THE RETURN 29: Mac (Mac/Veronica) PG-13
Title: The Return 29-Mac [The Talk]
Rating: PG-13 (Just in case, but there’s really only some talk of sex)
Word Count: 3,859
Characters/Pairings: Mac, Dick, Veronica, (mentions of: Bronson, Max, references to Cassidy/Beaver) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick
Spoilers: All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Literally, nothing. So don’t sue me over this, because you won’t get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been way different.
Chapter 1: Awake/ Chapter 2: Homecoming/ Chapter 3: Forgive/ Chapter 4: Arrival/ Chapter 5: Reconnect/ Chapter 6: Belong/ Chapter 7: Bets/ Chapter 8: Fight/ Chapter 9: Battle/ Chapter 10: Retreat/ Chapter 11: Push/ Chapter 12: Sound/ Chapter 13: Potential/ Chapter 14: More/ Chapter 15: Storytime/ Chapter 16: Understanding/ Chapter 17: Piggyback/ Chapter 18: Sinners/ Chapter 19: Drama/ Chapter 20: Dinner/ Chapter 21: Armor/ Chapter 22:Mingle/ 23:Bubbly/ 24:Awkward/ 25:Closing/ 26: Drunks/ 27: Logan/ 28: Wallace
The Return
27
Mac
~The Talk~
Dick rolled over, his hand sliding over her bare stomach. The sensation made her shiver a little, waking her.
Mac turned her head slightly to look into Dick’s sleeping face. He looked peaceful, completely at ease after having slept with his girlfriend for the first time. Slept. Ha, had sex with his girlfriend for the first time. They’d shared a bed a bunch of times before this. He didn’t look like he was freaking out. Not like her, who was barely restraining herself from jumping out of bed and running.
She’d had sex before. Bronson was first, but they’d broken up rather suddenly when she met Max. She’d slept with Max, and had thought that she might actually really like him. Not love, she had known she didn’t love him. It was either too early in the relationship or he wasn’t the one. Whatever the reason, they hadn’t worked out and she’d ended up spending more and more time with Dick. Dick who’d be such a, well, dick throughout high school and most of that first year of college. Dick who’d sprung a kiss on her at the end of last year that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
Of course, it wasn’t the fact that she’d slept with Dick Casablancas that was the problem. After all, this had been coming on for weeks. For months, really. Since he stopped her on the beach and apologized before planting one on her. At first she’d thought it was a fluke, that they could figure out a way to be friends. Then she realized, they were never going to be ‘just friends’ the way that Veronica and Logan were never able to pull off the ‘just friends’ routine. Of course she didn’t foresee the fact that she would fall in love with him, or that he’d fall in love with her.
Did Dick tell me he loved me lost night? the thought made Mac jolt in surprise. During sex?
She slid closer to the edge of the bed, away from her boyfriend. His arm, casually slung over her body in his sleep, slid until his hand rested on the flat of her stomach. She stared at it there for a moment before slipping off the bed completely. It fell, limp, to the mattress. His finger contracted once. Twice. He rolled over, letting the blankets slide lower, perilously lower, until they threatened to reveal him in all his glory. In the harsh light of morning, the thought of seeing all of him made Mac blush bright red as she rushed into the bathroom.
She’d seen Dick naked. She had sex with a naked Dick. The thought made her giggle a little madly. Never, not once, had she imagined ending up here in all four years of high school, watching him walk around school like he owned the place. Now it was two years post high school and while she couldn’t really retrace the steps it took to get here, she wasn’t shocked. Well, maybe a little.
She slipped into the shower. A little rushing water would clear the cobwebs, make the confusion go away and clarify all the stuff that seemed so jumbled this morning, after something that had seemed so clear and simple the night before. After all, what was so confusing about it? They’d been seeing each other pretty much all last summer, secretly official since the beginning of the school year. They were out in the open now, everyone knew about them and it wasn’t a big deal. It seemed like a natural progression to take it to the next step, to have sex. Instead of the relaxed and happy feeling she’d expected she felt a little raw and exposed, like she was in a little deeper than she’d intended to be.
I might love him though, Mac thought as she grabbed the shampoo. Squirting a little into her hand, she set the bottle down and went to work on her hair. It kind of wasn’t that big of a deal, being deep in a relationship with a guy you were in love with. She knew that Dick would never hurt her, he wouldn’t hit her for any reason. He was in college and, while she knew he skipped class and joked around a lot, he got his assignments in on time and wasn’t doing all that badly this year. He was smart and well off and would take care of her if she let him. He cared for her. In fact, he’d even told her he loved her. Granted it was during sex, but did that matter? Of course it did, but he cared for her even if he wasn’t in love with her yet. Yet. Because he eventually would be. There was no other way this could go, no other option but for them to be in love.
