Souvenir - Veronica Mars
Title: Souvenir
Authors: mutinousmuse and queen_haq
Rating: NC-17 for sex and language
Word Count: 3,785
Spoilers: Through 2x16
Characters: Logan, Veronica, Hannah
Summary: You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll get to hit our crack pipe.
Author’s Notes: Written for the loveathons Planes, Trains and Automobiles challenge. X-posted at veronicamarsfic. This fic was in large part inspired by the fabulous sarah_p, who is far and away the mistress of the crack. Much thanks to her and to lex_83 for betaing this fic.
Souvenir
Logan pulled into Veronica’s driveway and shut off the engine of the Xterra. He turned to face her and grinned. “So, was your carnival experience everything you ever hoped for and more?”
Veronica furrowed her brow in an obvious display of deep contemplation. “You know, Logan, when I said that I wanted you to win me a prize at the fair, I somehow envisioned something a little more… I don’t know. Fuzzy.”
Logan’s face arranged itself into a pout. “You don’t like your pet rock?”
“Don’t you mean rocks? Plural?”
“No,” Logan said. “That one’s yours, and this one is mine.” He took the orange and black striped rock from her hand and rolled it around in his palm.
“How come you get the tiger?” Veronica groused.
“Because the tiger is manly.”
“Koalas are manly,” she said, waving her brownish-grey, koala-esque rock at him. “They’re vicious!” She illustrated her point by poking him in the arm with the rock.
“So vicious is manly?” he said, unhooking his seat belt. “I can do vicious.” He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and lightly tugged her into the back of the car with him. The pet rocks fell to the floor of the backseat as Logan and Veronica tangled themselves in one another, continuing to banter back and forth.
Logan held up his hand to an imaginary Keith, begging for five more minutes with his daughter. Veronica laughed, and their words melted into an embrace. The rocks watched Logan’s hand slide up her thigh as her fingers fisted in his hair, guiding his lips down her throat and towards the neckline of her shirt. His tongue traced the patterns of words he couldn’t bring himself to say across her skin, and she arched up into him as his teeth closed down around her nipple, teasing her through the thin material of her shirt.
Veronica reached down, hands slipping beneath the waistband of Logan’s jeans to trace the jagged contour of his hips. Her nails scratched against his skin, and he gasped, bucking against her. She pressed firmly into him, her body decisive, and Logan pulled back to stare down at her.
“Veronica?” His voice shook a little, and she lifted a hand to trace his left cheek.
“I want you, Logan.” She paused, and even the rocks on the floor saw clearly that her face was drawing together into a look of resolve. “All of you.”
His eyes widened, and for a long moment their eyes locked. Something in Logan was expanding, something warm and huge and tender, and his lips locked with hers in a kiss.
And then the windows were exploding inward, and shards of glass were pelting the small stones, and Logan was sheltering her with his arms, chest, hands, neck - and then the car was silent.
Veronica began to shake, and Logan’s arms tightened around her, both oblivious to the tiny chips of orange and brown paint that lay mixed in with the shattered glass.
All the while, the battered pet rocks lay on the black carpeted floor, a silent, rapt audience to the events above.
* * * * *
Logan hit the brakes sharply, bringing his car to a screeching halt. The pet rocks tumbled forward, lightly hitting the front window and then settling into a small nook in the dashboard. Logan didn’t notice; not surprising, since he barely even acknowledged the sophomore he almost hit. The rocks knew exactly who held his attention: Veronica and Duncan.
Logan’s former best friend and ex-girlfriend were standing in one corner of the parking lot, looking happier than the rocks thought they had a right to. As Veronica’s hand brushed against Duncan’s, her arm linking through his, the rocks saw the pain reflected on Logan’s face. They felt the same bout of jealousy Logan was feeling at that moment.
News had quickly spread through the grapevine - a.k.a Dick - that Veronica and Duncan were dating again. The news hadn’t seemed to surprise Logan; after all, he’d told Dick, it would just be a matter of time before Veronica left him for Duncan. Nonetheless, the rocks suspected, despite preparing himself for it, he hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to see them together. Hearing about it was one thing. Actually seeing it was another.
It was his first day back in school since the summer, and here, it was impossible to ignore them. Ever since he’d found out two weeks ago that they were seeing each other again, he’d occupied his time by doing other things. He’d found the best way to ignore the images in his head of Veronica kissing Duncan was to stay busy fucking Kendall. And fuck Kendall he did. In the back seat. In the front seat. On the hood.
The rocks had learned a lot about human anatomy in the past few months.
