Title: experimental group

Summary: "Who even cares about celibacy anyway?" Dick whines. "We're all going to hell anyway." MacDick, LoganVeronica

Author's Note: Originally, this was just supposed to be a humor fic, I promise. I adore MacDick (and LoganVeronica, for that matter). Together (in my mind at least), whether they're being angsty or funny or just being themselves, they're super sexy. So I guess I thought it would be fun to steal their sexy times away? And then realized that taking away a major part of what I associate with them means that they can actually develop in my own mind as a couple, apart from sex? And then I got to get really fluffy and cute and explore new parts of Dick Casablancas? The love of my life?

On a literary note: Seeing as I tend to write short prose (mostly character driven) or poetry, this was really a stretch for me to write. A long plot driven story?! Usually, I avoid writing them like the plague, so bear with me as I take my first tentative steps.

Overall though, I enjoyed writing this piece because of all these things, and this is really long (as is this fic, which is the longest I've ever written!), so… All hail Veronica Mars. And Rob Thomas, who I pray to every night that Dick and Mac get together one day. (And accept all my head!canon thoughts.) Amen.

Edited to make this less shit on 12/1/18

/

Dick opens the door, dropping his suitcase on the ground, and holds his arms out.

"Babe," he calls, "Your Dick is home!"

He hears a gag from the living room. Upon rounding the corner, he's met with his girlfriend's dark red face and the green face of a certain blonde PI who's totally ruining his good time with his adorable, geeky, flushed girlfriend right now.

"Dick," Mac hisses, "Veronica's here. Say hello."

Veronica stares blankly at Dick's face, mouth flat and trembling. "Did… did you… did you just refer to yourself as Mac's Dick?"

Mac covers her face with her hands while her boyfriend grins, unaware. "She loves it when I call myself that, Ronnie," plopping himself next to his girlfriend on the couch.

Mac covers her face, "Did I not specifically tell you not to share this information with anyone?"

Dick kisses her pinky, slides his hands between her thighs, whispering, "How are you going to punish me, Mackie?"

Veronica fake gags again, covers her ears with her hands, and dramatically stands up, "I don't need to hear this! I don't need to know what my friend's sex life entails!"

"Lots of spanking," Dick supplies. His arm promptly gets smacked.

"I'm sorry, V," Mac says. "He's just… It's just… We usually… When he comes home, you know?"

Veronica sits down and covers her face with a pillow, "I'm going to die."

Dick grins, "If you could do it sometime soon, it would be really helpful so I can get my mack on with this Mac, right here on this couch."

Mac shakes her head pityingly, patting his leg like it's a puppy, "No, Dick. No."

Before Dick can say anything about how she was saying the opposite last night, Mac presses her hand over his mouth. Veronica kisses Mac's head in joy for her sacrifice. Dick licks Mac's palm, but the hand does not budge. For a moment, everything is quiet. Mac and Veronica return to the activity they previously were engaged in before Dick's arrival — reading magazines. Girly magazines. When Dick registers this, he heaves his legs over Mac's lap and reaches out for one.

"Gimme," he says, word muffled through Mac's hand.

Mac rolls her eyes but takes her hand off his mouth and deposits an old issue of Cosmo into his lap.

"Thanks, babe," Dick says, pressing a kiss to Mac's temple, before shuffling through the pages. "I love these things."

"You read Cosmo?" Veronica asks, stifling giggles.

"Don't you two?" Dick says, gesturing to the stack of magazines.

Both girls snort.

"Only ironically," Mac says, rolling her eyes. "Who reads these things seriously?"

Dick pouts, opening the thick tomb, "They have great pictures. Sometimes, their articles are pretty good too."

As silence falls over them, Veronica registers the peace and stares in awe as Dick is tamed by the glossy pages. "How did you do that?" she asks Mac. "And is it copyrighted?"

Mac smiles, "The trick is to keep him occupied by shiny things."

"And nice tits!" Dick supplies.

Mac pats his head, "That's right. Keep reading and stay very quiet."

Veronica can't deny she's impressed when five minutes pass and Dick has said absolutely nothing. He's absorbed by his reading, obviously. For years, Veronica was almost 99.9% sure he couldn't read. However, by the way he seemed entranced by her magazine, she had to conclude her sleuthing was not always accurate – the boy, apparently, could read. Despite the evidence, she couldn't help but sneak another peak only to find his fingers tracing lazy circles on Mac's skin. When they began to snake higher and higher up Mac's thigh, Veronica almost pukes again only to be disrupted by the man of the hour himself.