She was just finishing the final rinse after conditioning her hair when he slipped in. He’d been quiet when he’d opened the bathroom door, she hadn’t noticed she wasn’t alone until the shower door opened and he was suddenly there. In front of her. Naked. In the shower with her. The confusion rushed back. She was in a relationship, a sexual relationship, with Dick Casablancas. And he was in the shower with her. She jumped under the shower spray and then back out, instantly regretting it as his eyes followed the movement on her chest.
“I’m done. Just finished, so the shower is all yours.” When had her voice become the squeaky and panicked? She still had to press up against him to get out of the shower, to squeeze past him out into the cold bathroom. He leaned out to press a rather intense and seductive kiss to her mouth, his tongue snaking in. Mac leaned into him, her knees a little weaker as she starts to let herself just feel and her brain start to turn off. The feel of Dick’s hand on the small of her back, tugging her towards the still open shower door snaps her out of the seduction. The kiss breaks off with a loud smack and she pushes away from him, using her hands against his chest as leverage. The look of hurt and confusion on his face make her stomach drop out and onto the floor. He nods though. One curt and perfunctory nod, like he completely understands, before he closes the shower door and goes about his own business.
She’s cut out. Left out, alone, in the cold bathroom, dripping onto the icy tile. She grabs a towel for her hair and wraps another around her body and darts from the room. She lets out a sigh as she walks through the door from the cold bathroom to the cozy bedroom she’s been sharing with Dick the entire trip. Their stuff is strewn around the room. His jeans in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Her clothes from last night flung casually over the arm chair by the window.
Mac dresses quickly, unwilling to still be naked when Dick is out of the shower and in the room. She doesn’t know how she’d be able to dress in front of him feeling as awkward and ridiculous as she does right now. She has her blow dryer out and running when he strolls into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, using another to rub his own hair dry. She averts her eyes for a moment when he whips his towel off before she makes up her mind and refocuses on his reflection in the mirror she’s using. She isn’t sure if he’s aware, or if he can see, that she’s watching him, but after seeing that look of hurt on his face she doesn’t want him to think that she’s going to be one of those girls that avoids him after they sleep together.
When her hair is finally dry and there’s no excuse to speak to him any longer she sets the dryer down and slowly turns to him. “I’m going to go downstairs. For breakfast.”
“Okay.” His voice is soft, and she hears the understanding in it even though she’s not even quite sure what’s going on herself.
“I’ll see you in a bit?” She phrases it as a question, but her voice has lost that squeaky and nervous quality and softened into something more normal. Something more typical of a morning after scene. He nods, smiles a little, as he watches her slip out the door.
She’d down the first flight of stairs, still berating herself over her awkward behavior, when she notices the door at the foot of the stairs is open a little. Veronica and Logan were obviously up already, which she has to admit she’s a little surprised about considering the amount of alcohol they consumed the night before.
Not quite sure why, or even what she was going to say she pokes her head inside. She nearly trips over a pile of neatly folded clothing, a mix of both Logan and Veronica’s clothes from the night before, but she continues into the room when she sees that her best friend is alone in the room.
“You know there’s a pile of clothes outside your door, right?” Mac asks as she walks into the room. Veronica is standing in the middle of the room wearing jeans and an old hoodie from high school, staring off into space. The sound of Mac’s voice seems to wrench her from whatever thoughts she was having and into the present. She turns, and by the time she’s facing Mac she has a smile on, as well as a rather vibrant blush.
“Really? I’ve been wondering…” She trails off as she starts to head towards the door. She’s half way there before she stopped by Mac’s voice.
“Can we talk?”
“Uh-oh. Are we breaking up?” Her voice holds that trademark Veronica-sarcasm, but Mac can hear the underlying concern.
“So, last night…” Mac hedges, not quite sure how she wants to start this. She and Veronica had never really been this kind of girlfriends. They’d never really talked about boys and sex before, at least not the way Mac was about to dive into the subject.
“Yeah…” Veronica’s own voice is hesitant, giving Mac an out. She could bring up her friends’ drunken behavior of the night before, make a joke and let this horrible impending conversation be over before it even starts. Of course that route helps nothing except her own imminent embarrassment.
“You did a little drinking.” She hasn’t completely escaped her own conversation, just delayed a little.
“Oh, god.” Veronica’s blush heightens, seeming to spread down her neck.
“Yeah, I’ve decided you’re not allowed to do that again. I’m banning you.” Mac moves into the room more, aiming for the bed before detouring to the arm chair near the window.
“Did it get out of hand?” Veronica, taking Mac’s cue, heads toward the second arm chair by the window.
“I would say so, and that’s just the stuff in the car.”
“Stuff in the car? When Logan and I were making out in the backseat? Tell me, that was the worst, right?”