At the moment, however, even thoughts of Kendall weren’t enough to erase the image of Veronica and Duncan wrapping themselves around each other several feet away. The rocks observed as Logan wiped moisture from his face, his lips quivering. This wasn’t the first time he had cried - the last time he did so was when Veronica had broken up with him. The rocks had been safely snuggled in his pocket, happy they were finally getting out of the Xterra and seeing something new. Even though they knew Logan was going to split them up - he was going to gift Veronica with one of them - they were happy to make the sacrifice if it meant they could get out of the car. Their hopes for freedom were dashed when Logan returned to the car - after getting thrown out by Keith - and pulled them out of his pocket. Frustrated, angry and heartbroken, he threw the rocks on the dashboard.
And like that day, the rocks noted the tormented look present on Logan’s face.
It took him a few minutes but Logan swiped the tears from his face, checking to see his reflection in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car, smirk firmly in place.
Over the next few minutes, the rocks witnessed as Duncan made a fool of himself in the quad, publicly declaring his love for Veronica. They noted with concern as Veronica watched her boyfriend, a hopeful smile on her face. And if they could have cried, they would have done so when they saw Logan lean against the bus, watching the events unfold before him.
“Ah, young love,” Logan snarked, as Veronica and Duncan approached him.
The rocks instinctively knew they wouldn’t be outside of the car for a very long time.
* * * * *
The rocks clattered off of the dashboard and fell to the floor as Logan jerked the car wildly to the right. He pulled the car over to the curb and turned to face Veronica.
From beneath her feet, the rocks stared upward. The extreme angle accentuated the harshness of her face; they watched as her jaw clenched and unclenched, working to keep herself from flying into bits.
And then it began to rain - or at least, that’s what it seemed to the small, painted stones lying at her feet as her tears began to spatter down to the floor.
“Veronica…”
Veronica batted Logan’s hand away before it could touch her. “A gun, Logan?” she cried. “What were you doing with a gun?”
She twisted angrily in her seat, her foot sending the koala rock skittering across the carpet. It bumped into the center console with a thunk and Veronica looked down. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then shuttered again.
“It’s your rock,” Logan said softly, and he reached down to pick it up. Running his thumb over the smooth, brownish surface, he looked up at Veronica. She looked away, suddenly deflated.
He held the rock towards her, a small offering, and she hesitated for a moment. The rock watched as her hand lifted from her thigh and hovered in the air, hoping against hope that she would reach forward.
Veronica’s hand fell again, and Logan’s breath rushed out in a sigh.
When Veronica spoke, her voice was clear of tears, replaced with the calculated bitterness Logan had come to expect. “Why are you still here?” she asked. “Why don’t you just leave, leave Neptune, leave me alone?”
“You want me to leave you alone?” he asked, voice jagged. The koala rock felt his fingers constrict, clenching tightly as he stared straight ahead.
“Yes,” she said, and then repeated the word. “Yes.”
“Then get out.” The words fell gravelly and harsh from his mouth, and the rock felt his hand spasm. When she didn’t move, Logan turned his head to look at her. “I should have helped him hold you down.”
Veronica’s breath caught in her throat. A beat passed, and then she wordlessly slipped out of the car. Logan watched her go; his arms, palms, fingers shook so hard that the rock began to vibrate. The plastic of the center console suddenly came rushing upward as Logan dropped the rock into the cup holder and let go, and his head dropping into his hands.
Something small and orange appeared in his peripheral vision. He leaned over and plucked the tiger rock from the carpet below the passenger seat. Rolling it over and over between his fingers, he laughed.
The second rock was still rattling against the plastic of the cup holder when Logan started the car and peeled away from the side of the road.
* * * * *
The rocks watched the exchange taking place above them with trepidation. Logan appeared to be substituting one blonde for another, and the koala rock in particular was afraid that this wouldn’t end well. The girl started talking, and the rock winced; it was going to be a long night.
“So that was a very interesting movie,” Hannah stated, a teasing smile on her face.
“If by interesting you mean it sucked, then yeah, it was interesting,” Logan replied, turning off the car engine.
They were in her driveway, and Logan kept glancing at the door to see if Hannah’s mom was watching them through the curtains. He had yet to meet her and truth be told, he seemed to be putting it off. Not a smart move considering his freedom depended on Hannah’s dad dropping his testimony.
Hannah smiled up at him and he grinned back. The feelings of guilt painted across his face disappeared as she reached out to hold his hand.
“Do you feel different now?” he asked, shifting closer to her.
“What do you mean?”
“Watching an R-rated movie for the first time tends to change one’s life. It’s a rite of passage.”
She giggled, the soft sound vibrating around them. “I have seen R-rated movies before.”
“Really? Like what?”
“For your information, I watched The Red Shoe Diaries once,” she declared proudly. “I was 10.”
Logan smirked, angling her so she was sitting across his lap. He kissed the corner of her mouth, tucking her hair in behind her ear. “Were you scandalized?”
“Not really. My dad came into the room so I didn’t get to see the whole thing but I caught some of the heavy-duty sex stuff.”
