Second Chances
Title: Second Chances
Author: Snuffybaby
Pairing/Characters: LoVe, ensemble
Word Count: 8,181
Rating: NC-17 for sexual situations, drug use
Summary: AU, Logan’s wakes up to find he’s cheated on his girlfriend of three years
Spoilers/Warning: Just in case, up to 220 “Look Who’s Stalking Now.” And as a warning, people might be slightly out of character.
Author’s Note: Cheesy Love Song Challange. My song was Celine Dion’s Power of Love; Sorry if my submission was a little late. I was scrambling to finish this on time, so the endings a little rushed.
--
With a groan, Logan opened his eyes. Glancing around, he took in the familiar room.
A familiar room that he shouldn’t be in.
His heartbeat picked up.
Sitting up, he turned to the person lying naked beside him. Swallowing hard, he gathered his discarded clothing and began pulling them on.
In his scramble to get dressed, his bed partner was awakened.
“Logan?” she asked, the panic invading her voice.
“We’re dead,” he commented.
“Please tell me that we didn’t sleep together.”
“I’d like more than anything to say that, but evidence would make me a liar.”
“You are a liar.”
“But until today, I wasn’t a cheater.”
“Neither was I,” she slumped back, running her hands over her face. “How did this happen?”
“We were both piss ass drunk?” he said snidely.
“Maybe no one will ever know,” she said hopefully.
He glared at her. “You do remember who my girlfriend is? Your best friend?”
Lilly buried her head in her pillow. “Veronica’s going to kill me.”
“Best case scenario.” He tugged on his shoes. “I’m just hoping that I’ll get to her before anyone else tells her the happy news.”
--
Logan knew the instant that he got to school that the public at large knew that he had cheated on his girlfriend of three years. Ignoring the whispers and disgusted looks, he sped through the hallways to get to her locker.
When he found her, he was surprised by the cheerful smile that met him.
“Morning,” she greeted, as she sorted through her things - trading notebooks for textbooks, pencils for pens. “How was the party?”
He blinked. Could it be possible that she - Veronica Mars, Private Investigator extraordinaire - hadn’t heard? “Yeah, about that, I need to tell you something.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you. I promised my dad that I’d help him out with work.”
“I know. You told me. Veronica-”
“And I did say that I’d try to make it to Lilly’s if I finished early.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. Veronica, I need to tell you-”
She slammed her locker shut.
He knew then that she had heard. Bracing himself, he waited for her to bitch him out.
She turned cold, steady eyes on him. “I finished early.”
“Shit.” Her finding out from someone else was bad. Her witnessing them together was worse.
“I thought I’d surprise you. Turns out I was the one to get a surprise.”
“Let me explain-”
“Explain? What can you possibly say that will make finding my boyfriend naked in bed with my best friend, okay?”
“Nothing, but it didn’t mean anything.” He reached to touch her face, but she slapped his hand away.
“Then I guess you can take comfort in the fact that you threw away a three year relationship for nothing.” She walked away without looking back.
“Veronica!” Logan called after her. He turned toward the locker, collapsing against it.
Meg walked up to him softly, having witnessed the exchange. “Logan?”
Sniffling, he swiped his hand across his face before turning to her. “Yeah?”
“The bell rang. Class is going to start.”
Brushing his eyes quickly, he nodded. “Right.”
Meg watched as he mechanically made his way down the hall.
When she’d first heard from Duncan what Logan and Lilly had done, she’d been prepared to hate the pair with a vengeance. Seeing Logan now… she didn’t have the heart to hate him.
He hated himself enough.
--
Lilly had been trying all morning to speak with Veronica. She hadn’t had any luck.
Either Veronica had suddenly become invisible or she’d been avoiding her.
Sitting down at her regular table for lunch, Lilly poked at her pasta. She was surprised when her brother and his girlfriend sat down to join her. “Didn’t you hear? I’m the school’s Typhoid Mary. You probably shouldn’t be seen with me.”
“You’re my sister,” Duncan commented. “No matter what stupid thing you decide to do, nothing’s going to change that.”
“Gee, thanks,” Lilly said sarcastically. Sighing, she added, “Well, I don’t need pity lunch companions.”
“Too bad.”
Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention to Meg. “I’m surprised you’re still sitting here.”
“I’m having lunch with my boyfriend.” Meg ate daintily.
“Have you seen Veronica?”
“This morning,” she willingly replied, “but not during class.”
Duncan commented, “Maybe she decided to skip.”
“I don’t think so. She’d be risking the Kane Scholarship if she got caught skipping.”
“She does have those excused absences that she got from Principal Clemmons.”
Lilly whispered sadly, “She was going to use those for our trip to Mexico during Thanksgiving.”
He looked sympathetically at Lilly. “That’s still months away. Veronica can’t stay mad at you for long.”
