Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own. Leave now.
--
Veronica blinked, staring at her friend as she let the phone hang loosely from her hand.
"Oh, so you must be the intelligent twin," she nodded in understanding, "Of course."
Mac rolled her eyes and pushed past the blonde into the apartment, running her hands through her hair as she paced around the living room. Veronica closed the door and watched her with a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Mac stopped pacing after a few minutes and took a deep breath as she turned to look at her friend, eyes wide.
"I think I like Cassidy."
"You said that already."
"Cassidy! My boyfriend's little brother!"
"I am aware of who he is, Mac, but thank you for the reminder," Veronica grinned. Mac rolled her eyes.
"This is so far from funny."
"Don't be such a drama queen," she sighed, "It's not the end of the world."
"It'll be the end of Cassidy's once Dick finds out."
"Well then you should tell him when he's really, really drunk. So that'd be … hmm. About eighty percent of the time? Just avoid bringing it up during the other twenty."
Mac glared and sat down on the edge of the coffee table as Veronica flopped onto the couch. "Can you be serious, please? I need advice, here."
Veronica sighed heavily and snuggled further into the couch. "Honestly?"
"Since that does seem to be your strong suit," Mac nodded.
"I think you'd be better off with Cassidy."
"Figured as much."
"That's because you agree."
"I do not."
Veronica rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say."
"Dick is a good guy! And a good boyfriend when he's not drunk and rambling about untruthful things," Mac defended. Veronica raised an eyebrow. "He is!"
"Oh, I'm sure he's the best of the cavemen," Veronica agreed. Mac sighed and ran her hand through her hair again, scrunching up her nose in irritation.
"I kissed him."
"Dick? I know; you two are great friends with PDA."
"Cassidy." Veronica blinked, then smiled slowly.
"And we're having this conversation … why?" Mac groaned.
--
He stared at the ceiling and drummed his fingers on his stomach. He sighed and rolled his neck a little, easing the tension from the odd angle that his head was at. With an upside-down glance at the alarm clock on his nightstand, he let out another sigh and let his head drop back down off the edge of the mattress.
Dick walked past Cassidy's bedroom door on his way to his room and paused, cocking his head to the side as he looked at his brother.
"Dude, are you dead?"
"Yes, Dick," Cassidy rolled his eyes, "Promise to tell Dad I loved him?"
"Only if I get to bury your ass first."
Cassidy raised his head to look at his brother and raised an eyebrow. "You seem calm."
"Went to Logan's," he shrugged.
"That explains it," Cassidy nodded. He'd always found his brother's weird man crush on their friend to be extremely entertaining. Dick frowned and opened his mouth to comment, but was cut off by that damn ringtone that had woken him up that morning. He narrowed his eyes at the phone and grumbled when Cassidy sat up to answer it. Dick walked the rest of the way to his room and firmly shut the door behind him, leaving Cassidy alone to his phone call.
He gulped when he saw the caller id and answered with a timid, "Hello?"
"I'm sorry."
He blinked, "For what?"
"For … earlier."
"Are we practicing our vague responses today, Mac?"
She laughed, the tension in her voice easing with the action. "Maybe." He rolled his eyes.
"Ha, ha," he deadpanned. "But … don't worry about it."
"It?"
"That … thing. The thing that happened earlier."
"Oh. That."
"Yeah."
"Okay," she nodded, smiling as she flopped down on her bed. "So what are you doing?"
He grinned and adjusted on his bed so that he was more comfortable. "Nothing. Attempting to do the AP English summer reading."
"Oh! What is it this year?" she asked excitedly. He smiled a little and reached for the book, pulling it off of his nightstand and flipping through it idly.
"Pride and Prejudice."
"Wow," she smiled, "Our teachers certainly do like to stick to routine, don't they?"
"Seems so," he agreed. "Have you read it?"
"A few times."
"I'm halfway through it," Cassidy commented, a little disdainfully. Mac frowned slightly.
"Do you like it?"
"I've read better."
"You're such a guy," she rolled her eyes.
"Would you prefer that I wasn't?" She grinned and bit back a giggle, sighing as she snuggled into her bed. Her phone beeped loudly in her ear and she frowned as she pulled it away from her ear to check the call waiting.
When the words Dick Cell flashed across the screen she pressed the ignore button and went back to her conversation.
--
Logan groaned the next morning when his girlfriend came traipsing into his bedroom, hopping on the bed and demanding that he get up. He swatted at the air behind him as he rolled over on his stomach and buried his head in a pillow. Veronica stopped bouncing and lay down next to him, pressing kisses against his bare shoulder to coax him awake.
"Ronnie," he groaned, turning his head and looking at her through half-open eyes, "It's like six."
"And we have a beach date with Wallace and Mac and her stupid boyfriend and his brother," she smiled and bit his earlobe gently. "Get up!"
"This is cruel," he complained lightly. Veronica pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth and poked at his arm until he lifted it and she cuddled into him, his arm circling her waist while he turned onto his side to face her.
"Tough love, baby," she laughed. Logan rolled his eyes and kissed her softly.
"Morning," he whispered.
"Hi," she returned quietly, kissing him again. He tugged her closer and she shook her head, kissing the tip of his nose. "You need to shower."
"We're going to the beach."
"And?"
"Why do I need to take a shower in order to surf?"
