A/N: Here we are at the end of this MaDi adventure, but don't worry, I have new ideas a-brewin' all the time! Thanx for all the fab reviews throughout this fic, I am always grateful for your support :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 19

Dick was used to feeling confused but rarely was he ever out of his depth like this. Lying on his bed with his hands behind his head, he stared at the ceiling and thought over the events of the day. He ought to be happy, he was happy to know that his father was proud of him at last. Big Dick spent little or no time with his son, preferring to just throw money his way and leave him to his own devices. Today he had proven that he at least cared a little, and that touched Dick way more than he was ever likely to admit outloud to anyone.

Two problems had recently been solved, it seemed. Daddy was proud of him, and Madison was long gone from his mind. Dick had a new girlfriend and as stunning as it was even to himself, he already loved her. He hadn't told Mac those words yet but that was okay, they had all the time in the world for that. What was bothering Dick was not his life but hers.

It was crazy to think how things might've been different. If Madison and Mac had been taken home by the right parents they might've turned out so different. Madison would be named Cindy and would be poor, whilst Mac would never even have had that nick-name, and instead would be an 09er just like him. It scrambled Dick's brain even more than algebra or geometry to think about it too much, but he came to one definite conclusion that he felt the need to share with his girlfriend immediately.

It was getting late, just now dark beyond his window, but this was too important to wait. Leaping off his bed, Dick grabbed up his keys and headed out to the car. He had to see Mac, had to make sure she was okay and that she understood just how he felt. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he'd come to love her so much and so fast, but it was as real, if not more so, than anything else in his whole life had ever been.

In minutes he was parked down the street from her house. Dick knew knocking on her door now, having to explain why he was around so late to Mac's parents, that would not end well. Instead he got out of the car and moved to sit on the hood, as he pulled out his cell and called Mac's number.

"Hey, Dick" she said as she answered his call.

"Hey, babe" he smiled just from hearing her voice, "I'm out front. You wanna come talk to me?" he asked, hearing the confusion in her voice as she agreed and said she'd been there in just a minute.

True to her word, she appeared shortly afterwards, in her track pants and sweatshirt, cute as Dick had ever seen her.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she approached him, happy to go into his arms as he pulled her close and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"Kinda what I came to ask you" he admitted as he helped her up to sit beside him on the hood of the car, "My Dad kinda picked a bad time to bust in on us..."

"It's okay" she interrupted, "I was done with confession corner anyway" she shrugged.

She looked so vulnerable and awkward somehow, Dick felt awful for her. There was no way for him to imagine what she was going through, knowing who she really was and forced to pretend she didn't, as far as he could tell.

"Do your parents know that you know?" he asked carefully, mindful of upsetting her but determined to have all the facts so he didn't screw anything up here.

"No, I never told them" she sighed, leaning into him as his arm went around her shoulders, "I can't hurt them like that, I mean, its not like this is really their fault"

"I guess not" Dick agreed, not sure if he really believed that but deciding it was better to be on Mac's side right now, no matter what.

"Mrs Sinclair knows... My Mom" she said, feeling so strange about it, "I can't even process it most of the time, it's too complicated" she sighed, "I have a sister who I only met once but somehow I love her... not that I don't love my brother" she added quickly, feeling as if she'd implied it in what she'd said and feeling awful all over again.

"Hey, don't stress, babe, I totally get it" Dick assured as he kissed the top of her head, "Beav is like a total pain in the ass" he explained, "but at least I know he's definitely my bro, y'know? It would be so freaky finding out maybe he wasn't" he admitted, making Mac wonder.

All the years Dick had been in her grade, she always thought he was so shallow and didn't care about anything. Getting as close to him as she had brought so many surprises, not least the fact she'd realised he was very easy to fall in love with. He cared what his father thought of him, he loved his brother no matter what, and he could be so sweet when he tried.

"Thank you" she said, as she looked up at him in the light of the streetlamp, "For listening, and for understanding" she smiled, "It's so weird. Sometimes I feel like I want to yell and tell the whole world the truth, and other times... sometimes I wish I never found out at all" she admitted.

"Sometimes families suck" he shrugged like it were obvious and definite, but not at all a big deal in the long run, "but y'know, you and me, we're for keeps, babe" he promised her, "'Cause no matter who your parents are or whatever, you'll always be Macky to me" he told her, making her giggle.