“Well, lets just say that you and Logan weren’t quiet about your love last night.” Mac looks away at this, sincerely wishing she could spare her friend the embarrassment of this, spare her from this and the topic she was about to bring up. There wasn’t much that Veronica wouldn’t do for her, she knew that. Veronica broke all kinds of laws when it came to protecting those she loved, but her lawbreaking and evading skills wouldn’t be any of use now. Now all she needed was some advice. Too bad it wasn’t a felony, because Veronica was real good at those.
“So Dick and I had sex last night.” She made it a statement, put it out there are boldfaced and honest.
“Yeah? I know, as a proper girlfriend I should ask how it was, but…” Veronica trailed off, looking just a little uncomfortable, to her credit. This couldn’t be easy for her, even though she and Dick had been getting along he still wasn’t her favorite person.
“I was okay. I mean, all his whoring around has paid off I supposed.” Mac tried to make her voice casual, but she heard it crack nervously once over the words.
“Okay. What’s wrong?” All of her friends’ awkwardness disappeared and there was just her concerned best friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in a worried line.
“I don’t know. I like him, maybe more, and I’ve done this before so it’s not like it’s virgin issues. I’ve done this this year, I’ve done this with three guys this year. I think I might be a slut. And that isn’t even the part that bothers me, what bothers me is… well, I don’t know., Maybe I like him too much. He likes me too much, I know that.” It comes rushing out until she has to break for breath.
“How? What do you mean?”
“He told me… he said ‘I love you’ last night, while, well during… you know.” Mac looks away, unable to see the shock in Veronica’s eyes that Dick Casablancas could be in love with her.
“First of all, if you’re having sex you should be able to call it that. Second, if he said it while you were having sex then there’s a good chance he isn’t really there yet, so you have some time. It only counts if he says it out of bed. And you’re fully clothed.” Veronica leans forward to lay a hand over Mac’s hand, the touch lending some comfort.
“Okay, we had sex. I’m a slut. And he says ‘I love you’ randomly during sex. We’ve already got major issues. How many girls has he told he loves them? What if I’m not a relationship girl? I mean, I’ve certainly proven that I’m not very good at them, haven’t I?” Mac stands up to pace nervously a couple times in front of the small sitting area before sitting back down.
“Does this have to do with Max? Bronson? Or is it about something else? Someone else?” Veronica asked, shifting a little in her chair and looking more uncomfortable about the direction of this conversation and the subject of the boy they never brought up coming up.
“I guess, I haven’t really… since… and it worries me.” She couldn’t seem to get anything intelligible out about it. About him.
“Don’t. Don’t let it ruin your relationship now. Let that go and focus on the now. Bringing the past, especially that past, into it will only wreck it. And I should know, so learn from my mistakes and let me impart this bit of wisdom to you.” Veronica eased back in her chair, relaxing a little. The subject of this particular boy was never easy for her, for any of them really, but his name hadn’t been mentioned and until it was they could pretend that they weren’t talking about him. Weren’t talking about the nightmare he made of their graduation night.
“Impart?” Mac asked, raising a questioning brow over her friend’s word usage.
“Shut up. The only place the past belongs is in the past and cautionary tales.” Veronica stood and walked into the bathroom, coming out with a glass of water.
“So we’re cautionary tales?” Mac asked, curling her feet up under her on her chair as Veronica settled back down next to her.
“We are our own cautionary tales.” Veronica offered the glass, now half empty, to Mac. She reached out and took it from her friend, staring at the contents before taking a sip.
“Well, that sounds fun. What exactly is mine? What am I cautioning against?” She set the glass on the small table that sat between them.
“Don’t let one bad relationship in the past ruin this one. And don’t let stupid things that he did in the past matter too much. That only leads to badness.” Veronica explained.
“So that’s it? Veronica’s new and improved rules to dating?”
“Yeah, rules for dating. New and improved, even though I can’t seem to remember exactly what the old rules were.” Veronica took another drink and replaced the glass on the table. They both watched for a moment as condensation built up and ran down the side of the glass.
“Maybe we should think about boyfriend rules for when we get that apartment next semester. I mean I’ve already experienced the whole scrunchie on the door knob thing and I didn’t particularly enjoy it.” Mac suggested.
“Okay, but we’ve got a couple of months before we even move into an apartment.” Veronica shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up underneath her as well.
“Are you saying that we might not need rules by then?” Mac lifted her eyebrows in a kind of questioning shock.
“No, I’m saying it’ll wait and we have months before it’d even be an issue. And I think this particular issue might be better served by coming up with specific rules at the time instead of generic ones months ahead.” Veronica explained.
“Okay. So, are you coming down to breakfast? Or are you going to stay up here and avoid everyone?” Mac questioned, getting out of her chair to stand over Veronica. She looked down on her friend and watched as Veronica’s face scrunched up in a little in confusion.
