The Best Memories [All 4 Parts]
Title:The Best Memories
Author: princess72385
Rating: PG-13 (just in case)
Words: 6, 572 total (part1: 1,437; part2: 1,389; part3: 1,738; part4: 2,008)
Summery: A trip down memory lane. (starts as future fic and works backwards to a pre-series fic)
Characters/Pairing: Logan, Veronica, Parker, Piz, Duncan, Lilly (Logan/Veronica, Logan/Parker, Veronica/Piz, Logan/Lilly, slight Duncan/Veronica)
Spoilers/Warnings: Everything. The whole series.
Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Not the characters, not the song, nothing. No beta, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N: Written for the current challenge over at fanfic_ripples. The song used is “Lollipop” by The Chordettes. Also, this turns out to be a day late. I had it in my head that it was due on the last day of February, but it turns out it was due on the 28th. Whoops. Still, I hope you enjoy it.
A/N: The story is split into four separately titled sections. They aren’t four separate pieces, just four separate chapters in one fic.
The Best Memories
1
Misty and Water Colored
“Tell me again why you’re making me do this?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow along with the question. He’d been asking the same question for over an hour and had yet to get a satisfying response. In truth, he was a little shocked each time she answered him, no matter what obscene answer she gave he was happy that she was giving one at all. He’d expected an annoyed “Fuck off” and then to be ignored for the rest of the time it took for them to sort their things and divide them between the two ever growing piles on the opposite sides of the room.
“Because, their your memories too and therefore you have a say in where they go and what happens to them.” Veronica answered, her annoyance becoming more and more obvious in her tone. She sighed deeply before adding, “and if you don’t stop asking that question I’m getting my taser and you don’t want that.”
Logan chose not to respond to the threat. If he had been sure it was empty he would have antagonized her a little more, until she was so annoyed that she told him to just go away. He hated going through their things and their memories, sorting and discarding, it seemed like such a horrible way to spend what little time they had together. But it was a genuine threat. He really didn’t have any doubt that if he asked why he had to do this again she would make sure knew what a thousand volts of electricity running through his body felt like. Again. Only this time he would not be accidentally doing it to himself while he curiously played with her weapon of choice while waiting for her to get ready for dinner.
“No one gets rid of this sort of stuff. Why don’t we just put this whole box-o-memories in your pile and be done with it?” Logan asked, handing her a box that bared his messy scrawl on the side. He’d thought it was pretty funny at the time to label every box that held anything with any kind of sentimental value as a ‘box-o-memories’. Right now it didn’t seem like such a hot idea. In with the pictures and videos and old cards he’d sent her while they were dating were stupid and meaningless items that he’d completely forgotten about.
And Veronica was determined that everything in this portion of the room be sorted today. Tomorrow they had the left side and the whole day after that was probably going to be spent going through the tiny storage room at the other end of the upstairs hallway.
Spring cleaning this year was turning out to be a nightmare, one he’d avoided last year with the convenience of having to be out of town for work. Sadly it was not a circumstance that could be repeated a second year in a row. She’d worked it out with his assistant and her work and they had a whole week of blank schedules to clean out the attic and the storage room and possibly the basement.
Logan had been hoping that a week off from his hectic production schedule and a week off from the magazine for her would mean a lot time being made up in the bedroom. They were both so busy lately they hardly had time for each other. Veronica kept saying that once she ‘paid her dues’ and became a full time staff photographer things would slow down. Logan had the misfortune of being idiotic enough to book three back to back to back films and wouldn’t have a truly free moment for a year after this week.
And here they were. Cleaning.
“What is this?” Veronica asked, pulling a large black, leather CD case decorated with bright purple flowers and hot pink hearts and big bubbly letters: Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind.
The words were written across the front of the case, like the title to a book or something. The lettering was reminiscent of Veronica’s, from the days of Lilly and the pep squad, but they reminded him more of college for some reason.
“Memories?” Logan supplied, reaching for the case but missing it completely as his wife swung it out of his reach. “See, that’s not fair. It’s like you’re that bully that holds something just out of reach and taunts. You’re a bully, Veronica.”
He said the last part so matter-of-factly it made her smile, the warm look in her eyes soothing any edge there may have been to it.
“Na-na-na-na-na-na.” Veronica sing-songed, leaning back to give her arm more length and hold the case even further away from him.
“See? You’re mean.” Logan sat up from the leaning position he’d been in while trying to make a grab at the prize she now held victoriously away from him. He folded his arms in front of him, across his chest, and pushed his bottom lip out in an overdone pout and sat there with a faux air of melodramatic petulance.
“Oh, poor baby.” Veronica teased, leaning back towards him to kiss away the rather silly expression. Turning she scooted backwards towards him until her backside connected with his front and she could lean against his chest.
“Okay, enough with the suspense, open it up, baby.” Logan demanded, clapping his hands loudly, trying to move her along. He had a vague memory of what this could be, even though he hadn’t seen in three years or opened it in five.
Unzipping it as slowly as she possible could, Veronica grinned at his sigh of frustration. She opened it quickly, hoping to avoid any further whining on his part.
“Oh, it’s those DVDs I made you our sophomore year.” Veronica announced, pleased that he still had them. She’d thought herself so silly and sentimental afterwards that she’d almost taken the gift back. In the end, she was glad she did it. He deserved to have a visual reminder of better times just as much as she did.
“Great. I thought I’d lost those in the move from the apartment to the house.” Logan commented, trying to hold in his excitement of finding the discs he had thought lost forever. Several boxes had quite literally fallen off the back of the truck when they’d moved from their small apartment to their much more spacious house.
“You know, you’re only twenty-six, Logan. I only gave these to you six years ago, you shouldn’t be forgetting this stuff yet.” She commented as she flipped through the pages of discs marked with the same bubbly handwriting she’d tried to recreate from the days when she’d written with pink glitter pens. Her hand hovered over a disc, one that he’d always enjoyed as well.
‘Same Old Song and Dance’
She’d titled each disc of memories like they were actual movies deserving of an official title. Somewhere in the back of the case was a disc containing the footage shot on their last homecoming with Lilly, entitled ‘I Never…”. Along with this one, they were the most watched out of any of the home videos she’d given him.
Veronica slid the disc out of it’s place and got up to put it in the DVD player.
“Lets take a break, watch something funny before we finish all this.” Veronica said, reaching her hands out to help him up. She always did that, offered him help. And he never accepted, knowing he’d pull her right down with him.
Standing, Logan swung Veronica up in his arms and carried her to the couch. He sat, never putting her down so she was already cuddled quite cozily on his lap as one of his best memories began playing on the screen.
He heard a soft chuckle from Veronica as Sean, Casey, John Enbom and several other guys from their class finished dancing to some ridiculously male hip-hop song.
“I love this video.” Logan told her, a grin spreading on his face as he pulled Veronica closer to his chest and relaxed into the cushions.
“I know.” Veronica replied knowingly. She did know how much he loved this video. She remembered how much he’d loved the performances of that night, Neptune High’s talent show. He’d enjoyed it almost as much as he had enjoyed the rehearsals. “This was the one and only time I ever willingly got on stage and sang in front of everyone. Minus the one or two times I’ve done karaoke.”
Logan sighed before whispering “I know” into her ear.
___________________________________________________________________________________
2
Home Videos
Parker checked her make up for what had to be the fifteenth time. It was perfect, her hair was perfect, not one single strand out of place. She checked just to make sure.
