I don't plan on flashing forward to when Mac runs away again until we make it to that scene, but I may change my mind. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 4

Mid July 2007

Mac was sitting in the cafeteria grabbing breakfast before going to her first class of the day. She looks around at how empty the campus is during the summer semester. When the summer started Mac thought she would be spending all her time either in class or working for MI, but has found that when she isn't in those two places then she's been hanging out with Logan and Dick.

Logan had begun to become her friend when he was dating Parker. Mac had started to see a different side of him when she began hanging out with him, and can easily say they have become good friends.

Dick was another story. While she had forgiven him for everything that happened in the past, Mac was still a little hesitant to fully trust him as a friend. At first they were able to bond over a conversation about Cassidy and then she found that they had more in common than she suspected. He was a competent opponent with video games and they have spent many nights sparring off. Throughout the summer, his laid back attitude had started to rub off on Mac and she did begin to think of him as a friend, but she often worried that once summer was over he was going to revert back to the old Dick.

A ringing sounded from inside Mac's laptop bag and she was able to dig it out and answer it just in time.

"Hey Bond."

My Q! How have you been?

"Good. Just grabbing a something to eat before class. How's Virginia?"

Going great. Interning at the FBI means a lot of coffee runs and transcribing. Not as exciting as one would think.

"Are you sure? I would think the great Veronica Mars would have found a way to insert herself into a major case by now."

Unfortunately not. How are your BFFs?

"Excuse me. I have not replaced you. You still hold the title and it is not one that will be shared, but Logan and Dick are the same."

That's good. I'm still shocked that you are now friends with Dick.

"You and me both. But he isn't so bad all the time. However, he called me last night at two in the morning wanting to know what his brother's favorite color was, then didn't understand why I was annoyed."

That sounds about right. What brought on the need to know?

"He had dinner with his dad and they got in an argument as always. His dad asked Dick random questions about Cassidy. Dick answered a lot of them, but wasn't sure if he answered the color correctly. He was pretty relieved when I told him it was red, which is what he told his dad."

It sounds like you're helping him come to terms with everything.

"Yeah. He's changed a lot since he's dad got back, but I don't know if it will stick after Big Dick goes to prison."

Maybe you should use the taser my dad gave you to help keep him in line.

She chuckled at the thought. "I've already threatened him a couple of times just to keep him on his toes." Mac took a sigh. "Logan asked about you last night."

Oh.

"Yeah. He wants to know when you're getting back. I changed the subject. When are you going to tell him that you aren't coming back?"

Mac. I'm just not ready to talk to him yet.

"Did something happen with Logan before you left?

What? Why do you ask?

"I've been getting this feeling like he thinks the two of you will be back together when you get back."

Oh.

"That's all you're going to say? Oh?"

I may have accidently slept with Logan the night before I left.

"How do you accidently sleep with someone?"

I fell?

"On his penis?"

No. I fell for everything he was saying and it just happened. When I realized I cheated on Piz, I bolted while he was asleep.

"That's why you broke up with Piz the morning you left." Mac rubbed her face in frustration. "You have to talk to Logan."

I can't. Look if he asks again about when I'm coming back then you are welcome to tell him I'm not. Just don't tell him why. I don't want him to know about the deal.

"Are you seriously getting me to break up with Logan for you?" She was shocked.

NO! We aren't together. I haven't even spoken to him since that night.

"I know. He told me you don't answer his calls."

Look Mac. I need to go because my boss is coming my way. I'll talk to you later about this.

"Fine." She flipped her phone closed and sighed in annoyance as she looked at the time and realized she was now five minutes late to class.

Mac stood up from her seat and felt a tap on her shoulder. Jumping and turning around, Mac saw Eli Navarro standing in front of her.

"Hey Weevil. How's it going?"

"Hey chica. It's good. I just saw you and thought I'd come by and say hello. How's it going with you?"

"Well I was just on the phone with Veronica, which made me lose track of time and now I'm late to class. But other than that I'm good."

"Speaking of V, she asked me to keep an eye on you here at Hearst. I guess she's worried about you because of that case where I let you into the supercomputer."

"She's just being overprotected."

Weevil laughed. "Possibly. Do you still have my number from when you tutored me?"

Mac nodded. "I think so." She pulled her phone back out and opened it to check. "Yeah, it's here."

"Good. Just call me if you need anything." He looked around the cafeteria. "I also have a favor to ask."

"Okay?" Mac didn't understand how the former leader of a motorcycle gang would need a favor from her.

"I signed up to take a couple of classes this summer at the community college. I was wondering if you'd be able to help me."

Mac smiled and was genuinely excited for Weevil. "That's great! Of course I'll help. What classes?"

"Just the basics. English and math. I have finals coming up in both in two weeks. I'm passing, but just barely."

"How about we get together this weekend and I can assess where you're at and what you need to work on?"

"Mac, you are an angel. Thank you."


Same Day

Dick was sitting on his surfboard out in the water waiting for Logan to catch up with him. He watched as Logan paddled out to him and thought about how much better everything was when he was sitting out in the water.