His lips brushed against hers and Hannah sighed into his mouth, her fingers digging into his shoulders. “So, exactly what kind of heavy-duty sex stuff did you catch?”
“Well,” she paused, nuzzling her forehead against his, “there was this girl and she was going through a divorce. She went to the cabin and her husband was there, and then they talked a bit.”
“Heavy-duty sex stuff does not include talking.”
“I think they were going to have sex on the table. They had definitely entered into heavy petting mode when my dad caught me watching it.”
“Table sex is hot,” Logan murmured, kissing her softly.
She pressed her body firmly against his, and the rocks watched in consternation as Logan appeared to be focusing a bit more on the blonde’s mouth than her father’s role in his trial. She was soft, she was sweet, and she was there, and he grasped her tightly, unwilling to let go. His tongue played with hers, exploring her mouth and she melted against him.
“Wanna come inside for a while?” she asked breathlessly, her hands wrapping around his neck. “You could meet my mom.”
He chuckled, kissing her left cheek. “All I’m hearing is that you want to have sex.”
“I think my mom might have a problem with that.”
“I’ll bet she’s not even home. I think you’re just trying to lure me inside so you can seduce me.”
“I hate it when you catch on to my nefarious plans,” Hannah joked. “Anyway, I have a backup plan.”
“Oh you do, do you?” His lips latched onto the pulse point in her neck, and Hannah moaned in response.
“I could always seduce you here. Most teenagers lose their virginity in the car, you know.”
“Or we could just go back to my empty, unchaperoned hotel room,” Logan offered with a mischievous smile.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
As she leaned back on the steering wheel, her back accidentally pressed against the horn, causing it to blare loudly. Hannah turned around to see if her mother had heard the sound, and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t come out of the house. Hannah was about to turn back around when something caught her attention. Much to their mortification, she reached over and grabbed the pet rocks from the cup holder.
“These are so cute.”
The rocks attempted to be as visibly taciturn as possible as Hannah gushed over them, petting them softly. “Yeah, I guess,” he expelled with a rushed breath.
“Can I have the koala?” she implored, a hopeful smile playing across her face.
A combination of guilt and annoyance flashed through his eyes as he tried to take the rocks back from her. Hannah clung to them tightly, making it impossible for him to get them without hurting her.
“They’re not mine,” he expelled suddenly. “They’re Dick’s.”
“Dick collects pet rocks?”
“It’s his thing. He collects them and leaves them in people’s cars.”
“I don’t think he’d care if I took one. I’ll bet he wouldn’t even notice.”
“Yeah he would,” Logan insisted, finally succeeding in removing the rocks from her hand. He placed them back in the cup holder. “He has a radar about these things. He’s going to fucking bawl if you take one.”
“That sucks,” she griped, pouting.
Logan pulled her closer, pressing his lips firmly against hers, kissing her with obvious desperation. His lips moved down her neck, and Hannah moaned and tilted her head back. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and settled on the rocks in the cup holder. With a look of determination, he averted his eyes and poured his attention entirely into the girl writhing around in his lap.
* * * * *
The rocks strained to hear the fragments of conversation drifting in through the slightly open car window.
“Are you okay?” The voice was soft and familiar - and one that they hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Right. Because you give a shit.”
“Logan - ”
“Look, it’s over. You were right. Happy? Sweet, innocent Hannah is safe from the probable felon. Now leave me the fuck alone!”
“I think you did the right thing.”
A heavy sigh punctuated the conversation, and the rocks were afraid it was over and that their last chance for a reunion between Logan and Veronica had been dashed. Then Logan’s voice returned.
“The right thing?” Logan laughed. “Barring the hand of god reaching down and plucking me up from this parking lot, I’m going to jail, Veronica. I suppose that would seem like the right thing to you.”
“You’re not going to jail, Logan.”
“Oh good. I guess I have nothing to worry about then.”
“You’re not going to jail because I know who killed Felix.”
A thump echoed through the side of the car. The rocks watched as Logan’s hand reached out to brace himself against the window and then streak slowly down the glass. His response was too soft to be audible, but then the passenger door was opening and Veronica was climbing in.
The rocks watched, ecstatic, as Logan joined her in the car.
She smiled a bit, and said, “I have something to show you.”
* * * * *
“I can’t believe I’m letting you drive my car,” Logan said, conscientiously avoiding any words containing the letter ‘s.’ His arm dangled over the Xterra’s arm rest, fingers unconsciously toying with the objects bouncing about in the cup holder.
The rocks warmed beneath his touch, straining upward with glee at this apparent détente between their parents.
“Yeah?” Veronica said. “Well I can’t believe you got so drunk at our prom that you puked on your date’s lap.”
