Chapter 7: Party at Dick's

******The Casablanca's******

Eli pulled up to Dick's—he had trouble still thinking of it as his place—and saw all the cars. He groaned in annoyance. He so wasn't in the mood to deal with Dick's pretentious frat brothers. As he got out of his car, his phone rang.

"Hey, babe," he said when he saw Jazmin's name on the phone. "I'm just getting home."

"I'm already inside. Dick's throwing a party for the soccer team. Duncan won his match," Jazmin said.

"Of course, he is," Eli said sarcastically. Dick was a social animal. Eli wasn't sure exactly how he'd ended up living in his house, but life was funny that way. Eli's life had taken an unexpected course from the moment he'd become friends with a certain pixie blonde.

"It's not too wild. Don't worry. See you inside," Jazmin said.

Eli hung up the phone and headed to the front door. He opened the door and winced only a little at the crowd.

"Yo, Weev! Glad you could join us!" Dick exclaimed from across the room. He walked toward Weevil. "Your hot babe is over there talking to some guy." He snickered when Weevil's head jerked. One of Duncan's soccer playing friends was chatting up Jazmin.

Jazmin smiled warmly when she spotted Eli. "Hey!" she said. She leaned up to kiss him hello. "Todd, this is my boyfriend, Eli."

Todd glanced at Eli, obviously surprised that such a beautiful woman was with someone so ordinary. "Uh, hi," he said weakly.

"I'm here now, so you can buzz off," Eli said with a glare. The guy quickly left.

"Eli, you don't have to be so rude!" Jazmin scolded.

"You were just talking to me on the phone. How did you manage to get a guy sniffing around you so fast?" Eli asked, disgruntled.

Jazmin grinned, enjoying the rare display of Eli's jealousy. He was always so careful with her, especially since her rape. This was the first time he'd acted so normal in a long time, and it made her incredibly happy. "I'm just irresistible. What can I say?" she said with a cheeky grin.

He laughed. "That you are," he agreed. He pulled her close and kissed her.

Across the room, Jason watched his sister and Eli with a smile. He had seen the guy hitting on his sister. He'd been about to go to her and see if she needed any help or not when he'd saw Eli enter. He had grinned when he saw Eli's stormy expression. Now that the two were making out, he relaxed. His sister was on the road to recovery, and it allowed him to concentrate on his own love life.

Daisy was alternating between flirting with one of Dick's fraternity brothers and a soccer player. She was holding court. Jason looked over and spotted Duncan, glad that at least he wasn't sniffing around her. He was talking to Parker.

"Hey, Jason."

Jason looked up and saw one of his classmates. "Hi, April. I didn't know you knew Dick," he said.

"I don't. Not really. My older brother is on the soccer team," she said, pointing him out.

"I don't think Dick has ever met a stranger," Jason commented. "I'm glad to see a friendly face."

"Aren't you friends with everyone here? I thought I saw your sister and your roommate," April said.

"Yes, they're here. I'm friends with most of the people here. I guess I just don't feel very social these days," Jason admitted. "My ex is here, and she enjoys flirting with other guys when she knows I'm around."

April frowned. "That seems a bit mean," she said.

"She lives to make me suffer," he said. "I hurt her. It's her way of punishing me. If she is still making me suffer, she still cares. When she stops, I'll worry."

April laughed and shook her head. "Sounds very twisted, but if you love her, I can see why you'd put up with that. My boyfriend can be an ass sometimes. I usually let him know I'm unhappy," April said.

"Where is your boyfriend? He lets you go to parties alone?" Jason asked, grinning.

"He's not my keeper," April said. "But he doesn't go here. He goes to San Diego State. Not too far. He had something going on with his fraternity tonight."

"Would you like me to get you a drink?" Jason asked.

"Sure," April said smiling at him.

Daisy had been watching Jason as soon as he arrived. She kept waiting for him to approach her. When he didn't, she entertained herself flirting with two of Chip's friends. Now, however, there was some girl talking and laughing with Jason. Daisy knew she had no right to be upset. Jason was free to be with whomever he wanted to be with. But he kept telling her that he loved her and wanted to be with her. She was starting to believe him. When he brought back the girl a drink, Daisy couldn't stop the anger and jealousy that filled her. She didn't know this girl, but she decided to go over there and introduce herself.

"Hello, Jason," Daisy said.

Jason smiled at her. "Hey, Daisy. I didn't think you were speaking to me," he said.

"Of course, I'm speaking to you! Why wouldn't I be? I just hadn't had a chance to say hello," she said innocently.

Jason bit back a grin at the way she was playing it. He allowed himself a knowing look, but he refrained from commenting.