Meg gave her boyfriend an incredulous look. “You can’t really believe that, can you?”
Shrugging, he pointed out, “Veronica’s forgiven Lilly for tons of things. Why would this be any different?”
“Because I’ve never slept with her boyfriend before,” Lilly said bluntly. “I have my faults, but even I realize that that’s something you don’t just forgive.”
“Then why did you do it?” Duncan asked curiously.
“I was drunk… I don’t know. Everything just happened and before I realized it, I was waking up beside Logan.” Lilly dropped her head in disgust at herself. “I ruined everything.”
--
Logan looked up when he felt a pat on his back.
Dick sat down beside him. “Finally decided to drop Ronnie and spread your wings, huh?”
“Shut up, Dick.”
Beaver nudged his brother’s shoulder. “I told you that he wasn’t stupid enough to cheat on Veronica on purpose.”
“So that just makes him stupid for getting caught.” Dick shook his head, “It’s a shame too. You were so close to getting laid.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dick, before I do something I won’t regret.”
The blond studied his friend. “Why are you so broken up about it? It’s not like Veronica gave a shit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know what she saw, but I watched her leave the party. Stone cold, ice princess. She didn’t show the slightest bit of emotion. No anger, not a single tear.”
“You don’t know Veronica,” Logan said grimly. He would’ve felt better to hear that she had stormed out in a rage or left bawling. If she had, he knew that he would have been able to make things better.
Instead she shut down.
He shook his head. “An emotionless Veronica is ten times worse than a raging one.” He dropped his head in his hands. “She’ll never forgive me.”
“Do you care?”
“Of course I care. She’s my girlfriend. She’s been my girlfriend for three years and I was mooning after her for three years before that. I love her.”
Cassidy looked at him unflinchingly, “Then how could you sleep with Lilly?”
“I don’t know.” He said helplessly, “I don’t know.”
--
Determined to speak to Veronica, Lilly skipped the rest of her classes and waited by the LeBaron. She stood patiently, going over in her head what she wanted to say. Tensing the moment she heard the final bell ring, she scanned the parking lot, waiting for Veronica to appear.
The blond in question arrived quickly, stopping when she spotted the older blond.
“Veronica, I’ve been looking for you all day.” Lilly stated, “I need to talk to you.”
“That seems to be going around,” Veronica said blandly.
“I need you to know that what happened between Logan and I didn’t mean anything. I don’t even know how it happened.”
“Really? You’ve had sex often enough. I’d think that you’d know how by now.”
She flinched at Veronica’s cold tone. “I never meant for it to happen. You know that I’d never try to steal Logan from you.”
“No, but apparently you’ll sleep with him.”
“I wouldn’t!”
“You did, Lilly! I saw you - half the school saw you!” Veronica said coldly, “I always ignored it when people said that you were a slut. I guess I was proven wrong.”
“You don’t mean that,” Lilly said weakly.
“Your history is proof enough.” She brushed passed Lilly and climbed in her car.
“What can I do?” Lilly asked desperately. “What can I do to make things better?”
“Can you turn back time?”
--
Keith arrived home to find that Veronica’s stereo was blasting music through the house. Climbing up the stairs, he knocked on his daughter’s door. “Veronica?”
The volume went down and he heard shuffling in the room before the door finally opened.
“Yeah, dad?”
He took in the sight of her puffy eyes and red face. “Is something wrong?”
She brushed at her eyes. “No. Everything’s fine.”
“Then would you care to explain why your boyfriend had planted himself on our lawn.”
“What?” She rushed down the stairs and peeked out the front curtains. Throwing the door open, she said to Logan, “Don’t you have anywhere better to be?”
“No.”
“You can’t sit there all day.”
“No, but I can sit here all night.”
“Go home, Logan.”
“I can’t.”
“No one’s stopping you.”
“You are.”
“I told you to go home.”
He shook his head. “But I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t leave knowing that you hate me.”
Dropping her arms, she leaned against the door frame. “I don’t hate you.”
“You don’t?” He took a step towards her.
She stepped away from him. “But I can’t trust you. I know you and Lilly were drunk… but you’re always drinking. You drink at parties. You drink when you’re out with your friends. You drink at home.”
“You never had a problem with it before.”
“You never got drunk off your ass and had sex with my best friend before.”
“It was a mistake. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You didn’t just hurt me, Logan. You betrayed me.”
He ducked his head in shame, not being able to look her in the eye. “What can I do to make things right?”
She looked up at him with sad eyes. “I don’t know that you can.”
“There must be something.”
“Logan-”
“Veronica, I love you! I don’t want to lose you because of a stupid mistake.” He reached for her again.
But she pushed the door closed.
Leaning back against it, she knew that Logan was resting his forehead on the other side.