She and Logan had been in this weird holding pattern since last year, when they’d broken up over that horrible video of Veronica and his fight with Piz. Scratch that. It wasn’t a fight. A fight implied that poor Piz had had a chance to defend himself instead of the brutal beat down he’d received.
True, she had broken up with Logan immediately afterwards, but after a month in Colorado with her parents she’d flown back to Neptune and gone to visit her ex. He’d been open, receptive of her idea to talk things out, take things slow and try to make it work. At least, he’d seemed receptive at the time. Now, she had to call him four times before he picked up the phone, and even then it was a struggle to keep him in the conversation. Like he was in constant distraction mode and she was no longer the thing that kept his attention focused. If she ever was at all.
Veronica and Piz had broken up suddenly, quite recently in fact. And Logan’s distraction seemed to be in direct correlation to it. The moment he’d gotten word that Veronica was single again he started pushing her away. Again.
She checked her lip gloss again. Maybe it was the wrong shade for their date. It was supposed to be a nice restaurant and the shade was a little dark. It could come off as trampy.
Pulling out her small makeup case again, she held up the gloss she was currently wearing and a much lighter shade of pink, trying to decide if she should switch or stick with her original decision. The deep mauvish pink of her current gloss was sexy, but that could work against her. The light pink looked innocent, but is she looked too innocent all her plans of sleeping with Logan tonight might loose their fizzle.
Opening the bathroom door she walked quickly out to the living room where Logan was waiting, determined to ask his opinion. It was a long shot at best, he didn’t know anything about lip gloss or the fact that one color might make her look one way and the other another way. But she had to try. Right?
“Lo-” Parker started, but was stopped by the sight of him watching some old video of two girls singing on a stage. It was strange, for him to be watching two small looking teenage girls singing and dancing around on a giant stage that was decorated with glittery green and gold cardboard cut-outs of letters spelling out ‘Spring Talent Show 2003’.
Logan hadn’t heard her, didn’t turn around or sit up straight or anything. He just sat there, slightly hunched over and pulling at the sleeves of his button down shirt. Pulling on the sleeves, that was something she’d never saw him do. And she’d never seen the expression that he had on his face before, one of pure amusement.
She stood there, completely silent, completely still, with the two tubes of lip gloss still held out in front of her.
“Crazy way he thrills me, I’ll tell you why.” Sang the girls on screen. The smaller one looked more and more familiar the more she stared at her.
Squinting, as if it would make her see better, Parker studied the girl. If her hair was a little shorter, her clothes a little darker, her eye makeup a lot blacker, and her attitude less cheery, she was Veronica.
Veronica.
Parker was here, getting ready for their big date where they would finally make some sort of decision regarding their relationship. And he was entertaining himself as he waited for her by watching an old video of his ex-girlfriend. How could he?
The other girl looked familiar as well, but in a less I-know-her-personally way and in a more I’ve-seen-pictures way. It was Lilly Kane. Logan’s famed first love, the one that was murdered back in oh-three by his father after their affair went sour.
That’s when she knew. She saw the amused, adoring, enraptured look on Logan’s face and she just knew. He would never get over her. Them. Lilly and Veronica would always be these specters hovering over her relationship with Logan, calling him back. Lilly would always be there, something he couldn’t shake. No matter how hard he tried. Even if he never got back together with Veronica, she would haunt his relationships forever.
They were his two great loves. His first love and the love of his life. They’d been best friends, supposedly. From the few stories he’d told her about the days before his beloved Lilly was murdered, they were quite a team. And Parker believed it, although she had a hard time imagining Veronica as the sidekick rather than the star. She had a hard time picturing Logan giving anyone other than Veronica those looks of love she always saw him give her when he thought no one was looking. When he thought she wasn’t looking.
“I’m going to go.” Parker said, her voice calm and quiet, the opposite of what she felt. Inside she was screaming and crying, asking him why he couldn’t just love her.
“What? You’re ready to go?” Logan asked, just realizing she was there after five minutes. Parker remembered a time when he was so aware of Veronica, she could enter a room and he instinctively knew where she was without having to look.
“No. I’m going to go home.” Parker didn’t want to say the words. She didn’t want to be the one breaking up again. She had to do it last time, and it was devastatingly hard. She liked Logan so much, it was possible that she was in love with him, but he was in love with someone else. And probably always would be.
“What are you talking about?” He’s just as clueless about the break up now as he was the last time. It breaks her heart, that he could be so out of touch with her feelings that he doesn’t even see it coming.
“You’re still in love with her. With them. They’re these two great loves. They were both so amazing and I can’t live up to that. Even if I could, I don’t think I’d ever be there.” Parker desperately wanted out of there. Breaking up with him was hard enough, admitting that she wasn’t enough was ripping her apart. She’d tried so hard, but it wasn’t enough and no matter how much she knew that it wasn’t her fault, she still felt like curling up into the fetal position and crying.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be where? What are you talking about, Parker?” Logan was near frantic now, and she could tell that the thought of him being alone scared him. He hadn’t been alone in over a year.
“I’ll never be on that level with you, not like they are. And I don’t want to have to work for it, I want to be able to just exist there because you love me, not because there’s no one else.” Her tears were pressing against the pack of her eyelids now and it was an effort to keep them there.
Logan had the good sense not to say anything. Any response he could have would likely insult her further. If he told her she was wrong, that she was on their level, with Lilly and Veronica, he’d be lying. If he told her she was right, that she deserved better, he’d be reducing it-them-down to a cliché.
“I’ll be back for the rest of my stuff tomorrow. I just… I have to leave. I can’t be here anymore, not with you, not when you make me feel like this. I just, I just have to go.” Parker stammered, her voice breaking on repressed sobs.
She wouldn’t cry. Not here, not in front of him. She’d keep it back, hold it in until she got home. She’d cry and scream and swear and throw things, but until then she’d stay calm and collected.
Just like Veronica. And, probably, just like Lilly.
___________________________________________________________________________________
3
Same Old Song and Dance
“Hey! What’s with all the video tapes?” Piz shouted our to Veronica, lifting the tape on the top of the pile to get a look at the ones underneath. They were all titled and dated. All made long before he ever knew her and all bearing names like Lilly and Duncan and Logan. Two people he never met and one he wished he didn’t.
“Oh, I’m converting them all to DVD. Doing a little editing, titles and credits and stuff. You know, memories and keepsakes and sentimentality, all the good stuff.” Veronica grabbed her jacket off the back of her desk chair and slipped it on, making for her bedroom door.
Piz picked up a disc and read the title, and another. Same title. Same Old Song and Dance. He set the discs down again, gently so they wouldn’t scratch. It seemed like she had been spending a lot of time on making these. But, why are there two copies?
“Hey, I’m going to run and take Backup out for a potty break real quick. You can stay here, I’ll be right back.” There was hesitance in her voice, like she was waiting for him to argue and follow her outside with her.
She didn’t like leaving him alone in her room, he knew that but he wasn’t in the mood to go out again so soon after getting here. He turned to look at her, nodding.
“I’ll just wait for you in here, then we can figure out what we’re going to do tonight. Okay?” He stared at her, waiting for her to turn and leave. In her mind she probably thought leaving him in here would result in him doing some sort of snooping. Finding her secrets or her journal or something. “Sooner you go, sooner you get back.”
She nodded, pressing her lips together in what seemed like a gesture meant to keep the words she really wanted to say at bay. Probably her keeping herself from demanding he go with her, that they could ‘play on the beach’ for a little while. But it was chilly out and he didn’t bring a coat and she didn’t really like having him with her on the dog walks. Didn’t need the company.