"Who's your friend?" Daisy asked, looking curiously at April.

Jason couldn't contain his grin now as he understood what she was about. She didn't like another woman talking to him. "This is April. We have class together," Jason said.

"I'm Daisy," Daisy said.

"It's nice to meet you," April said, giving her a friendly smile. She could sense that the two had some unresolved issues, so she decided to make herself scarce. "I'm going to go outside and get some air. Dick's got dancing set up by the pool."

"Save me a dance," Jason said.

"Sure," April said, smiling at him. She waved and walked off.

Daisy glared at Jason. "Is that my replacement? It didn't take you long!" she fumed.

"Why do you care? You've dated other guys and flirt with more whenever I see you. You've told me more than once that you don't want to get back together with me," Jason reminded her. "Do you want me to wait forever?"

Daisy knew he was right, but she wasn't about to admit it. "I haven't been with any other guy since you," she said meaningfully.

Something inside of Jason melted at her confession. Her confession both reassured him and excited him. If she hadn't slept with another, he was still in the game. "That makes me very happy to hear," he said. He reached for her hand. "I don't want to be with any woman but you. I wish you'd let me."

Daisy felt torn. She did miss him terribly, but she didn't want to give him the power to hurt her again. Maybe she should start with something small. "How about a dance? I'll give you that," she conceded.

Jason couldn't resist pulling her close for a hug. "Thank you," he said quietly. He took her hand and led her outside.

Mac had been watching the couple with interest. Dick came up behind her and kissed her neck, wrapping his arms around her. "Are you having fun?" he asked.

"Yes. I just saw Daisy and Jason together. She let him hug her and took his hand outside to the dancing!" Mac said, pleased.

"Is she going to put him out of his misery already? It's been great seeing the too perfect Lothario having to work for it!" Dick said with relish.

"It's not good when two of your friends keep hurting each other. We went through that with Logan and Veronica," Mac reminded him. She thought about what Logan had told her about Trina. She really wanted to share it with Dick. However, she knew that she couldn't say anything until Logan spoke with Veronica. Dick was going to be really pissed and hurt at all of them. Mac felt a bit sick thinking about it.

"What's wrong?" Dick asked, sensing her sudden tension.

Mac looked uncomfortable because she didn't want to lie to him. Luckily, she latched onto a probable reason. She pointed. "Madison is here. How in the world did she get an invite?" Mac asked.

"She's dating one of the soccer players, I think," Dick said.

"I guess that's a step up from some of the others she's been with since you," Mac said.

"Well, isn't she like your family now? Aren't I supposed to invite her now to all our shindigs?" he asked with a smirk.

"Not if you want Veronica to come to them," Mac reminded him.

"Good point. Logan won't come if she won't," he said.

"Are they here yet?" Mac asked, looking around.

"I haven't seen them," Dick said. "So are you going to dance with me? I got that awesome DJ outside. The one that did our last fraternity party."

"Sure," Mac said, smiling at him. She let him take her to the dancing. When she went out, she saw Jason and Daisy dancing. "Look, they're looking awfully close."

Dick glanced over. "Should I go interrupt and ask Daisy to dance?" he inquired with a mischievous grin.

"You better not!" she warned.

"That's okay. I'd rather dance with you anyway," he said, pulling her close.

Mac wrapped her arms around and put her head against his chest. The music was a soft, romantic ballad. "You aren't wrong about this DJ. Much better than the normal crap your fraternity brothers play," she said.

They danced two dances together. Mac couldn't help but notice that Daisy and Jason were wrapped around one another. Then she saw one of Dick's fraternity brother's go up to them, interrupting.

"Daisy, what are you doing?" she wondered aloud as Daisy left Jason's arms and went into the other guy's.

Dick looked and snickered. "Looks like she got bored with Jason," he said.

"She's not bored. She's just worried about getting hurt," Mac said. She saw the hurt and disappointment on Jason's face. It didn't surprise her when he left and went back inside. "I bet he leaves the party."

"Who could blame him? No guy wants to watch the woman they love dance with another dude," Dick said knowingly.

"Where's Duncan? Isn't he the reason you're throwing this party?" Mac wondered, looking around.

"I saw him earlier talking to Parker inside," Dick said.

"We have got to find a girl for Duncan. Parker is happy with Piz, and Duncan deserves to be happy, too," Mac said. "I'll have to ask Thea about one of her sorority sisters. There's bound to be one as great as she is."

"Wallace is so crazy about that brainic chick!" Dick said with a grin. "The other day when she couldn't come over because she was too busy with all her classes or whatever I thought he was going to cry!"