"This is so stupid," Dick says, pointing to an article. "This is… blasphemy!"

Simultaneously, Veronica and Mac's eyes widen. Veronica can see red creeping up Mac's neck. Even Veronica has to admit, Dick using a three syllable SAT word even turns her on a little bit. Really, who knew the boy could read?

"What's got you all hot and bothered now?" Veronica says, quirking her eyebrow. She kicks herself a little when Dick waggles his eyebrows back at her before answering.

"This whole thing is about celibacy. About making a relationship not only about sex." Dick accents the last four words with air quotes, signaling the sentiment is, in his superior opinion, garbage. "Don't they know sex is, like… everything?

Veronica snorts, "Everything, huh?"

Dick waggles his eyebrows at Mac, nudging her with his shoulder. "Mac can testify our sex is very important. In fact, we have to have it more than once every day to function."

Mac closes her eyes as her friend covers her face. "Again," Veronica says, "I really don't need to know about your sex life."

"Although I'd never take an oath of celibacy," Mac says, using air quotes for the last three words, making Dick kiss her head with pride, "I can't deny that it's not that weird to try not having sex for a while — to see if the relationship is just sex or not."

Veronica whines, "Well, I just want Logan to come home so we can have sex for forever."

Dick holds up his hand to Veronica, "High five, dude!" He only gets two stares from the girls. "Okay, harsh crowd."

Mac smiles at her friend, "He'll be back soon, V. And then you guys can lock yourselves away in his room."

"Yeah!" Dick says, happily, tracing circles in Mac's leg once more. "And then Mac and I can go in our room while you guys have your freaky loud reunion sex."

Veronica blushes, "We're not… that loud." When she sees the looks from both Mac and Dick, her eyes widen, "Are we?"

"Loud," Mac nods. "Like, I can hear you through the walls loud."

"I'm sorry," Veronica says, covering her face. "And here I am, berating you two."

Dick nods, "You guys are like…"

"Hyenas," Mac says. Dick grins and kisses her. Veronica looks at her computer longingly, wishing Logan was online.

"Maybe we should do it," Veronica says, and when Dick dislodges himself from Mac excitedly and Mac's eyebrows shoot into her hairline, she adds, "The celibacy thing. Get your minds out of the gutter. Figure out if what we all have isn't just crazy sex hormones."

"I don't know," Mac says, disbelievingly.

"Come on, guys! It could be interesting. A week! We can make it through a week."

"No fair," Dick says, shaking his head. "Logan isn't even here. I would need solidarity not to touch this creature," gesturing at Mac.

Mac smirks at Veronica, "He's right. No dice."

Dick smiles at his girlfriend, kissing her shoulder, "Besides, you and Logan have Skype sex, like, all the time and that wouldn't even count." Veronica blushes and Mac gives her boyfriend a look.

"Loud," Dick says as means of explanation.

"I'll quit Skype sex for a week," Veronica begs. "Guys, it could be so fun! Think about how awesome it would be to abstain and then, finally, give in!"

The skeptical looks on her friends' faces say otherwise. Veronica decides the big guns need to be pulled out – the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no," Mac says, turning away. "Dick, she's using them."

"I know," he whispers into her neck, "Look away, babe. It's a trap."

"Please, you guys," Veronica pouts. "One week. We can do it!"

"Okay! Fine!" Mac says. Dick almost weeps. Veronica throws her hands in victory.

"Starting tomorrow," Veronica says eerily. "We will all be celibate for exactly one week."

Dick stands up suddenly and grabs Mac with him. At Mac's noise of disapproval, he throws her over his shoulder, knocking her water glass to the ground.

"To the bedroom we go!" Dick announces, practically running to their bedroom. "We have to make this last a week, Mackie."

Mac pretends to frown but waves goodbye to her friend, "Lock the door behind you when you leave."

"But we were going to do manicures!" Veronica says, pouting.

Dick turns to her before he enters the bedroom, pointing his finger at her accusingly, "You don't deserve perfectly polished nails after this bullshit deal."

Veronica packs her things in a hurry when she hears the bed squeak.

When she closes the door, she hears Mac say, "Yes! I do love it, but I swear to God, I will kill you if you tell one more person."