“She wasn’t my date,” he argued, abandoning his battle against the letter ‘s’ in favor of a battle with Veronica. “She was just the girl I brought with me.”
“Oh, well that’s different then,” she snapped, but as far as the rocks could tell, there didn’t seem to be much feeling in it.
Logan grinned, and he picked one of them up. It was the tiger rock, and he held it up before his face, examining it closely. The rock examined back, and for a moment, a staring contest seemed to be in danger of breaking out. But the rock went soaring back towards its erstwhile home, and Logan picked up the koala rock instead.
“Veronica?” he asked.
“Uh huh.”
“Look at me.” His voice was gentle, and the koala rock watched with interest as goose bumps erupted from beneath the collar of Veronica’s shirt.
“I’m driving,” she said quickly.
“Look anyway.”
She slowed to a halt at a stoplight and turned. “What is it, Logan?”
He blinked up at her, and the rock was suddenly elevated. “If I try to give it back to you again… will you take it this time?”
Veronica’s face softened. “Logan…” A flash of green pouring through the windshield cut her off. “The light’s green.” She looked away and started driving again.
Darkness consumed the rock as Logan’s fingers closed around it. “Second fiddle to a stoplight,” he groused, and then fell silent. The rock found itself sliding over the crinkly material of a light blue dress, and a leg came twitching upward. The car slowed suddenly and Logan laughed.
“Better keep driving,” he said, and Veronica accelerated again.
“Logan, stop!”
“I’m not doing anything,” he murmured, reaching down to pull her dress up over her knees. “It’s this damn koala. It’s like you said. She’s vicious.”
Veronica gasped, and the rock found itself drifting over a smooth expanse of skin, creeping slowly up her thigh. The coolness of the stone sent Veronica into a shiver, and Logan brushed the rock even higher. The car swerved sharply to the right, and then overcorrected to the left. Logan wrapped his fingers around the armrest, and concentrated on the patterns he was drawing on the inside of Veronica’s thigh. The side of his fingers brushed lightly against the juncture of her legs, and he could feel the moisture seeping through the thin layer of cloth separating her skin from his.
“Logan…” Veronica’s voice hovered between a warning and a plea, and he responded by swiping the rock lightly over the surface of her panties, moving it up and down against her. She cried out, hips jerking forward of their own accord as she awkwardly twisted the wheel to the right. Logan’s head slammed against the center console as the tires bounced against the curb. He grunted, rubbing his forehead as Veronica threw the Xterra into park.
“Maybe I should have driven,” Logan joked.
“Shut up,” she said, yanking his hand out from beneath her skirt. The koala rock bounced down to the floor, landing squarely between the gas pedal and the brake. It was a view the tiger rock would have appreciated.
Logan and Veronica stared at one another, her hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. Logan’s face was naked, open, and he spoke. “Do you want me to stop?”
Her grip around his wrist tightened further, and she suddenly jerked his hand back downward. “No,” she whispered, and then repeated the word. “No.”
Keeping a firm grip on his wrist, she slid his fingers up her thigh, and his eyes widened. “Veronica,” he whispered, leaning forward to nuzzle against her throat. He slid a finger beneath the elastic of her panties, gliding it lightly over her clit before pressing it slowly into her.
She reached up to wind her fingers through his hair, pressing him closer against her neck. He nipped gently at the skin above her shoulder and she shuddered. His finger slid slowly in and out of her, rotating his thumb over her clit in a steady rhythm. Her hips rocked against him as he began to move faster, and her hand clutched and loosened absently in his hair.
Sliding his lips up to pull softly at her ear lobe, he whispered her name again. She gasped, and turned to press her lips against his. Their tongues tangled together messily, and his thumb pressed against her more firmly, never stopping its steady, circular motion. She moaned into his mouth, and he pulled back to look into her eyes.
His hand stilled as he gazed at her, rapt. She whimpered and pressed her hips forward against his hand.
“Logan,” she said, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “Please.”
His lips widened into a grin, and his finger slid into her again with a ferocity that hadn’t been present before. His thumb flew into action, rubbing across her sensitive skin. Her eyes clenched shut and her head snapped back against the headrest as she came apart in his hands with a deep, guttural moan.
He pulled his hand from beneath her skirt as she shuddered into a collapse against his shoulder.
“So does this mean you’re keeping the koala rock?” he asked, smiling.
“I think,” she said. “I think we’d better keep the rocks in the car. Wouldn’t want them to get lost.”
“Of course not,” he said. “You know, safety first and all that.”
“Right.”
So much for getting out of the car, thought the tiger rock, but then decided that he didn’t really mind.
Overhead, Veronica sighed against Logan, and his arms wrapped around her waist. They stayed like that for a long time, and all the while the rocks lay still, a silent, rapt audience to the events above.
~fin
Originally posted here at fic_from_mars.