"Dude! You took your time getting out here."

"Yeah, yeah." Logan positioned his board next to Dick and sat up. "How was dinner with your dad last night?"

"It was fine." Slapping his hand on the water, Dick thought back to the civil conversation dinner from the night before. The dinner that consisted of polite conversations because he's father had brought his new girlfriend who was only two years old than Dick.

"You didn't come home before I went to bed. What did you do after dinner?"

"I came to the beach and just sat for a while. So did you and Mac have fun last night?"

"Yeah, just pizza and a movie. Nothing exciting. She wants us to rent Clerks II this weekend, but we have to watch the first one before we watch the new one."

They had watched a large variety of movies since they started hanging out, but Dick was entertained by the fact Mac enjoyed Kevin Smith movies. Most girls would want to watch chick flicks, but Mac had more of a guy's sense of humor.

"Is she coming over tonight?" Dick looked behind him at the waves coming in.

"She may. So do you want to talk about Mac?"

Dick whipped his head to look at Logan. "Why?"

"July Fourth. All I'm going to say."

"Dude, that was nothing. I've just been spending so much time with my dad that I haven't gotten laid in a while. It's nothing, just a physical reaction because of my cold spell." Dick splashed water at Logan. "Like you didn't notice how hot she looked in that bikini."

"To be honest, I didn't even notice her bikini or body until after I noticed your reaction."

"Oh come on. When was the last time you had any? If I remember correctly you and Parker never got busy, so that means you haven't gotten your knob polished since you were with Ronnie months ago."

"My knob isn't the point. This conversation is about you and Mac."

Dick rolled his eyes. "There is no me and Mac. We've just becoming friends and I'm focusing on not screwing that up." He paddled out to catch a wave and ended the conversation.

Since summer began Dick and Mac bonded over the anniversary of Cassidy's death, but have also just become friends. She was there the night he fought with his dad, then got drunk and proceeded to get sick. Mac put a cold washcloth on his neck and rubbed his back. She is the most put together person he knew and he was grateful that Mac was giving him a chance to be her friend. But if he was honest with himself, then he would have to admit that he was developing feelings for Mac and they weren't just physical.


Late July 2007

"Take that!" Mac boosted as she beat Logan again at the video game they were playing. "Boo yeah!"

"You suck!" Logan tossed his head back onto the couch. "I give up! I'm not playing with you anymore."

"Sore loser." She stood up and danced in place before Logan nudged her with his foot and caused her to fall onto the couch. Mac's phone began to ring.

Logan sat up and picked up her phone to hand to her. Mac saw a smile cross his face as he looked at her phone, so she grabbed it out of his hand and hit ignore before he could answer it.

"You can talk to her around me, you know. It's okay." He rubbed his hands over his face. "When is she getting back?"

Mac sighed. "Damn it Veronica."

"What?" Logan was looking at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you. I kept trying to get her to call or email you herself." Mac groaned because this was a conversation she didn't want to be having, but knew she couldn't keep secret from him. "She isn't coming back."

"What?!" He was up and moving around the room. "What do you mean?"

"She isn't coming back to Hearst…or to Neptune." Mac watched as he paced in front of her.

"Where is she going?"

"I don't know. She hasn't told me. When she left, she didn't know yet."

Logan stopped pacing. "When she left? She knew she wasn't coming back when she left?"

Mac nodded.

"You've known all summer, but you didn't tell me." He was clenching his jaw and Mac knew he was angry with her.

She nodded again and bit her lips. "She asked me not to. Veronica's my friend, what was I supposed to do?"

"I'm your friend too." Logan pointed at himself. "At least I thought I was." He stormed into his bedroom and slammed the door.

Mac sat on the couch staring at his closed bedroom doors. She debated on whether she should try to speak to him or let him cool off. Her thoughts were broken when the penthouse door opened and Dick came strolling in.

"Hey Mackie! Where's Logan?" He was looking at her with his big goofy grin.

She pointed her thumb at his bedroom. "He's mad at me." Mac stood up to leave. "I'm going to go."

Dick came to stand in front of her. "What happened?"

"I told him that Veronica wasn't coming back."

"He can't be mad at you for that. It's not like you can control Ronnie." Dick motioned for Mac to sit back down.

"Logan's mad that I've known all summer and didn't tell him."

"Oh. That's what you meant when you said he'll be mad at you."

Mac nodded.

"Come here." Dick pulled Mac into a hug. "He'll get over it."

Mac let Dick hold her and it did make her feel better. The door to the Logan's bedroom opened and he came out into the living area.

"How sweet. Aren't you two just adorable?" Logan went to the minibar and pulled out at bottle.

"Dude." Dick let go of Mac.

Logan opened the bottle and took a swig. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not that I can tell you." Mac noticed how defeated and hurt Logan looked.

"Is she every going to talk to me?"

"I hope so."