“Why everyone? I was just going to avoid you.” Veronica pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, worrying it as she looked up at her. “Mac, why would I avoid everyone? What happened?”
“Nothing. Why? What do you remember?” Mac asked hurriedly, starting towards the door and out of this conversation. Veronica was starting to sound worried, and the blush that had begun was a telltale sign of her embarrassment over what she was now assuming was very bad drunk behavior.
“We got a little carried away in the car. And apparently on the stairs. Then Logan and I came in here and… well…” Veronica trailed off.
“If you’re having sex you should be able to call it sex.” Mac barely contained her laughter as she repeated Veronica’s words to her.
“Okay, we came in here and had sex.” Veronica relented.
“I know.” She couldn’t hide the laughter this time.
“Well I hardly expect it to be a mystery after that ride home.” Veronica crossed her arms in front of her, looking slightly petulant.
“Well, that and we could hear you all over the house.” Mac informed her, sufficiently ripping of the band aid.
“What? Oh my god.” Veronica launched herself out of her chair, no longer looking the least bit petulant.
“It’s fine, seriously, not a big deal. Everyone was drunk, they probably don’t even remember.” Mac told, trying to sooth the rather panicked look on Veronica’s face.
“Oh thank god we’re leaving already.” Veronica rushed to the closet door and flung it open, looking for something for a moment before turning back to face Mac.
“What? I thought we were all staying until tomorrow morning?” Mac asked, taking one step toward her friend.
“Everyone else is. Logan and I had decided to leave today. Alone time, we’re going to get a hotel room for tonight and tomorrow night and then head home Tuesday morning for our afternoon classes.” Veronica explained, fidgeting.
“Well, if you and Logan are going, maybe we should all head out.” Mac took a step backwards toward the door as her stomach rumbled. She needed to go down for breakfast soon.
“No, stay. You don’t have to leave just because we do. Stay and have fun.” Veronica insisted.
“No, believe it or not, you and Logan are the connecting factor for everyone here.” Mac answered, she was now standing in the open door way of Veronica’s bedroom.
“Not true, you’re all friends with everyone here. You and Parker are roommates and friends, you’re friends with Wallace and Piz.” Veronica seemed to plead guiltily with her, not wanting to break up the vacation they had all been planning. “You and Lilly get along, so do you and Duncan.”
“Yeah, but you and Logan hold it together. And either way, it’s getting a little too crowded here. I think that we could all stand to go back a little early.” It was getting too crowded, even though they hadn’t picked up any extra people, the people that were there seemed to expand and take up more room. Cause more drama. Between Logan and Veronica getting back together, her and Dick coming out of the relationship closet, the seemingly on-going battle between Lilly and Weevil they all seemed to triple in size. Like their emotional issues had manifested and become living things in the house. And that wasn’t even going into all the ‘fab four’ drama that had cropped up.
“Well, if you all want to go, then maybe we should go down and decide who’s riding with who. Lilly can come with us and we’ll just go home early, that way-”
“No, we’ll figure it out.” Mac cut her friend off. “You guys go on your hotel getaway thing.”
It doesn’t take much to convince Veronica, and she agrees to the arrangement rather quickly. Either because she really wants to get away with her boyfriend or, now, because she wants to avoid everyone that was audience to her and Logan’s activities the night before. There’s another brush with embarrassment as Veronica heads to the door and grabs the pile of clothes sitting just outside it. She throws the clothes into the room, in the general direction of the bed, before turning back to Mac.
“See you when you get home Tuesday.” Mac tells her as she leans in closer and, standing in the hallway, they hug.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you in our Lit class.” Veronica agrees as she pulls away. They stand there for another moment before they both turn away. Veronica goes back into her room and shuts the door slightly behind her. Mac turns and heads down the stairs toward the kitchen, and breakfast.
She’s halfway down the stairs when she passes Logan. He’s carrying a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, strawberries, sausage and juice. Just enough for Veronica, so she wouldn’t have to come downstairs and face everyone, even though Logan had to do just that. He averts his eyes and blushes a little, probably embarrassed himself after learning of their rather public exploits from whoever was in the kitchen. Probably Parker from the looks of that breakfast.
When she enters the kitchen Duncan is packing up the baby and trying, in vain, to clean up the mess of splattered oatmeal and smushed strawberries while at the same time hold her wiggling body. Parker is at the sink, washing up the pans and dishes from breakfast. Dick is sitting quietly at the table, opposite from where Duncan and baby were, eating.
“Morning.” Mac calls as she moves to the counter and picks up a bowl to start dishing herself up some breakfast.
