A/N: So I started this series in 2010 with the first two parts, added another piece to the puzzle in 2011, and then kind of left it hanging. I did have a plan for parts four and five of the series, but by the time I got to wanting to write them, the movie kind of screwed them up. Long story short, I altered my planned timeline and now I present part four of the series, with part five to follow soon-ish ;) For those that want to read or re-read the previous stories, they are 1 - Real Men Pass Algebra, 2 - Real Men Keep Promises, and 3 - Real Men Say No. This piece takes place a few years later than the previous...

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Veronica Mars belong to Rob Thomas and other important people that aren't me.

Real Men Wait for You

This was never really a place Mac expected to find herself, not now, not after everything. People grew apart when they got out of high school, she knew that, and yet it was right at the end of their high school career that she had really come to connect with Eli Navarro, known to most as Weevil. She really only knew anything more than the basics about him because of Veronica, but then they spent a little time together when Mac was teaching him algebra. When he passed his class, he was certainly grateful, enough to make Mac an offer of a date. As flattered as she was, it was never going to happen, or so she thought at the time.

It took a year, twelve months of dating all the wrong guys, for Mac to realise that taking a chance on a man like Weevil maybe wasn't so crazy. He may have a criminal record as long as one of her arms and a rep that scared more than a few people that were already intimidating themselves, but Weevil never bothered Mac. She was never afraid of him, because she never had a reason to be. Sometime in that first year of college she actually found herself hanging out with him via Veronica and it was fun. He was a nice guy, funny and smarter than most would assume. When she finally got up the nerve to ask him about that date he offered so long before, she never expected Weevil to even remember asking her. Of course, he did remember, and they had the best time on their first and only date.

Weevil almost physically winced as he recalled the weeks following that date. He was stood by the stove in his pokey little apartment, finishing off the dinner he was making for a woman he hadn't really seen these past three years. Mac was something special, he had known it for a long time before she ever called him up and reminded him of a conversation they had in the halls of Neptune High when he offered to show her a good time. They went on their date, and the good time was had, but the very next day she was leaving for a vacation with her folks. Weevil wasn't sure if that would make a difference to her, but he vowed it would change nothing for him. He would still be around, and if she wanted to go out again he was more then willing. The problem was, by the time she got home from her trip, he wasn't so much around as he was inside.

It was ridiculous, letting himself get busted like that. Losing his temper was always a problem area with Weevil, and it was no surprise to the Sheriff or his deputies to have Eli Navarro hauled in. Since he was still on probation, getting banged up was pretty much guaranteed. He played on best behaviour inside, kept his head down, got the time done. There was little or nothing Veronica could do for him this time, even if she wasn't miles away in Stanford. Strangely it was V's graduation from her college that brought him and Mac back to the same place at the same time. It was a miracle Weevil was out in time actually, and touch and go whether Mac was going to make it to the event apparently. She had got a job lined up before she even graduated and they wanted her to start as soon as. It took some serious fast-talking to get her a few days in which to drive up to Stanford for Veronica's grad, but she managed it, and Weevil had never been more grateful.

They had this awkward moment when they greeted each other at the graduation ceremony, unsure whether they should hug or whatever. It was tough to know what the protocol was for people who went all through grade school together without hardly noticing each other, and then had one pretty intense date before parting for three years. In the end, Weevil just took the imitative, hugged Mac close, kissed her cheek and asked how she was doing. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, and just as embarrassed to be told that. They got to talking, about V, about their lives and where they had been, what they had been doing. His story was shorter, being banged up and all, but he loved hearing her stories, except for the part where she dated another doofus college guy in his absence. Weevil wasn't a fan of that particular revelation, but he took it in good humour, especially when Mac asked him if they could meet up again back in Neptune. So here they were, her sat on the end of his couch with her hands in her lap and a slightly nervous smile, him cooking one of only a half dozen dishes he knew how to do and could afford the ingredients for. Damn, he hoped she liked it.

"Well, I'm not exactly a five star chef, but hopefully, it's not garbage," he shrugged, bringing two plates over to the sofa and handing one to Mac. "I also don't have a table so..."

"Hey, I just spent four years living in a dorm room. This right here is classy by comparison to yesterday's pizza right out of the box with flat beer and leftover salsa dip," said Mac definitely.

Weevil wasn't sure if she was serious or just trying to make him feel better. Either way, he laughed as he took a seat beside her and they both ate.

"Mmm, this is amazing!" Mac declared, clearly enjoying his cooking, despite Weevil's reservations. "You were way too modest about your kitchen abilities," she said definitely.

"Maybe," he shrugged, biting back a dirty comment about his abilities in other rooms.

Mac was more confident than she used to be, more willing to say what she thought than he remembered, but he wasn't so sure how far he ought to push right now. Mac had at least one more serious boyfriend since Weevil saw her last, she got her education and graduated from Hearst, she grew up even more than before. Weevil felt so much older than her still, though there was a barely a year or two between them, but she was definitely bolder, and it worked for her.

"What?" Mac asked, self-conscious in a moment when she realised Weevil was staring at her. "Something on my face?" she checked, wiping one hand across her chin for fear she had sauce on there or something.

Weevil smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, ain't nothin' like that, chica," he promised her. "I was just thinking, 'bout you and how you're just the same some ways, and different in others."

"That's true of anybody, right?" she shrugged, looking down at her plate more than at him. "I mean, you're the same Weevil I knew from before, but you've been through a lot of stuff that has to have changed you these past few years."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he admitted. "But I promise you this, sweetheart, you kept all the best parts of yourself, and only added more good ones."

Mac had gotten somewhat more used to compliments over the years and took them with slightly less red in her cheeks and a little more grace than before. Still, the way Weevil looked at her with those intense brown eyes could make her feel like she was back in high school within a second.

"I'm just me," she shrugged, making herself meet his gaze. "Maybe a little more sure of myself than before, but hey, I could probably blame you for a little of that," she told him bravely.

"Hey, I'll take that blame," he said easily, taking a bite of his food.

Mac followed suit and did the same, the two of them eating in comfortable silence for a few moments. When Weevil suddenly spoke again, it wasn't loud enough to make Mac jump, but his question stilled the hand holding her fork half way to her mouth when she heard it.

"Mac, if you're here because... I dunno, 'cause you feel like you owe me or you want to be sympathetic to the lonely, friendless guy...?"

"That's crazy," she told him immediately. "I mean, when we were in high school and you told me you would take me out, was that just sympathy or something?" she checked.

Weevil shook his head.

"Not a chance," he told her definitely. "I don't talk pretty, Mac, but you know damn well I liked you. You're beautiful, you're smart, and you make me laugh. That's as true now as it was back then."

"Pretty much the same reasons I like you," she told him, locking her gaze onto his own, suddenly brave in the echo of his compliments. "So, we're both here for the right reasons. Sure, it's taken a while, but what does that matter?"

She leaned back against the couch cushions, putting herself a little closer to Weevil. Their plates on their knees were probably beginning to slide but neither of them noticed much, they only had eyes for each other.

"Y'know I never did believe in all that happily ever after fairy-tale crap," he told her too softly to be his own voice somehow, "but there's gotta be a reason you and me keep ending up together like this."

"I'd like to think so," she smiled happily.

When Weevil leaned in to kiss her lips, Mac didn't even flinch, just let her eyes fall shut and enjoyed the moment that had been far too long in coming around again. Three years from first date to second, but that didn't matter so much. If it was meant to be, then it was, and it sure did feel like it as Mac and Weevil both managed to put their plates down on the floor, hardly letting up on contact at all. The feeling inside them both was definitely worth all the waiting they had done, and they both knew it for sure in that moment.