Veronica turned back around and called out for the dog as she made her way to the front door. He moved so that he could watch her walk from where he was. She lifted the leash off the hook and clipped it to the pit bull’s collar.
The moment the front door slammed shut he almost dove for the tapes. He was dying to see a pre-college Veronica, something that showed what she had been like. She was always saying that she was different when her friend Lilly was alive. The famous Lilly, the one in all the pictures with a giggling Veronica. The two of them seemed so sweet and young, back in the days of their innocence, before Veronica became this hard person she was now. Before the bad ass version of her.
He didn’t really know anything about Lilly. He just knew that in every picture Veronica had around her room she glowed and Veronica was grinning. Veronica rarely spoke about her dead friend, but he could see the longing on her face every time her glance caught one of the many photos placed around her room.
Piz picked up the first video cassette, one marked ‘Veronica & Lilly: Spring Talent Show 2003’.
The images that filled the screen made him laugh. There she was. His tough girlfriend, dancing around on stage. Her hair was longer than he’d ever seen it, and blonder. She had darker streaks in it now, showing her age and her style now. She was wearing a pale pink dress that looked like she’d stepped out of a fifties movie about a sock hop.
Veronica looked so young and so innocent she danced along to an old song he’d heard his mother playing once or twice when he was younger. She wore pale pink lip gloss and was decked out in pastel colors from head to toe. She looked like the only thing she ever worried about was whether she had any hairs out of place, not whether or not she was going to get the money shot or not.
“His kiss is sweeter than an apple pie. And when he does his shaky rockin' dance. Man, I haven't got a chance.” The two girls’ voices rang out from the television. Clear and sweet. Something he’d never heard. Veornica wasn’t one for huge public displays, didn’t want the sole attention of the room to be on her. She preferred the anonymity. This Veronica on the the screen seemed to want the opposite. She reveled in the attention and was comfortable there, on stage.
The other girl, Lilly, looked even more comfortable there, in the center of everything. This was a girl he didn’t know, both of them were girls he didn’t know. With a stunning sense of reality, Piz realized that he didn’t know anything about Veronica. He didn’t know how she got from this to who she is now. How she got from Point A to Point B in just a few years.
At the same time she was dealing with murder and rape and everything he was living a normal, if not boring, life in Oregan. He remembered her comments from that first day they met. He’d been so open, telling her what a good place Beaverton was and how trusting everyone was there. And she’d made fun of him with a sarcastic comment that he’d brushed off at them time because he thought she was hot.
At the moment his epipany hit, the camera turned and focused away from the girls as their performance ended. Logan. The camera focused on Logan Echolls, who wore a look of such adoring that it made Piz’s stomach drop. He’d seen that look before. So often while he was dating Veronica at the beginning of freshman year. Even now that Piz was with her, whenever Logan thought nobody was looking he looked at Veronica in the same way. As if she was everything.
Piz had an understanding that at the time, Logan hadn’t been dating Veronica but Lilly. But the look was the same and Piz had the distinct feeling that it wasn’t just meant for his girlfriend but Veronica as well.
Piz looked at the discs sitting on the desk, and the fact that there were two of each. Then he saw it. The large black, leather case lying open on the desk. It was half full of discs, titled and decorated. There was a notecard set next to the case, ready to be slid into it’s pristine white envelope.
Ignoring the sense of foreboding he got as he picked up the glossy pink card.
Logan-
I was going through some old tapes of all of us, converting them and stuff. I made you copies. They’re not the originals and I know you had some really good ones. Particularly most of the tapes of Lilly and I when we were too drunk to realize you were taping our stupidity. Aw, good times.
-Veronica
Piz put the card back in its spot as he sunk down into the computer chair. Logan was always going to be around. He was always going to know Veronica better, understand her better. No matter what Piz did, Logan would always be better.
“Hey! I’m back.” Veronica called out as he heard the door slide open and shut. Piz didn’t bother getting up to greet her, she’d be in front of him at any moment. Asking him what he was doing, why he was watching her tapes. How dare he go through her things.
“What are you doing?” She asked, predictably, her voice full of annoyance as she stood there with her hands on her hips and anger on her face. “These are my tapes, my extrememly personal tapes that you have no right to watch.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Piz said in a monotone, losing any fight he may have had over this. It was never going to work, not when he knew that Logan would always be around, in the back of her mind.
“Then why did you do it? How dare you go through my things, like you have any right.” Veronica began to gather her things ups. Her precious tapes that she was so worried about, so angry at him for seeing.
“They’re just tapes, Veronica.” Piz told her, pointing out the obvious, knowing that it would just piss her off more.
“No, they’re not just tapes. They’re my memories, and it’s my privacy and you have no right violating that. Get out.” Veronica demanded, reaching for the CD case and noticing the notecard sitting askew. “Did you read this?”
She held the card in her hand, staring at him with shocked incredulity. He’d really pissed her off now.
“I can’t believe you. You not only went through my things, you read my personal…” She trailed off, shaking her head angrily. “Not even Logan, in all his over-protectiveness ever did that. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? Your jealousy over Logan?”
“It’s not jealousy. It’s just that I’m sick of always wondering exactly how I don’t measure up today. How long it’s going to take for you to finally end it because as of right now, I’m kind of sick of waiting for it.” Piz was standing now, his voice rising as he got angrier. She always thought he was a pushover, and maybe he was. He was always letting her do and say anything, never calling her out on things and now he was sick of it. He didn’t matter to her, and no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, she treated him as such.
“Well, congratualations. You don’t have to wait anymore, don’t have to wonder. It’s over. Now get out.” She turned her back on him, continued to stack, unstack and re-stack her tapes. Her back was rigid and he could tell that she was pointedly ignoring him until he left.
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Picking up his book bag, he shook his head and turned to the door.
___________________________________________________________________________________
4
Lollipop
“This is your own fault, you know?” Logan told her, trying desperately not to laugh.
Veronica stood in the center of the room in a custom made candy pink dress. A-line and sleeveless, it fell just below her knees. Her pink Monolos made the outfit ‘pop’ as Lilly put it. The whole outfit was bought and paid for on the Kane dime. A look to help along the fifties-esque illusion of her and Lilly’s talent show performance. Veronica had stood at the tailors for a grand total of six hours while the woman clucked her tongue and poked her with needles, saying how she was so short and so petite. Apparently it was a hassle after working with Lilly’s more voluptuous body.
She’d even heard her mumble it was almost like dressing a twelve year old boy rather than a fifteen year old girl. It hadn’t exactly been an accident when Veronica had leaned back on her heel and stepped on the woman’s hand.
“How is this my fault?” Veronica whined, looking at herself in Lilly’s full-length mirror that she’d brought down from her room. She didn’t look that bad, and once she had her hair and makeup done it would be pretty. The problem was she’d have to wear this. On stage. While singing.
“You agreed. Lilly begged and begged, and you finally gave in. It’s completely your fault.” Logan was still struggling with his laughter. “Not only that, when she asked you what song you thought the two of you should sing you said, and I quote, I don’t care.”
Veronica gave him a look of utter annoyance. It was funny how she did that. Sweet little Veronica Mars was never annoyed with anyone, save for Logan. He didn’t know what it was about him, but he had a talent at pushing her buttons like no one else. He also got the best laughs. He might know exactly how to annoy her, but he knew how to make her laugh as well.
“I’m just saying. Your fault.” He pointed out again, and had to duck to avoid the empty shoebox being hurled at his head.
