Disclaimer: Veronica Mars and all recognizable characters are the intellectual property of Rob Thomas.
Ten:
Sitting across from Eli "Weevil" Navarro iss uncomfortable to say the least, especially knowing that Weevil wants to hurt him, and is quite capable of doing so. He doesn't even realize he isn't breathing until Mac puts her hand on his and gives his hand a squeeze. He lets his breath out in a rush, and swallows thickly, and he notices when Weevil lifts a brow and grins at him menacingly. Maybe he should rethink having the Fitzpatricks tailing him instead.
"So, you go from one little problem to the next. Tell me Richie Rich, just how do you expect to buy your way out of this. You know you probably could have beaten the mass murder rap with a nice lawyer and the temporary insanity plea. I mean a little community service and a few visits to a pricey shrink, and you wouldn't have had to bother faking a swan dive off the tallest building in Neptune," Weevil says by way of greeting.
Cassidy stiffens, and Mac shifts her gaze to the former biker and sighs. "Weevil, please, try to be civil."
"Why should I be civil after what he did to all those kids on that bus and after what he did to Veronica? What I don't get is how you can stand to be here with him, knowing what kind of monster he is and how can you subject a kid to that, even if he is the father?" Weevil replies, and then closes his eyes with a wince as Mac looks as though she's just been slapped.
Cassidy quickly comes to her defense. "Look, I know I've done horrible things. I'm not even going to attempt to justify it or defend myself, but I regret the bus crash and what I did to Veronica."
"Yeah," Weevil says. "But have you told her you're sorry?"
"Honestly, I don't know how to face her now that she knows who I am," he replies.
Mac cuts in before another word can be said, "Look, this is about needing your help. If Kendall is this shaken up over this whole mess then it's big trouble, and I'm afraid for the baby and for Cassidy. I know you probably don't like him and you think I'm crazy for being here with him now after everything, but he isn't that person anymore. He isn't Beaver anymore. Please Weevil. It's kind of a job offer too. We're asking you to be like our bodyguard, well mine mostly."
"You're trying to hire me, like you can buy me off or something?" he replies and sounds offended.
"I'm trying to hire you to protect Cindy. She wants you because she knows you and you're her friend. I'm willing to pay for her protection. I don't matter, but her and the baby; they're the world to me. It's a prime offer, a five figure monthly salary to begin with, ten thousand dollars to keep her safe," Cassidy says.
Weevil nods as he considers, and then he looks at Mac and he's stunned to see how she looks at Cassidy, and how he's so protective of her, and he kind of gets why Veronica is choosing to just let it be. There is love there, and it would be a tragedy to break it apart for them, for Mac. His eyes drift to Mac's swelling stomach, and he's still kind of blown away that she really is pregnant. He never would have thought that one of the smartest girls in high school would get knocked up on graduation night.
"Fine, I'll accept the offer, but I would have for less," he replies, and he gives Mac a sincere smile before he reaches out his hand.
Cassidy looks at the offered hand for a moment before he takes it and Weevil's grip is firm as they shake hands. Then Weevil gets up and walks out of the kitchen and pauses at the front door. "You know, I'm doing this for Mac and the kid. You better prove Mac right, because if you haven't changed, you won't have to worry about Veronica ruining you and exposing your secrets. I'll bury you before she makes it that far."
Weevil opens the door and leaves the apartment. Cassidy lets out a slow breath and Mac's arm is across his shoulders and he leans forward, his elbows on the table, and his hands on either side of his head, his fingers threading into his hair. His body gives a small shudder as Mac leans down and presses a light kiss across the top of his hand. He lifts his head and looks at her, tears brimming in his dark eyes as he whispers, "Maybe it's time I face Veronica. I do owe her a huge apology."
Mac swallows thickly, and her voice trembles as she asks, "Are you sure you're ready for that?"
He shrugs. "I'll never be ready, but I can't wait forever. It's not like I expect her friendship or forgiveness afterward. I just need to clear some of the shit between us before the baby arrives, and let her know it's okay to come around to see you. I don't want to be something between you and your friends, because I know it's hard on you and you've been avoiding her because of me and that's got to stop."
Mac wraps her arms around him and he leans into her touch, desperate for her warmth, and craving the contact. The resurrection part isn't so hard; it's the redemption that's tough.
She wanders into the little kitchen area of the office and pours herself a cup of coffee and adds lots of sugar to the cup before she takes a sip of the warm, caffeinated beverage in the mug with a small sigh of content. Her ears perk and her head tilts to the side at the sound of the door of the office opening.
