The shots started affecting both of them on the cab ride home, and Mac was almost carrying the much larger Dick into her apartment when they arrived. She helped him onto the couch, as promised, and threw him a pillow and some blankets. But by the time she was in her pajamas and lying down on the bed, Mac found her eyes were no longer heavy and she instead worked on finding pictures in the popcorn ceiling of her room. This usually helped to keep the images out. Tonight it was the image of Dick's broken face at the bar, of Cassidy's broken body on the pavement, of the scene outside that fateful shower that led to her broken heart.

Mac huffed and rolled over, trying to push out the thoughts in her mind. She had perfected the art in the years of Dick's absence, but since he had become a more regular feature in her life it seemed Cassidy had taken up residence in her nights. Her therapist had once suggested she reach out to Dick, that it may be good for her to discuss her feelings with someone who may have some of the same internal conflicts. She had dismissed it out of hand at the time, but now she wondered if some part of her hoped her and Dick could share this common ground.

Her thoughts turned to a different shower to replace the bad memory – a shower in the same hotel on a different floor. With a different Casablancas… Strangely this image was also not very helpful in getting sleep to come. She thought of Dick on the couch asleep and wondered if the same bad dreams that sometimes haunted her would haunt him too. Hell, the way he gobbled down those "prescription" brownies she figured they probably haunted him during the day as well.

She looked at the clock; its bright green lights informed her that it was 1:25, exactly 5 minutes since the last time she checked. She decided to sneak out of her room for some water, the alcohol had dried her throat and it wasn't like she was going to sleep anyway. She moved as softly as she could to fill up her glass and drink it quickly, trying not to wake Dick. She chugged the full glass and immediately felt much better, refilling the glass so she would have more for later.

"Mmmm, that sounds good. Bring me a glass?" She glanced over and sighed, Dick was sitting up on the couch looking at her water glass longingly.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry I didn't mean to wake you up." She filled the glass and brought it to him, then turned back toward her room.

"You sleeping ok?" he asked.

Mac turned around to face him. "Not really."

He patted the seat next to him on the couch and she went and sat beside him, folding her legs up underneath her. "Yeah, me either. Not exactly what I had planned for the evening."

She looked up at him, "Yeah sorry, but don't worry it's only Friday, you have plenty of weekend party time left to find some flavor of the week to go home with." She sank further into the couch.

"Oh, I didn't mean that," he answered with a mischievous grin. "Trust me, I went home with exactly who I intended to." He gave her a pointed look. "The sexiest chick in the bar."

Mac rolled her eyes. "You forget I am immune to your charms, Casablancas."

Dick gave her a hurt look. "Whatever," he grumbled, "I was just being honest." He curled up on the couch with his feet next to Mac, the wounded look still on his face.

"Yeah, well that's such a nice compliment until a hotter girl walks in…" she trailed off, trying her best not to sound like a girl who cared what Dick Casablancas thought of her looks.

Dick gave her a thoughtful look. "Not possible." He paused. "At least I haven't seen it happen."

Mac gave Dick an annoyed look. "I'm not sure what you're doing Dick but I'm very aware that I am perfectly fine looking, and I clean up nice, and I'm totally good with that. I know I don't look like one of your porn star hook ups and I'm actually pretty happy about it." She looked down, trying to ignore the flush she felt rising in her cheeks.

Now it was Dick's turn to roll his eyes. "You really don't get it do you? I mean, yeah, most of the girls I hook up with are hot but jeez half the shit on them they paid for. You, on the other hand, are sexy. Your hair, your lips, and the way you move," his voice had gotten softer, "and you're like the smartest person I know, which is totally sexy. And you're funny as hell. And you don't ask tons of stupid questions about shit that doesn't matter, like most chicks. And you're a good listener, you can just be quiet without acting like it's weird." He sat up a little closer to her while Mac played with her toes, not looking at him. "Maybe you learned those last few things by hanging out with Ronnie so much, I mean she is like a lesson on how to be not cool."

Mac looked up at him in mock outrage, "Hey! Veronica is my friend and I adore her! Even if she is a little inquisitive," she smiled. "She's a good person and a good friend," Mac finished quietly.

Dick returned her smile, "I like that about you too."

"That I'm friends with Veronica?"

He laughed. "Hell no, just that you're a good friend. You're loyal. I think most people undervalue loyalty." His look turned solemn.

"You're loyal," Mac told him seriously.

Dick's eyes were looking past her and Mac wondered where his mind was. "Yeah, I guess. When I get the chance," he said darkly.

Mac wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, talking about, but he turned quickly to her and continued seriously. "Mac, I'm not a good person you know. I mean, not like you think Veronica is."

She turned to face him fully. "C'mon Dick, I know we're not exactly close, but I have known you for more than a decade. I think I have some idea of what kind of person you are."

Dick sighed deeply and looked straight ahead, "Yeah, that can't be good for me."