30: Parker
Rating: PG-13 (Just in case, but there’s really only some talk of sex)
Word Count: 3,859
Characters/Pairings: Mac, Dick, Veronica, (mentions of: Bronson, Max, references to Cassidy/Beaver) Logan/Veronica and Mac/Dick
Spoilers: All episodes (from 1.01: Pilot to 3.20: The Bitch Is Back. Just to be sure) Although this is obviously AU and there are obviously going to be some alterations to events and especially some in the last couple of episodes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Literally, nothing. So don’t sue me over this, because you won’t get anything. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and if I had owned it when it was still on the last season would have been way different.
Chapter 1: Awake/ Chapter 2: Homecoming/ Chapter 3: Forgive/ Chapter 4: Arrival/ Chapter 5: Reconnect/ Chapter 6: Belong/ Chapter 7: Bets/ Chapter 8: Fight/ Chapter 9: Battle/ Chapter 10: Retreat/ Chapter 11: Push/ Chapter 12: Sound/ Chapter 13: Potential/ Chapter 14: More/ Chapter 15: Storytime/ Chapter 16: Understanding/ Chapter 17: Piggyback/ Chapter 18: Sinners/ Chapter 19: Drama/ Chapter 20: Dinner/ Chapter 21: Armor/ Chapter 22:Mingle/ 23:Bubbly/ 24:Awkward/ 25:Closing/ 26: Drunks/ 27: Logan/ 28: Wallace
The Return
27
Mac
~The Talk~
Dick rolled over, his hand sliding over her bare stomach. The sensation made her shiver a little, waking her.
Mac turned her head slightly to look into Dick’s sleeping face. He looked peaceful, completely at ease after having slept with his girlfriend for the first time. Slept. Ha, had sex with his girlfriend for the first time. They’d shared a bed a bunch of times before this. He didn’t look like he was freaking out. Not like her, who was barely restraining herself from jumping out of bed and running.
She’d had sex before. Bronson was first, but they’d broken up rather suddenly when she met Max. She’d slept with Max, and had thought that she might actually really like him. Not love, she had known she didn’t love him. It was either too early in the relationship or he wasn’t the one. Whatever the reason, they hadn’t worked out and she’d ended up spending more and more time with Dick. Dick who’d be such a, well, dick throughout high school and most of that first year of college. Dick who’d sprung a kiss on her at the end of last year that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
Of course, it wasn’t the fact that she’d slept with Dick Casablancas that was the problem. After all, this had been coming on for weeks. For months, really. Since he stopped her on the beach and apologized before planting one on her. At first she’d thought it was a fluke, that they could figure out a way to be friends. Then she realized, they were never going to be ‘just friends’ the way that Veronica and Logan were never able to pull off the ‘just friends’ routine. Of course she didn’t foresee the fact that she would fall in love with him, or that he’d fall in love with her.
Did Dick tell me he loved me lost night? the thought made Mac jolt in surprise. During sex?
She slid closer to the edge of the bed, away from her boyfriend. His arm, casually slung over her body in his sleep, slid until his hand rested on the flat of her stomach. She stared at it there for a moment before slipping off the bed completely. It fell, limp, to the mattress. His finger contracted once. Twice. He rolled over, letting the blankets slide lower, perilously lower, until they threatened to reveal him in all his glory. In the harsh light of morning, the thought of seeing all of him made Mac blush bright red as she rushed into the bathroom.
She’d seen Dick naked. She had sex with a naked Dick. The thought made her giggle a little madly. Never, not once, had she imagined ending up here in all four years of high school, watching him walk around school like he owned the place. Now it was two years post high school and while she couldn’t really retrace the steps it took to get here, she wasn’t shocked. Well, maybe a little.
She slipped into the shower. A little rushing water would clear the cobwebs, make the confusion go away and clarify all the stuff that seemed so jumbled this morning, after something that had seemed so clear and simple the night before. After all, what was so confusing about it? They’d been seeing each other pretty much all last summer, secretly official since the beginning of the school year. They were out in the open now, everyone knew about them and it wasn’t a big deal. It seemed like a natural progression to take it to the next step, to have sex. Instead of the relaxed and happy feeling she’d expected she felt a little raw and exposed, like she was in a little deeper than she’d intended to be.
I might love him though, Mac thought as she grabbed the shampoo. Squirting a little into her hand, she set the bottle down and went to work on her hair. It kind of wasn’t that big of a deal, being deep in a relationship with a guy you were in love with. She knew that Dick would never hurt her, he wouldn’t hit her for any reason. He was in college and, while she knew he skipped class and joked around a lot, he got his assignments in on time and wasn’t doing all that badly this year. He was smart and well off and would take care of her if she let him. He cared for her. In fact, he’d even told her he loved her. Granted it was during sex, but did that matter? Of course it did, but he cared for her even if he wasn’t in love with her yet. Yet. Because he eventually would be. There was no other way this could go, no other option but for them to be in love.