/

When Veronica reaches her home, she eagerly signs on to Skype. Logan is online.

As soon as his cute face appears on the screen, Veronica sighs. Logan smiles at her.

"I'm going to be celibate for a week! Starting tomorrow!" Veronica announces proudly. The smile on Logan's face turns into a frown and then is replaced by confusion.

"I'm gone for three more weeks."

"I know," Veronica says, smiling at the pull of his mouth. "I'm counting down the days. But I mean, we can't have Skype sex for a week."

The upset expression on Logan's face almost causes her to call her incredibly busy friends to call the whole thing off, but she stays steadfast and strong.

"I made a weird… oath? Incredibly Christian purity pact? Mac, Dick, and I all decided we were going to be sex-free for a week."

Logan sputters, "Dick? Dick is in this too?"

"I had to use the puppy dog eyes."

Logan sighs, "The poor boy."

Veronica giggles, "I think he's going to be okay."

"I doubt it. He and Mac… Hey, why are we even talking about this… Celibacy starts tomorrow?"

A smile curls on both their faces.

"So, are you wearing the whole uniform?" Veronica asks, unbuttoning her pants.

/

"What has two ears, is super cute, and isn't here to fuck you?"

"Nothing I want," Dick mumbles, covering his face in a pillow.

He gets a smack on the arm, "Are you saying you don't want me?"

He turns over to look at his girlfriend. His super-hot girlfriend with cool hair and a pretty dress on and two cups of coffee in hand. His super-hot girlfriend he wants to spread out underneath him so badly.

"Are you saying we're already going to break this oath thing?" he asks, excitedly, reaches out to get the coffee cups to place on his bedside table, and then reaches out to her.

He takes no time to get his mouth on her neck to get her to moan like she always does. "We can't break it. It's only day one."

"Who even cares about celibacy anyway?" Dick whines, creeping his fingers up her dress, rubbing them against her ribs, making his way up. "We're all going to hell anyway." He kisses her harder, "And I know what we have isn't just about sex."

Mac smiles and arches into his touch, "I know you do. But…" she trails off when he rolls her nipple between his fingers, "Veronica is so going to know if we cheat and then we may actually die."

Dick groans, kisses her collarbone, and pulls away, "Fuck. You're so right. She's got x-ray vision or something. Does she have a sixth sense? Do you think she can like see ghosts and shit?"

Mac doesn't even laugh due to missing his touch. "Even I have to say that Veronica sucks right now."

"Totally lame," he agrees.

In the silence that follows their agreement, Mac whines, "What do people even do in the morning if they don't have sex?"

Dick says darkly, still rubbing her bones, "Well, I hoped we would never have to find out."

/

When Veronica wakes up, content and smiling, she opens her email to an email from Logan. Crossing her fingers it's not full of dirty innuendos, her mouth gets dry when she reads the subject line. Urgent.

Opening the email as fast as a sleepy Veronica can, she reads quickly.

After we talked, I started thinking about this whole celibacy thing. I promise, my concern isn't just out of me wanting a repeat of last night (which I do), but also — Mac and Dick. I'm afraid you may have caused World War Three, over there. Believe me, I live with them. I know things. Check up on them, please? Make sure the house isn't broken?

Veronica smiles nervously, typing back a reply that assures a visit and that she was very, very pleased with last night's Skype call, and gets dressed quickly, grabbing her bag before she exits her room.

"Where are you off to, this morning?" her dad asks, looking at his increasingly frantic daughter. "You have cases to solve in my absence, you know. Stake outs, honey traps, piles of files to sort."

"Checking to see if Mac and Dick are holding up their end of the bargain," Veronica says, pointing at her father with a slice of toast. "And, I promise to you, father, if they betray our sacred oath, I will kill for our cause."

Her father mimics a cigar between his fingers, "Well, you better make sure they know their consequences." He takes an imaginary puff and points, "Veronica Mars is not a man to be trifled with."

Veronica laughs, "I'll be back soon."

"If they betray you," Keith says to her back, "Let's hope they know how to work our filing system."

"Even Dick can shove files in a heap."

Keith laughs, "You can never be too sure about that boy."

Veronica laughs as no truer words have been spoken.

But when Veronica lets herself in, the house is miraculously still on its foundation. In fact, the only indication of a celibacy pact is the mopey looking Mac laying on the couch, holding Cosmo in her hands, glaring at the article that started this all.