A loud clapping filled the room as Lilly entered, announcing her presence.
“Okay people, time for a dress rehearsal.” Lilly shouted as if she was talking to much larger crowd than her boyfriend and best friend.
“God, Lilly, do you have to shout?” Logan whined, her voice was reverberating in his head annoyingly. They were recently back together again after almost a month apart and he was nursing the hangover from hell after a night of celebratory drinking.
“Another rehearsal, Lilly? You don’t think that practicing this song and dance every day for the last three weeks was enough?” Veronica was whiney as well, she was tired of this song, she hated the dance and if she spent one more second in this outfit in front of Logan she’d die of embarrassment. Logan Echolls was the last person she’d wanted to model this in front of, but Lilly had insisted, shoving her out of the bathroom as she finished changing. Veronica wondered why she even bothered changing in the bathroom, it’s not like Logan would have been against see. Of course if that had happened she would have been locked in the bathroom while they went at it.
“Stop whining Logan, you’re the one that can’t just drink one. It’s not my problem you drank half a bottle of Vodka on your own.” Lilly told him, her hands propped on her hips as she stared him down. She turned to Veronica. “And yes, I think we need to rehearse a little more. We’re still half a minute off on our choreography. We only have three days and we haven’t practiced at all in our dresses. And more than that, we haven’t been dancing in heels, so we should do it a couple times in the shoes we’re going to be wearing on Friday.”
“But, Lilly…” Veronica started, glancing at the clock. Duncan would be done with soccer practice soon, and home to sit with Logan on the couch in the Rec Room to watch them do their performance. Again and again. She was tired and cranky after spending forty-five minutes at pep club after school and an hour at the mall. She just wanted to go home and take a nap before dinner with her parents and having to do her homework. Duncan and Logan wanted to go to a movie later tonight too, but Lilly had vetoed that too. It would be all work and no play until after that performance on Friday.
She’d never seen Lilly so dedicated to something, willing to work and work for something instead of just letting someone else do it for her. Veronica suspected that it had something to do with bragging rights if they were to win best in show. The prize money meant nothing to her, but if they won Lilly would be able to hold it over everyone’s head. Especially Madison Sinclair, who had entered the talent show competition against Lilly’s wishes. Baton twirling. Ha! Like that would win against her and Lilly’s self choreographed performance of some old song that Lilly insisted would ‘endear them to the judges’, who apparently were old.
“Okay! Places!” Lilly called. It was almost as if she were talking to a whole room of dancers, all of which had an assigned dance space. Instead it was just Veronica, who continued standing exactly where she was.
“Logan? Could you go away?” Veronica asked, her tone begging him to understand. He knew she didn’t want to do this. They’d talked about it a lot over the last three weeks, since Lilly came up with the talent show idea and Veronica got talked into it.
Logan hated it when he and Lilly broke up, but whenever they did he started spending more time with Veronica. He didn’t always talk about Lilly either, most of the time he just like to sit and hangout with her. Sometimes, he even brought over his book bag and did homework with her at her kitchen table. He joked that he got the best grades when Lilly broke up with him because it was all Veronica did on week nights. Study.
Each time they got back together, Veronica felt a little sad that she lost that time with Logan. As much as she griped about his possible ADHD while they were sitting there studying, it was fun to have someone there goof off with while her mother sat in her room ‘reading’ and her dad was at work. There was something going on between her parents these days that she just couldn’t put her finger on. But it wasn’t good.
“No, Veronica. Logan is our sample audience. He has to stay. How else would we know if we’re a step off or out of tune.” Lilly argued, fixing Logan with a stare that meant that he better not leave. She leaned towards him to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “Besides, I need eye candy… Other than you.”
Veronica rolled her eyes and Logan looked kind of annoyed as well. He would have stayed if she had just simply asked him to. But she had reduced him to just being something pretty to look at. He hated the way Lilly always did, made his importance less than what it was. It was always one of the main things he complained about during the breakups.
“Okay, Lilly. Lets get this over with.” Veronica interrupted the oncoming fight in favor of rehearsal.
*
“You nervous?” Logan asked, presenting her with a bouquet of baby pink roses almost the exact shade of her dress.
“Not really. It’s just the people from school. And their parents. And everyone else.” Veronica let out a calming breath, she’d done this kind of stuff in front of people all the time with pep squad. Plus, being one of the most popular girls in school made her a constant center of attention. This was nothing. Yeah, right.
“You look kind of nervous. Enjoy your flowers. And remember, even though DK got you a dozen red ones, mine match your dress.” Logan pointed out, seeing Duncan headed straight for them, carrying a dozen red roses and a dozen white ones for Lilly.
“I’ll see you after the show.” Logan told her, leaning forward to give her a hug for luck and kiss on the forehead. He was protective, and had argued with her for a good hour after she’d agreed to this. He didn’t want anyone making fun of her, or Lilly, and if they didn’t do well or didn’t win he was scared she’d be disappointed.
“It’ll be fine Logan. You’d better go find Lilly, or we’re going to miss our cue to go on stage.” Veronica instructed as he pulled away. “She’s probably back in the dressing rooms, fixing her makeup again.”
Logan nodded and headed off in the direction of the ‘dressing rooms’, a second bouquet of pink roses hanging at his side.
*
Logan concentrated on the girls on stage, dancing in perfect sync and singing loud and clear. They looked perfect and all those hours of practice that they’d put in paid off. There were a sure win. Especially since Madison had dropped her baton. Twice.
“I call him. Lollipop lollipop. Oh lolli lolli lolli. Lollipop lollipop...” They sang, finished the song, perfectly in tune. Veronica’s voice was louder and clearer than Lilly’s. She had a natural singing voice and if they won it would be because Lilly had chosen Veronica to sing with.
It was funny. Veronica had been so against performing in the talent show, but she seemed more at ease with it than Lilly. She was a natural performer, and her talent and personality made her nearly glow on stage. Like she belonged there.
Logan felt the odd and familiar feeling of being watched. There was a camera on him. He knew it. He had a sixth sense about it now, but attributed that to having been in front of the cameras all his life.
“What?” Logan asked, not even turning to look at Luke, who had been filming the whole show at Veronica’s behest. Luke had resisted, but with a tilt of her head and a flip of her hair, Veronica had gotten exactly what she wanted. Luke sitting up in the audience with a camera permanently attached to his hand.
“Nothing, just that your girls’ just finished to a standing ovation. What do you have to say about that, Mr. Echolls?” Luke asked, his voice taking on the air of an on-air reporter.
“Nothing. Except if you call me Mr. Echolls again you better be prepared to spend your summer in traction instead of on the baseball field.” Logan threatened. Mr. Echolls was his father and Logan was nothing like his father. He made it his life’s goal to be nothing like his father.
“There going to be an after party tonight? Because I’m lookin to P-A-R-T-Y!” Dick Casablancas announced from the row of seats behind Logan, Duncan and Luke, clapping Logan and Duncan on their backs as he inserted his head between them.
“Wow, Dick. I’m shocked you know how to spell party.” Logan commented dryly. There would be an after party, if he and Lilly could convince Veronica and Duncan into having one.
The Kane parents were out of town and Lilly had promised to ‘show her boy how much like a lollipop he really was’ if Veronica agreed to a party at the house.
He was unlikely to get the same offer from the smaller blonde, no matter how much he fantasized about it, so this was as good as he was going to get.
Grinning, Logan stood and exited his row behind Duncan as Luke fiddled with the camera a bit behind him. “Gee, my lollipop is great.” Yes. Yes, it will be.
