"So seriously, you wanna like watch a movie, or play video games?" Dick popped open a bottle and poured them both a glass.

"Whatever." She looked around the room, which she hadn't been in for a while. The suite always made her think of Pretty Woman. "This suite always makes me think of Pretty Woman."

Dick gave her a huge grin. "Yeah, well that chic got to stay in the room and get some money for the sex, so I feel like I'm getting a real deal here with just the room." They laughed in a relaxed way and Mac knew it was just Dick being Dick, so she played along.

"Yeah well, you haven't had sex with me yet so maybe you should withhold judgment until I've demanded you suck on my sixth toe and peed on your belly button." She said seriously.

"Wow," Dick laughed with a slightly grossed out look on his face. "That's graphic. And disgusting. And possibly a little hot." They both started laughing again.

This time when it died down nothing replaced it. They just looked at each other with goofy smiles and no words to fill the air. Mac was surprised that this was the first time a little drunken awkwardness has settled upon her, considering she has spent the last few hours with Dick Casablancas. She bursts into a sudden stream of laughter. "Remember that time…" she choked on her own giggles, unable to get out the sentence.

"What?" Dick was chuckling just watching her, she was clearly more than a little tipsy and whatever she was trying to get out must be hilarious.

"You know, that time you made out with that escort that was a guy." She was literally pointing and laughing at him, laughing with those uncontrollable giggles that you couldn't stop if you tried.

And man, she wished she could stop because the look he had was dreadful. He went pale as a ghost, the blood completely drained from his face leaving only a mask of features. She didn't know a sun kissed guy like Dick could look pale. And of course it has nothing to do with the fact that she called him out on kissing a guy. After a few moments her fit of laughter subsided and she managed to calm herself down, only to go right past calm to horror at what she said. Dick swallowed thickly.

"Oh shit," Mac started, shaken and not a little bit sober. "I don't know why I said that, I don't know what the fuck I was… shit." She started looking all around her, as though there was some evidence that would show the couch was to blame for her outburst and not her.

"It's ok," Dick forced a smile. "Seriously, I imagine it was pretty funny to watch." His smile started to look more sincere, like the memory of his brother's prank didn't make him want to drain an entire bottle of something much stronger right then. "Honestly, she… he… whatever, was probably some of the best tongue action I ever got. If I still had that number… I mean thirty-something chicks think they're like too good to go down on a one night stand or something but I bet that guy was really awesome at it." He laughed harshly.

Mac appreciated his effort but she couldn't seem to get her smile to stick and Dick could tell she was holding back tears. He opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him. "Thanks for letting me crash, I'm totally beat. I'll see ya in the morning, k?" He wouldn't have known how to stop her from walking to the bedroom, how to comfort her, so he didn't. He chugged his glass of champagne and walked to the other room to try and get some sleep.

Dick woke up to a soft tap on his door, and Mac peeked in. "Hey," she said softly, "I was thinking of getting breakfast downstairs and thought you may want something."

He sat up, not caring at all that he was only in his underwear. "Oh, well we can just get room service or something if you want."

She looked down at her feet. "Yeah, if you want. I should probably go soon though. I mean, I can wait if you want a ride home or whatever."

He got out of bed and grabbed a drink from the dresser, his head was still a little cloudy from the night before. "Whatever you want, it's cool." He looked her, surprised to see that she looked close to tears. "Hey, what's up? Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she replied, but she sure didn't look it. "I just, you know, I wanted to say sorry about last night. That was totally weird and uncool and I don't know why I brought it up, I just-"

"Hey," he interrupted her, "it's fine. I'm fine."

She clearly wasn't though, and the tears started falling as soon as he spoke. Dick stood stunned for a minute, not really sure what to do as she wiped her face and looked around, clearly embarrassed. "Seriously," he walked towards her, "I'm ok, it's not like we have to pretend he was never here you know. Sometimes that just makes it worse." She burst into a fresh set of tears.

Suddenly Dick's strong arms were around her, and she was sobbing into his bare chest. She cried like she hasn't cried in years, and he just held her tighter, his face buried into her hair. She could tell by the movements of his body that he was crying a little too – not sobbing, but definitely crying. So she hugged him back.

She wasn't sure if they'd been there for minutes, or maybe hours. Him stroking her hair, her rubbing his back softly. Eventually they both ran out of tears though, and their arms relaxed. Dick pulled back, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes. "Hey, you know what the absolute best thing about this suite is?" She looked up at him questioningly.

"That you're paying for it?" She gave him a whimsical smile and he rolled his eyes.

"The shower."

She looked skeptical.

"Seriously, it is like bathing in a fucking rainforest. Two shower heads, crazy acoustics, it is like magical and shit."

"Magical and shit?"

