Author's Note: Hope you're still enjoying this, if you'd like to see more remember to review! … without encouragement, comment and criticism a poor fanfic writer may just shrivel up and cry.

Still not mine! … well other than the random characters you've never heard of before! x

Mac was running late. She had fallen asleep… eventually. She probably had the alcohol to thank! Unfortunately that particular gift had come with an annoying helping of morning-after headache, and her brain was still moving slower than toffee - even after: the shower; the granola bar; and the apple her mum left on the counter, propping up an embarrassingly parental good luck note.

She tried calling Max again when she got to the Neptune Grand. She was supposed to be meeting him on campus for an early good luck lunch before she headed to the computer lab, but hopefully he'd agree to dinner instead. It went straight to voicemail this time.

"Sorry babe. Hope I didn't wake you last night! I'm running late. Won't be able to make lunch I'm afraid. I should be out in time for dinner this evening. Call me!"

The elevator doors closed, and the young couple who'd got in with her managed to disentangle themselves and gestured to the controls, asking which floor she'd like.

"Penthouse please." She was embarrassed. She wasn't a penthouse kind of girl, she'd proved that last night when she left in an almost catatonic state without her computer. The young couple were eying her up and down like they also knew she wasn't a penthouse girl.

She busied herself with her phone and was surprised to see she had five missed calls, all from Max - from the previous night apparently. There was a voicemail as well. She played it after the couple exited. "Where are you?" She'd see him later and explain.

Mac shuffled her feet nervously, took a deep breath, and walked towards the suite. She'd made an absolute fool of herself last night, and would be very happy to wait a week or three before seeing either Logan or Dick but she needed her computer, and had a fifty dollar bill she wanted to…

Her thoughts were interrupted when Logan's door swung open spewing a tall, angry man into the hallway. He was shouting back into the apartment. "It was your mother who left, she never wanted you. At least I stayed with you and Cassidy… at least I came back!"

Mac backed away from the door, hoping she hadn't been seen, and froze against the wall. Dick's dad… Cassidy's dad… She really didn't need to walk in on this. Could she make it back to the elevator without being seen?

"We'd have been better off without you…" Dick's voice was coming from inside. "Cassidy knew! It just took me longer to work it out is all… he despised you."

"He was trying to protect me from your step-mom."

"He was trying to destroy you. He should have used another bomb, it would have left less of a …"

Dick had followed his dad from the suite, and stopped mid-sentence. Shocked to see anybody else in the hallway, he was staring past his dad at Mac.

Mr Casablancas turned and walked away. She wasn't even sure if he'd noticed her, he was standing at the end of the corridor, for all intents and purposes patiently waiting for the elevator.

The echoes of the argument bounced around her throbbing brain as she stood dumbly in the hallway in a staring contest with Dick. She supposed he was still angry, but when he spoke he sounded more shocked than anything. "How long have you…"

"I'm sorry" she mumbled "I just got here … I should have called ahead … I'll go." She turned, walked down the corridor in shock - for the second time in just twelve hours.

"Wait… Mac… your computer… Mac… You came for your computer?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Its ok, Logan left it for you, you can come in."

She let him lead her back into the hotel suite, his hand at the small of her back, guiding her to the sofa.

"So… last night musta been fun if you're back for seconds already."

Her mouth dropped open. Ok, she could ignore things if that's what he wanted…

"It's stupid. We've been trying to work it out … make it right. One of us always ends up starting an argument and storming out though. Mostly me."

He placed her computer in front of her and handed her a bottle of water. "I can't make it right. Cass can't forgive me now, and nobody else will."

"It wasn't your fault."

"You don't know what I did to him."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while until he noticed she was rubbing her temples. "Did you take something for the hangover? Did you eat?"

"A granola bar."

"That's not hangover food Macadoodle. Is there vegan hangover food?"

She reached over and took an orange from the fruit basket beside her. Slowly pealing it, eating in silence.

"He didn't deserve a brother like me."

"Is it working? Blaming yourself?"

"Everyone else does. Must be worth a shot."

"You make it easy for them, playing the jackass." She paused. "It's selfish."

"What?" his voice was raised.

"I'm not saying you were a great brother."

He snorted.

"But you didn't make him a monster. It's selfish to think you had that much power over him. To make this all about you."

"I didn't protect him."

"Did you know he needed protecting?"

"Yes." Quickly he added "From Dad, and the bullying. Not Woody, I didn't know about the…"

Neither of them could say the word, but it hung there. Molestation…

"He didn't want anybody to know."

"No."

"You have to forgive yourself Dick." She packed away her computer, fished around in her purse for the envelope with Logan's cash and placed it on the sideboard. "It's a cliché because it's true."