Author: princess72385
Rating: PG-13 (just in case)
Words: 6, 572 total (part1: 1,437; part2: 1,389; part3: 1,738; part4: 2,008)
Summery: A trip down memory lane. (starts as future fic and works backwards to a pre-series fic)
Characters/Pairing: Logan, Veronica, Parker, Piz, Duncan, Lilly (Logan/Veronica, Logan/Parker, Veronica/Piz, Logan/Lilly, slight Duncan/Veronica)
Spoilers/Warnings: Everything. The whole series.
Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Not the characters, not the song, nothing. No beta, so all mistakes are mine.
A/N: Written for the current challenge over at fanfic_ripples. The song used is “Lollipop” by The Chordettes. Also, this turns out to be a day late. I had it in my head that it was due on the last day of February, but it turns out it was due on the 28th. Whoops. Still, I hope you enjoy it.
A/N: The story is split into four separately titled sections. They aren’t four separate pieces, just four separate chapters in one fic.
The Best Memories
1
Misty and Water Colored
“Tell me again why you’re making me do this?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow along with the question. He’d been asking the same question for over an hour and had yet to get a satisfying response. In truth, he was a little shocked each time she answered him, no matter what obscene answer she gave he was happy that she was giving one at all. He’d expected an annoyed “Fuck off” and then to be ignored for the rest of the time it took for them to sort their things and divide them between the two ever growing piles on the opposite sides of the room.
“Because, their your memories too and therefore you have a say in where they go and what happens to them.” Veronica answered, her annoyance becoming more and more obvious in her tone. She sighed deeply before adding, “and if you don’t stop asking that question I’m getting my taser and you don’t want that.”
Logan chose not to respond to the threat. If he had been sure it was empty he would have antagonized her a little more, until she was so annoyed that she told him to just go away. He hated going through their things and their memories, sorting and discarding, it seemed like such a horrible way to spend what little time they had together. But it was a genuine threat. He really didn’t have any doubt that if he asked why he had to do this again she would make sure knew what a thousand volts of electricity running through his body felt like. Again. Only this time he would not be accidentally doing it to himself while he curiously played with her weapon of choice while waiting for her to get ready for dinner.
“No one gets rid of this sort of stuff. Why don’t we just put this whole box-o-memories in your pile and be done with it?” Logan asked, handing her a box that bared his messy scrawl on the side. He’d thought it was pretty funny at the time to label every box that held anything with any kind of sentimental value as a ‘box-o-memories’. Right now it didn’t seem like such a hot idea. In with the pictures and videos and old cards he’d sent her while they were dating were stupid and meaningless items that he’d completely forgotten about.
And Veronica was determined that everything in this portion of the room be sorted today. Tomorrow they had the left side and the whole day after that was probably going to be spent going through the tiny storage room at the other end of the upstairs hallway.
Spring cleaning this year was turning out to be a nightmare, one he’d avoided last year with the convenience of having to be out of town for work. Sadly it was not a circumstance that could be repeated a second year in a row. She’d worked it out with his assistant and her work and they had a whole week of blank schedules to clean out the attic and the storage room and possibly the basement.
Logan had been hoping that a week off from his hectic production schedule and a week off from the magazine for her would mean a lot time being made up in the bedroom. They were both so busy lately they hardly had time for each other. Veronica kept saying that once she ‘paid her dues’ and became a full time staff photographer things would slow down. Logan had the misfortune of being idiotic enough to book three back to back to back films and wouldn’t have a truly free moment for a year after this week.
And here they were. Cleaning.
“What is this?” Veronica asked, pulling a large black, leather CD case decorated with bright purple flowers and hot pink hearts and big bubbly letters: Memories, Like the Corners of My Mind.
The words were written across the front of the case, like the title to a book or something. The lettering was reminiscent of Veronica’s, from the days of Lilly and the pep squad, but they reminded him more of college for some reason.
“Memories?” Logan supplied, reaching for the case but missing it completely as his wife swung it out of his reach. “See, that’s not fair. It’s like you’re that bully that holds something just out of reach and taunts. You’re a bully, Veronica.”
He said the last part so matter-of-factly it made her smile, the warm look in her eyes soothing any edge there may have been to it.
“Na-na-na-na-na-na.” Veronica sing-songed, leaning back to give her arm more length and hold the case even further away from him.
“See? You’re mean.” Logan sat up from the leaning position he’d been in while trying to make a grab at the prize she now held victoriously away from him. He folded his arms in front of him, across his chest, and pushed his bottom lip out in an overdone pout and sat there with a faux air of melodramatic petulance.
“Oh, poor baby.” Veronica teased, leaning back towards him to kiss away the rather silly expression. Turning she scooted backwards towards him until her backside connected with his front and she could lean against his chest.
“Okay, enough with the suspense, open it up, baby.” Logan demanded, clapping his hands loudly, trying to move her along. He had a vague memory of what this could be, even though he hadn’t seen in three years or opened it in five.
Unzipping it as slowly as she possible could, Veronica grinned at his sigh of frustration. She opened it quickly, hoping to avoid any further whining on his part.
“Oh, it’s those DVDs I made you our sophomore year.” Veronica announced, pleased that he still had them. She’d thought herself so silly and sentimental afterwards that she’d almost taken the gift back. In the end, she was glad she did it. He deserved to have a visual reminder of better times just as much as she did.
“Great. I thought I’d lost those in the move from the apartment to the house.” Logan commented, trying to hold in his excitement of finding the discs he had thought lost forever. Several boxes had quite literally fallen off the back of the truck when they’d moved from their small apartment to their much more spacious house.
“You know, you’re only twenty-six, Logan. I only gave these to you six years ago, you shouldn’t be forgetting this stuff yet.” She commented as she flipped through the pages of discs marked with the same bubbly handwriting she’d tried to recreate from the days when she’d written with pink glitter pens. Her hand hovered over a disc, one that he’d always enjoyed as well.
‘Same Old Song and Dance’
She’d titled each disc of memories like they were actual movies deserving of an official title. Somewhere in the back of the case was a disc containing the footage shot on their last homecoming with Lilly, entitled ‘I Never…”. Along with this one, they were the most watched out of any of the home videos she’d given him.
Veronica slid the disc out of it’s place and got up to put it in the DVD player.
“Lets take a break, watch something funny before we finish all this.” Veronica said, reaching her hands out to help him up. She always did that, offered him help. And he never accepted, knowing he’d pull her right down with him.
Standing, Logan swung Veronica up in his arms and carried her to the couch. He sat, never putting her down so she was already cuddled quite cozily on his lap as one of his best memories began playing on the screen.
He heard a soft chuckle from Veronica as Sean, Casey, John Enbom and several other guys from their class finished dancing to some ridiculously male hip-hop song.
“I love this video.” Logan told her, a grin spreading on his face as he pulled Veronica closer to his chest and relaxed into the cushions.
“I know.” Veronica replied knowingly. She did know how much he loved this video. She remembered how much he’d loved the performances of that night, Neptune High’s talent show. He’d enjoyed it almost as much as he had enjoyed the rehearsals. “This was the one and only time I ever willingly got on stage and sang in front of everyone. Minus the one or two times I’ve done karaoke.”
Logan sighed before whispering “I know” into her ear.
___________________________________________________________________________________
2
Home Videos
Parker checked her make up for what had to be the fifteenth time. It was perfect, her hair was perfect, not one single strand out of place. She checked just to make sure.
