funny," though she couldn't help but giggle at his playfulness, "you know you're the only guy for me."

"I better be," he nudged her nose with his own, "I love you, Julie."

"Gunnar," her eyes melted and she tenderly kissed him, "I love you, too."