Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot. Rob's the Man.

Their Date had been great. Dick had rented tons of DvDs and they had ordered some food. They had watched nearly through the whole night sitting on the couch. Dicks arm warpped around her, feeling very comfortable. Dick hadn't mentioned their talk and he was obviously not going to do so if she wasn't ready.

Mac had decided to crash at Dicks after she felt herself drifting to sleep and noticing Dick already breathing very steady and slowly at maybe four in the morning. The first movie they watched had been some comedy-thing Mac had never heard of and she never would have picked out to watch but Dick had said that it was like the best film ever and Mac had to laugh all the time. And she did. They both had made jokes and Dick had made comments throughout the whole movie which had made her laugh even harder. After that they had decided to watch a horror movie – Dick had probably just wanted to hold her if she got scared, but Mac hadn't mind – and she actually got scared and Dick had held her. She had been slightly embarrased but Dick hadn't said anything and Mac was sure that he was pleased to see her holding onto him. She had insisted on seeing some independent film afterwards in which Dick fell to sleep pretty fast. Mac tried to stay awake to watch it until the end but it had been so comfortable in his arms that she was soon asleep as well.

They had been woken up by the sound of Macs phone ringing and Mac had realized that it was nearly noon. Her mom had called her to know where she was and when she was planning on coming back. She reassured that she was going to head straight back and Dick had taken her home after they had some breakfast.

Just as he had promised, he had walked her to her front door and they had shared the typical good-night kiss although it had been more like a good-morning kiss. He had promised to call her sometime this day and Mac had went back straight to her room.

She was now sitting on her bed holding on tightly to the sweatshirt Dick had borrowed her the day before. She could still smell his scent although it wasn't as strong as it had been when he gave it to her. Mac didn't even know how she had gotten into this position. She was behaving more and more girly and she often didn't even notice it. Mac never had liked that kind of girls before and now she was becoming one of them? What the hell was wrong with her? She never had been like this with Cassidy.

Cassidy.

She hadn't thought about him since the night with Dick some days before. And now the guilt was coming back. She was about to go out with Dick Casablancas. Cassidys brother. Dick-brother-of-her-dead–ex-boyfriend-psychotic-murderer-and-rapist-Casablancas. She felt the tears coming back again. 'No', she thought. 'It's not my fault that Cassidy fucked up. I have a right to move on and to chose with whom I want to do that. And it seems that I have chosen one Dick Casablancas. It is not my fault!' But she couldn't really repress the snagging feeling of guilt and before she could even realize what she was doing, she was holding her phone and dialing a number.

"It's me, Mac. Sorry to bother you that early. I just need to talk to someone right now. Could you please come over right now?"

It had been maybe only twenty minutes until Mac heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

Mac was sitting on her bed, her face turned away from the door.

"I didn't expect you to call me. What's wrong?", she heard a voice quietly asking.

"It's just...I'm feeling so confused right now...I don't..I just wanted to talk to somebody right now and there wasn't anybody I could call except for you. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Just tell me what's going on."

"I know you said you didn't want to talk about this but I really need this right now. I don't know what to do Veronica."

"So you want to talk about Him ," Veronica stated. The kindness and calmness had left her voice entirely from one moment to another.

Mac turned and looked directly at her. She could see the hurt and the anger in Veronicas eyes but they soon faded a little. She had probably seen in what kind of state Mac was. Veronica sat down on the side of her bed.

"It's just that I feel so guilty", Mac said. "And now that I'm kind of dating Dick –" Mac had expected to see at least a little suprise in Veronicas face but she showed no sign of it so Mac continued. "I feel like betraying him. I mean if he weren't dead, if he hadn't been this other person I didn't know, I know that I wouldn't be with Dick right now. And I feel guilty for ever feeling something for Cassidy. How can I have possibly loved someone who was that bad? He was crazy and I didn't notice it. I didn't really knew him...I...He..."

Mac started to sob uncontrollaby.

"It's not your fault. Nobody thought he was capable of doing such things."

Mac couldn't control it anymore. She started to cry. Veronica looked at first like she didn't know what she could do. The only thing she could think of was letting Mac know that she was there for her. So she put her in an embrace.

After some time Mac finally got herself together again. They broke their hug but still remained very close to each other.

"I'm so sorry Veronica. I shouldn't have called you. We had argued yesterday and now I sit here crying about the boy who raped you. I know you didn't want to talk about it. And you must feel horrible now."

"Let's just not talk about this. Okay? I'm not ready for it."

"Yeah sure."

"Maybe we should talk about you and Dick."

Mac blushed heaviliy.

"Can't say that I didn't expect it", Veronica said with the hint of a smile on her face.

"You wouldn't be Veronica Mars then would you?"

"Probably not."

The two girls started to laugh. Mac felt the tension between them leaving.

"You know after you nearly yelled at me on the phone that I wouldn't know Dick and that he was the only person you could talk to it kinda punched me in the face."

"I'm really sorry about that. "

"Forgive and forget. But you totally owe me something now, you understand?"

"And do I believe right that you want this favor very soon?"

"Maybe...But let me talk to you about Dick first."

"Veronica, I know that Dick doesn't seem to be –"

"Wait! Just let me finish. I hope that you are very well aware of the Dick you knew before. And you should consider the fact that Dick is as you said the only person at the moment in your life who has similar feelings to yours. But that doesn't mean that noone else is there for you and tries to understand you. You don't have to depend on him. But if you believe that you can trust him and that he's worth it, I'm going to believe you."