She and Logan had been in this weird holding pattern since last year, when they’d broken up over that horrible video of Veronica and his fight with Piz. Scratch that. It wasn’t a fight. A fight implied that poor Piz had had a chance to defend himself instead of the brutal beat down he’d received.
True, she had broken up with Logan immediately afterwards, but after a month in Colorado with her parents she’d flown back to Neptune and gone to visit her ex. He’d been open, receptive of her idea to talk things out, take things slow and try to make it work. At least, he’d seemed receptive at the time. Now, she had to call him four times before he picked up the phone, and even then it was a struggle to keep him in the conversation. Like he was in constant distraction mode and she was no longer the thing that kept his attention focused. If she ever was at all.
Veronica and Piz had broken up suddenly, quite recently in fact. And Logan’s distraction seemed to be in direct correlation to it. The moment he’d gotten word that Veronica was single again he started pushing her away. Again.
She checked her lip gloss again. Maybe it was the wrong shade for their date. It was supposed to be a nice restaurant and the shade was a little dark. It could come off as trampy.
Pulling out her small makeup case again, she held up the gloss she was currently wearing and a much lighter shade of pink, trying to decide if she should switch or stick with her original decision. The deep mauvish pink of her current gloss was sexy, but that could work against her. The light pink looked innocent, but is she looked too innocent all her plans of sleeping with Logan tonight might loose their fizzle.
Opening the bathroom door she walked quickly out to the living room where Logan was waiting, determined to ask his opinion. It was a long shot at best, he didn’t know anything about lip gloss or the fact that one color might make her look one way and the other another way. But she had to try. Right?
“Lo-” Parker started, but was stopped by the sight of him watching some old video of two girls singing on a stage. It was strange, for him to be watching two small looking teenage girls singing and dancing around on a giant stage that was decorated with glittery green and gold cardboard cut-outs of letters spelling out ‘Spring Talent Show 2003’.
Logan hadn’t heard her, didn’t turn around or sit up straight or anything. He just sat there, slightly hunched over and pulling at the sleeves of his button down shirt. Pulling on the sleeves, that was something she’d never saw him do. And she’d never seen the expression that he had on his face before, one of pure amusement.
She stood there, completely silent, completely still, with the two tubes of lip gloss still held out in front of her.
“Crazy way he thrills me, I’ll tell you why.” Sang the girls on screen. The smaller one looked more and more familiar the more she stared at her.
Squinting, as if it would make her see better, Parker studied the girl. If her hair was a little shorter, her clothes a little darker, her eye makeup a lot blacker, and her attitude less cheery, she was Veronica.
Veronica.
Parker was here, getting ready for their big date where they would finally make some sort of decision regarding their relationship. And he was entertaining himself as he waited for her by watching an old video of his ex-girlfriend. How could he?
The other girl looked familiar as well, but in a less I-know-her-personally way and in a more I’ve-seen-pictures way. It was Lilly Kane. Logan’s famed first love, the one that was murdered back in oh-three by his father after their affair went sour.
That’s when she knew. She saw the amused, adoring, enraptured look on Logan’s face and she just knew. He would never get over her. Them. Lilly and Veronica would always be these specters hovering over her relationship with Logan, calling him back. Lilly would always be there, something he couldn’t shake. No matter how hard he tried. Even if he never got back together with Veronica, she would haunt his relationships forever.
They were his two great loves. His first love and the love of his life. They’d been best friends, supposedly. From the few stories he’d told her about the days before his beloved Lilly was murdered, they were quite a team. And Parker believed it, although she had a hard time imagining Veronica as the sidekick rather than the star. She had a hard time picturing Logan giving anyone other than Veronica those looks of love she always saw him give her when he thought no one was looking. When he thought she wasn’t looking.
“I’m going to go.” Parker said, her voice calm and quiet, the opposite of what she felt. Inside she was screaming and crying, asking him why he couldn’t just love her.
“What? You’re ready to go?” Logan asked, just realizing she was there after five minutes. Parker remembered a time when he was so aware of Veronica, she could enter a room and he instinctively knew where she was without having to look.
“No. I’m going to go home.” Parker didn’t want to say the words. She didn’t want to be the one breaking up again. She had to do it last time, and it was devastatingly hard. She liked Logan so much, it was possible that she was in love with him, but he was in love with someone else. And probably always would be.
“What are you talking about?” He’s just as clueless about the break up now as he was the last time. It breaks her heart, that he could be so out of touch with her feelings that he doesn’t even see it coming.
“You’re still in love with her. With them. They’re these two great loves. They were both so amazing and I can’t live up to that. Even if I could, I don’t think I’d ever be there.” Parker desperately wanted out of there. Breaking up with him was hard enough, admitting that she wasn’t enough was ripping her apart. She’d tried so hard, but it wasn’t enough and no matter how much she knew that it wasn’t her fault, she still felt like curling up into the fetal position and crying.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be where? What are you talking about, Parker?” Logan was near frantic now, and she could tell that the thought of him being alone scared him. He hadn’t been alone in over a year.
“I’ll never be on that level with you, not like they are. And I don’t want to have to work for it, I want to be able to just exist there because you love me, not because there’s no one else.” Her tears were pressing against the pack of her eyelids now and it was an effort to keep them there.
Logan had the good sense not to say anything. Any response he could have would likely insult her further. If he told her she was wrong, that she was on their level, with Lilly and Veronica, he’d be lying. If he told her she was right, that she deserved better, he’d be reducing it-them-down to a cliché.
“I’ll be back for the rest of my stuff tomorrow. I just… I have to leave. I can’t be here anymore, not with you, not when you make me feel like this. I just, I just have to go.” Parker stammered, her voice breaking on repressed sobs.
She wouldn’t cry. Not here, not in front of him. She’d keep it back, hold it in until she got home. She’d cry and scream and swear and throw things, but until then she’d stay calm and collected.
Just like Veronica. And, probably, just like Lilly.
___________________________________________________________________________________
3
Same Old Song and Dance
“Hey! What’s with all the video tapes?” Piz shouted our to Veronica, lifting the tape on the top of the pile to get a look at the ones underneath. They were all titled and dated. All made long before he ever knew her and all bearing names like Lilly and Duncan and Logan. Two people he never met and one he wished he didn’t.
“Oh, I’m converting them all to DVD. Doing a little editing, titles and credits and stuff. You know, memories and keepsakes and sentimentality, all the good stuff.” Veronica grabbed her jacket off the back of her desk chair and slipped it on, making for her bedroom door.
Piz picked up a disc and read the title, and another. Same title. Same Old Song and Dance. He set the discs down again, gently so they wouldn’t scratch. It seemed like she had been spending a lot of time on making these. But, why are there two copies?
“Hey, I’m going to run and take Backup out for a potty break real quick. You can stay here, I’ll be right back.” There was hesitance in her voice, like she was waiting for him to argue and follow her outside with her.
She didn’t like leaving him alone in her room, he knew that but he wasn’t in the mood to go out again so soon after getting here. He turned to look at her, nodding.
“I’ll just wait for you in here, then we can figure out what we’re going to do tonight. Okay?” He stared at her, waiting for her to turn and leave. In her mind she probably thought leaving him in here would result in him doing some sort of snooping. Finding her secrets or her journal or something. “Sooner you go, sooner you get back.”
She nodded, pressing her lips together in what seemed like a gesture meant to keep the words she really wanted to say at bay. Probably her keeping herself from demanding he go with her, that they could ‘play on the beach’ for a little while. But it was chilly out and he didn’t bring a coat and she didn’t really like having him with her on the dog walks. Didn’t need the company.
