MAY 2016

CHARLIE'S WEDDING RECEPTION

NEW YORK

'I'm totally inspired, bro. I've got the perfect end scene to my next movie all planned out now.'

Mac, who was sitting with Bozer at his, Riley and Jack's table (he and Jack had brought Bozer and Riley as their plus-ones), sipping a glass of champagne, reached out and clapped his best friend on the shoulder. The two young men were taking a break from all the dancing; Bozer and Riley had taken a couple of turns on the dancefloor, as had Mac with one of the new Mrs Robinson's best friends (who, just as Charlie had said, was blonde, pretty, smart and good company, but Mac was quite sure there was nothing there. Charlie would probably be disappointed, but Mac didn't end up interested in every beautiful and intelligent woman he came across- he'd really be in big trouble if he did!).

'What's it going to be about?'

Bozer held up his hands in a dramatic gesture.

'Think Love Actually…but as much about the platonic love as it is about the romance, bro. A soldier comes home from war, only to find that his girlfriend has left him and has to rely on his friends to help him through tough times. Meanwhile, his fellow soldier, his older brother in all but blood, starts a new job and has serious chemistry with his boss, while also reconnecting with an old flame. Sets up this love triangle that looks like it's going to get all messy and cat-fight-y, but it actually ends up being resolved peacefully and respectfully and with them all being on good terms because they're all friends and adults. At the same time, the first soldier's best friend and roommate makes it big in the filmmaking industry and becomes friends with and then gets together with the second soldier's old flame's daughter…Anyway, the end scene's going to be set at the surprise wedding of the older soldier and his boss, five years after the rest of the film…it's a serious slow build between those two, don't get me wrong, but once they get together…well, they're older, they know what's important, and they decide there's been too many missed chances and wasted years, hence surprise wedding.'

Mac nodded slowly.

I am completely unsurprised that Riley's converted him to her way of thinking.

Though, maybe that way of thinking's not as crazy as I thought it was.

Jack told me that he and Diane tried again, but it didn't work out.

Something about time and distance and being different people living different lives than they were before. They're still friends.

He does call her Patty.

And she hasn't killed him for it yet.

In fact, she never even tells him off for doing so…

And they've got a closeness.

And a history. Even if it's classified.

Maybe Riley's on to something.

Maybe.

Mac took a sip of his champagne, and then raised an eyebrow at his best friend.

'So it's about us?'

Bozer shook his head.

'Nah, bro, it's set in LA.'

'…Right.'

They were all worried about me, Jack and Riley and Bozer. (And Penny and Patricia and the rest of the taskforce.)

Even Charlie, despite the fact that this was his big day.

I did hope to marry Nikki, after all.

But I'm fine.

I'm happy for Charlie, and I'm having fun, not sitting here moping.

Really.

I promise.

It's not as if I'm ever going to be able to forget Nikki and our relationship and how it all ended.

But I don't feel like she's missing from my life anymore.

I don't miss her, not any more.

I don't feel like there's a gaping hole in my life.

I haven't for quite a while now, actually.

I think, soon, I'll just be able to look back on our relationship, see the happy times and recognize them just as what they are- good, happy times with a woman I loved, in my past.

I think I've moved on.

Maybe I have for a while now.

Mac and Jack shared a look, and then a chuckle.

The bouquet toss had just been held.

Riley, being Riley, had refused to participate, and just stood with her friends next to their table.

However, Fate or Chance or whatever had other ideas.

The bunch of flowers sailed through the air, over the reaching arms of just about every single woman at the wedding…and hit Riley on the head. She caught it reflexively.

The looks on her face and on Bozer's face were priceless.

Fortunately for Jack and Mac, who were too distracted to record the moment for posterity, the wedding photographer managed to capture it all on camera.

The man winked at the two of them, and the two veterans exchanged a devious smirk.

We're going to have so much fun with that photo.

I've got really, really amazing friends in my life.

Family, really.

I'd like to get married one day and have a big party with all of my loved ones in attendance, like Charlie did.

I'd like a wife and kids and maybe a dog called Archimedes the Second and even a white picket fence.

But I'm perfectly happy with what I've got right now.

I'm only twenty-six.

I'm still young.

I've got plenty of time to find a woman to be my girlfriend, and hopefully my wife one day.

I'll enjoy what I have for now; spend time with my friends, work on improving my prosthesis and on my other projects, enjoy my work at the Phoenix…

And who knows?

My grandfather did say that love finds you, not the other way around.

Maybe it'll sneak up on me.

MAC'S RESIDENCE

WASHINGTON D.C

Mac emptied out his pockets and put the re-shaped paperclips on his bedside table.

The drive back to Washington D.C from New York was a long one, and he'd had plenty of time to make a few things to keep his hands busy.

A set of paperclip wedding rings, a bouquet, a little wire dress, a bowtie, a camera and a champagne glass now all sat there in a heap.

Mac stared at them for a moment, then walked back out in to the kitchen.

He returned a minute later, then picked up the little paperclip charms, as well as the others that he'd made over the last few months that were just lying around, and put them into the bowl he'd picked up.

We had a bowl like this on our coffee table, me and Nikki.

Full of tokens, talismans that I'd made for her.

Symbols of our relationship, I guess.

Memories.

Some of these things that I've made are silly or weird or don't really make any sense.

But they all mean something to me; I did make them all for some sort of reason.

(Even if I can't remember it for all of them – that cold medication really threw me for a loop.)

This can be a new bowl of memories, full of symbols and memories of my life now.

