Chapter 1

She was walking home after a horrible first date. Why did she let Wallace convince her to go on a date with the new teacher from Neptune High? Just because she's was going through a bit of a dry spell…ok maybe two years is more than a bit. Now she had to call Wallace and tell him how horrible the date went.

Hello.

"Hey Wallace. How is your evening? Were you taken to a rib shack for dinner because someone set you up on a date with someone who doesn't understand that vegan means no meat?"

Yeah, I knew it was going to go bad. I figured you were afraid to get back out there in the dating world and thought I would make you face your fear. I kind of hate that guy.

"Wallace!"

Mac!

"I'm going to borrow Veronica's taser and hunt you down."

You and Veronica are always threatening to tase me. After 10 years of no follow through, I'm desensitized to it.

"I'm across the street from my apartment. I'll deal with you later. Enjoy your last night alive."

Good night.

Mac hung up the phone and put it in her purse as she started looking for her keys. Then she felt the hands grab her arm and cover her mouth, while pulling her into the alleyway.

He had her back pressed against his chest, using one arm to pin her arms down and the other to keep her from screaming. He whipped her around and slammed her into the brick wall without moving the hand on her mouth. She couldn't see his face because it was too dark to see, but she knew he was about 5'7" with dark hair.

When she went to push back and get him away from her, he dropped his right hand from her mouth and punched her in the face. Her eyes blurred and pain shot through her left eye. He then used his left hand to cover her mouth and tried to pull up her skirt with his right hand. She heard the seam rip open and realized that she had one chance to get free.

Mac grabbed his hand that was on her mouth and wrenched her knee up directly into his groin. Then she twisted out of his grasp and ran.

She knew she couldn't get her keys out fast enough, she screamed for help while running back towards the restaurants and bars a couple of blocks down. She heard him behind her and gaining.

"HELP! HELP!"

She didn't see anyone close enough to hear her and quickly turned to see if her attacker was behind her when she ran into someone. His hands grabbed her to keep her from falling.

"Mac?"

She looked up and saw his blonde hair and blue eyes. "Dick."

"Oh shit. What happened? Your eye."

"Some guy grabbed me and pulled me into the alley and…" Mac couldn't contain herself and just started to cry. She never thought she would ever be happy to see the surfer boy.

Dick has just walked out of a bar from a business meeting with a few guys looking to invest in his real estate company when he heard a woman screaming help from around the corner. He didn't even think about it, but started running towards the screaming.

He rounded the corner and was slammed by a petite woman with short brown hair spiked up. He recognized her instantly.

"Mac?"

"Dick."

She had a cut over her eye and it was starting to swell. "Oh shit. What happened? Your eye."

"Some guy grabbed me and pulled me into the alley and…"

She started to cry and he wrapped her in his arms while looking for the man who attacked her, but the street was empty.

"How did you get away?"

"I kneed him in the groin and ran."

Dick smiled to himself. Mac's a fighter and he wouldn't be surprised if the attacker was worse off than she is. "I'll call the Sheriff's department." He started to pull his phone out.

Mac looked panicked. "NO! Lamb will just make it my fault because I was walking down the street."

Dick hated the corruption that exists in Neptune. Crime runs rampant in this town. If victims are too scared to report crimes, then nothing will ever change.

"Can you just walk me home? I'll call Veronica. She'll know what to do."

Her eye is looking worse. "Ok. Maybe also put something on your eye."

As they walked towards her building, Dick kept looking around expecting a guy to jump out.

Mac just wanted to get to her apartment. Who would have ever guessed that the brother of her murdering, rapist, dead high school boyfriend would be the person to find her after a man attacked her in an alley? Only in Neptune!

She could tell Dick was on edge and was ready for a fight. As she opened the door to her building she asked, "Would you mind coming up to my apartment for a while? At least until Veronica gets here?"

"No problem. I don't want to leave you alone anyway."

Mac was a little surprised that Dick didn't make an inappropriate joke about being invited up to her apartment. Maybe he has grown up a little in the past 10 years.

After they had made it into her apartment, she saw herself in the mirror by the door and saw the black eye also came with a cut in her eyebrow. When she looked down at herself she saw her skirt was ripped up to her hip on one side. She locked the door and turned around to see Dick clenching his jaw when he looked at her.

Dick just noticed the rip in her skirt. "Did he…um…did he do anything more to you?"

Mac looked him dead in the eye and said, "He didn't get the chance." Then looked down. "I'm going to call Veronica." And walked to the couch.

"Where is your kitchen? You need ice on your eye."

She looked up and pointed towards the kitchen, then hit send on her cell phone.

Hello Q. Are you all hot for teacher now?

"Um…Veronica." Her voice quivered.

What happened Mac? Do I need to come over?

"Please. I was attacked on the way home. He tried to…to…" She took a death breath. "Anyway, when I got away I ran into Dick. He is here now."

I'm out with Logan. We aren't far away and will head straight there.

Dick was in the kitchen and found her drawer of kitchen towels and grabbed one. As he filled it with ice, he heard Mac on the phone with Veronica. Dick was Mac's chief tormentor in high school and during freshman year at Hearst. At the end of freshman year, he drunkenly apologized to Mac for everything he did when she was dating Cassidy, but ruined it when he tried to kiss her. When he saw her at the 10 year Neptune High reunion, he kept sneaking a glance at her from time to time. She had become hot in the years since he last saw her.

He walked back into the living room with ice and saw her leaning back on the couch and staring at the ceiling in thought. Mac brought her head up and looked directly at Dick. Their eyes met for a moment and he felt a tingle in his stomach.

"Is that ice?"

"Yeah. Here." Dick walked over to the couch and sat down to the left of Mac. He lightly put the ice against her eye and she flinched. "I'm sorry. I know it hurts, but it will help bring down the swelling."

After an awkward silence, Dick asked "Are you okay? Do you need me to get anything or do anything?"

"Yes, actually. Could you quit worrying over me? It's freaking me out. Please be your normal perverted self."

Dick laughed. "Well one more little worry. Could I help you change into something a little bit more comfortable?"

Mac made a small laugh. "There he is. Actually, I'm going to wait until Veronica gets here."

And if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Dick jumped up to answer it.

"Hey Mac. Logan and that girl who follows him around are here." Veronica pulled out her taser and sparked it. "And she's fired up to see me." Dick looked over at Mac with his goofy grin and winked.