"Where's your Dick?" Veronica says in lieu of a hello.

"Not in her!" Dick says, rounding the corner sans clothing. Mac's downcast expression only darkens when she sees "her Dick" in question. Veronica looks down, quickly. "Morning, Mars," Dick says, happily.

"Mac," Veronica says, ignoring Dick's… well. "I can tell by your face that you haven't gotten any today, but why is your boyfriend so chipper?"

Mac's eyes narrow, "A good question." She turns to her boyfriend, "And why is my boyfriend so chipper considering I have the day off and cannot satisfy his every carnal need?"

Dick grins, clothing himself with the towel in his hand, "Well, ladies. Before your Dick turned thirteen, he had a best friend." He signals to his right hand and kisses it soundly, "Although he isn't as satisfying as a certain brunette, this best friend has been with him since the beginning of time."

Mac looks scandalized, "Dick! You can't replace me with a hand! We're in this celibacy pact together."

"Thirteen?" Veronica repeats.

Dick waggles his eyebrows at Mac, ignoring Veronica's echo, "You can replace me with your hand, Mackie. But just remember where that hand has been. If you were wondering, Veronica, it's been on me."

Veronica promptly sits down, trying to repress an onslaught of terrifying images. "Bad news, Dick. Celibacy means abstaining from every sexual activity. But since we know you're a little rusty on definitions, we can let this incident slide."

Suddenly, Dick looks very, very displeased. "I can't… I can't even use my own hand?"

Mac glowers at him, "Now you know the pain of every sexually frustrated band geek."

Veronica begins to wonder if wars begin because of sexual frustration. World War Three might ends in utter disaster, a nuclear meltdown, if Dick's fallen expression is an indication.

"I hate this," Dick says, sitting next to Mac. "Celibacy is the worst and I hate it."

Mac glares at Veronica after she notes how toned her boyfriend's tanned legs are, "I feel like I should be wearing a chastity belt and singing about how Jesus will save me from my impure thoughts."

"Ronnie!" Dick yelps, "I can't even beat off with that image in my mind? That's quality material right there."

Mac's contemplative smirk is enough to make any girl run.

"I was just checking up on you guys," Veronica says, quickly. She doesn't need to hear any more than she already has. "Seeing if the house broke or anything. Logan would kill me."

"You're a traitor, Ronnie!" Dick hollers after her. "I think this should be grounds for deportation. Because isn't America, like, built on dreams of fucking your super-hot girlfriend for freedom?"

Mac groans, "This is going to be a long week."

Veronica runs out the house as quickly as she can.

/

Dick pouts. It's hard lying in bed with Mac if he's not allowed to touch her.

"Are you sure she could tell?" Dick pleas, rolling over to Mac with wide eyes.

Mac turns from her computer to give him a look, "Have you met Veronica Mars?"

Dick sighs, "She ruins everything, dude."

Mac rolls her eyes, takes off her screen glasses, and puts her computer on her bedside table. Dick perks up, waiting for her to lazily roll herself on him and give in to the feeling they're slaves to.

Instead, she situates herself so she's laying parallel to him, her face inquisitive. He already knows what she's so curious about. She picks up on everything and it's so unfair having a smart girlfriend who, like, pays attention and shit.

"Thirteen?" she whispers.

He wishes she was coding, doing anything but looking at him with those strange, sad eyes. He doesn't need her to be jealous or pitying. He needs her to be Mac, who looks past his mistakes and flaws. He doesn't need her to search for hidden Easter eggs in his eyes.

He fingers her hair between his fingers, "We don't have to do this."

"I know," she sighs. Bites her lip, like when she needs him, but it's nervousness instead of want. He hates feelings. "I just. Thirteen. That's…"

"I know," he says. It gets quiet. He knows she's not going to let it go, like she has in the past, by rolling her hips against his.

"You must've been in eighth grade, right?" She looks at him and he knows she's thinking back to eighth grade, when he would lash out at people like her — poor, geeky kids. He knows she's more than that, but he knows she's thinking about his cruelty toward the people he's left broken and hurt in his path.

"Seventh."

"Oh," she says, quietly. And then, repeats, "Thirteen."

He turns away from her, because damn him if he can face her pitying eyes, the wonder of who could've been his first. She probably thinks it's —

"Madison?"

He fists the bedding, body tired from all the wrong things, and breathes out slow. He knows his answer is both a blessing and a curse to Mac.

"No."

