Tuesday, July 31, 2007

When she woke up in the morning, the bellhop arrived just after she'd gotten dressed. Dick had sent him to collect her belongings, and paid him to transport them to her new dorm room. But there was no sign that he had ever come back last night. She called his phone, but he didn't answer. The thought occurred to her to trace his phone, make sure he was okay, but before she could, the penthouse door opened with a key swipe.

"Dick, thank god, I thought…"

She stopped when she saw Logan.

"Hey, Mac, what's going on?" he looked at her strangely.

She looked down at her hands. "I think I really screwed up, Logan."

It took him a moment to puzzle through it, then he groaned. "Oh no. Please tell me you didn't sleep with Dick."

"I didn't mean to, it was just… he was…" she said, helplessly.

"You know he's in love with you, right?" he frowned.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. How many drunken proclamations has he made to you by now? And let's be honest, it wasn't Veronica that turned him around this summer. It was you. That night in the cemetery. Whatever happened, it changed him. For the better. He loves you. It's written all over his stupid face." Logan rubbed a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Shit," she said, sinking into the couch and putting her head in her hands.

"So, what happened after you hooked up?" he asked, sitting beside her.

"I went to work the next day, which was yesterday, and when I got back here, he said he had dinner reservations for us at this new restaurant with an impossible waitlist."

Logan whistled. "The French place? Maurice's? How the hell did he manage that?"

She shrugged. "Dinner was just normal, it was nice but it wasn't overtly romantic, and everything was fine. Then we went for a walk on the beach, and he realized my hesitation, and I told him it just wasn't going to work. Classes are starting soon, and we have our own lives, and they just don't fit together."

"Okay. And he didn't take it so well?"

"He didn't say much of anything, really. He was upset, I guess. Then we got back here and he just left. And he wouldn't return my texts or answer his phone, and now it's turned off. Logan, I'm worried." She realized they'd been in opposite positions just a few months prior.

He nodded. "Okay. I'll track him down. You go do what you need to do. Go to work, right? I'll let you know when I find him, that he's okay."

"Logan... I didn't know. If I'd known that sleeping together was more than just another notch on his bedpost, I would have never…"

"I know. Don't beat yourself up about it. He's a big boy, he'll be fine," he gave her a pat on the back, and pulled out his cell phone to get to work on finding Dick.

She nodded, and went to Logan's room to finish packing before she began to cry.

Logan texted her later to say he'd made contact with Dick, and he was taking a sailing trip out with some friends.

She sighed. That meant he was dropping his calculus class. She felt terrible. She knew she wasn't responsible for his irresponsible choices, but she also knew sleeping with him would have repercussions.

But the turmoil and guilt over Dick was short-lived when she got a text not even five minutes later from Veronica. "I got in!"

It took her a moment to riddle it out. Got in? Wait... Stanford!

"That's amazing!" she texted back. "We need to celebrate!"

"Dinner at Sprout, 1 hour?"

"Perfect!"

She met up with Veronica after work for dinner, but was surprised to not see Logan there too.

"I haven't told him yet," Veronica explained. "It's a game-changer. He isn't going to take it well."

"What do you mean?"

"It means it puts us apart for good. We made... progress... in Mexico. And if I wasn't leaving, well, maybe we'd try again. But I'm leaving," Veronica said definitively.

"Great. Well, at least they have each other," Mac sighed, miserably.

"I don't follow," Veronica said, confused.

Mac told her the whole sordid tale, from building a friendship with Dick all summer, to catching Max cheating, to how Dick had been there, the picture of them together in the paper from the fundraiser, to an amazing encounter on the beach...

"Ew, you can leave out those details," Veronica said, pretending to gag.

Mac laughed. "It wasn't gross. It was incredible, and by far the best sex I've ever had."

Veronica continued to gag.

"Stop. Seriously," she laughed harder.

Veronica laughed. "Okay, so Dick's a stud," she gagged again, "and you're big points for Sex Quest. I don't see the problem here."

"The problem is it wasn't just sex for Dick," she said miserably.

"I don't follow," Veronica said again.

"It wasn't meaningless sex for Dick. He wanted us to be together. I turned him down. Logan says he's in love with me, has been for a while. After I turned him down, he disappeared. Logan says he's left with some friends, gone sailing or something."

"Well, that sounds like Dick, to run away from his problems instead of facing them."

Mac looked at Veronica knowingly.

"What?" Veronica asked.

"Nothing. But you're about to break Logan's heart. Why not ask him to go with you? Or at least leave the door open? He's barely interested in classes anyway, and I'm sure he could buy his admission to Stanford and transfer if he really even wanted to finish his degree."

She shook her head. "I applied to Stanford for a fresh start, and I think I need it. Taking him with me won't solve my problems."

"Neither will running away," Mac pointed out.

"Hey, it works just as well," Veronica sighed.

"Well, I can't say I'm happy you're leaving, but I'm thrilled for you getting into Stanford," Mac smiled. She decided it wasn't her place to argue for Logan.

"Yeah, I can hardly believe it. I just got back today, and there was the admissions letter!"

"Well, you'll know one person there at least. Dick's ex-girlfriend Taylor. She'll be there this fall too."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about her. What happened with her and Dick?"

"Stanford. He didn't really seem to care though… I guess he had other interests," she sighed.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about Dick. He'll recover. He's managed to recover from all the other shit that's happened to him. I'm sure he'll manage a little heartbreak. Might even be good for him."

"Yeah, I don't know..."

"All right. Time for me to bite the bullet and tell Logan," she said, tossing cash on the table and standing up. "Mac… you'll look out for him, won't you? Make sure he's okay?"

She nodded. "When are you leaving?"

"I talked to Dad on the phone this morning and told him the news. He's driving me up tomorrow to get me settled in to the dorms. Transfer student orientation and all that."

"Damn, that's too soon," she frowned.

Veronica gave her a hug and whispered, "I'll miss you, Q."

Mac smiled sadly. "I'll miss you too, Bond. But I'm super proud of you anyway. You're getting out of Neptune!"

Veronica nodded. "I realized awhile ago that no good can come of me staying in Neptune. Wherever I go from Stanford, I won't be landing back here."

Mac wasn't quite sure she believed her, but she didn't think it was her Veronica was trying to convince.