“Give me time,” she said loud enough for him to hear.
As she listened to him leave, she slid down the door, resting her head on her knees.
--
Over dinner, Keith looked at his daughter. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Logan and I had a fight,” she remarked. “It’s nothing.”
“Did you two break up?”
“I don’t know… I guess… I haven’t decided yet.”
“May I ask what your fight was about?”
“He… did something that…” she trailed off. “I don’t know if I can trust him anymore.”
“He didn’t… force you… did he?”
“No! Of course not! Logan would never do that.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Veronica couldn’t help but smile at how relieved her father looked. “Can I ask you a something?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you still think about mom?”
Keith looked up from his dinner in surprise. Veronica never spoke about her mother. “Sometimes.”
“Do you wish that she’d come home?”
“When she first left, I used to hope everyday that she’d come back, but after awhile I realized that I’d been hoping because I wanted your mother back… Your mother, not my wife.” He shrugged, “I guess I finally had to admit that I hadn’t been happy with her.”
“So you don’t love mom anymore?”
“I’ll always love your mother. I’m just not in love with her anymore.”
“Was it because of her affair with Jake Kane?” she asked hesitantly.
Keith shook his head. “We drifted apart well before Lianne’s affair with Jake.”
“Dad,” she whined, knowing full well that Jake and her mother’s relationship started in high school before Keith had even moved to Neptune.
Relenting, Keith sighed, “I knew she was cheating on me, but I decided to ignore it.”
“Why?”
“I chose to.”
“It didn’t bother you that she was having an affair.”
“Of course it did.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything to her?”
“What could I have done? Yell at her? Try to convince her to stop? Beat up Jake Kane? I had to decide for myself whether it was worth staying with Lianne even though it was obvious that she didn’t want me.”
“What did you decide?”
“I loved you more.”
Veronica was almost brought to tears. “You let mom stay because of me?”
“And you were worth it.”
She went around the table and hugged him. “You really would do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”
He held her tight. “You know it.”
--
“Logan, would you like something eat?” Lynn called through the closed door.
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry,” he called back.
Sighing, she headed back down the stairs to the living room. Pouring herself a martini, she took a seat on the sofa.
“Is something wrong?” Aaron asked curiously from the kitchen.
“No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that Logan’s been in his room since he got back from Veronica’s.”
“And this is unusual?”
“He’s usually in the pool house playing video games.”
“Are you sure he’s not - you know - satisfying himself?”
“Our son does not lock himself in his room to masturbate.”
“He’s a growing boy. He has needs.”
“I think something happened between him and Veronica.”
“Would you like me to talk to him?” Aaron offered.
Setting down her untouched drink, she said, “No, I think I will.”
Making her way back up the stairs, she knocked softly on Logan’s door.
“I said I wasn’t hungry.”
She pushed his door open and walked in to find him sitting on his bed with an open box beside him. She smiled softly, “Reminiscing?” She knew Logan kept all the things related to Veronica in that box.
“Latching on.”
Lynn noticed the gravely tone of his voice. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“We broke up.”
“Oh.”
He pulled out a jewellery box, holding it open for his mother to see.
Nestled within the velvet box was a simple platinum chain graced with a four-leafed clover. Its petals each made of a single deep green emerald tear drop.
“Logan, it’s beautiful.”
“I got it for our three year anniversary next month… homecoming.” He snapped the box shut. “I guess I won’t be giving it to her.”
“There’s no chance you’ll make up?”
“Not after what I did.” He fell back on the bad, throwing his arm across his eyes.
“It can’t be as bad as it seems,” Lynn said soothingly.
“I got drunk and slept with her best friend,” Logan said bitterly. “It doesn’t get much worse than that.”
Lynn sat back - stunned. “You had sex with Lilly Kane?”
“I don’t know how it happened.” He rolled over on to his side in frustration, clutching his head. “I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff while I was drunk, but nothing like this.”
“I agree.”
“Gee, thanks, mom,” he said sarcastically.
“Logan, I mean it. You do a lot of stupid things - drunk or not - but you’ve never considered cheating on Veronica.”
“Of course not. I love her.”
“I know you do.” She patted his knee comfortingly. “Now, all you need is a plan to win her back.”
“She won’t have me.”
“Logan, Veronica loves you… just as much as you love her. You can’t just give up.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Win her back.”
--
Mac looked up in surprise when Veronica sat down beside her. “Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had English this period.”
“I do, but I spoke to all my teachers and they don’t mind that I’ll be switching classes for awhile… as long as I still attend.”
“Only you could manage that.”
“I can talk people into doing pretty much anything.” Veronica shrugged, “And this way I get out at three instead of four so I can help my dad out at work.”
“And avoid two certain someones,” Mac said softly.