Mac grinned. "He's in love. You get upset when I get too busy for you!" she reminded him with a smug look.

"Sure, but I don't cry!"

"I doubt Wallace did either," Mac said, laughing. "Are they here?"

"Probably somewhere. Wallace was picking her up after work. Since Weevil's here, I figure he is, too," Dick said with a shrug.

Wallace was there. He had picked up Thea and went upstairs to change. Not seeing Mac or Veronica, Thea had followed him up to his room while he went to change. Now that she knew what he looked like naked she viewed his body with more than a little fascination.

Wallace smiled at her as she watched him with unabashed interest. He couldn't help but preen a little. It did something to him to know that she'd never seen another man naked but him. He never thought he'd care about such things since he wasn't a prude and didn't expect the woman that he was with to be one either. However, with Thea everything was different because she was different, and she made him feel different, too. He put on his shirt and gave her a heated look.

"We don't have to join the party if you don't want to," he said. "We can stay up here and have all the fun we want."

Thea smiled. "Can't we do that later anyways?" she pointed out.

Wallace sat down on the bed and kissed her, unable to resist the temptation. The sight of her on his bed never failed to excite him.

She returned his kiss with enthusiasm, but then she pulled away. Standing up, she grinned at him. "Later. I want to dance with you," she informed him. She held out her hand.

Wallace gladly gave her his hand, and they went downstairs. "Do you want something to drink?" Wallace asked her.

"Sure. A Diet Dr. Pepper, please," she said.

He nodded and left to grab her a drink. She turned to look for her friends and accidentally ran into someone. "Oops!" she exclaimed, realizing she'd knocked the woman's drink out of her hand. "I'm so sorry!"

"You should be! What's wrong with you? Do you need your eyes checked or what?" the girl said in annoyance.

"It was an accident. I apologized. Let me get you a towel," Thea offered.

The girl gave Thea a once over, curling her lips at Thea. Thea sighed. It never failed. Certain girls looked at her and wondered why she'd be at any party they frequented.

"Maybe you should just leave," the girl said. "I'm not sure what you're doing here anyway! This is definitely not your scene!"

"I was invited by the guys who actually live here," Thea said, beginning to get angry.

Jazmin came up to Thea, having witnessed Thea's run in with Madison Sinclair. She wasn't too surprised to hear Madison be so rude to Thea. She'd never heard anything nice come out of the woman's mouth unless she was coming onto a guy. "Thea, is everything okay?" Jazmin asked. She gave Madison a hard look.

"It's fine. I accidentally knocked this girl's drink on her, and she's not being very gracious about it. I apologized, but now she's insulting me," Thea said.

"That's Madison Sinclair. I thought you met her before. She's Mac's stepsister of sorts," Jazmin said.

Realization dawned on Thea. "Oh. That explains it," Thea said.

"Explains what?" Madison asked.

"Your rudeness. I've heard you're pretty classless," Thea said. She wasn't one to pick a fight, but with the many siblings she had, she was no pushover either.

"What? Me classless? I'm not sure why a horse-face like yours was allowed into Dick's house to begin with!" Madison screeched.

Eli and Wallace had both approached in time to hear Madison's rude remark. Wallace stepped forward and grabbed Thea's hand. "I hope you're not insulting my girlfriend, Madison," Wallace said angrily.

"Or mine," Eli said coldly.

"She's your girlfriend?" Madison asked in surprise. She knew that Dick had allowed the former PCHer to move into his pool house. Veronica Mars had managed to bring all her low-class friends into Dick and Logan's circle.

"Yes, she is, and I do not appreciate you insulting her," Wallace said with a glare. "I live here. My girlfriend is always welcome here. I can't say the same of you."

Madison knew she'd overstepped. It was just she had spent a lot of time getting ready. Her new boyfriend James was on the soccer team. She hadn't made it to his scrimmage, but he'd called and asked her to come to the party. Offending Dick's friends was not a way to get invited to another party. "Look, I'm sorry. This is a new outfit. She knocked into me. I overreacted," Madison conceded. She looked at Thea. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Thea said, waving her hand dismissively. It wasn't the first time she'd been insulted, and she doubted it'd be the last. Luckily, her self-esteem didn't evolve around what others said or thought about her.

Wallace was really angry. It'd been a while since he'd gotten angry. Going to counseling and dating Thea had served to keep him in a good mood all the time. Now, however, he wished Veronica was here with her Taser. He looked around for Mac. When he spotted her coming inside with Dick behind her, he grabbed Thea's hand and tugged her toward them. "Mac needs to get rid of Madison,"

"It's okay, Wallace. I'm fine," Thea said, trying to soothe him.