Authors: mutinousmuse and queen_haq
Rating: NC-17 for sex and language
Word Count: 3,785
Spoilers: Through 2x16
Characters: Logan, Veronica, Hannah
Summary: You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll get to hit our crack pipe.
Author’s Notes: Written for the loveathons Planes, Trains and Automobiles challenge. X-posted at veronicamarsfic. This fic was in large part inspired by the fabulous sarah_p, who is far and away the mistress of the crack. Much thanks to her and to lex_83 for betaing this fic.
Souvenir
Logan pulled into Veronica’s driveway and shut off the engine of the Xterra. He turned to face her and grinned. “So, was your carnival experience everything you ever hoped for and more?”
Veronica furrowed her brow in an obvious display of deep contemplation. “You know, Logan, when I said that I wanted you to win me a prize at the fair, I somehow envisioned something a little more… I don’t know. Fuzzy.”
Logan’s face arranged itself into a pout. “You don’t like your pet rock?”
“Don’t you mean rocks? Plural?”
“No,” Logan said. “That one’s yours, and this one is mine.” He took the orange and black striped rock from her hand and rolled it around in his palm.
“How come you get the tiger?” Veronica groused.
“Because the tiger is manly.”
“Koalas are manly,” she said, waving her brownish-grey, koala-esque rock at him. “They’re vicious!” She illustrated her point by poking him in the arm with the rock.
“So vicious is manly?” he said, unhooking his seat belt. “I can do vicious.” He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and lightly tugged her into the back of the car with him. The pet rocks fell to the floor of the backseat as Logan and Veronica tangled themselves in one another, continuing to banter back and forth.
Logan held up his hand to an imaginary Keith, begging for five more minutes with his daughter. Veronica laughed, and their words melted into an embrace. The rocks watched Logan’s hand slide up her thigh as her fingers fisted in his hair, guiding his lips down her throat and towards the neckline of her shirt. His tongue traced the patterns of words he couldn’t bring himself to say across her skin, and she arched up into him as his teeth closed down around her nipple, teasing her through the thin material of her shirt.
Veronica reached down, hands slipping beneath the waistband of Logan’s jeans to trace the jagged contour of his hips. Her nails scratched against his skin, and he gasped, bucking against her. She pressed firmly into him, her body decisive, and Logan pulled back to stare down at her.
“Veronica?” His voice shook a little, and she lifted a hand to trace his left cheek.
“I want you, Logan.” She paused, and even the rocks on the floor saw clearly that her face was drawing together into a look of resolve. “All of you.”
His eyes widened, and for a long moment their eyes locked. Something in Logan was expanding, something warm and huge and tender, and his lips locked with hers in a kiss.
And then the windows were exploding inward, and shards of glass were pelting the small stones, and Logan was sheltering her with his arms, chest, hands, neck - and then the car was silent.
Veronica began to shake, and Logan’s arms tightened around her, both oblivious to the tiny chips of orange and brown paint that lay mixed in with the shattered glass.
All the while, the battered pet rocks lay on the black carpeted floor, a silent, rapt audience to the events above.
* * * * *
Logan hit the brakes sharply, bringing his car to a screeching halt. The pet rocks tumbled forward, lightly hitting the front window and then settling into a small nook in the dashboard. Logan didn’t notice; not surprising, since he barely even acknowledged the sophomore he almost hit. The rocks knew exactly who held his attention: Veronica and Duncan.
Logan’s former best friend and ex-girlfriend were standing in one corner of the parking lot, looking happier than the rocks thought they had a right to. As Veronica’s hand brushed against Duncan’s, her arm linking through his, the rocks saw the pain reflected on Logan’s face. They felt the same bout of jealousy Logan was feeling at that moment.
News had quickly spread through the grapevine - a.k.a Dick - that Veronica and Duncan were dating again. The news hadn’t seemed to surprise Logan; after all, he’d told Dick, it would just be a matter of time before Veronica left him for Duncan. Nonetheless, the rocks suspected, despite preparing himself for it, he hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to see them together. Hearing about it was one thing. Actually seeing it was another.
It was his first day back in school since the summer, and here, it was impossible to ignore them. Ever since he’d found out two weeks ago that they were seeing each other again, he’d occupied his time by doing other things. He’d found the best way to ignore the images in his head of Veronica kissing Duncan was to stay busy fucking Kendall. And fuck Kendall he did. In the back seat. In the front seat. On the hood.
The rocks had learned a lot about human anatomy in the past few months.
