Title: With A Little Help From My Friends
Prompt by: kitsunerei88
Rating: PG-13/T
Setting: AU Season 1 or 2
Originally posted: 16th August 2022
Notes: for AU Exchange 2022 at Dreamwidth and AO3.

"I need help."

Lauren Sinclair rolled her eyes at the pathetic and pleading look on the face of one Dick Casablancas, but nevertheless opened the front door wider and ushered him inside.

"Maddie!" she yelled in the general direction of the dining room. "Surf's up!"

She giggled when she said it, but Dick didn't take offence. As far as Lauren could figure, he wasn't smart enough to know when he was being made fun of anyway, so it really couldn't matter. Not that he wasn't a nice enough guy. Her older sister would hardly be friends with him if he weren't.

"Maddie!" she tried again, realising too late that she was yelling the name right into its owner's face.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Go about your business, I have this covered," she told her sister, shooing her away, but in a playful way - there really never was any malice between them. "Ooh, how close to the end are you?" she called after Lauren as she walked away, clearly noticing at the last moment she had The Westing Game in her hands.

"Pretty close," she said, smiling back at her sister. "It's so good, but I almost don't want to finish and have it be over."

"Keep reading. I promise, it's a great finale."

Lauren raced back to the library to resume reading, leaving her sister smiling in her wake.

"Hey, Maddie?" Dick prompted, literally poking her in the shoulder to get her attention.

She turned a steely gaze on him that was only semi-faked. "One more time, Casablancas, and I brick this thing permanently," she said, whipping the laptop from his hands before he could argue.

"Fine, Mac," he said instead, "but please fix it? For once, I actually wrote a half decent essay and I am going to lose it if the stupid computer... well, loses it," he ended with a look on his face that proved he had confused himself.

Mac smiled and shook her head. Dick was kind of a dumbass, but he meant well, most of the time. Besides, they had been friends forever, she knew his situation, and so chose to show some understanding. His mom split when he was so young, his dad kept on remarrying younger and younger women. Not that any of this was exclusive to him amongst the 09er set, there were plenty of other cases, but at least most people had siblings to find some solidarity with. Dick had no-one, so his friends really mattered. He would never really do anything on purpose to upset any of them.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked, following Mac to the dining room where they sat down side by side at the table, his laptop now placed next to her own open computer.

"Your essay may yet be retrievable," she told him, tapping a few carefully selected keys. "However, I feel obligated to remind you, for what feels like the 400th time, that ads that pop up on porn sites are the last thing you want to be clicking on."

She looked sideways at Dick, daring him to deny he had done such a thing, not really expecting him to try. After all, they knew each other too well for him to lie to her and really make it stick. Also, Dick was the type to be more proud than ashamed when it came to the amount of dirty videos he had watched.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him flipping through the text book on the table.

"Seriously, is anyone else on the planet as into math as you are?" he asked, frowning at the calculations on the pages that were doubtless beyond him.

"I'm pretty sure there are lots of people more into math than I am," said Mac absently, most of her focus on the computer screen as she worked on unlocking and debugging and such. "You know my parents are big on advanced courses and it doesn't suck to keep them happy if I can. Come on, say it," she prompted then, but when she glanced at Dick, his expression showed confusion.

"Say what?"

"Tell me how 'uncool' I am for wanting to make my mom and dad happy. I know you want to," she said, rolling her eyes before putting all focus back on the computer.

"Hey, I always think you're the coolest, Maddie, you know that."

She glared at him again for using the name she had come to dislike so much outside of her close family circle, but Dick had his hands up in surrender and the look on his face proved it had been a genuine slip that time.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he told her desperately. "It's a habit. You were Maddie for a really long time before you got to be all computer chick," he said, gesturing vaguely at their laptops side-by-side on the table. "Sometimes, I forget."