"You're leaving?"

"I have to be at Hearst, and don't you have a class starting?"

"Yeah. I guess. I should go. Logan's sticking around for the summer. Trying to get me back on track. I need the credits."

"Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

"I'll let you carry my books if you like, CindyMac?"

Mac gave what she hoped was a withering stare.

Dick was doing a good impression of a well bread gentleman when they made it to the lobby. He signed for the parking, tipped the valet and waited with Mac for her car - his hand resting gently on her back.

A dispassionate onlooker would have seen a polite but tender farewell kiss between friends.

An antagonistic acquaintance may have seen Mac kissing her lover goodbye after cheating on her boyfriend.

Mac however was just shocked to be thanked, hugged and kissed on the cheek.

On the drive to Hearst she decided shock was an annoyingly unwelcome emotion, it always seemed to prevent her from saying her piece. And clarity of thought, five minutes after the fact was just tauntingly cruel.

Mac's afternoon in the bunker that housed the Hearst supercomputer dragged on into the evening. As supercomputers go it was slow, but to Hearst's research scientists it was invaluable, allowing them to crunch mindboggling amounts of data, and model systems that would otherwise be unfathomable.

As an undergraduate assistant Mac was merely a warm body to the team she was joining - just a gopher, useful for the coffee runs. But she was happy to be back in the presence of all that computing power.

'Brute forcing' the encryption on the stolen Kane hard drive was child's play in comparison to the kind of coding the research group had already compiled. Of course it was a lot more fun when you were crossing the line into minor felony with your best friend - but everybody needed a day job. Not that she was being paid, but the experience would be invaluable, and the college credits welcome.

Over the next few weeks the team, led by Simon, were hoping to iron out the bugs, scale up the runtime, and produce full datasets for the climate scientists with whom they were collaborating. She was familiar with Simon already, as a dull, but effortlessly competent teaching assistant, the two grad students were new to her though, Neil and Jacob. Jacob was the talker of the two, frequently answering on Neil's behalf, but Neil could hold his own when his friend was out of earshot, explaining his dual interest in computing and the ocean, which accounted for the tan, rarely seen in the lesser spotted nerd.

The sun was setting when Mac finally left the computer lab, bathing Hearst in its stunning orange and golden glow - until half way across the quad where it was obscured by a looming shadow.

"Macchiato?"

"Hi Dick" She could see his face, now the sun was out of her eyes, and nobody else would call her Macchiato.

"No, not 'Macchiato!' … 'Macchiato?'" he said as if the difference were obvious. "With a questioning inflection?" he added seeing her quizzical look.

As he handed her an iced coffee his meaning became clear.

"Punny! You've been calling me random names all these years just to build up to this moment of hilarity?"

"Just a happy coincidence Macchiato! It's almond milk, that's vegan, I checked. She said it would be better than soy. So… how was Halo?"

"Global Thermo Nuclear War? Great, well, the guys seem ok, and I got to look over some of their algorithms! How was class? Or were you distracted by the visiting summer students? Aka, hordes of innocent young college girls who've yet to experience the pleasure of your company?" she was grinning up at him.

"You know I gave up a surfing trip so I could catch up on school? Well, and see my Dad…" Dick's voice trailed off.

"Uh…" Her face fell. This new version of Dick was going to take some getting used to. "I'm sorry, and you bought me coffee."

"You can make it up to me, by letting me buy you dinner? Shield me from the hordes?"

"I'm sorry Dick, I can't, I have a date with Max" she looked at her watch, "Now! I'm not back on campus till Wednesday, we've got the early slot in the lab, so I'll be done by 2pm. Avoid the hordes till then and I'll buy you lunch!"

"I'll be here, trying not to corrupt innocent young things. Or get dragged into a game of Hacky Sack."

"Your probably safe on the second count. Visiting college girls are desperate for corruption though. Keep your hands to yourself and avoid eye contact at all costs! Got to go! See you Wednesday." she said as she spotted Max at the top of the steps.

"It's a date!" called Dick as she walked away.

After trading voicemails with him through the day, Mac and Max had arranged their dinner date. She was taking him up the coast to a vegetarian restaurant she'd been keen to visit for a while, and the cheque from her 'Ass Site' gave her just the excuse she needed.

"Did you miss me?" she asked after he broke their kiss. Only realising once the words left her mouth, that she had barely noticed his absence. Other than hoping he'd be able to give her a lift home, she hadn't thought about him at all the previous evening, and her day so far had been occupied by Dick and the supercomputer.

"Of course. Was that Dick Casablancas?" he asked looking back to where she'd been standing.

"Yeah" she said absently, barely breaking his flow.