Veronica turned back around and called out for the dog as she made her way to the front door. He moved so that he could watch her walk from where he was. She lifted the leash off the hook and clipped it to the pit bull’s collar.
The moment the front door slammed shut he almost dove for the tapes. He was dying to see a pre-college Veronica, something that showed what she had been like. She was always saying that she was different when her friend Lilly was alive. The famous Lilly, the one in all the pictures with a giggling Veronica. The two of them seemed so sweet and young, back in the days of their innocence, before Veronica became this hard person she was now. Before the bad ass version of her.
He didn’t really know anything about Lilly. He just knew that in every picture Veronica had around her room she glowed and Veronica was grinning. Veronica rarely spoke about her dead friend, but he could see the longing on her face every time her glance caught one of the many photos placed around her room.
Piz picked up the first video cassette, one marked ‘Veronica & Lilly: Spring Talent Show 2003’.
The images that filled the screen made him laugh. There she was. His tough girlfriend, dancing around on stage. Her hair was longer than he’d ever seen it, and blonder. She had darker streaks in it now, showing her age and her style now. She was wearing a pale pink dress that looked like she’d stepped out of a fifties movie about a sock hop.
Veronica looked so young and so innocent she danced along to an old song he’d heard his mother playing once or twice when he was younger. She wore pale pink lip gloss and was decked out in pastel colors from head to toe. She looked like the only thing she ever worried about was whether she had any hairs out of place, not whether or not she was going to get the money shot or not.
“His kiss is sweeter than an apple pie. And when he does his shaky rockin' dance. Man, I haven't got a chance.” The two girls’ voices rang out from the television. Clear and sweet. Something he’d never heard. Veornica wasn’t one for huge public displays, didn’t want the sole attention of the room to be on her. She preferred the anonymity. This Veronica on the the screen seemed to want the opposite. She reveled in the attention and was comfortable there, on stage.
The other girl, Lilly, looked even more comfortable there, in the center of everything. This was a girl he didn’t know, both of them were girls he didn’t know. With a stunning sense of reality, Piz realized that he didn’t know anything about Veronica. He didn’t know how she got from this to who she is now. How she got from Point A to Point B in just a few years.
At the same time she was dealing with murder and rape and everything he was living a normal, if not boring, life in Oregan. He remembered her comments from that first day they met. He’d been so open, telling her what a good place Beaverton was and how trusting everyone was there. And she’d made fun of him with a sarcastic comment that he’d brushed off at them time because he thought she was hot.
At the moment his epipany hit, the camera turned and focused away from the girls as their performance ended. Logan. The camera focused on Logan Echolls, who wore a look of such adoring that it made Piz’s stomach drop. He’d seen that look before. So often while he was dating Veronica at the beginning of freshman year. Even now that Piz was with her, whenever Logan thought nobody was looking he looked at Veronica in the same way. As if she was everything.
Piz had an understanding that at the time, Logan hadn’t been dating Veronica but Lilly. But the look was the same and Piz had the distinct feeling that it wasn’t just meant for his girlfriend but Veronica as well.
Piz looked at the discs sitting on the desk, and the fact that there were two of each. Then he saw it. The large black, leather case lying open on the desk. It was half full of discs, titled and decorated. There was a notecard set next to the case, ready to be slid into it’s pristine white envelope.
Ignoring the sense of foreboding he got as he picked up the glossy pink card.
Logan-
I was going through some old tapes of all of us, converting them and stuff. I made you copies. They’re not the originals and I know you had some really good ones. Particularly most of the tapes of Lilly and I when we were too drunk to realize you were taping our stupidity. Aw, good times.
-Veronica
Piz put the card back in its spot as he sunk down into the computer chair. Logan was always going to be around. He was always going to know Veronica better, understand her better. No matter what Piz did, Logan would always be better.
“Hey! I’m back.” Veronica called out as he heard the door slide open and shut. Piz didn’t bother getting up to greet her, she’d be in front of him at any moment. Asking him what he was doing, why he was watching her tapes. How dare he go through her things.
“What are you doing?” She asked, predictably, her voice full of annoyance as she stood there with her hands on her hips and anger on her face. “These are my tapes, my extrememly personal tapes that you have no right to watch.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Piz said in a monotone, losing any fight he may have had over this. It was never going to work, not when he knew that Logan would always be around, in the back of her mind.
“Then why did you do it? How dare you go through my things, like you have any right.” Veronica began to gather her things ups. Her precious tapes that she was so worried about, so angry at him for seeing.
“They’re just tapes, Veronica.” Piz told her, pointing out the obvious, knowing that it would just piss her off more.
“No, they’re not just tapes. They’re my memories, and it’s my privacy and you have no right violating that. Get out.” Veronica demanded, reaching for the CD case and noticing the notecard sitting askew. “Did you read this?”
She held the card in her hand, staring at him with shocked incredulity. He’d really pissed her off now.
“I can’t believe you. You not only went through my things, you read my personal…” She trailed off, shaking her head angrily. “Not even Logan, in all his over-protectiveness ever did that. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? Your jealousy over Logan?”
“It’s not jealousy. It’s just that I’m sick of always wondering exactly how I don’t measure up today. How long it’s going to take for you to finally end it because as of right now, I’m kind of sick of waiting for it.” Piz was standing now, his voice rising as he got angrier. She always thought he was a pushover, and maybe he was. He was always letting her do and say anything, never calling her out on things and now he was sick of it. He didn’t matter to her, and no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, she treated him as such.
“Well, congratualations. You don’t have to wait anymore, don’t have to wonder. It’s over. Now get out.” She turned her back on him, continued to stack, unstack and re-stack her tapes. Her back was rigid and he could tell that she was pointedly ignoring him until he left.
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Picking up his book bag, he shook his head and turned to the door.
___________________________________________________________________________________
4
Lollipop
“This is your own fault, you know?” Logan told her, trying desperately not to laugh.
Veronica stood in the center of the room in a custom made candy pink dress. A-line and sleeveless, it fell just below her knees. Her pink Monolos made the outfit ‘pop’ as Lilly put it. The whole outfit was bought and paid for on the Kane dime. A look to help along the fifties-esque illusion of her and Lilly’s talent show performance. Veronica had stood at the tailors for a grand total of six hours while the woman clucked her tongue and poked her with needles, saying how she was so short and so petite. Apparently it was a hassle after working with Lilly’s more voluptuous body.
She’d even heard her mumble it was almost like dressing a twelve year old boy rather than a fifteen year old girl. It hadn’t exactly been an accident when Veronica had leaned back on her heel and stepped on the woman’s hand.
“How is this my fault?” Veronica whined, looking at herself in Lilly’s full-length mirror that she’d brought down from her room. She didn’t look that bad, and once she had her hair and makeup done it would be pretty. The problem was she’d have to wear this. On stage. While singing.
“You agreed. Lilly begged and begged, and you finally gave in. It’s completely your fault.” Logan was still struggling with his laughter. “Not only that, when she asked you what song you thought the two of you should sing you said, and I quote, I don’t care.”
Veronica gave him a look of utter annoyance. It was funny how she did that. Sweet little Veronica Mars was never annoyed with anyone, save for Logan. He didn’t know what it was about him, but he had a talent at pushing her buttons like no one else. He also got the best laughs. He might know exactly how to annoy her, but he knew how to make her laugh as well.
“I’m just saying. Your fault.” He pointed out again, and had to duck to avoid the empty shoebox being hurled at his head.