"Oh."

He wishes she would leave his bed if she's not going to be able to look at him. He wants to erase time, history, this fucking pact. He wants to get drunk with Mac, fuck her on the couch, and play video games after like usual. Like how their lives are supposed to be – like nothing bad has happened to them and they just belong to each other.

She curls up against him after long moments of silence and his breath hitches when she takes his hand in her own and strokes his thumb. It's such simple contact, and yet, he didn't even know he needed it. Needed her to just be with him. Needed her to love him back.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," she whispers softly into his hair. "I don't want us… I don't want the past to be a part of this. I like how it is. I like being in love with you in the way we decide to be in love with each other."

He turns over and faces her. They're nose to nose and he can smell rosewater rolling off of her, a hint of lime from the Corona she had before, and his smell on the sweater she's wearing — his sweater. It looks so good on her, like it was made for her. Dick feels this uncontrollable weight in his belly when he remembers that she deserves so much better than him. That she's more than a body. That she deserves to hear about something she wants to know, even though it's drudging up the past they're running away from. That she's the only person he'll ever truly love.

His eyes can't meet hers when he opens his mouth. "It was with my stepmother. Number three. She called it, like, a graduation present, you know? She didn't even know what grade I was in."

He tucks himself into her neck and her head rests on top of his. She kisses the top of his head, inhaling the scent of salt and cotton that wafts from his fuzzy hair.

"Love you," she mumbles into his hair. "You know that, right?"

He smiles into her bones, hopes he leaves an imprint she never gets out of her skin, "Yeah, Mac. I know." She laughs. "I love you too, though. You know."

"Yeah," she says, threading her fingers in his again. "I know."

They begin drift out of consciousness. Unspoken words about Madison and Cassidy and everyone else linger in the air, but as Mac and Dick shift to one another. None of the words seem worth uttering, like the past has no effect on the present. Dick thinks, while he's on the verge of sleep, that maybe, they didn't always need to have their bodies speak. They were already everything for each other.

/

"Morning."

Mac swishes her hand at empty air, "Need more sleep."

The scent of fresh saltwater and coffee fills her nostrils, and with the promise of caffeine and a fresh off the beach boyfriend, she pulls herself out of her slumber and pulls herself up.

"You have work today!" Dick says happily, offering her a hot cup of coffee. "Kane Industries needs you to save the day against villains like Veronica Mars. This may be the only time I feel like they're going after a real criminal."

He kisses her cheek as she takes her first sip. When sleep's foggy fingers release her brain, she remembers his honesty last night and it takes her everything not to kiss him and push him back on the bed until her eyeballs roll back and he is panting her name.

"Woohoo," Mac says, shaking her index finger1 in the air.

Dick pulls her hand and kisses all her fingers. It's soft, a gentle expression of love, and it makes her belly quake. She didn't even remember that feeling. Like first kisses and the beginnings of love when declarations of love were frequent and dramatically posed, like they always were meant to be perfect.

But Dick getting their bed salty with his wet hair and looking at her like she was the only person he could possibly ever love —that was perfect.

"Stop mooning over me," he says, shyly. "God, I think you're about to hang me up on our wall and practice kissing me."

"But Dick," she murmurs in an equally shy voice, making a desired effect as his pupils dilate, "I wrote your name all over my notebook."

He laughs, picking up her coffee cup to put it on the bedside table, and kisses her slow. It's not needy or hard, not showy or desperate as it sometimes can be. The kiss is just warm and loving and causes that same belly roll that Dick kissing her fingers caused.

"God, Mac," he whispers, "You're so…"

"Dreamy? Awesome?"

"All of the above," he says back, kissing her upper lip. "Plus beautiful."

"You're cheesy," she giggles, tugging on his ear.

"You're also going to be late."

She groans and kisses him again before she reluctantly pulls away to hastily tug on work clothes.

When she's almost out the door, he creeps out of the bedroom and leans against the front door. He leans down to kiss her goodbye, hair still wet and dripping onto the floor, and she laughs.

"It feels like I'm dropping you off after a first date, for some reason," she says, when he quirks his eyebrow at her.

"I know what you mean. It… it kind of feels different, doesn't it?"

"What?" she says, voice getting a little breathless, even though she knows exactly what he means.

"Everything," he says, simply, ducking his mouth to her neck.