"Well, I'm not fine! I'm not going to be fine as long as Madison is around!" Wallace said crossly.

Mac gave Wallace a concerned look; it was clear he was upset. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Who do I need to kill?" Dick asked with a wink.

"Madison," Wallace replied.

"Dude, seriously? You want us to kill her? What did she do?" Dick asked in surprise.

"No, we don't want you to kill her!" Thea said in exasperation.

"Speak for yourself," Wallace said. "She was really insulting to Thea! Tried to tell her she didn't belong here. That she should leave like Thea wasn't good enough or pretty enough to be here!"

"She said that?" Mac asked with a wince. She couldn't say she was surprised, but things had been so good with Madison lately. She sighed. Mac should've known it was only a matter of time.

"She apologized," Thea interjected. "It's not a big deal. I was clumsy and knocked into her, causing her to spill her drink. She reacted poorly. I'm okay, though. I'd rather just forget about it."

"Madison can be a real bitch," Dick said knowingly. "Sorry. I'll put her on the Don't Invite list."

"That's not necessary," Thea said. "She apologized. I know she realized she made a mistake. There's no point in making her suffer over something so minor."

"I'm glad she did that at least. For her, that's growth," Mac said with a grimace.

"True," Dick acknowledge.

"Well, she better not so much as roll her eyes at Thea, or I'll sic Veronica on her!" Wallace threatened, meaning it. He had never loved anyone the way he did Thea. He had thought he'd loved Jackie, but what he felt for her paled in comparison to what he feels for Thea now. She was so amazing, so perfect. Even the way she was handling Madison now proved how wonderful she was.

Thea rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. She leaned forward and kissed Wallace. "I love you," she said quietly against his lips. "Can we forget about this and enjoy the rest of the night, or do you want to just take me home? I got better things to do than spend one more minute thinking about or talking about Madison Sinclair."

Wallace hugged her a moment, letting out a breath. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe that girl sometimes. She has been really vicious to Veronica in the past, and I'm just not going to let her even try to start treating you that way," Wallace said.

"Don't worry, she won't," Mac assured him. She spotted Madison coming out of the kitchen with a drink in her hand. Mac wasted no time in walking toward her. As soon as Madison saw her, she grew wary.

She held up her hand. "I already apologized! You don't have to yell," Madison said.

"When are you going to learn?" Mac asked coldly. "You are not better than anyone! I'm not sure if putting down others just makes you feel better about yourself or what, but it needs to stop! Thea is a friend of mine. She's a wonderful person. Not to mention smarter than even me! Something you'd know if you weren't so superficial. Looks fade, Madison. What are you going to have going for you when yours do? Because you sure as hell won't have a kind, sweet nature or a winning personality."

Madison flinched at her attack. However, they were interrupted when her boyfriend approached.

"Hey, babe, didn't you want to dance?" James asked her.

Madison threw Mac a pleading look, begging Mac without words not to embarrass her in front of him. They were very new. The first nice guy she'd been with in so long, she's forgotten what a nice guy was. And he was good-looking, athletic, and paid for dinner.

"Sure," Madison said, smiling at him. "James, this is Mac. She's my sister Lauren's sister." She'd save the insane switched-at-birth thing for another time.

Mac was never one to embarrass or humiliate anyone, so she smiled at the guy. "It's nice to meet you," Mac said.

"You're Dick's girl, right?" James asked.

"Yep," Mac said.

Madison reached for his hand and pulled him away before any damage could be done. She didn't think Mac would go out of her way to make things bad for her, but she didn't figure she'd take the chance.

Mac let her go without incident. Shaking her head, she looked for her friends. Dick was demonstrating his new dance move with Wallace, who was trying to imitate him. Thea and Jazmin were laughing. Weevil was shaking his head in disgust at their antics. Smiling, she went to join them.

Logan and Veronica finally arrived. Logan had started to tell Veronica several times about Trina's plans, but each time he'd backed out. He did decide he'd do it tonight when they got home. He spotted Duncan chatting with Parker and dragged Veronica over to them.

"Hey, that arm is attached to my body," Veronica complained.

Logan gave her a sheepish grin and let her hand go. He put his arm around her shoulders as he greeted Duncan and Parker.

Duncan was glad to see his friends. He'd been chatting amiably with Parker. Things had been great, and that was the problem. They had been getting along too well. Duncan was reminded once again how easy things were between them, how connected they still were. He knew he was just torturing himself. He and Parker talked with Veronica and Logan a few minutes. Then he asked Veronica, "Do you want to dance? There's music on the patio."

"You just can't keep your grubby paws off of my woman!" Logan exclaimed in mock outrage.