She straightens and steps out of the kitchen area to greet the potential client and nearly drops her mug at the sight of him. He's dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a button up shirt thrown over it and left unbuttoned. He's got on a pair of sneakers and he looks like any other normal high school student, although the blue highlights in his brown hair add a bit of edge to his look. Her breath is stuck in her throat, because this is the first time she's seen him since really knowing for sure who he is, and she is alone with him.
He looks nervous. His hand is playing with his collar, and he's fidgeting, swaying back and forth on his feet and darting glances at her when he can manage to tear his gaze away from the floor, the table, the couch, chairs, wall.
"What are you doing here?" she manages to ask, and she's surprised that she sounds so calm and collected, because inside she's confused and hasn't got a clue as to what her next move should be, because she wants more than anything to hit him and throw accusations at him before throwing him out of her dad's place of business.
"Uh…um… Hi, Veronica," he begins nervously, a shy tremor in his voice before he suddenly looks up and meets her eyes and she's floored by the remorse and the pain reflected in those dark brown eyes and she's reminded once again of that night on the roof of the Hotel Grand.
"Again, what are you doing here?"
He clears his throat, swallows a few times, and finally answers her. "About that night at Shelly Pomroy's party. I'm sorry. I was pissed off at Dick for putting me down and I wanted to show him that I was a man, but once I was touching you it became different and I had to keep it to myself, a secret for just me to know, and then you found out about that night and I lied to cover my ass. Look I don't know what I was thinking that night, not really, and I don't have any excuses, and knowing what I know about you now, and about myself, and how I hurt you… I'm sorry, okay? I'm really sorry and if I could take it back I would."
"And here I thought it was funny when Dick found out what you did to me and apologized for leaving you in the room with me," she replies dryly, with a slight hint of bitterness to her tone.
He drops his gaze to the floor, and turns to leave, but she calls after him, "Cassidy, wait."
He turns to look back at her, a bit surprised that she would stop him from leaving. "I get that you were really messed up then. I hate what you did to me. You realize that they used the chlamydya against me in my testimony against Aaron Echolls, and my dad found out in that courtroom. You humiliated me and I'm sure you already have a pretty good list of your crimes in that demented little head of yours, so I won't continue to remind you of it all. This isn't easy for me, you know."
He nods. "I get it. I didn't come here looking for forgiveness; I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and that you're welcome to visit Cindy whenever you want. She misses you. I can leave the apartment when you come over if you want, but you really should come see her sometime. It would be good for her."
"It's not easy for me to forgive anyone, it kind of goes against my nature, but I do forgive you, Cassidy. I've let it go, for Mac's sake as much as my own, because sometimes bad things happen to good people, and you either learn to move on from it or you let it eat you alive. I'm not saying we'll be BFF, but I can deal with it," she says quietly, and then an edge enters her voice, "But if you hurt her or the baby, so help me, I will destroy you. I will make sure that every day of the rest of your life will be pure hell. I mean it."
"Why? Why are you willing to keep all of this a secret when you have every reason to hate me?" he asks, curiosity coloring his tone.
Veronica snorts, takes a sip of her coffee and then moves to take a seat at her desk, and she waits for him to take a seat in one of the chairs across from her desk before she answers, "Because Mac is my friend and I don't want to hurt her. She's already been through enough, finding out she's pregnant and then finding out you're alive after thinking you were dead for months. That and she seems to think you've changed, that you aren't the boy from that roof, but someone that she can love. I'm willing to take a chance on her judgment. It's not about you, it's about her. She deserves to be happy. If that's with you then fine, but I suggest you don't fuck up this time."
"I won't," he replies. "There's too much at stake."
"Yeah, you keep that in mind every time you look at her and you better be grateful that she believes in you, because if it weren't for her I'd have handed you over to Lamb weeks ago," she replies sharply, and then she sets her coffee aside and narrows her eyes on him as she really gets down to business. "Now how about you fill me in on this little situation with the Sharks, because I heard you recently hired Weevil to look out for Mac."
Dick slips the key into the lock of his brother's apartment, and opens the door. His eyes widen and his breath stops at the sound of sobbing as he closes the door behind him and looks in shock at Mac sitting on the couch with a whole tub of raspberry sherbet ice cream, and she's bawling her eyes out. He finally remembers to breathe after a moment.
She looks up at him, and continues to cry, and he's wondering what the hell happened. Did someone die or something?
"Shit! Dude, did someone die or something?" he asks.
"Yeah," she whimpers. "They just pulled the plug on Shelby and she'll never see her little boy grow up and her mom is a total mess and it's just so…so…sad!"
She's wailing at this point and he's wondering who the fuck she's talking about and he walks toward the couch, wondering what he's supposed to do. Maybe hold her, get her some tissue, tell her it's okay, rub her back. Damn why didn't pregnant chicks come with some sort of instruction manual? Not that he would ever read it, but still.