"I thought they finally kicked him out? I made a fortune off him first semester. Dumb, rich, frat-boy jerks are my bread and butter, and that one is dumber than most. He managed to lose half his 'study guides', so I got paid twice when he hit me up for replacements. Figured he must have been booted when I didn't see him begging for help with finals. He's friends with Logan right? You all went to school together? What was that like?"

"A long time ago… we used to be…" Was she going to say friends? Well that was clearly wrong. "Let's just say, we did not get along. He's…"

She wanted to explain how Dick was changing, how they may finally be learning to understand one another. She wanted Max to shut up and stop judging someone he didn't know and couldn't comprehend. And realising that she'd been just as guilty of judging Dick before understanding him was troubling her conscience.

Max interrupted. "He's… a jerk? Yeah, I can't see the two of you bonding on homecoming committee. I didn't realise Logan was the same till he beat up your friend, Piz. Shall we go, what time are the reservations?"

Mac was preoccupied as she drove along the coast. She let Max fill the silence describing his new, off-campus housing, and endeavours to procure a fake Hearst ID so he could continue his test paper business now he was no longer a student. Apparently the black market at Hearst was alive and well and Max was looking to expand his interests.

Mac mulled. So her boyfriend was even more clueless than Piz and Parker when it came to understanding 'Pirate' History. And worse, her boyfriend had no respect for her friends. Yes, it was her fault. They'd substituted the traditional 'getting to know you' portion of the game for a more 'biblical' - she grinned - 'fun' version. And if Dick was a friend it was certainly a very recent occurrence.

"You ok?" asked Max as they dropped her bug with the valet.

"Yeah, just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Where were you? I called, but no answer."

"I know - I didn't check my phone till this morning. We were playing video games, it was loud!"

"I'd have come over, met the parents, beat your little brother at Mario Kart. Family game night with the MacKenzie's sounds fun!"

"Yeah…" A lie of omission… "I did phone, but it was late - it went to voicemail."

"Sorry, my battery died babe. Hopefully you'll let me earn more boyfriend points this evening!"

The guilty feeling that spread through Mac's belly was unsettling, but she hadn't lied. She just needed a suitable moment to set the record straight. Let Max know that Logan and Dick were her friends. Luckily the business of ordering drinks, settling into their table and perusing the menu were diverting, and with Max' extra effort to make this a great date she managed to relax and enjoy herself.

"So, what's the special occasion?" He asked putting down his fork. "I was expecting lasagne from the cafeteria."

Mac smiled, her pea and mint risotto was delicious. "Aaaah... I came into money honey."

"The largess of a favourite aunt?"

She grinned "No."

"The inheritance of a hated cousin?"

"Nope."

"A gift from a wealthy admirer."

"No."

"Ok, I'm done, you'll have to tell me."

She reached in her purse and whipped out the cheque she hadn't had time to deposit. "Asses. Logan cut me a cheque."

"He bought you out?"

She grinned. "Nooo, first quarter profit! I went over and signed the contracts yesterday."

"So, dinner really is on you?"

"Yes sugarpie, I wouldn't drag you to a veggie place and make you pay."

Mac was feeling much better by the time they left the restaurant. Max knew she'd seen Logan, and even though she hadn't found the words to bring up Dick it didn't matter.

Enjoying a long passionate kiss at the Valet stand she was disappointed to realise it was late, and a summer with the parents meant returning home instead of curling up beside Max for the night. 'Perhaps Veronica would have some tips for juggling parents and boyfriends' she thought while Max hands explored her back.

The valet's polite 'cough' startled them. Max took the key and the receipt while Mac recovered her composure.

"Ooops!" she said when they were in the car. "At least it wasn't my parents."

"It's going to be a long hard summer," mused Max handing over her key and placing the receipt alongside the others in her glove compartment.

As she drove back down the PCH Max listened in relative silence as Mac recanted the edited highlights of her day: Mimicking Jacob's odd way of answering on Neil's behalf; describing Neil as part nerd, part surfer dude; and discussing the merits of working with Simon, despite his dull demeanour.

When she pulled up outside Max' new apartment and switched off the engine she was surprised not to be invited inside. It was late, and she would have had to refuse, but it would have been nice to be asked. 'Kissing in cars' she was enjoying it when it reminded her of Cassidy, she must have tensed up as Max pulled away.

"I'll work out something with the parents Max. I can sneak out occasionally, and even if I can't persuade them to actually let me stay over there's not much they can do to stop me."

"I'll call" said Max leaving her in the car, and disappearing into his apartment block.

Author's Note: Look, there's a review box right there! … couldn't hurt to fill it out! … thanks! x