"Whatever Dick," Mac continued. "Maybe you aren't gonna win any congeniality awards, but you have been a great friend to Logan. You've been loyal to him when he hasn't always done the same for you." Dick looked at her with an expression she wasn't quite able to read. "Sorry. I mean, I'm probably not supposed to know that stuff but you are a good person Dick. A good friend." He was still looking at her with an intensity she had never seen in him before.

"Yeah well, friendship is sometimes overrated."

Mac couldn't help but smile. "Yeah? Is this your way of telling me you want to be more than friends with Logan?"

"I take back what I said earlier about you being the smart one." Dick grinned back at her before quickly leaning forward to capture her lips in his.

Dick's lips were almost frozen on hers. He moved slowly as he gently kissed her, refusing to break contact. His hand moved up to stroke her cheek, but he stopped before touching her, fearful that she would push him away or slap him, or worse. Mac didn't move. Her mind wasn't even able to compute what the bigger shock was – that Dick Casablancas was kissing her, or that she was letting him. She hadn't moved since his lips touched hers, and now that he was slowly pulling away she could only process the loss of warmth. He looked at her softly, questioningly, his breath still sharing her air.

Mac leaned back against the couch and looked straight ahead. "Ok," she said in resignation, as though agreeing to some point that she had been fighting against previously.

"Ok… What K?" Dick raised his eyebrows, not sure he wanted to know what she was thinking.

"Ok, I guess I'm not completely immune to your charms." She sighed.

"Oh yeah? Any chance you could be a little more specific as to which ones?" He asked, giving her his classic smirk. When Mac didn't answer him he leaned back against the couch, tilting his head up and closing his eyes. "Whatever. It's cool, I mean, I'm not as dumb as you all think. I know you would never be into in me like that."

"Then why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, still not looking at her. "It was just really hard not to. You were looking all hot and being all awesome." He shrugged, trying to play it off like he didn't care at all. When she didn't answer he went on. "Seriously, it's no big deal. I mean you're not even the first girl to reject me, like, tonight." He said it in a joking tone, but she could tell he was still upset by the evening's events.

"Dick…" she said softly.

He felt her weight disappear from the couch, and figured she couldn't come up with anything nice to say before heading back to bed. He looked down to say goodnight but was shocked to instead find her knees pressing up against his hips as she climbed up to straddle him, her face leaning towards him as he hurried to meet her oncoming lips. He wrapped his arms around her small waist while he kissed her, hungrily this time. He expertly used his mouth to taste her lips, waiting until they were a bit swollen from use before dipping his tongue into her mouth, gently at first, then deeply. Running his hands up and down her back, he was excited to discover she had discarded her bra and he slipped them under her thin t-shirt as their kisses slowly grew in intensity. Mac ran her fingers through his hair, gently tugging in time with the rising heat between their lips, until they moved to his waist to pull his shirt over his head so she could trail her fingertips down his sides and up his chest, feeling each ripple in every muscle. His hands moved down to feel the curve of her ass when she slowly pulled away for a much needed breathe of air.

"Are you like, still totally wasted?" Dick asked only to receive a sharp look from Mac. "I just don't want you to freak out on me in the morning or anything, you know?" Dick wasn't usually one to question a hot girl willing to hook up, drunk or not, but his head was starting to clear a little and this was Mac, not just some random he'd picked up at a bar. She definitely wasn't that kind of girl. And he actually managed to work a little concern into his usual "Dick" tone.

"No, not really… Are you?" she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, yeah I'm still a little drunk but not really," he smiled. "Just enough to be a good thing," he finished, eyebrows waggling. Mac rolled her eyes. She didn't know what had gotten into her to basically jump Dick, but she had had enough to drink that she wasn't thinking about the past, about who he could sometimes be. She was just thinking of how much fun they had before that stupid bitch had started talking, how hot he looked in almost nothing on her couch, how sweet he had been with her lately. How he really seemed to want her. But now she couldn't stop other memories of him from rising to the surface and he must have seen it coming, must have felt her start to pull away because his grip on her tightened and pulled her in closer. His face turned serious and his eyes dark.

"Please don't…" he swallowed. "Just stay here," he said softly. He leaned forward, his lips crashing against hers again, and all thoughts good and bad flew from her mind. This time he made sure not to let the contact end, and when she pulled up for a breath his lips traced her chin and her neck to pull soft moans from her mouth. His hands ran up her thighs and under her short pajama shorts to trace the line of her panties, slipping under the band at her hips so his fingers could outline her hip bones. His hands moved around to her ass to pull her forward against his fully erect cock, letting her know exactly what sort of benefits she had coming her way. She tried and failed to resist the urge to push up and down against his hard-on, enjoying the friction as she felt herself start to ache in anticipation of him. His fingers moved back down to lightly run over the outside of her panties beneath her opening, and he was thrilled to find that they were damp. She let out a soft moan as his fingers tickled against her.

"Maybe we should move this to the bedroom," she whispered into his ear.

"Whatever you say babe, but I told you exciting things can happen on a couch."