A/N: A chapter about the very point of this fic - sweet, sweet MaDi :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 15

Love triangles were not good things, this Mac knew for sure, not least from her own experience of one. Dating ought to be straight-forward; meet a guy you like, go out on a date, get along really well, like each other a lot, get closer, and so on, and if things went south you got out as fast as you could. Unfortunately, nobody warns you that it isn't always love, or that you might find yourself attracted to two different people at the same time, with no logical way of knowing which one to choose.

Mac had been there and done that, stuck between Bronson and Max, not knowing which way to turn. She never cheated, and of that she was proud, but she had a few thoughts unbefitting a steady girlfriend, or so she reckoned. Bronson was just the sweetest guy, but there was little she had in common with him. Max had seemed like the obvious choice, but ultimately they didn't fit either.

Now Veronica was going through a similar drama, knowing she liked Piz and got along with him easily, and yet yearning for something more, something deeper. Mac was sure Veronica could never truly be happy with anyone but Logan, and from what Dick said the opposite was also true. They tried to date other people before – Logan and Hannah, Veronica and Duncan, then Logan and Parker, now Veronica and Piz – all relationships were doomed to failure when the possibility of the star-crossed lovers getting back together always existed. They were so 'Romeo & Juliet' it was almost funny, except it was a little too tragic for that.

Mac's thoughts shifted back to Dick then as she picked up the sonogram picture from her nightstand and stared at it. She and Dick were having a baby, even now the very thought made her chuckle like there ought to be a punch line, but it was true and clearer now than ever.

Talking to Veronica about how things had changed between them these past few weeks made it all the more real to Mac. She had hardly noticed how close they had gotten until she started to describe the situation. Every story she had to tell had Dick in it somewhere and she found that wasn't a bad or scary thing anymore. She liked having him around, had gotten used to his jokes and his smile, and his arms around her when she got upset or freaked out. He wasn't a nuisance or a pain to her anymore; he wasn't even just a useful crutch to lean on because Mac's parents were supportive enough these days. In fact, Mac realised, she actually looked forward to seeing Dick and spending time with him, whether it was baby related or not.

It was quite a surprise for Cindy Mackenzie to realise just how deep her feelings for Dick Casablancas might run, and the whole revelation of her true emotions caused her to get up off her bed fast as if she'd been scalded by the covers. An idea in her head that she would never be able to explain if asked, Mac reached for her sweater and pulled it on, shoving the sonogram picture into her pocket as she left her room. She passed by her Mom in the kitchen and told her a hurried 'see you later' as she left the house, headed for the Neptune Grand.

Dick was bored and currently channel hopping around and around the 100+ channels available to him on the plasma screen of his hotel room. Logan had gone out, he didn't know where to, but he'd gone and apparently wasn't coming back for some time. Dick had vaguely considered calling Mac but he only saw her yesterday and was just a little wary of crowding her. Besides things with them were weird lately; Mac was fast becoming what Dick could only describe as a best friend, and yet she was a chick so that kind of didn't make sense to him.

There was just no one role in his head that Dick could assign to Cindy Mackenzie, except for his baby mama, and the one time he had called her that the look she shot his way guaranteed he never, ever said it again! They weren't dating because they never slept together or even made out or anything, but they had to be more than just friends because he had slept with her and got her pregnant. She liked the stuff he liked, well, some of it anyway, the video games and some movies and even music. They could really talk to each other, which Dick hadn't ever really had with anyone else, least of all a girl. It was the weirdest thing.

Realising that in his puzzling out, he had come to be watching a third time re-run of something on the food channel about candy, Dick turned off the TV and dropped back into the couch cushions with a sigh. He never used to think this hard about anything, and trying now was giving him a headache. It just didn't make sense to him how he could be so oddly comfortable around Mac, and yet trying to figure out why that was seemed tougher than passing calculus all over again, without the opportunity to cheat!

A tap on the door made Dick take his hands off his face where they had been. He stared at the ceiling a second, wondering who could possibly be there, since Logan had a key card and he hadn't order room service yet. It felt strange when he got up, something in his stomach flipping like a weird sort of excitement when the thought crossed his mind that it might be Mac. Maybe she was his best friend after all, because maybe he was turning into a girl, Dick considered with a grimace, right before he opened the door.

"Mac Attack!" he greeted her with the usual grin, despite the swirling thoughts he'd been having about her just moments before.

He was a little concerned that she wasn't so much smiling back but looking altogether too serious about something.

"Hey" she waved a little as he moved aside to let her in, "I, er... I brought you this" she explained, without really looking at him, forcing a picture into his hand.

Dick closed the door and then looked down at the photograph, and immediately realised what it was; a sonogram picture. It wasn't as if it really looked like a baby at all, just an odd blobby shape that could be a dozen different things depending on which way up you held the picture.

"Wow, that's..." he started to say, really not sure what word was meant to come next.

Mac didn't seem to want to help him out or even giggle in that pretty way she did sometimes when he made an idiot of himself in front of her. She was still standing there with her back to him, not having gotten any further than dumping her purse on the couch. He wondered why she wasn't sitting or talking or anything.