"That's the point. I do trust him. But what does this tell about him? Nothing. I also trusted Cassidy. I loved him. But now see what kind of person he was. What tells me that I can trust my feelings now? My judgement about people isn't the best."

"Just because you misjudged someone before doesn't mean that you are going to make the mistake again. You just have to believe in yourself. Take the risk. But be sure that you know the consequences this might have."

"You're right. Thanks Veronica."

"And you're trusting me right now and believe me that you can trust me."

"Yeah. That's true."

"So do you know what you want to do about Dick yet?"

"I dont know. I'll have to think about it for some time. Why?"

"Well, if I'm going to ask you for that favor now it would probably be better if you had already made up your mind about Dick."

"What do you want Veronica?"

"I need you to go to a party this night. There had been rapes on the Hearst Campus again."

"What? No! And now you want me to do what? Play the bait for you?", Mac said sarcastilly.

"That's actually what I thought. I can't do it myself because they already know me after I was the person who solved one rape last year. But Logan and I are going to the party too. We'll keep an eye on you. We're just going to pretend that we just wanted to go to the party and Dick is going to try and get some informations from some fratboys."

"Dick is coming too?"

"That's the reason I suggested you make up your mind about him."

"Do I have a choice?"

"Do you want me to answer that?"

"Where is this party and when should I be there?", Mac sighed.

"That's my girl! The party is today. I'm going to tell you the details later. Now we need to find you something to wear that tells everybody that you are easy to get."

"I don't think that you'll find something like that in my closet."

"That's why I have some clothes for you in my car. Wait a minute I'm going to get them."

"You really enjoy this, don't you?"

Veronica got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Before leaving the room she turned one last time around flashing a smile at Mac. She really did enjoy this.

Mac could hear the music blasting from one of the houses in front of her. She could see many people heading into it, none of them looking very familiar. College hadn't started yet and she hadn't met any of her future student fellows before.

She was so going to kill Veronica. She had brought clothes with her after she had gotten back from her car that made Mac look like one of these girls she hated so much. She was wearing a very short black skirt and highheels. She couldn't really walk in them but she was hoping that noone would notice and that she didn't fall with them. How could one possibly run in them or even walk without breaking their ankles? She had a tight red top on which barely covered her breasts and her tummy. Veronica had curled her hair and put it into some kind of a bundle. It didn't look that bad but she was feeling very uncomfortable.

Would she have always been like this if she had been with her real parents? Would this be her life?

Mac thought about Veronicas plan once more. She should get into the house and flirt with some guys. Veronica insisted that she didn't drink anything at all but acted like she really drank them. Veronica and Logan would keep an eye on everyone who would try to take advantage of her situation. How come that Veronica could always persuade her into doing these things?

As Mac was wondering about all these things she didn't notice the person walking right in front of her. He was obviously going into the house too, but after he looked over his shoulder he stopped immediately and turned. Mac ran into him and nearly fell because of these damn shoes. He managed to hold her before she reached the ground and she found herself in his arms.

"Mac? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?"

Before she even looked at the persons face she knew in whose arms she had fallen. She could smell the scent that was becoming so familiar to her. The one she had tried to get out of his shirt. It was some mix between his aftershave and pizza, although she couldn't smell the beer–scent he normally had.

"Dick! Hey!" She was feeling kind of embarrased still laying in his arms so she tried to get out of them and stand on her own. This snapped Dick out of his stupor and he let her go. They stared at each other for some time before Mac finally said something.

"I assume that Veronica didn't tell you something about my invlovement in this case?"

"No. She just wanted me to talk to some guys and try to find out something about the rapist. I thought it was the least I could do after...you know?"

Dick still couldn't say it out loud. He had been the one that put Veronica and Cassody into the room at Shelley Pomroy's party and they all knew it.

"Yeah...so I think we should head in then?"

"wait! What's your part in all this?"

"Isn't that kind of obvious?", Mac asked pointing to her outfit.

"Err, no?"

"Dick, do you actually believe that I would go to party dressed like that?"

"I suppose if I say yes you're going to hit me."

"Of course I wouldn't dress like that! This is just to get some guys flirting with me and let them think that I am easy to have, idiot!"

"Wait, so are you telling me that you are playing the bait for Veronica?"

"That's my part."

"You can't do that. What if the rapist is there? What if he tries to get you? What if someone drugs you?"

"As much as I appreciate your concern Dick"; Macs voice surely had a hint of sarcasm in it, "I think I can handle it myself. I'm not as stupid as I might look in these clothes."

"Don't you understand? I care about you. I don't want anything happen to you!"

Mac finally got the point. He wasn't thinking that she couldn't do it. He was just worried. He cared about her.

"I know", Mac said gently. "I just need to do this okay? I want to help Veronica. I want to do something. I just have to. I can't explain it but after what happened with Cassidy I just need to do something if I can."

At the name of his brother Dick visibly flinched but his eyes that had been in some kind of an stare softened.

"It seems I can't persuade you to not do this."

"No you can't."

"Well then we should head in. But this doesn't mean that I won't look out for you."

"I wasn't expecting something else."

They walked towards the door. As they were about to enter Mac felt something at her ear.

"You look very beautiful tonight.There is no need to feel uncomfortable."