When a mewl escapes her mouth, he kisses her fully on the mouth, pulling her into him. Although she's late, although he's getting her stupid "professional" clothes damp from the ocean, she doesn't want to ever leave this spot.

He leans his forehead against hers, "Go get 'em, tiger."

She grins at him, stealing another kiss, and gets in her car. He waits by the door until she's out of sight, and although she'd like nothing more than to have her wicked way with him, she almost feels like thanking Veronica for giving her this validation that there was more to her love.

/

Veronica throws herself on Mac's couch after they both enter through the front door, throws her arm over her eyes, and moans, "This celibacy thing is hard, Q."

Mac giggles at an easy line she could deliver and Veronica glares at her.

"I live with Dick," Mac says, smiling. "I have to say it, at least in my head."

"Keep it up there," Veronica says, covering her eyes again. "Along with all your fantasies and sexual perversions. Some of us are trying to stay pure."

Mac smiles into her cocktail, "How has Logan taken it?"

"Not well," Veronica hums, picking up her wine glass. "The Navy found out that he's dating me — the Navy even knows me! — so now he has to go into a secret room to talk to me so I can't snoop around military secrets."

"Veronica Mars, international threat."

"But Mac, the room is so nice and no one is outside and there's absolutely no way anyone would be able to walk in halfway and —" Veronica pouts. "I'm miserable. I just want to sex my man, even over cyberspace."

"Well," Mac says, rolling her eyes with a smile on her face, "You did cause this all."

Veronica pouts again, "I know. How are you doing with the whole no sex thing?"

Mac can tell Veronica is dying to hear that she's cheated. It's all over her face and it's only the fourth day. Mac smirks to trick Veronica into excitement, and then laughs at her friend's joy.

"It's actually nice," she says, watching her friend deflate. "It's like… It feels like we've just started dating."

Veronica pouts, sighs, and kicks a pillow on the ground, "No fair."

"We never really got to do all of that," Mac continues.

"All of what?"

"You know… All those things you do before you have sex with someone, when you're trying to get to know them. The stuff you do before you hop into bed," Mac shrugs. "We started dating after we had already had sex, so… No anticipation."

Veronica can't help but smile, "That's nice. I'm happy it's working out."

"It was working out before too, though," Mac groans. "I miss morning sex so much. And afternoon sex. And middle of the night sex. All the sex."

Instead of Veronica's usual threat of throwing up, she picks up her legs and tucks herself into a ball, "Yeah, I do too, Mac."

After a long pause, Mac clears her throat, "So. What can a lowly employee of Kane Industries do for the glorious Veronica Mars?"

Veronica opens her mouth to ask for help, but then stops. She thinks for a long minute about something she's been wanting for a long time.

"Quit Kane and work with me," she says, instead.

/

Veronica calls Logan as soon as she gets home and sighs delightfully when he comes on the screen.

"Weird time for you to call," he says with curiosity, but smiles. "How are you doing?"

"I want you to be home. I want to kiss you and touch you and have you all to myself. I miss you so much."

"I do, too, Veronica. Only a little bit longer, though." His mouth crumples at the thought.

"Too long," Veronica says, taking off her shirt.

The predatory look in his eyes is enough for her to break her promise. And with Mac's words ringing in her ears, Veronica repeats them, "I miss morning sex."

"God," Logan says, sighing as he unbuttons his pants. "I'm so happy you changed your mind about this whole virginal thing."

When they are both coming down, Logan mumbles, shyly, "I need to marry you."

"Okay," Veronica says, vision still blurry, a shit eating grin still numbing her face. "I do."

/

Mac is pacing when Dick comes back home and it's such a cute sight that he leans against the doorframe and watches her.

"I have something to tell you," she says, when she notices him.

"I do too," he says back, closing the door and then the distance between them in long strides. He cups her face between his big palms and kisses her. "You're adorable."

She smiles up at him and decides to break the news, "I'm quitting my job at Kane Industries."

He frowns and she touches the creases in his forehead with soft fingers, "Why would you do that?"

"I'm going to work for Veronica. With, actually. That's what she propositioned." She takes a big gulp of air, "So I'm going to quit Kane."

"Okay," he says, simply. Her heart beats rapidly, and then he smiles at her, and she knows it's all okay. She loves that about him, how easy it is to be with him. No bullshit, no pain. Only acceptance.

"Okay," she says back, smiling back at him and then kisses him.