A loud clapping filled the room as Lilly entered, announcing her presence.
“Okay people, time for a dress rehearsal.” Lilly shouted as if she was talking to much larger crowd than her boyfriend and best friend.
“God, Lilly, do you have to shout?” Logan whined, her voice was reverberating in his head annoyingly. They were recently back together again after almost a month apart and he was nursing the hangover from hell after a night of celebratory drinking.
“Another rehearsal, Lilly? You don’t think that practicing this song and dance every day for the last three weeks was enough?” Veronica was whiney as well, she was tired of this song, she hated the dance and if she spent one more second in this outfit in front of Logan she’d die of embarrassment. Logan Echolls was the last person she’d wanted to model this in front of, but Lilly had insisted, shoving her out of the bathroom as she finished changing. Veronica wondered why she even bothered changing in the bathroom, it’s not like Logan would have been against see. Of course if that had happened she would have been locked in the bathroom while they went at it.
“Stop whining Logan, you’re the one that can’t just drink one. It’s not my problem you drank half a bottle of Vodka on your own.” Lilly told him, her hands propped on her hips as she stared him down. She turned to Veronica. “And yes, I think we need to rehearse a little more. We’re still half a minute off on our choreography. We only have three days and we haven’t practiced at all in our dresses. And more than that, we haven’t been dancing in heels, so we should do it a couple times in the shoes we’re going to be wearing on Friday.”
“But, Lilly…” Veronica started, glancing at the clock. Duncan would be done with soccer practice soon, and home to sit with Logan on the couch in the Rec Room to watch them do their performance. Again and again. She was tired and cranky after spending forty-five minutes at pep club after school and an hour at the mall. She just wanted to go home and take a nap before dinner with her parents and having to do her homework. Duncan and Logan wanted to go to a movie later tonight too, but Lilly had vetoed that too. It would be all work and no play until after that performance on Friday.
She’d never seen Lilly so dedicated to something, willing to work and work for something instead of just letting someone else do it for her. Veronica suspected that it had something to do with bragging rights if they were to win best in show. The prize money meant nothing to her, but if they won Lilly would be able to hold it over everyone’s head. Especially Madison Sinclair, who had entered the talent show competition against Lilly’s wishes. Baton twirling. Ha! Like that would win against her and Lilly’s self choreographed performance of some old song that Lilly insisted would ‘endear them to the judges’, who apparently were old.
“Okay! Places!” Lilly called. It was almost as if she were talking to a whole room of dancers, all of which had an assigned dance space. Instead it was just Veronica, who continued standing exactly where she was.
“Logan? Could you go away?” Veronica asked, her tone begging him to understand. He knew she didn’t want to do this. They’d talked about it a lot over the last three weeks, since Lilly came up with the talent show idea and Veronica got talked into it.
Logan hated it when he and Lilly broke up, but whenever they did he started spending more time with Veronica. He didn’t always talk about Lilly either, most of the time he just like to sit and hangout with her. Sometimes, he even brought over his book bag and did homework with her at her kitchen table. He joked that he got the best grades when Lilly broke up with him because it was all Veronica did on week nights. Study.
Each time they got back together, Veronica felt a little sad that she lost that time with Logan. As much as she griped about his possible ADHD while they were sitting there studying, it was fun to have someone there goof off with while her mother sat in her room ‘reading’ and her dad was at work. There was something going on between her parents these days that she just couldn’t put her finger on. But it wasn’t good.
“No, Veronica. Logan is our sample audience. He has to stay. How else would we know if we’re a step off or out of tune.” Lilly argued, fixing Logan with a stare that meant that he better not leave. She leaned towards him to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “Besides, I need eye candy… Other than you.”
Veronica rolled her eyes and Logan looked kind of annoyed as well. He would have stayed if she had just simply asked him to. But she had reduced him to just being something pretty to look at. He hated the way Lilly always did, made his importance less than what it was. It was always one of the main things he complained about during the breakups.
“Okay, Lilly. Lets get this over with.” Veronica interrupted the oncoming fight in favor of rehearsal.
*
“You nervous?” Logan asked, presenting her with a bouquet of baby pink roses almost the exact shade of her dress.
“Not really. It’s just the people from school. And their parents. And everyone else.” Veronica let out a calming breath, she’d done this kind of stuff in front of people all the time with pep squad. Plus, being one of the most popular girls in school made her a constant center of attention. This was nothing. Yeah, right.
“You look kind of nervous. Enjoy your flowers. And remember, even though DK got you a dozen red ones, mine match your dress.” Logan pointed out, seeing Duncan headed straight for them, carrying a dozen red roses and a dozen white ones for Lilly.
“I’ll see you after the show.” Logan told her, leaning forward to give her a hug for luck and kiss on the forehead. He was protective, and had argued with her for a good hour after she’d agreed to this. He didn’t want anyone making fun of her, or Lilly, and if they didn’t do well or didn’t win he was scared she’d be disappointed.
“It’ll be fine Logan. You’d better go find Lilly, or we’re going to miss our cue to go on stage.” Veronica instructed as he pulled away. “She’s probably back in the dressing rooms, fixing her makeup again.”
Logan nodded and headed off in the direction of the ‘dressing rooms’, a second bouquet of pink roses hanging at his side.
*
Logan concentrated on the girls on stage, dancing in perfect sync and singing loud and clear. They looked perfect and all those hours of practice that they’d put in paid off. There were a sure win. Especially since Madison had dropped her baton. Twice.
“I call him. Lollipop lollipop. Oh lolli lolli lolli. Lollipop lollipop...” They sang, finished the song, perfectly in tune. Veronica’s voice was louder and clearer than Lilly’s. She had a natural singing voice and if they won it would be because Lilly had chosen Veronica to sing with.
It was funny. Veronica had been so against performing in the talent show, but she seemed more at ease with it than Lilly. She was a natural performer, and her talent and personality made her nearly glow on stage. Like she belonged there.
Logan felt the odd and familiar feeling of being watched. There was a camera on him. He knew it. He had a sixth sense about it now, but attributed that to having been in front of the cameras all his life.
“What?” Logan asked, not even turning to look at Luke, who had been filming the whole show at Veronica’s behest. Luke had resisted, but with a tilt of her head and a flip of her hair, Veronica had gotten exactly what she wanted. Luke sitting up in the audience with a camera permanently attached to his hand.
“Nothing, just that your girls’ just finished to a standing ovation. What do you have to say about that, Mr. Echolls?” Luke asked, his voice taking on the air of an on-air reporter.
“Nothing. Except if you call me Mr. Echolls again you better be prepared to spend your summer in traction instead of on the baseball field.” Logan threatened. Mr. Echolls was his father and Logan was nothing like his father. He made it his life’s goal to be nothing like his father.
“There going to be an after party tonight? Because I’m lookin to P-A-R-T-Y!” Dick Casablancas announced from the row of seats behind Logan, Duncan and Luke, clapping Logan and Duncan on their backs as he inserted his head between them.
“Wow, Dick. I’m shocked you know how to spell party.” Logan commented dryly. There would be an after party, if he and Lilly could convince Veronica and Duncan into having one.
The Kane parents were out of town and Lilly had promised to ‘show her boy how much like a lollipop he really was’ if Veronica agreed to a party at the house.
He was unlikely to get the same offer from the smaller blonde, no matter how much he fantasized about it, so this was as good as he was going to get.
Grinning, Logan stood and exited his row behind Duncan as Luke fiddled with the camera a bit behind him. “Gee, my lollipop is great.” Yes. Yes, it will be.