Mac sighed. "It's fine. Just please, don't slip up at school, okay? At least most of the people there either don't know my real name or are politely pretending they forgot. No offence to my parents, but I'd had enough Madison Avenue references and mermaid jokes to last me a life time by around fifth grade."

By the time they hit Neptune High, Mac was so attached to her Apple-branded computer and such a total whiz with those kinds of things that people just naturally started calling her Mac instead of Mad. She liked it better, so she let it stick. She was not prepared to back-slide now.

"Okay, I need to go grab an external drive, then the programme will need to run... it's probably going to be a while."

"I can hang out here, if you don't mind." Dick shrugged.

Mac smiled and nodded her head. "Sure, whatever you want. If you wanna swing by the kitchen, I'm pretty sure Lucy has cookies in the works."

Like a kid of half his actual age, Dick was up from his seat and rushing for the kitchen before Mac could even blink. Not that she could really blame him. Of course, they had a cook at his house too, who could probably make cookies if she were asked, but staff at the Casablancas' place were changed even more often than Richard Sr's wives. None of those people cared anything at all for Dick, whereas Lucy and the other staff who helped out around the Sinclair house were more or less part of the family.

With a sigh, Mac went in the direction of the stairs and up to her room to seek out the flash drive she needed. Thanks to her excellent organisation skills, it didn't take long to find and then she was headed back down to deal with Dick's laptop. She had just gotten the programme running when there was a knock on the door. Since she was doubtless the closest to it, she went to see who was there. Her hand covered her mouth when she realised who it was and why they were on her doorstep.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath. "I am so sorry," she apologised fast, letting Logan into the house, Veronica right behind him, her hand held tightly in his own.

"Well, what do you know, sugarpuss?" he said to his girlfriend, the usual sarcastic smirk firmly in place. "We're obviously just forgettable."

"Logan, don't," Veronica urged him, pulling on his hand. "She feels bad enough already."

"I am sorry," Mac apologised again. "I was distracted. First, by a paper, and then..."

Dick chose that moment to come back into the dining room where the friends were gathered, one cookie crammed into his mouth and two more in his hand. "Hey," he said awkwardly, raising his empty hand in some semblance of a wave.

"Ah, now it's clearer." Logan smirked even harder. "Distracted," he said pointedly, looking at Veronica with one eyebrow raised.

"We should have guessed."

"You guys are hilarious, really," Mac told them in full deadpan mode.

Of course, she was used to their ribbing when it came to her and Dick. Logan had started it a while back, making jokes about how they would make such a perfect couple. It had seemed like a joke anyway, Mac always took it as one, but as time passed, she started to wonder if he really meant it.

As for Veronica, she had made a few remarks, when it was just the girls, about how she thought there was something going on between Mac and Dick, or at least that there should be. She was even more direct than Logan, but it was part of what made them perfect for each other, much better suited than either of them had ever been with the Kane siblings who they each dated previously. Of course, smart and well-suited as the pair were, they didn't know everything, not about love, not about Mac and Dick.

"Guys, seriously, you need to go snag some of these cookies from Lucy."

"I could go for a chocolate treat," said Veronica easily. "I mean, popcorn seems to be off the menu..." she said, looking pointedly at Mac.

"I know, I know, we're not going to make the movie now, because I'm distracto-girl," she said, shaking her head, "but we can do something else, right? Whatever you want, my treat, okay?"

"Hmm, we'll decide after we get those cookies. C'mon, Echolls, leave the lovebirds alone!" she called as she headed for the kitchen.

Logan sighed heavily, as if his lot in life was to be burdened. "As Mars goes, so goes my nation," he declared, following faithfully in Veronica's footsteps, with something not a million miles away from a silly walk worthy of John Cleese.

Mac laughed as she watched them go, though the humour disappeared fast when she looked up to find Dick right in front of her, wearing his lesser-seen serious face.

"You ever think about it?"

It was tough not to wince as a smattering of cookie crumbs hit her in the face. Mac didn't even try to hide it, in fact she made a big deal of wiping a hand over her whole face to make the point that she was not impressed.