"Yep," he replied. "Go on, give it a try, you will feel like a world of better." She made a face at him and he knew what she was thinking. Not that he wouldn't like to but… "I'll wait out here… make sure room service gets called." He gave her a big grin and a dramatic sigh, just to be sure she knew he would be imagining the whole thing.

"Fine. But I'm locking the door." He gave her a grand wave into the master bath, grinning as she watched him carefully as he grabbed some clothes and exited the room. After he got dressed and made the call for breakfast, Dick snuck back into his room looking for that oh-so-delicious hangover-curing Powerade he knew had a few chugs left in. He was surprised to see Mac standing, still wearing her clothes from the night before, staring into the open door of the bathroom.

"What's up?" Dick walked over to her and gave her a curious look.

"Oh. Yeah I think I'm just gonna wait until we get back to your place." She started to turn and leave the bathroom but Dick's body blocked her.

"No way, you are definitely missing out! This shower is hella better, seriously." He looked down at her and was surprised to see she looked like she might burst into tears again. His body softened around her as he gently took her by both arms. "You ok?"

"Not really," she looked up at him. "I mean, it's not a big deal or anything, I'm just not big on showering in hotels. Especially not this one." Mac gave him a meaningful look and then stared down.

"This is about him? You haven't taken a shower in a hotel in how long because of him?" Dick's voice was low and soft, she couldn't tell what was going on in his head but this was not a look Mac had seen on him before.

"Not never, I mean I have. It's just not really necessary very often. It's just easier if I do it at your place." She started to move around him and was surprised when he didn't let her pass.

"No." He looked her dead in the eye.

"No? Are you serious?"

"Hell yes I'm serious. You're not that girl, Mac."

"What kind of girl is that? And how the hell would you know what kind of girl I am anyway?" She could hear the anger rise in her voice as he still refused to let her pass. "Move, Dick." He let out a long sigh but didn't let go.

"C'mon Mac, are you seriously going to let some bad thing that happened like a decade ago stop you from doing something as mundane as taking a shower? An awesome shower by the way."

"Bad thing? Is that what we're calling it now?"

"Call it what you want Mac," he sighed and relaxed his grip on her, "but I—I'm sorry, you know. I'm sorry I can't undo what he did. I'm sorry I didn't know to stop him and I'm sorry that maybe I made it worse. But I can't fix any of that shit. This? You taking a fucking shower in the best goddamn shower on the goddamn planet? That I can help with." He reached down and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it on the bedroom floor.

Mac stood stunned. He had stripped to some boxer briefs before she could even speak. "Dick, what the hell?"

He rolled his eyes. "Jeez, I'm not even, like, naked. You can keep your lady shit on too if you want, I mean I've seen you in a bikini." She was sure he hadn't, and she didn't move an inch.

"Well, I'm getting in. You gonna do this or you just gonna stink every time you go on vacation somewhere without a pool?" Dick stepped around her and reached down to turn on the tap.

When he glanced back she was pulling her shirt over her head, slowly, like she was afraid she might rip something. She looked at him self-consciously while she unzipped her jeans and stripped down to her underwear, surprised that he was totally focused on the shower, and when he turned, he looked right into her eyes and held out his hand to help her in.

The shower was a huge open square with rough, stone tile and a rainfall shower head on either side. The water pressure was amazing and she closed her eyes. Dick was right, the shower would be amazing if she wasn't trying so hard not to get sick. Dick saw her face contort up and this time his arms were around her before the tears started. She didn't have many left, though, but she was still very tense from the effort of staying calm. Finally her heart rate slowed a little and she settled into Dick's arms, remnants of tears still streaming down her face pressed up against his chest. He stroked her hair softly and waited for her breathing to steady. Sometimes he would think she was almost there and then the ragged intake of breath would start fresh again. He would rock her slightly and hold her tightly, keeping his breath deep and even, a rock for her to steady herself on.

Finally her heartbeat seemed to slow to match his, her breathing light but slow, and she held on to him for a few minutes before pulling away to breathe on her own. When she finally looked at Dick, he was smiling. Not leering, just smiling like a kid with a secret. "Are you ready for shampoo?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure." She couldn't help but smile a little back, curious as to what the surprise was.

He poured some of the hotel stuff in his hands and rubbed it together before running his fingers through her hair. It smelled amazing, like coconut and summer, and she closed her eyes to breathe it in. Dick moved around her so that he was pressed against her back, scooting her forward so one shower stream was hitting her chest. She stiffened at first, it was an intimate position, but after a few seconds of his strong fingers kneading into her scalp she couldn't help but relax into him and sigh. Mac didn't think she'd been this relaxed in months, maybe years. When he pushed her slowly forward to rinse the shampoo out, the warm water came down across her face like rain and she had to agree with Dick, this was definitely magical and shit.