At the moment, however, even thoughts of Kendall weren’t enough to erase the image of Veronica and Duncan wrapping themselves around each other several feet away. The rocks observed as Logan wiped moisture from his face, his lips quivering. This wasn’t the first time he had cried - the last time he did so was when Veronica had broken up with him. The rocks had been safely snuggled in his pocket, happy they were finally getting out of the Xterra and seeing something new. Even though they knew Logan was going to split them up - he was going to gift Veronica with one of them - they were happy to make the sacrifice if it meant they could get out of the car. Their hopes for freedom were dashed when Logan returned to the car - after getting thrown out by Keith - and pulled them out of his pocket. Frustrated, angry and heartbroken, he threw the rocks on the dashboard.
And like that day, the rocks noted the tormented look present on Logan’s face.
It took him a few minutes but Logan swiped the tears from his face, checking to see his reflection in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car, smirk firmly in place.
Over the next few minutes, the rocks witnessed as Duncan made a fool of himself in the quad, publicly declaring his love for Veronica. They noted with concern as Veronica watched her boyfriend, a hopeful smile on her face. And if they could have cried, they would have done so when they saw Logan lean against the bus, watching the events unfold before him.
“Ah, young love,” Logan snarked, as Veronica and Duncan approached him.
The rocks instinctively knew they wouldn’t be outside of the car for a very long time.
* * * * *
The rocks clattered off of the dashboard and fell to the floor as Logan jerked the car wildly to the right. He pulled the car over to the curb and turned to face Veronica.
From beneath her feet, the rocks stared upward. The extreme angle accentuated the harshness of her face; they watched as her jaw clenched and unclenched, working to keep herself from flying into bits.
And then it began to rain - or at least, that’s what it seemed to the small, painted stones lying at her feet as her tears began to spatter down to the floor.
“Veronica…”
Veronica batted Logan’s hand away before it could touch her. “A gun, Logan?” she cried. “What were you doing with a gun?”
She twisted angrily in her seat, her foot sending the koala rock skittering across the carpet. It bumped into the center console with a thunk and Veronica looked down. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then shuttered again.
“It’s your rock,” Logan said softly, and he reached down to pick it up. Running his thumb over the smooth, brownish surface, he looked up at Veronica. She looked away, suddenly deflated.
He held the rock towards her, a small offering, and she hesitated for a moment. The rock watched as her hand lifted from her thigh and hovered in the air, hoping against hope that she would reach forward.
Veronica’s hand fell again, and Logan’s breath rushed out in a sigh.
When Veronica spoke, her voice was clear of tears, replaced with the calculated bitterness Logan had come to expect. “Why are you still here?” she asked. “Why don’t you just leave, leave Neptune, leave me alone?”
“You want me to leave you alone?” he asked, voice jagged. The koala rock felt his fingers constrict, clenching tightly as he stared straight ahead.
“Yes,” she said, and then repeated the word. “Yes.”
“Then get out.” The words fell gravelly and harsh from his mouth, and the rock felt his hand spasm. When she didn’t move, Logan turned his head to look at her. “I should have helped him hold you down.”
Veronica’s breath caught in her throat. A beat passed, and then she wordlessly slipped out of the car. Logan watched her go; his arms, palms, fingers shook so hard that the rock began to vibrate. The plastic of the center console suddenly came rushing upward as Logan dropped the rock into the cup holder and let go, and his head dropping into his hands.
Something small and orange appeared in his peripheral vision. He leaned over and plucked the tiger rock from the carpet below the passenger seat. Rolling it over and over between his fingers, he laughed.
The second rock was still rattling against the plastic of the cup holder when Logan started the car and peeled away from the side of the road.
* * * * *
The rocks watched the exchange taking place above them with trepidation. Logan appeared to be substituting one blonde for another, and the koala rock in particular was afraid that this wouldn’t end well. The girl started talking, and the rock winced; it was going to be a long night.
“So that was a very interesting movie,” Hannah stated, a teasing smile on her face.
“If by interesting you mean it sucked, then yeah, it was interesting,” Logan replied, turning off the car engine.
They were in her driveway, and Logan kept glancing at the door to see if Hannah’s mom was watching them through the curtains. He had yet to meet her and truth be told, he seemed to be putting it off. Not a smart move considering his freedom depended on Hannah’s dad dropping his testimony.
Hannah smiled up at him and he grinned back. The feelings of guilt painted across his face disappeared as she reached out to hold his hand.
“Do you feel different now?” he asked, shifting closer to her.
“What do you mean?”
“Watching an R-rated movie for the first time tends to change one’s life. It’s a rite of passage.”
She giggled, the soft sound vibrating around them. “I have seen R-rated movies before.”
“Really? Like what?”
“For your information, I watched The Red Shoe Diaries once,” she declared proudly. “I was 10.”
Logan smirked, angling her so she was sitting across his lap. He kissed the corner of her mouth, tucking her hair in behind her ear. “Were you scandalized?”
“Not really. My dad came into the room so I didn’t get to see the whole thing but I caught some of the heavy-duty sex stuff.”