She was just finishing the final rinse after conditioning her hair when he slipped in. He’d been quiet when he’d opened the bathroom door, she hadn’t noticed she wasn’t alone until the shower door opened and he was suddenly there. In front of her. Naked. In the shower with her. The confusion rushed back. She was in a relationship, a sexual relationship, with Dick Casablancas. And he was in the shower with her. She jumped under the shower spray and then back out, instantly regretting it as his eyes followed the movement on her chest.
“I’m done. Just finished, so the shower is all yours.” When had her voice become the squeaky and panicked? She still had to press up against him to get out of the shower, to squeeze past him out into the cold bathroom. He leaned out to press a rather intense and seductive kiss to her mouth, his tongue snaking in. Mac leaned into him, her knees a little weaker as she starts to let herself just feel and her brain start to turn off. The feel of Dick’s hand on the small of her back, tugging her towards the still open shower door snaps her out of the seduction. The kiss breaks off with a loud smack and she pushes away from him, using her hands against his chest as leverage. The look of hurt and confusion on his face make her stomach drop out and onto the floor. He nods though. One curt and perfunctory nod, like he completely understands, before he closes the shower door and goes about his own business.
She’s cut out. Left out, alone, in the cold bathroom, dripping onto the icy tile. She grabs a towel for her hair and wraps another around her body and darts from the room. She lets out a sigh as she walks through the door from the cold bathroom to the cozy bedroom she’s been sharing with Dick the entire trip. Their stuff is strewn around the room. His jeans in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Her clothes from last night flung casually over the arm chair by the window.
Mac dresses quickly, unwilling to still be naked when Dick is out of the shower and in the room. She doesn’t know how she’d be able to dress in front of him feeling as awkward and ridiculous as she does right now. She has her blow dryer out and running when he strolls into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, using another to rub his own hair dry. She averts her eyes for a moment when he whips his towel off before she makes up her mind and refocuses on his reflection in the mirror she’s using. She isn’t sure if he’s aware, or if he can see, that she’s watching him, but after seeing that look of hurt on his face she doesn’t want him to think that she’s going to be one of those girls that avoids him after they sleep together.
When her hair is finally dry and there’s no excuse to speak to him any longer she sets the dryer down and slowly turns to him. “I’m going to go downstairs. For breakfast.”
“Okay.” His voice is soft, and she hears the understanding in it even though she’s not even quite sure what’s going on herself.
“I’ll see you in a bit?” She phrases it as a question, but her voice has lost that squeaky and nervous quality and softened into something more normal. Something more typical of a morning after scene. He nods, smiles a little, as he watches her slip out the door.
She’d down the first flight of stairs, still berating herself over her awkward behavior, when she notices the door at the foot of the stairs is open a little. Veronica and Logan were obviously up already, which she has to admit she’s a little surprised about considering the amount of alcohol they consumed the night before.
Not quite sure why, or even what she was going to say she pokes her head inside. She nearly trips over a pile of neatly folded clothing, a mix of both Logan and Veronica’s clothes from the night before, but she continues into the room when she sees that her best friend is alone in the room.
“You know there’s a pile of clothes outside your door, right?” Mac asks as she walks into the room. Veronica is standing in the middle of the room wearing jeans and an old hoodie from high school, staring off into space. The sound of Mac’s voice seems to wrench her from whatever thoughts she was having and into the present. She turns, and by the time she’s facing Mac she has a smile on, as well as a rather vibrant blush.
“Really? I’ve been wondering…” She trails off as she starts to head towards the door. She’s half way there before she stopped by Mac’s voice.
“Can we talk?”
“Uh-oh. Are we breaking up?” Her voice holds that trademark Veronica-sarcasm, but Mac can hear the underlying concern.
“So, last night…” Mac hedges, not quite sure how she wants to start this. She and Veronica had never really been this kind of girlfriends. They’d never really talked about boys and sex before, at least not the way Mac was about to dive into the subject.
“Yeah…” Veronica’s own voice is hesitant, giving Mac an out. She could bring up her friends’ drunken behavior of the night before, make a joke and let this horrible impending conversation be over before it even starts. Of course that route helps nothing except her own imminent embarrassment.
“You did a little drinking.” She hasn’t completely escaped her own conversation, just delayed a little.
“Oh, god.” Veronica’s blush heightens, seeming to spread down her neck.
“Yeah, I’ve decided you’re not allowed to do that again. I’m banning you.” Mac moves into the room more, aiming for the bed before detouring to the arm chair near the window.
“Did it get out of hand?” Veronica, taking Mac’s cue, heads toward the second arm chair by the window.
“I would say so, and that’s just the stuff in the car.”