"You okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned as he reached a hand to her shoulder.

She started at the touch and turned to look at him.

"I'm fine" she told him, with a nod of her head, and he might've believed her except for the fact she was visibly shaking, "I just... I feel kinda stupid" she admitted with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, right" scoffed Dick, as he moved to put the picture she'd given him on the table, "Like out of the two of us, you would be the stupid..."

He got no further with whatever he was going to say as he turned back around and suddenly found his arms full of Mac, her lips crashing into his. It was perhaps the last thing he ever expected to happen, but there was no way in hell Dick was going to argue.

He'd been here before, though the last time decidedly drunk. It had felt incredible when he and Mac had been together under the influence and kissing her now was no less intense and hot, until suddenly she stopped.

Mac remained in Dick's arms, breathing heavily as her brain seemed to realise what her body was doing. She was so sure she wanted to do this when she headed over here, and then actually facing the man she wanted to do it with, nerves almost got the better of her. She liked Dick a lot, and she wanted to see what that really meant. She needed to know if the night they spent together had really felt as good as she remembered, and if the way she was starting to feel about him really meant what she thought.

Kissing him to see what happened seemed like a plan, and it certainly had felt as good as she thought she remembered. Her heart pounded and her toes curled up, as a delicious shiver went down her spine just from the feel of his lips on hers, his hands at her waist, pulling her close and holding her there. Now he was looking at her, searching her face for an explanation as to why they were suddenly so close, and then why they had stopped.

"I'm sorry" said Mac, feeling kind of dumb.

"Why?" he asked her immediately, neither of them moving out of their close hold yet.

"I... I don't know" she admitted with a shake of her head, "I just..."

This time it was Dick who initiated the kiss, cutting off her words that were not forthcoming anyway. Mac didn't protest for a second, just let herself fall into a moment that she didn't really want to end. It'd been too long since she felt like this, in fact, she wondered if anything had ever felt quite this intense. Maybe it was her pregnant state, maybe it was because Dick was different to any other guy she'd ever been with. All Mac knew for sure was that she was being set on fire from the inside by his kiss, by his hands on her skin as they crept inside her clothes.

For himself, Dick was a little surprised he'd slid into second base so easy, but he wasn't about to argue the point. It was a very stupid man who turned down a hot woman who wanted to get it on. Of course, he didn't really expect this to get as far as sex. Sure, it'd happened before, but they were very drunk then, and Mac probably wanted to wait and stuff like good girls were supposed to. This belief he held was perhaps why he was so surprised when she broke the kiss, only to take Dick's hand in hers and tug him towards his own bedroom.

"You do know what this means, right?" she checked, feeling a little bashful all over again, at least until he answered her.

"That we're gonna have sex?" he said, blunt as ever, his brain too fogged by what had been happening to be firing on all cylinders anyway.

"Dick..." she sighed, almost wishing she hadn't started this when he didn't seem to get it.

She wanted to tell him, but for once in her life, words failed her. Talking about feelings was never easy, to guys even less so. She feared making a fool of herself, even though she doubted she could. It was clear as day that Dick wanted her, and she wasn't exactly asking him to profess undying love. She did need him to know how she felt though, to understand that this wasn't just a release for her. Mac wanted to be close to Dick, was offering to give herself to him because she liked him that much. She hoped he figured it out and it seemed after a few moments of the cogs almost audibly turning in his head that he did.

"Yeah" he said eventually, "Pretty sure I get it" he smiled crookedly, knowing that sex was a big deal for Mac.

Girls like her didn't just go jumping into bed with any guy that looked their way. Sure, she got really wasted and slept with him that one time, but even he knew that was a moment of madness for her. He wasn't hurt by the idea, he just knew it was true and dealt with it in his mind. Now she really wanted to do this, for real, because she had those feelings girls always talked about. He wasn't about to admit such a thing, but Dick was pretty sure he was having a few deep emotions of his own. Right now it seemed easier to focus on the sex.

"Okay" she nodded in response to his apparent understanding, moving to kiss him again, but surprisingly he stopped her this time.

"Um... I never did it with a pregnant chick before" he told her, "Well, that I know about" he amended, "It's cool, right? 'Cause I don't wanna... poke the kid in the eye or whatever"

Mac stifled a laugh rather badly at the strange imagery and Dick's apparent lack of education. For a guy that was so well practised when it came to the actual act of sex itself, he knew Jack about pregnancy or the logistical inner workings of the female body.

"It's fine, Dick" she promised him with a smile she hoped he took as a good thing and not her laughing at him, "Just... be gentle, okay?" she advised, feeling a little silly having to say it, like she ought to be in a bad romance novel or a very old movie.

He only nodded then, before capturing her lips with his own and practically carrying her to his bed.

This was not how either Mac or Dick had planned to spend their afternoon, and for so many reasons was probably not the most sensible thing they ever did. Still, right now neither could imagine regretting this as they closed the door on the world outside and knew nothing but each other in the best possible way.

To Be Continued...