He picks her up and she wraps her legs around his waist. It's still different. There's no rushing to the bedroom or rushed kisses to get to the big finale. Every kiss is sweet, tender, and makes her head swim. She's never felt like every time is the first time with someone before him.

He pulls away and leans their foreheads together, "You're going to do great things, kid."

"I know," she says, simply. "Now, what did you have to tell me? That I was adorable?"

"Yes, but also that I got them to sign. You, my dear Mackie, are looking at Neptune's newest small business owner. Phoenix Land Trust is mine, now."

She grins, "Dick, that's awesome! To hell with a PI job, I'm dating a small business owner!"

He rolls his eyes, but smiles, "Not like it's that exciting, but."

"It is exciting," she corrects, pulling his shirt and kissing him again. "It's very, very exciting," she says, mumbling against his mouth.

"Not that I'm not comfortable," Dick says, "But I do believe if you keep kissing me like this, I'm going to want to throw you on that comfy bed that smells a whole lot like you, and make a woman out of you."

"I want you to," Mac says in her lowest voice. "I really want to."

Dick growls at the shift of her voice and kisses her hard before setting her back on the ground. At Mac's protest, he says softly, "A promise is a promise, Mackie."

"But I really want to bang my very own small business owner," she says, biting her lip and peeking at him through her lashes.

Dick hums, runs his fingers along her jaw, "Why don't we get out of here? Go out to dinner at that vegan place you love? Celebrate our successes of today?"

She sticks out her tongue at him, "Fine, if you're going to be such a prude about it."

He laughs when she walks to the other room to get changed.

"I swear, we're switching places," he proclaims.

"Too bad about that," she says, leaning out the doorframe so he can see just the beginning of her pale skin, dotted with dark beauty marks. "I'm wearing your favorite pair of underwear."

"Thought I ripped those," voice betraying him with a quiver.

"I went all the way to the store to get a new pair," she says, waggling her eyebrows, before she turns the corner. Over her shoulder, she tosses, "Too bad you're not going to take them off."

He has to suck in too much air to get the sight out of his mind, of him walking over there and laying her on the bed and letting himself loose on the body he misses so desperately. Especially when she comes out wearing a dress that reminds him so much of the one she wore to the reunion, when he saw her again and knew she had to be his.

"You're a devil woman! You're going to be the death of me," he says, making the sign of the cross.

"That's my plan," she says, twisting her hips as she makes her way to the door.

He grabs her hips and melts into her body, just getting half hard thinking about getting closer. Her eyes are wide for a moment when she shyly asks, "Are you sure?"

"Of course," he says, pressing their bodies closer. "I miss your body."

Her eyes narrow in classic femme fatale, seductress style as she reaches up and wraps her arms around his neck, "There's the Dick I know and love. The one that is all mine."

He growls, carries her to the bedroom bridal style, and practically bumps into every doorframe and corner as he kisses her skin.

"Fuck celibacy anyway," he says, kissing her collarbone. "I know we have everything we need."

They never make it to the restaurant.

/

The next day, after Mac has given her two weeks notice at Kane, she meets Veronica and Wallace for lunch.

Mac gets there first and spends the extra time crossing and uncrossing her legs. Wallace and Veronica arrive arm in arm. Mac's face flushes when she sees Veronica. Veronica smirks as she sits down. Neither woman needs to admit defeat.

"Is everyone getting laid but me?" Wallace asks, looking back and forth at Veronica and Mac.

"Yes," is the resounding answer. Wallace rolls his eyes, orders drinks for the table and at her insistence, a coffee for Mac, and averts his eyes to the basketball game on the television above the bar.

Veronica swats at his arm, "Just because you aren't getting laid doesn't mean that you can ignore us."

Wallace raises an eyebrow, "Fine, but I don't want to hear any details."

Veronica looks pointedly at Mac, "Agreed."

"But guys," Mac whines, painting on her best look of despair, "Don't you want to hear about my very own personal Dick?"

Wallace mimes sticking a finger down his throat, Veronica threatens to hurl, but they all have smiling eyes.

Mac takes a gulp from her hot coffee and smiles when she puts it down. Something swells in the bottom of her stomach — a peace she had been desperately craving for years after chaos. She had terrifically cynical friends, a new job she had dreamed of having (despite the measly pay), and a boyfriend who could do wonders with his tongue.

Yes, Mac thought. From sin, comes peace.

Wallace crinkles his nose, "Wait, your Dick?"