"You ever hear the one about 'say it, don't spray it'?"

"Sorry," Dick apologised, making an equally big deal of fully emptying his mouth and wiping the rest of the crumbs from his lips too. "So, do you ever think about it?" he repeated.

"Think about what?" asked Mac, as if she didn't know.

Dick may not be the brightest bulb when it came to school and such, but he wasn't completely stupid. He could take a hint, especially when they were anvil-sized, and Logan and Veronica really never could be accused of subtlety. Of course, there was every chance there had been a little locker room talk from time to time that Mac wasn't privy to as well. She really should have been braced for this conversation for a while now, but she had to admit, she didn't feel fully prepared, even though it had been in the back of her mind for weeks now.

"You know, you and me," said Dick, shifting awkwardly in place, hands in and out of his pockets as if he didn't really know what to do with them. "I mean, it's crazy, right? Us being, like, a thing."

"Sure, crazy." Mac nodded her agreement, even as a feeling not unlike a knife in heart made her flinch. "I mean, we're friends, that works. We wouldn't... date," she said awkwardly. "That would be..."

"Crazy," Dick repeated.

"Crazy, exactly," Mac agreed.

Yet neither one of them was moving, or laughing, or really acting like they meant a damn word they said. Mac knew why she was still waiting, hanging on to see what Dick might say or do next, she just wasn't one hundred percent convinced what his reasons were. She hoped, in a weird way, but she didn't really dare think it.

Daring to raise her gaze to meet his one more time, Mac saw a kind of intensity in Dick's eyes she was sure had never been there before. Then his hand was at her cheek and he was so close she could feel his heart beating, or maybe that was just hers trying to burst out of her chest. She barely got a breath in before he kissed her, and though somehow it still seemed surprising, even though she saw it coming, Mac kissed back, because honestly, she didn't know how to resist the urge.

It was a good kiss. Not that Mac was expecting anything less from Dick. He had experience. Lots of experience. She had a little herself, though it was a drop in the ocean by comparison. Still, they seemed to be doing okay together, she thought, tilting her head, allowing him to deepen the kiss, letting her arms go up around his neck as they pulled each other ever closer.

God knows how far things might have gone if they hadn't been interrupted. Mac probably wouldn't have minded too much if it were Logan and Veronica who walked in, whistling and making smart-ass remarks. She might even have been able to deal with Lauren giving the typical younger sister 'eeww' type response. It was hearing her mother gasp with shock that made Mac feel sick and leap back from Dick so fast that she misjudged the space and banged her lower back hard against the edge of the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said her mom, shaking her head. "I didn't realise... Oh, but I have to say, it's about time, sweetheart," she told Mac, giving her a smile and, disturbingly, a wink before she hurried away out of sight.

Mac put her hand over her eyes, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her already. She was muttering about the sheer embarrassment of it all when she suddenly felt Dick's hand at her face again, encouraging her to look up.

"So, embarrassing parental invasion notwithstanding - though it's kind of cool that she approves at least - that went pretty good, right?"

"Well. It went pretty well," Mac corrected like a reflex - she had been doing it since they were in first grade, after all, possibly even before. "And yes, I thought that it did."

"Cool." Dick smiled, leaning in to kiss her all over again.

He hadn't quite made contact when his laptop suddenly made a bringing sound.

"That's the, uh, notification," said Mac, swallowing hard. "We should, um... Oh, screw it!" she declared then, pulling Dick's head closer to hers and kissing him instead.

God only knew what was going to happen after this. Except Logan and Veronica were bound to reappear and make their comments... and all the kids at Neptune High would have their opinions... and at some point, Mac and Dick would probably have to have a little talk about some of his answers on the purity test he still didn't know she had instigated a while back. Still, for now, for today, in this moment, she just wanted to keep on kissing Dick and let everything else wait until later. After all, what could be better than falling for one of your best friends?