"What can I say? You got good taste!" Duncan said, grinning.

Veronica laughed and held out her hand. She kissed Logan and walked off with Duncan. Logan looked at Parker, who was frowning after them. "You know I'm not really jealous, right?" Logan asked her.

Parker looked up and nodded distractedly. "I'm not sure how to handle Duncan anymore," she admitted. "I mean I'm glad he's talking to me again. I really hated how things went down between us. But it bothers me that he didn't ask me to dance. What's wrong with me?"

"That's normal," Logan said, easily. "No girl wants to not be asked to dance. Would you like to dance? I'll be happy to show up Duncan!"

Parker smiled at him. "Sure," she said. She followed outside to the dance floor. They danced to two fast, fun songs. Parker laughed when Logan spun her out and back in. Then the music changed to a slow song. Logan took her hand and pulled her toward Duncan and Veronica.

"Sorry, dude, I want my wife back!" Logan told him. "You can dance with Parker." He deftly maneuvered them and pulled Veronica into his arms.

"Sneaky, sneaky man," Veronica said, shaking her head and biting back a grin.

"What? I was a gentleman! I kept my hands to myself!" he said with wide-eyed innocence.

Veronica snorted. "Not what I'm talking about, and you know it!" she said, giving him a look.

"What can I say? I'm both an optimist and a romantic," he replied.

"A romantic maybe. Optimist? I'm not so sure about," she said with a cheeky grin.

"I've been feeling pretty optimistic all year now!" he insisted.

"An entire month? Wow! That is impressive!" she exclaimed.

Logan surprised her with a dip backward. Then he pulled her up. Grinning down at her, he said, "How can I not be optimistic when I have you for my ball and chain?"

He pulled her back up and kissed her before she could get a dig in about the ball and chain remark.

She kissed him back. When they needed air and ended the kiss, she glanced over at Duncan and Parker. Duncan seemed to be chatting amicably with Parker as they danced. "I don't want Duncan to be hurt anymore, Logan. Pushing him toward Parker may not be the best course of action. If Parker rather be with Piz, then Duncan needs someone who wants him as much as he wants her," Veronica said.

"Sometimes, it takes a person a while to know what they really want. Duncan loves her, so I want her to have him. We already love Parker. I don't want to break in anyone new," he said with a smirk.

Veronica laughed and decided to let him have his point. She couldn't let her guilt for hurting Piz keep her forever on his side. Duncan and Lily meant too much to her; they were her family.

Duncan tried to keep his feelings in check as he slow danced with Parker. He kept up a running commentary with her, so that the moment wouldn't grow awkward. A part of him wondered why he was tormenting himself this way. She'd made her choice, and it wasn't him. He needed to let her go. Maybe he'd treat this as a goodbye dance. Yes, that's what he'd do. As she smiled up at him, however, he couldn't quite ignore the ache that filled him.

The rest of the party was uneventful. Dick and Mac had a good time. They managed to get Wallace to let go of his anger and enjoy himself. Thea had a much easier time forgetting about the incident. Wallace even refrained from getting Veronica worked up by not sharing the incident with her. He'd tell her eventually. But he knew if he talked about it, he'd get angry all over again.

Veronica and Logan decided to stay and help clean up. Dick planned on hiring a cleaning crew like he always did, but Mac and Veronica insisted they could do some of the cleaning. Thea and Wallace helped. Weevil refused to on a matter of principal. They weren't his guests. Jazmin had grown concerned about her brother leaving without telling her, so she had Weevil take her home.

Logan decided that he couldn't go another night without sharing with Veronica and Dick the news about Trina. He walked over to Mac. "Mac, I've got to tell them. I can't keep it to myself any longer," he told her.

Mac looked more than a little relieved. "That's good. I don't like keeping it to myself either," Mac said.

"Veronica, can you and Dick come sit down? I need to tell you guys something," Logan said.

Thea and Wallace exchanged a look. "I think Thea and I are going to call it a night," he said.

"You're welcome to stay," Logan said, not caring if he heard or not. Veronica might need Wallace's support when she heard his news.

"Thanks, but Thea is actually free tonight. I don't want to miss a moment!" Wallace said, giving her a wicked grin. She blushed and waved as Wallace hurried her to the stairs to his room.

"So what's up?" Dick asked curiously. He sat down on the couch, patting the spot next to him for Mac. She joined him on the sofa while Veronica sat nearby.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Veronica asked, frowning. Logan had an intensity that had her wary.

"I have some news. You're not going to like it," Logan said grimly.

He proceeded to tell them Trina's plan.

*******To Be Continued*******