Olaf finished with his shower and found his friends oblivious to the world as they kissed while sitting on the bed. He let out another long breath, he was happy for his best friend, but part of him wished Connie would look at him the way Julie looked at Gunnar. He had thought that the cute brunette girl was into him just as much as he was into her, but apparently she was back with her ex.

Not that he could blame her. Guy Germaine was the safer choice. He would be there for her, face to face, while Olaf was half a world away. Oh well, it simply wasn't meant to happen and it was probably for the best anyway.

He could only imagine the hell his team captain was going to be in when they took off for Iceland…leaving his beautiful girlfriend behind and expecting her to wait for him. That kind of commitment took a lot of trust, but he felt that if anyone could get through it then Gunnar could. And it was clear that Julie's feelings for his best friend went deep. They've had time to build a foundation to their relationship. If he did manage to start something with Connie, he wasn't confident that it would last however long it would take to see her again after the tournament was over.

"I see you are feeling better."

Julie had the decency to blush while Gunnar just looked over his shoulder with clear annoyance in his gaze at being interrupted. "And it is all thanks to you guys, I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there. I'm just sorry it had to ruin our fun."

Olaf shrugged and sat across from them on his own bed, "You ruined nothing. You're headache, it is gone now, yah?"

Julie nodded and smiled at him, "It is."

"Then that is what matters. Sorry if I woke you guys when I came in." Olaf then watched as the couple across from him eyed each other, a secret only they knew passing between them. Sanderson shook his head at them and got up to answer the knock at the door, "That will be Adam and Charlie with breakfast for you."

Sure enough it was the Ducks that came in though they had run into Connie who tagged along with them. Olaf let them all in, his eyes lingering on Connie's face before shutting the door closed. Julie and Gunnar thanked their friends for bringing them food and enjoyed their meals.

Connie's brown eyes kept glancing to Olaf but every time he returned her stare she would look away again. She had made her choice and he was okay with it, there were never any promises between them. He wasn't even sure if she was aware of his feelings for her. And really, it was his own fault, he never voiced them to her. He never made her totally sure that he wanted something more than friendship.

"Adam is right, you aren't going and that's final."

Everyone's attention was caught then as Julie glared at her boyfriend, "Gunnar, I am fine."

"You are not fine!" he argued and stood up, dragging his hands through his hair in frustration, "What if more reporters are there and the same thing happens as last night? No Julie, you are staying here."

"Hey," Adam looked at the Icelander with serious blue eyes, "don't talk down to her like that."

"You're right, I'm sorry," Gunnar lowered his voice and turned apologetic eyes on his girlfriend, "Julie love, forgive me, I'm just worried about you."

"I wish you would trust me when I say I'm okay," she looked down at her feet, "I'm a big girl and can decide things on my own."

He stared at her for a moment, she was still sitting on the bed and he came to kneel before her, taking her hands in both of his, "I know you can and you know I trust you with everything. Julie, it hurt me deeply to see you in such pain."

Her sapphire blue gaze wavered at the concern for her found in his caring eyes, "Does it really mean that much to you that I stay here?"

"You mean that much to me," he told her softly and pulled her to him for a long, tender kiss.

Charlie nodded to himself, "Aaaand they are back to normal again. Alright, well we have a few hours before we head to the rink, guys wanna hit the pool?"

Gunnar sighed as the light entered Julie's gaze letting him know that he couldn't talk her out of that suggestion. Considering he won the argument and she would stay in his room while the rest of their teams had practice, he would give her this victory.

Luckily it seemed that the group knew to keep their usual rowdy antics to a minimum. If they hadn't then they would have had one very pissed off Gunnar Stahl to contend with. Adam and Charlie had roped several players from both teams into joining them, even Portman had shown up. The USA enforcer was finally truly getting along with everyone better lately, and they were all thankful for it.

Gunnar had led Julie to the hot tub area and sat her down on his lap. They were soon joined by Connie and then Olaf. It was a little awkward at first but things began to lighten up thanks to Gunnar and Olaf's usual calming banter that flowed easily between the two best friends.

"Shut it," Olaf complained to Gunnar.

"Oh no, you have to tell us!" Connie needed to hear the rest of this story, "Please, you must!"

Olaf groaned but Gunnar just smirked at him and disappointed the ladies, "Sorry, guy code."

Connie groaned and silence fell over the four of them. She wanted to speak with Olaf alone, but maybe it was a good idea that their friends were here. Another moan escaped, she didn't know what to do. Maybe Julie was braver than her because at least she had the guts to go after what she wanted.

"You okay Lady Duck?"

Her brown eyes caught the soft blue gaze of Olaf and she figured it was now or never. So she let out a long breath and just said it, "Olaf, I really like you," she swallowed, "what you saw with Guy yesterday, it wasn't what you thought, we were…I was saying goodbye."

Both Julie and Gunnar froze, deeply surprised this conversation was being held in front of them. Olaf was just sitting there staring at Connie with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Oh God," Connie brought her hands to her face in extreme embarrassment, "you don't feel the same. I gotta go, uh…yeah."

She went to stand but a hand on her wrist kept her in place, it was Olaf. He wasted zero time in bringing his lips to hers for their first kiss. They pulled apart and eyed each other carefully, smiled then leaned in for another.

Julie brought her hand to her heart and looked at Gunnar with happiness in her gaze. He smiled, just as happy for their friends as she and leaned in to give her a kiss as well. Olaf pulled Connie under his arm and they each shared a grin.

After a while Gunnar pulled Julie out of the water in a not-so-concealed effort to give the new couple some privacy. He wrapped a towel around her then stretched out on a lounger, pulling her down with him so he could hold her. She sat between his legs and leaned backwards until the back of her head was resting against his chest.

Julie woke up alone in Gunnar's bed. She was still in her bathing suit from earlier and she wondered just how long she'd been out. The last thing she remembered was Gunnar's deep voice whispering to her in his native tongue while they lay together by the pool. Obviously she fell asleep, he must have carried her back to his room and left with the others for practice. Julie smiled and leaned further into the pillows of his bed, loving the knowledge that this is where he sleeps every night…at least for the past month and a half.

Eventually she stood up and found one of his discarded shirts on top of a dresser and she pulled it on, savoring the way it smelled just like him. Soon she was lying back down and falling asleep. The only thing that could make her feel better was if he was there with her.