Logan walked back to his room and shut the doors, while Mac stared down at her hands in her lap. She hated the position she was put in with Logan. But she couldn't be mad at Veronica, because the more she got to know Logan, the more she understood why Veronica didn't want him to know about the deal. If he knew, then he would probably go fist flying at Sorokin and would probably end up dead.

"So I have something that would make you feel better, but I'm not sure how you'll feel about it." Dick nudged her with his elbow.

Mac raised her eyebrow. "If you're talking about sex, then I'll pass. But thanks."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "While that would be great and all, I was thinking more like brownies."

"Brownies?"

"Not just any brownies. They're special." He stood up and went into the kitchen area before returning with a pan of brownies with only a couple missing.

Mac looked at the baked goods. "Is there pot in those?" She was a little shocked to know they had drugs in their room.

Dick looked sheepish and nodded.

She had the opportunity to smoke pot once in high school, but didn't want to go home smelling like it, so she passed. However, eating pot brownies was a different story. Mac slowly smiled. "What the hell."

They had each eaten one large brownie each and were sitting on the balcony in a double lounger looking at the sky.

"I see Howard the Duck." Dick pointed to one of the clouds above them.

Mac looked at the cloud and giggled. "That's such an awesome movie." Her phone buzzed. "It's my mom. Oh shit, she'd going to know I'm stoned. I'm going to be in so much trouble."

Dick took the phone from her hands and placed it on the table on his other side. "Only if you answer it."

Mac rolled over to look at Dick. "You're so smart."

He started to laugh hysterically. "I think I need to record you saying that. No one will believe me if I tell them you said that."

"You're not stupid." Mac started to think. "Well not all the time. Remember I did see your grades from last semester."

Dick nudged her with his elbow. "I just had easy classes."

"You took the same business class as Logan and you had an A in it while he got a B. You have a 2.8, which tells me you're smarter than you want people to know."

"Cass was the smart one. I'm the good-looking one."

Mac poked his arm with her finger. "I bet if you tried, than you would make better grades."

He shrugged her off as he continued to stare at the sky. "Whatever Ghost World."

Rolling onto her back, Mac felt a slap at his use of that nickname. "I hate when you call me that." She stood up and started to walk towards the door.

Dick turned to see her moving to leave. "Wait. I'm sorry." He felt guilty for calling her a name that hurts her feelings. "I promise to never call you that again."

Mac turned back to Dick. "Why do you do that?"

"I don't know. Because I'm an asshole." He sat his head back on the lounger and closed his eyes because he didn't like to see Mac looking at him with disappointed expression. Dick felt Mac sit back down on the lounger next to him. "I'm sorry."

"Dude, you're mellowing my high." Mac poked his side making him jump.

Dick turned to see a smile spread across her face. A strand of hair had fallen from her ponytail he brushed it back behind her ear and wondered what it would be like to kiss her. Mac's smile faltered for a moment and Dick shook the thoughts out of his head. "I guess I need to fix that. Munchie time?"

Mac nodded.

"I'll be right back." Dick got up and went back inside the penthouse and called room service to order a variety of snacking food, making sure most were vegetarian for Mac.

When he came back out to the balcony he brought two small slices of brownie. "We need a little boost." He handed her one of the slices and downed the other in two bites as he flopped back down on the lounger. "I called for some snacks, so listen out for the door."

A ringing sounded next to Dick. He picked up the phone and answered it. "Yo!"

Um. I'm calling for Mac.

Dick pulled the phone from his ear then realized it was Mac's and saw the PCHer's name on the screen. "Uh, Mackie. I accidently answered your phone."

She jumped up. "It's not my mom right?"

"No. It's Paco." He handed her the phone.

"Be nice. Didn't we just go over calling people names?" She placed the phone to her ear. "Hey Weevil…Yeah, we're still on for Saturday." Mac giggled at something he said. "Works for me…See you there...Bye."

Listening to her giggle on the phone with Weevil was making Dick very annoyed. "So you're dating Weevil now?" Dick had the urge to punch that Mexican douche.

Mac turned to look at Dick. "No. I'm helping him with something. Why? Jealous?"

"No." Dick prayed that didn't come out as pouty as he thought it sounded. "I just thought we could give you another surf lesson."

Mac poked Dick in the side again and he jumped.

"Stop that!"

A cruel grin spread across her face. "Why? Are you ticklish?" She then used her both her hands to tickle his side.

Dick grabbed her hands. "Let's see how you like it." He proceeded to tickle her with one hand, but Mac didn't react. He noticed that she wasn't fighting to stop him. "You're not ticklish, are you?" She shook her head and he dropped her hands.

"But you are." Mac straddled Dick and began tickling both his sides.

Dick was laughing and trying to catch his breath. "Stop. Uncle. Uncle." He grabbed both of her hands and raised them above his head, which pulled Mac down closer to him.

They were both breathing hard and staring into each other's eyes. The grins on both their faces faltered and Dick thought about making a move to kiss her, when there was a knock on the penthouse door.

"The food's here." Mac said as she climbed off of Dick and walked back inside.

Dick took a long slow breath before getting up and following her.