Mac sat down on his bed, leaning against the headboard. He picked up the bowl of bent paperclips and gazed at it for a while, a mess of half-formed thoughts floating through his mind.

The truth is important.

It might hurt, to tell or to hear, sometimes, but it's important.

I've always known that; didn't need my grandfather to teach me that lesson.

All of my friends know the truth.

Except one.

Honestly, it's probably past time I fixed that.

After a few minutes, he nodded and reached over to his desk, grabbing his laptop. He wasn't sure where this sudden impulse had come from, but he was going to listen to it.

Hey Beth,

You remember how I told you that I had a girlfriend, Nikki, all the way from my first year at MIT until last September? Well, of course you remember…oh, I'll just get on with it.

The truth is, she left me. She was cheating on me, and she left me as soon as I got out of hospital. I guess I don't exactly blame her, since I was gone all the time, but still, I feel that I was wronged…

Oh, Mac, I'm so, so sorry. God, I wish I could be there and give you a big, big hug right now! I know it was a while ago, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt, even if you're healing. I think it's terrible that something so horrid happened to you, but I guess we both know, terrible things happen to good people, don't they? (Which is why we have to work hard to tip the scales.)

You've probably heard this a million times before, but you didn't deserve that. (I'm not actually sure if anyone deserves to have their heart broken in such a fashion, least of all you!)

But then again, I'm not always sure if it's about deserving. Yeah, she definitely should have said something. You were definitely the wronged party. I guess relationships of all kinds are just hard, sometimes, just plain hard. (Hey, at least this email relationship is easy. Always look on the bright side, right?) I had a boyfriend all the way through med school, and I thought he was the one (if there's such a thing), but doing residencies at hospitals just two hours away from each other meant we just fell apart. Obviously, nowhere near as bad as what happened to you, but what I'm trying to say is that I kind of understand.

I still really want to give you that hug…maybe you could invent a teleportation device! (If anyone can do it, you can, out of a stick of gum, some duct tape, a toaster and a handful of paperclips!)…

Mac sat there, in his room, staring at Beth's email, his brain whirring away at a million miles a minute.

She's right.

I'm pretty sure it was just a random thought, she has quite a few of those, but she's right, and I'm certain she meant it.

This email relationship we have, it's easy.

Maybe it's the medium…or maybe it's us.

He blinked several times.

And then, it hit me.

He smiled wryly, shaking his head.

If this goes somewhere, Jack and Bozer and Riley are never going to let me hear the end of this.

My grandfather really was a very wise man.

Hey Beth,

I would very much like a hug from you, but teleportation's a tricky beast and I'd rather not get either of us sent to an alternate dimension or mysteriously lost like a certain beagle…

Hey Mac,

Oh, what a lovely surprise! I needed something to make me smile- thank you! They're great photos- that look on Riley's face when she caught the bouquet? And Bozer's? (Oh, and tell Riley she's got really awesome hair for me? And Bozer's either a lot shorter than I imagined him being, or you're all really rather tall. Maybe the latter- to the best of my recollection, you and Jack are both fairly tall…)

And you look very handsome. (A huge improvement on the last time I saw you! I think it's the hair…or maybe camo isn't really your colour…) Makes me wish I had some dressed-up pictures to send you in exchange. That might have to wait a couple of months (I'll put it on my list!) - you'll take a rain check, right? As a deposit, here's a picture of me and a very little patient from one of the happier times out here – babies are almost always good, I think, and at least this little girl has a glimmer of hope in her future, instead of being born into a warzone…

…Thank you, I'm very flattered that you think that, but seriously, scrubs are about as flattering as the proverbial potato sack. Though, I bet you could make a pretty dress out of a potato sack (and maybe some duct tape and paperclips, and I don't know, a turkey baster or something), kind of like how the Mythbusters tried to herd cats and made a lead balloon…

Hey Mac,

Oh my God! That is glorious! You actually made a pretty dress using a potato sack, duct tape and paperclips (But where's the turkey baster? I demand a turkey baster!)! You totally missed your calling- maybe you should rectify that? When I get back, I expect you to be preparing for New York Fashion Week and Angus MacGyver to be the name on everyone in the fashion world's lips.

Seriously, I really, really needed a laugh. (How did you know that? Can you read minds, too?) Thank you…

…of course I'd model it for you…

Chapter song: Bonfire Heart, James Blunt.

AN: To find out exactly what happened when Mac took that cold medication, check out The Medication Mystery in The Roommate Chronicles. Today's update, The Potato Sack Revelation, also covers events in this chapter.

I do hope I pulled off that turning point fairly well; you have no idea how hard it was to write Mac and Beth's evolving relationship entirely over excerpts from emails and occasional glimpses into Mac's head! (There were a lot of re-writes and re-working of the whole thing.) Especially since I wanted to keep the focus of this story on friendship/family/recovery, and not romance (rest assured that this is the most romance-focused chapter in the entire fic, in my honest opinion). In fact, in the original plan of this story, Beth was only supposed to appear in the first chapter as a cameo, like she does in a lot of my other stories, mostly because I'm too lazy to make up new people and as a running gag of sorts, and because I really like the whole concept of many alternate universes that are both similar and different, but then Mac decided that he wanted to write to the people who saved his life and the plot bunnies took over.

I suppose my main concern is that it might not seem realistic that they are definitely, mutually just friends, not even considering the other as a potential romantic interest, until they suddenly do consider the other person as a potential romantic interest, but on balance, I think it is, given their circumstances. (And, at least, similar, sort-of, things have happened to me, and to people I know/know of?)