His lips brushed against hers and Hannah sighed into his mouth, her fingers digging into his shoulders. “So, exactly what kind of heavy-duty sex stuff did you catch?”
“Well,” she paused, nuzzling her forehead against his, “there was this girl and she was going through a divorce. She went to the cabin and her husband was there, and then they talked a bit.”
“Heavy-duty sex stuff does not include talking.”
“I think they were going to have sex on the table. They had definitely entered into heavy petting mode when my dad caught me watching it.”
“Table sex is hot,” Logan murmured, kissing her softly.
She pressed her body firmly against his, and the rocks watched in consternation as Logan appeared to be focusing a bit more on the blonde’s mouth than her father’s role in his trial. She was soft, she was sweet, and she was there, and he grasped her tightly, unwilling to let go. His tongue played with hers, exploring her mouth and she melted against him.
“Wanna come inside for a while?” she asked breathlessly, her hands wrapping around his neck. “You could meet my mom.”
He chuckled, kissing her left cheek. “All I’m hearing is that you want to have sex.”
“I think my mom might have a problem with that.”
“I’ll bet she’s not even home. I think you’re just trying to lure me inside so you can seduce me.”
“I hate it when you catch on to my nefarious plans,” Hannah joked. “Anyway, I have a backup plan.”
“Oh you do, do you?” His lips latched onto the pulse point in her neck, and Hannah moaned in response.
“I could always seduce you here. Most teenagers lose their virginity in the car, you know.”
“Or we could just go back to my empty, unchaperoned hotel room,” Logan offered with a mischievous smile.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
As she leaned back on the steering wheel, her back accidentally pressed against the horn, causing it to blare loudly. Hannah turned around to see if her mother had heard the sound, and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t come out of the house. Hannah was about to turn back around when something caught her attention. Much to their mortification, she reached over and grabbed the pet rocks from the cup holder.
“These are so cute.”
The rocks attempted to be as visibly taciturn as possible as Hannah gushed over them, petting them softly. “Yeah, I guess,” he expelled with a rushed breath.
“Can I have the koala?” she implored, a hopeful smile playing across her face.
A combination of guilt and annoyance flashed through his eyes as he tried to take the rocks back from her. Hannah clung to them tightly, making it impossible for him to get them without hurting her.
“They’re not mine,” he expelled suddenly. “They’re Dick’s.”
“Dick collects pet rocks?”
“It’s his thing. He collects them and leaves them in people’s cars.”
“I don’t think he’d care if I took one. I’ll bet he wouldn’t even notice.”
“Yeah he would,” Logan insisted, finally succeeding in removing the rocks from her hand. He placed them back in the cup holder. “He has a radar about these things. He’s going to fucking bawl if you take one.”
“That sucks,” she griped, pouting.
Logan pulled her closer, pressing his lips firmly against hers, kissing her with obvious desperation. His lips moved down her neck, and Hannah moaned and tilted her head back. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and settled on the rocks in the cup holder. With a look of determination, he averted his eyes and poured his attention entirely into the girl writhing around in his lap.
* * * * *
The rocks strained to hear the fragments of conversation drifting in through the slightly open car window.
“Are you okay?” The voice was soft and familiar - and one that they hadn’t heard in a long time.
“Right. Because you give a shit.”
“Logan - ”
“Look, it’s over. You were right. Happy? Sweet, innocent Hannah is safe from the probable felon. Now leave me the fuck alone!”
“I think you did the right thing.”
A heavy sigh punctuated the conversation, and the rocks were afraid it was over and that their last chance for a reunion between Logan and Veronica had been dashed. Then Logan’s voice returned.
“The right thing?” Logan laughed. “Barring the hand of god reaching down and plucking me up from this parking lot, I’m going to jail, Veronica. I suppose that would seem like the right thing to you.”
“You’re not going to jail, Logan.”
“Oh good. I guess I have nothing to worry about then.”
“You’re not going to jail because I know who killed Felix.”
A thump echoed through the side of the car. The rocks watched as Logan’s hand reached out to brace himself against the window and then streak slowly down the glass. His response was too soft to be audible, but then the passenger door was opening and Veronica was climbing in.
The rocks watched, ecstatic, as Logan joined her in the car.
She smiled a bit, and said, “I have something to show you.”
* * * * *
“I can’t believe I’m letting you drive my car,” Logan said, conscientiously avoiding any words containing the letter ‘s.’ His arm dangled over the Xterra’s arm rest, fingers unconsciously toying with the objects bouncing about in the cup holder.
The rocks warmed beneath his touch, straining upward with glee at this apparent détente between their parents.
“Yeah?” Veronica said. “Well I can’t believe you got so drunk at our prom that you puked on your date’s lap.”