"To make me happy," she affected a high-pitched voice. "You know you're just so dreamy when you're all wet from the shower," she breathed. Logan groaned again and buried his head in her shoulder.
"Don't ever use that voice in my presence again."
"Annoying?"
"You have no idea."
--
He shook the water out of his hair and smiled when he saw her walking down the sand toward him. He stuck his surfboard in the wet sand beside him and opened his arms in a wide, welcoming gesture, earning an eye roll and a scoff.
"You act like I ran away to Paris," she teased. Dick smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him and kissing her hard. Mac pushed at his chest and stepped back from him. "And you're lucky I decided to answer my phone last night," she continued, "Because normally I leave it inside when I'm out in the pool."
"I just have awesome timing," he decided. Mac nodded and bit back a smirk.
He didn't need to know that she'd ignored his first three calls in favor of talking to his little brother.
"Logan! Dude!"
She turned around and smiled when she saw Veronica and Logan approaching, Wallace in tow. Her eyes scanned the beach and a large smile stretched across her face when she saw Cassidy, earning an eyebrow raise from Veronica as she walked the last few feet toward her.
"Regretting your decision?"
Mac sighed and turned her attention back to her friend. "I haven't exactly made one yet."
"You might want to do that," Veronica nodded, "Love triangles are no fun." Mac smiled, glad that Veronica was finally able to joke about the events that had taken place at the beginning of their summer.
Duncan had done everything in his power to win her back while she had spent nearly every waking moment with Logan, learning to trust him and helping him trust her, ignoring her first love in favor of her new one. Duncan had ended up leaving for Europe with his parents only two weeks after Veronica and Logan had officially reconciled, and none of them had heard from him since.
"You would know about that, wouldn't you?" Mac teased.
"What can I say? I'm simply irresistible," Veronica shrugged innocently. Wallace snorted as he walked past them to join Cassidy and she laughed, slapping him in the arm.
"I disagree," Dick shook his head. He wrapped his arm around Mac's shoulders and stared at Veronica. "The only way I'd ever-"
Mac slapped a hand across his mouth and gave him a warning glare. He shut his mouth and headed back to the water with a swift nod, shouting at Logan to wait for him as he paddled out toward the taller boy. Veronica rolled her eyes.
"Please," she groaned, walking toward Cassidy and Wallace, "Tell me the girl has some intelligence!" She looked toward the sky and clasped her hands together, "Let her pick the good one!" Mac laughed and shoved her before laying out a towel and sitting down on it with a sigh.
Cassidy shifted a little, earning an amused glance from Veronica.
"You okay there, Cass?"
"What? Oh, I'm fine, Veronica."
"Are you sure? You look like you're ready to jump out of your skin at any minute."
"No," he shook his head, smiling a little, "I'm good."
Wallace and Veronica exchanged glances while Cassidy engaged in nervous conversation with Mac. He rolled his eyes and Veronica grinned, winking at him.
Dick shouted something from the water and the group turned and watched as he wiped out hard, his board surfacing with a slight jump and smacking him on the back of the head. Logan shook his head from a few feet away, barely containing his laughter.
The rest of the group could barely breathe from their hysterics.
--
"No more surfing today," she shook her head.
He pouted as he sat down on the beach, arms crossed in front of his chest. Veronica rolled her eyes with a sigh.
"Aww," she mocked, "Poor baby."
"Shut up," he grumbled. She smiled a little and sat down in the sand beside him.
"Will you at least let me clean it? I don't want you to get all infected," she scrunched up her nose. Logan glared at her and then relented, moving his leg so she could see the cut on his calf. She pressed her towel against it and frowned when he winced. "How deep is it?"
He shook his head, "Not very."
"So we won't be reenacting an episode of ER?"
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Damn, and here I was hoping for my first stethoscope!" Logan grinned in spite of himself and Veronica smiled, kissing his cheek chastely before grabbing the first aid kit that was sitting beside her. "Hold still," she commanded softly. He nodded and she ran an antiseptic cloth across the wound, subconsciously gripping his hand in hers when he winced.
She placed a band-aid over it a second later and smiled brilliantly. "All better."
"You aren't going to kiss it?"
"I don't want whatever disease you have."
"I think I'm hurt."
"Well, duh. Why else would I have just put that thing on your leg?" Logan rolled his eyes while Veronica climbed into his lap, burying her face in his neck. He sighed and kissed her hair absently, eyes trailing over the group of people that were gathered just a few feet away from them.
Dick was passed out with his head in Mac's lap, having given up on the surfing an hour ago when his surfboard had kicked his ass … literally. Mac was talking animatedly with Cassidy, who was lying on a towel next to her and returning her enthusiastic smiles with ones of his own, waving his hands in the air dramatically. Wallace was seated next to Cassidy, contributing to the conversation every few minutes.
Veronica sighed against Logan's shoulder and he looked down at her with a smirk. "What?"
"Nothing," she shook her head and kissed the side of his neck gently. "Just thinking."
Mac let out a loud, bright laugh and they both turned to look at her. She fell backwards from the force of her laughter and Logan smirked. Veronica grinned at the display: Mac, laughing hysterically with a sleeping Dick lying on her lap, Cassidy trying to reign in his own chuckles, Wallace pursing his lips together to keep from commenting.
"Think she'll pick the Beaver?" Logan asked absently. Veronica smiled.
"I'm pretty much betting on it."