“Stuff in the car? When Logan and I were making out in the backseat? Tell me, that was the worst, right?”
“Well, lets just say that you and Logan weren’t quiet about your love last night.” Mac looks away at this, sincerely wishing she could spare her friend the embarrassment of this, spare her from this and the topic she was about to bring up. There wasn’t much that Veronica wouldn’t do for her, she knew that. Veronica broke all kinds of laws when it came to protecting those she loved, but her lawbreaking and evading skills wouldn’t be any of use now. Now all she needed was some advice. Too bad it wasn’t a felony, because Veronica was real good at those.
“So Dick and I had sex last night.” She made it a statement, put it out there are boldfaced and honest.
“Yeah? I know, as a proper girlfriend I should ask how it was, but…” Veronica trailed off, looking just a little uncomfortable, to her credit. This couldn’t be easy for her, even though she and Dick had been getting along he still wasn’t her favorite person.
“I was okay. I mean, all his whoring around has paid off I supposed.” Mac tried to make her voice casual, but she heard it crack nervously once over the words.
“Okay. What’s wrong?” All of her friends’ awkwardness disappeared and there was just her concerned best friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in a worried line.
“I don’t know. I like him, maybe more, and I’ve done this before so it’s not like it’s virgin issues. I’ve done this this year, I’ve done this with three guys this year. I think I might be a slut. And that isn’t even the part that bothers me, what bothers me is… well, I don’t know., Maybe I like him too much. He likes me too much, I know that.” It comes rushing out until she has to break for breath.
“How? What do you mean?”
“He told me… he said ‘I love you’ last night, while, well during… you know.” Mac looks away, unable to see the shock in Veronica’s eyes that Dick Casablancas could be in love with her.
“First of all, if you’re having sex you should be able to call it that. Second, if he said it while you were having sex then there’s a good chance he isn’t really there yet, so you have some time. It only counts if he says it out of bed. And you’re fully clothed.” Veronica leans forward to lay a hand over Mac’s hand, the touch lending some comfort.
“Okay, we had sex. I’m a slut. And he says ‘I love you’ randomly during sex. We’ve already got major issues. How many girls has he told he loves them? What if I’m not a relationship girl? I mean, I’ve certainly proven that I’m not very good at them, haven’t I?” Mac stands up to pace nervously a couple times in front of the small sitting area before sitting back down.
“Does this have to do with Max? Bronson? Or is it about something else? Someone else?” Veronica asked, shifting a little in her chair and looking more uncomfortable about the direction of this conversation and the subject of the boy they never brought up coming up.
“I guess, I haven’t really… since… and it worries me.” She couldn’t seem to get anything intelligible out about it. About him.
“Don’t. Don’t let it ruin your relationship now. Let that go and focus on the now. Bringing the past, especially that past, into it will only wreck it. And I should know, so learn from my mistakes and let me impart this bit of wisdom to you.” Veronica eased back in her chair, relaxing a little. The subject of this particular boy was never easy for her, for any of them really, but his name hadn’t been mentioned and until it was they could pretend that they weren’t talking about him. Weren’t talking about the nightmare he made of their graduation night.
“Impart?” Mac asked, raising a questioning brow over her friend’s word usage.
“Shut up. The only place the past belongs is in the past and cautionary tales.” Veronica stood and walked into the bathroom, coming out with a glass of water.
“So we’re cautionary tales?” Mac asked, curling her feet up under her on her chair as Veronica settled back down next to her.
“We are our own cautionary tales.” Veronica offered the glass, now half empty, to Mac. She reached out and took it from her friend, staring at the contents before taking a sip.
“Well, that sounds fun. What exactly is mine? What am I cautioning against?” She set the glass on the small table that sat between them.
“Don’t let one bad relationship in the past ruin this one. And don’t let stupid things that he did in the past matter too much. That only leads to badness.” Veronica explained.
“So that’s it? Veronica’s new and improved rules to dating?”
“Yeah, rules for dating. New and improved, even though I can’t seem to remember exactly what the old rules were.” Veronica took another drink and replaced the glass on the table. They both watched for a moment as condensation built up and ran down the side of the glass.
“Maybe we should think about boyfriend rules for when we get that apartment next semester. I mean I’ve already experienced the whole scrunchie on the door knob thing and I didn’t particularly enjoy it.” Mac suggested.
“Okay, but we’ve got a couple of months before we even move into an apartment.” Veronica shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up underneath her as well.
“Are you saying that we might not need rules by then?” Mac lifted her eyebrows in a kind of questioning shock.
“No, I’m saying it’ll wait and we have months before it’d even be an issue. And I think this particular issue might be better served by coming up with specific rules at the time instead of generic ones months ahead.” Veronica explained.