“She wasn’t my date,” he argued, abandoning his battle against the letter ‘s’ in favor of a battle with Veronica. “She was just the girl I brought with me.”
“Oh, well that’s different then,” she snapped, but as far as the rocks could tell, there didn’t seem to be much feeling in it.
Logan grinned, and he picked one of them up. It was the tiger rock, and he held it up before his face, examining it closely. The rock examined back, and for a moment, a staring contest seemed to be in danger of breaking out. But the rock went soaring back towards its erstwhile home, and Logan picked up the koala rock instead.
“Veronica?” he asked.
“Uh huh.”
“Look at me.” His voice was gentle, and the koala rock watched with interest as goose bumps erupted from beneath the collar of Veronica’s shirt.
“I’m driving,” she said quickly.
“Look anyway.”
She slowed to a halt at a stoplight and turned. “What is it, Logan?”
He blinked up at her, and the rock was suddenly elevated. “If I try to give it back to you again… will you take it this time?”
Veronica’s face softened. “Logan…” A flash of green pouring through the windshield cut her off. “The light’s green.” She looked away and started driving again.
Darkness consumed the rock as Logan’s fingers closed around it. “Second fiddle to a stoplight,” he groused, and then fell silent. The rock found itself sliding over the crinkly material of a light blue dress, and a leg came twitching upward. The car slowed suddenly and Logan laughed.
“Better keep driving,” he said, and Veronica accelerated again.
“Logan, stop!”
“I’m not doing anything,” he murmured, reaching down to pull her dress up over her knees. “It’s this damn koala. It’s like you said. She’s vicious.”
Veronica gasped, and the rock found itself drifting over a smooth expanse of skin, creeping slowly up her thigh. The coolness of the stone sent Veronica into a shiver, and Logan brushed the rock even higher. The car swerved sharply to the right, and then overcorrected to the left. Logan wrapped his fingers around the armrest, and concentrated on the patterns he was drawing on the inside of Veronica’s thigh. The side of his fingers brushed lightly against the juncture of her legs, and he could feel the moisture seeping through the thin layer of cloth separating her skin from his.
“Logan…” Veronica’s voice hovered between a warning and a plea, and he responded by swiping the rock lightly over the surface of her panties, moving it up and down against her. She cried out, hips jerking forward of their own accord as she awkwardly twisted the wheel to the right. Logan’s head slammed against the center console as the tires bounced against the curb. He grunted, rubbing his forehead as Veronica threw the Xterra into park.
“Maybe I should have driven,” Logan joked.
“Shut up,” she said, yanking his hand out from beneath her skirt. The koala rock bounced down to the floor, landing squarely between the gas pedal and the brake. It was a view the tiger rock would have appreciated.
Logan and Veronica stared at one another, her hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. Logan’s face was naked, open, and he spoke. “Do you want me to stop?”
Her grip around his wrist tightened further, and she suddenly jerked his hand back downward. “No,” she whispered, and then repeated the word. “No.”
Keeping a firm grip on his wrist, she slid his fingers up her thigh, and his eyes widened. “Veronica,” he whispered, leaning forward to nuzzle against her throat. He slid a finger beneath the elastic of her panties, gliding it lightly over her clit before pressing it slowly into her.
She reached up to wind her fingers through his hair, pressing him closer against her neck. He nipped gently at the skin above her shoulder and she shuddered. His finger slid slowly in and out of her, rotating his thumb over her clit in a steady rhythm. Her hips rocked against him as he began to move faster, and her hand clutched and loosened absently in his hair.
Sliding his lips up to pull softly at her ear lobe, he whispered her name again. She gasped, and turned to press her lips against his. Their tongues tangled together messily, and his thumb pressed against her more firmly, never stopping its steady, circular motion. She moaned into his mouth, and he pulled back to look into her eyes.
His hand stilled as he gazed at her, rapt. She whimpered and pressed her hips forward against his hand.
“Logan,” she said, and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “Please.”
His lips widened into a grin, and his finger slid into her again with a ferocity that hadn’t been present before. His thumb flew into action, rubbing across her sensitive skin. Her eyes clenched shut and her head snapped back against the headrest as she came apart in his hands with a deep, guttural moan.
He pulled his hand from beneath her skirt as she shuddered into a collapse against his shoulder.
“So does this mean you’re keeping the koala rock?” he asked, smiling.
“I think,” she said. “I think we’d better keep the rocks in the car. Wouldn’t want them to get lost.”
“Of course not,” he said. “You know, safety first and all that.”
“Right.”
So much for getting out of the car, thought the tiger rock, but then decided that he didn’t really mind.
Overhead, Veronica sighed against Logan, and his arms wrapped around her waist. They stayed like that for a long time, and all the while the rocks lay still, a silent, rapt audience to the events above.
~fin
Originally posted here at fic_from_mars.