"That's good" she nodded once, "because, weirdly, that part of my life actually makes sense right now" she told him, leaning in to kiss his lips.

"The way I figure, you and me are like destiny or whatever" he told her, and for the life of her Mac couldn't figure out if he was deliberately being romantic or whether it just seemed that way because they were out here alone together under the stars, "'Cause like, if you were the Sinclairs daughter, you'd be like Madison, only way cooler, but then we would've been dating in the first place, right?" he said the whole thing a little convoluted, but thankfully Mac was smart enough that she followed.

"I guess that's true" she agreed, with a smile, if only because she knew he meant to be sweet whether he was or he wasn't, "Could we maybe not talk about this anymore?" she asked then, "I mean, I wanted you to know, and now you do and it's really great that you understand and everything, but... I guess I'm just worried it's going to change how you look at me"

"Why?" he asked her, apparently genuinely baffled by her worries, but then Dick was baffled but a lot of things, "Dude, you're totally still you. Hell, you could be rich or poor, smart or dumb, blonde or brunette, I'm still gonna be as in to you as ever, 'cause you're Mac, and she is totally awesome" he declared, loud enough that his girlfriend was surprised the next street didn't hear him.

"Ssh, you'll wake the entire neighbourhood" she warned him though she was laughing at the same time, so surprised and yet elated was she by the words he'd just now spoken.

"Why do I care?" he shrugged, as he pulled her into his arms, "You're my girl, Cindy Mackenzie, and... and I love you" he said as seriously as he'd ever said anything in his entire life.

Mac was so stunned and overwhelmed by those words she honestly didn't know how to react. Her eyes were locked with his, her breath caught in her throat and she lost sight of there rest of the world for a few seconds as she revelled in a moment she'd never experienced before.

"I love you too" she said at last, just when Dick was starting to wonder if he'd done the wrong thing here.

He didn't make a habit of this, telling girls he loved them and meaning it so completely. The words had passed his lips but they'd never come from the heart, not like this. It was crazy to think the geeky girl from Ghost World who he'd hired to teach him Math could change his life so much, but she had. Mac had taught him so much more than school stuff, she'd shown him things about people that he didn't want to face up to, and things about himself that were even harder to deal with.

When he kissed her then, it might seem like a hopeless cliché to any outsider who walked by. Young couple in the moonlight, sharing a special kiss that proved the love they'd just confessed for each other, but there was nothing about this that was cliché to Dick. He'd found a girl who understood him and who somehow he understood too. They were going to stand together through everything, against anyone who would try to put either of them down, and even as a couple they would not be alone.

Logan and Veronica seemed to be as destined as Mac and Dick were, a surprise to all and yet it worked. The four of them had shown that the class divide, social status, cliques, and all, it was nothing that could not be overcome. Love conquers all was a famous quote, but had never seemed more true right now as Mac broke the kiss with Dick only because she could go no longer without breathing.

"Y'know, if someone had told me six months ago that I'd be sitting on the hood of a car in the moonlight, kissing Dick Casablancas, I'd've had them admitted to a psych ward" she laughed, pretty sure that would not offend this guy, even now she knew he actually did have feelings, and most of them seemed to be for her.

"Like you didn't want me from Day One" he said cockily, not really surprised when she swatted him in the chest for the suggestion, "Hey, I'm willing to admit I thought you were hot from the start" he told her honestly, making Mac all the more glad that they were only in half-light where he would not see her blush.

"Maybe I thought you were kind of attractive" she admitted, "but looks aren't everything, and until I got to know you I couldn't make an informed decision" she said smartly.

Apparently not listening to anything she said after 'attractive', Dick just grinned at the compliment and held her close.

"Dude, I so knew you wanted me!" he told her, pulling her into another kiss, before Mac had a chance to argue.

'To hell with it' she thought as she kissed him back, enjoying a few more moments pleasure before she knew she would have to get back to the house, for fear of her Mom and Dad realising she was gone and going crazy about it.

She had started out as Dick's tutor in all of this, paid to teach him the lessons he needed to achieve good grades, which he seemed to be doing. She hadn't banked on learning a few things along the way too, and from a guy like Dick Casablancas, of all people.

The End