He sits down next to her, takes the bowl of ice cream from her and puts it down on the coffee table before he awkwardly puts his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her, or at least get her to let up with the waterworks, when she swats him away so that she can see the television. Then his eyes widen and he stares at her in disbelief.
"Dude, you're crying over a damn movie?" he says and he's struggling to keep from laughing his ass off.
She glares at him. "Steel Magnolias is not JUST a movie!"
"Yeah, whatever," he says, and then grumbles about never understanding chicks before he's off the couch and in the kitchen fixing a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
He groans when Mac asks him to bring her the jar of pickles in the fridge. He shouts back a compromise. "I'll bring the pickles if you change the channel. I'm not watching some cry fest chick flick with a pregnant chick. Make it funny, sexy, or full of exploding shit."
"You're an asshole, and if you don't bring me those damn pickles I will call my new body guard and have him kick the shit out of you, and I think Weevil would enjoy it!" she calls back.
He swallows thickly, retrieves the jar of pickles, and returns to the living room. About fifteen minutes later when Steel Magnolias goes off he's stuck watching Beaches with her next, and he wonders what he's done lately to deserve the punishment of watching weepy chick movies with a very pregnant and irritable girl. He only hopes that Cassidy will show up soon and end the torment, because he can't stand being around crying girls.
Cassidy knows something is wrong when he opens his door and hears the sobbing. He kicks the door shut behind him as he rushes toward the couch, and freezes halfway there when he sees Mac crying her eyes out and nearly falls over laughing at the sight of the tear trails on Dick's face as he realizes that Mac has managed to reel Dick into watching angsty drama movies on television. Better Dick than him.
He gives the television a glance as he heads to the kitchen and shakes his head as Bette Midler sings that "Glory of Love" song at the end of the movie. How Mac got Dick to watch Beaches is beyond him, and up until then, he never would have thought it possible.
He walks out of the kitchen with a diet soda and nearly busts out laughing when Dick holds the pickle jar out to Mac and she takes a pickle and bites into it, and Dick gets a pickle and does the same. Oh God, he can't believe what he's seeing. He shakes his head, but Dick is still sprawled out on the chair with tears trailing his face, eating pickles, and Mac is munching on her own pickle in between sniffles, and dabs of a tissue.
"Do you two realize how ridiculous you look?" Cassidy asks with a snicker, because he can't contain himself anymore.
"Dude, shut up, cause this movie is like, totally emo, and you should respect that," Dick defends, and quickly wipes at his eyes as he straightens in the chair.
"Yeah, and your allergies are suddenly acting up too, right?" Cassidy replies with a smirk.
Dick glares at him, and he laughs as he flops down next to Mac on the couch. She leans toward him and he puts his arm around her and draws her close as the credits of the movie start to run on the screen.
"So how did you sucker him into watching chick flicks?" he whispers.
She looks up at him with a watery grin and says, "I threatened him with mood swings and Weevil."
He laughs and shakes his head before he turns to look at his brother in sympathy, because he knows the torment his brother has had to endure. Watching chick flicks with a pregnant woman is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but Dick took it like a man, although he still can't get over the fact that Dick got all weepy. Finally something that he will never let Dick live down.
Dick flops back on the couch next to his friend and picks up his controller and starts punching buttons and soon his player is ripping the head off of Logan's player. Logan shakes his head. "Someone has some anger issues right now."
"Dude, I so don't want to talk about it," Dick grumbles, and Logan's curiosity is piqued.
"And why not? How embarrassing could it be? It's not like that time where you passed out at that party last year and we stripped you down to your underwear, put a Speedo on your head and Madison did your make-up."
"If only it were that," Dick moans, and Logan knows that whatever has Dick in this little funk is a juicy little tidbit to know.
"Come on, I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me," Logan says and nudges Dick's shoulder with his in a friendly gesture.
Dick takes a deep breath and finally relents. "All right, but you better not tell Ronnie about this! It's bad enough Cass isn't letting me live it down."
Oh yeah, it's good and juicy. Logan makes a rolling gesture with his hands for Dick to just come out with it already, and with a sigh Dick continues, "Fine! I was watching chick flicks with Mac the other night and my allergies started acting up! There okay!"
"Allergies my ass! Man, you don't have allergies! You were watching chick flicks with Mac and you cried. Damn, I didn't know you were the sensitive type," Logan says with a smirk and then he's outright laughing his ass off, and Dick hits him with a pillow and soon the two of them are wrestling around on the floor, their game forgotten, and that is how they are discovered by Veronica, who swears she will never understand male-bonding.
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