“Okay. So, are you coming down to breakfast? Or are you going to stay up here and avoid everyone?” Mac questioned, getting out of her chair to stand over Veronica. She looked down on her friend and watched as Veronica’s face scrunched up in a little in confusion.
“Why everyone? I was just going to avoid you.” Veronica pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, worrying it as she looked up at her. “Mac, why would I avoid everyone? What happened?”
“Nothing. Why? What do you remember?” Mac asked hurriedly, starting towards the door and out of this conversation. Veronica was starting to sound worried, and the blush that had begun was a telltale sign of her embarrassment over what she was now assuming was very bad drunk behavior.
“We got a little carried away in the car. And apparently on the stairs. Then Logan and I came in here and… well…” Veronica trailed off.
“If you’re having sex you should be able to call it sex.” Mac barely contained her laughter as she repeated Veronica’s words to her.
“Okay, we came in here and had sex.” Veronica relented.
“I know.” She couldn’t hide the laughter this time.
“Well I hardly expect it to be a mystery after that ride home.” Veronica crossed her arms in front of her, looking slightly petulant.
“Well, that and we could hear you all over the house.” Mac informed her, sufficiently ripping of the band aid.
“What? Oh my god.” Veronica launched herself out of her chair, no longer looking the least bit petulant.
“It’s fine, seriously, not a big deal. Everyone was drunk, they probably don’t even remember.” Mac told, trying to sooth the rather panicked look on Veronica’s face.
“Oh thank god we’re leaving already.” Veronica rushed to the closet door and flung it open, looking for something for a moment before turning back to face Mac.
“What? I thought we were all staying until tomorrow morning?” Mac asked, taking one step toward her friend.
“Everyone else is. Logan and I had decided to leave today. Alone time, we’re going to get a hotel room for tonight and tomorrow night and then head home Tuesday morning for our afternoon classes.” Veronica explained, fidgeting.
“Well, if you and Logan are going, maybe we should all head out.” Mac took a step backwards toward the door as her stomach rumbled. She needed to go down for breakfast soon.
“No, stay. You don’t have to leave just because we do. Stay and have fun.” Veronica insisted.
“No, believe it or not, you and Logan are the connecting factor for everyone here.” Mac answered, she was now standing in the open door way of Veronica’s bedroom.
“Not true, you’re all friends with everyone here. You and Parker are roommates and friends, you’re friends with Wallace and Piz.” Veronica seemed to plead guiltily with her, not wanting to break up the vacation they had all been planning. “You and Lilly get along, so do you and Duncan.”
“Yeah, but you and Logan hold it together. And either way, it’s getting a little too crowded here. I think that we could all stand to go back a little early.” It was getting too crowded, even though they hadn’t picked up any extra people, the people that were there seemed to expand and take up more room. Cause more drama. Between Logan and Veronica getting back together, her and Dick coming out of the relationship closet, the seemingly on-going battle between Lilly and Weevil they all seemed to triple in size. Like their emotional issues had manifested and become living things in the house. And that wasn’t even going into all the ‘fab four’ drama that had cropped up.
“Well, if you all want to go, then maybe we should go down and decide who’s riding with who. Lilly can come with us and we’ll just go home early, that way-”
“No, we’ll figure it out.” Mac cut her friend off. “You guys go on your hotel getaway thing.”
It doesn’t take much to convince Veronica, and she agrees to the arrangement rather quickly. Either because she really wants to get away with her boyfriend or, now, because she wants to avoid everyone that was audience to her and Logan’s activities the night before. There’s another brush with embarrassment as Veronica heads to the door and grabs the pile of clothes sitting just outside it. She throws the clothes into the room, in the general direction of the bed, before turning back to Mac.
“See you when you get home Tuesday.” Mac tells her as she leans in closer and, standing in the hallway, they hug.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you in our Lit class.” Veronica agrees as she pulls away. They stand there for another moment before they both turn away. Veronica goes back into her room and shuts the door slightly behind her. Mac turns and heads down the stairs toward the kitchen, and breakfast.
She’s halfway down the stairs when she passes Logan. He’s carrying a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, strawberries, sausage and juice. Just enough for Veronica, so she wouldn’t have to come downstairs and face everyone, even though Logan had to do just that. He averts his eyes and blushes a little, probably embarrassed himself after learning of their rather public exploits from whoever was in the kitchen. Probably Parker from the looks of that breakfast.
When she enters the kitchen Duncan is packing up the baby and trying, in vain, to clean up the mess of splattered oatmeal and smushed strawberries while at the same time hold her wiggling body. Parker is at the sink, washing up the pans and dishes from breakfast. Dick is sitting quietly at the table, opposite from where Duncan and baby were, eating.
“Morning.” Mac calls as she moves to the counter and picks up a bowl to start dishing herself up some breakfast.
30: Parker