The smile dropped from Veronica’s lips. “Yeah.”
“Have you talked to either of them yet?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d they say?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Are you okay?”
“Not really, but there’s not really anything I can do about it, is there?”
“Revenge?”
Veronica let out a bitter laugh. “What? Sleep with his best friend and Lilly’s boyfriend? Given the amount of boys Lilly dates, I’d be labelled the town slut before I was through.”
“I wasn’t thinking of the ‘eye for an eye’ kind of revenge.”
“Then what?”
“I was thinking more of the ‘Veronica’ brand of justice.”
Veronica’s shoulders slumped. “What’s the point?”
Class started, leaving no room for Mac to answer, but Veronica’s response worried her. She’d never seen her friend so exhausted before… so defeated.
--
“Hey, superfly, where you been at?” Wallace said cheerfully when he spotted Veronica sitting on the front lawn of the school where students never went during lunch. “You should have come sit with me and the boys.”
“No, thanks. I didn’t feel like being gawked at. Plus Lilly and Logan are there-”
“And if they saw you, they’d try to talk to you.”
“Neptune High would have their own floor show.”
He studied her. “How are you doing?”
“As good as can be expected.”
“So you feel like crap?”
“Pretty much.”
“Can I say something that you probably don’t want to hear?”
“Shoot.”
“They both love you… more than they could possibly love anyone else. I agree that what they did was wrong, maybe unforgivable, but you shouldn’t hate them.”
“I don’t hate them.”
“You don’t?”
“I’ve already forgiven them.”
“Really? Then why are you sitting here by yourself?”
“I’ve forgiven them, because I know they didn’t set out to hurt me… I’ve forgiven them, but that doesn’t mean I trust them.” She turned watery eyes at him. “How do you get passed the fact that the two people you trust most in the world could go behind your back and break that trust - accidentally or not?”
--
“What’s that?” Meg asked when she peeked over Veronica’s shoulder into the open locker.
Veronica reached in and grabbed the stuffed bear from the locker. She trailed her finger across the stitched letters of the bear’s sweater ‘I love you beary much.’
A small secret smile inched onto her lips.
“Who’s it from?” Meg asked curiously.
Setting the bear back into her lock, Veronica replied, “Logan.”
“You still love him, don’t you?”
“I don’t think I could stop if I tried.”
“Are you going to take him back?”
Veronica bit her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
--
For the next two weeks, Logan had abided by Veronica’s need for time. He kept his distance, but he made sure that she knew he still cared and was waiting for her.
Everyday, he’d get to school early and leave a teddy bear in her locker.
By the end of the two weeks, Veronica had a collection of teddy bears each with a different phrase stitched on to its sweater.
“What does the bear say today?” Mac asked.
“‘Can’t bear to be without you.’”
The girls all gave a resounding “aww.”
“My favourite was ‘Love makes life bearable,’” Mac commented.
Meg shook her head. “‘Never bear a grudge’ is so much cuter.”
“That was better than ‘I miss you teddibly.’”
“And ‘Have a teddy-rific day.’”
“I thought the ‘Grin and bear it’ one was cute,” Cassidy remarked.
The girls all stopped and gave him odd looks.
Wallace added, “‘Home is where your honey is’ was a tear jerker.” He snatched the new bear from Veronica’s hands. “So when are you going to put the boy out of his misery?”
“I’m not doing anything to him.” Veronica took the bear back.
“He’s been waiting for you to take him back for two weeks now. How much longer does he have to wait?”
“I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Come on, V. You know as well as I do that you decided weeks ago to take him back. You’re just stringing him along.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re right. You’re not. You’re too afraid to give him a second chance, because you don’t want to risk getting hurt again.”
Meg took Veronica’s hand in reassurance. “If Logan’s idiotic enough to hurt you again, I’ll help you beat him up.”
“And I doubt Logan would do anything stupid,” Mac tapped the nose of the bear. “He’s been on good behaviour since the incident.”
Cassidy nodded. “Dick’s been complaining that Logan’s been boring lately.”
“I didn’t realize Logan had such a big fan club,” Veronica said wryly.
Meg grabbed the bear from her hands. “The teddy bears were too cute… and you didn’t see him that day in the hall. I don’t think anyone hated him as much as he hated himself.”
Veronica studied her friends’ expressions. “I’ll think about it.”
“Then think on this,” Wallace said, “If you give him a second chance, he probably won’t drink another drop of alcohol without you around to watch him. He won’t risk losing you again.”
Cassidy added grimly, “Especially since the only thing that’s been keeping him from cracking is the thought of winning you back.”
--
Veronica opened her front door.
“You rang?” Logan waved his cell phone in front of her. “Or more like texted.”
“Come in.”
He wasn’t sure how to react. A feeling of dread was pooling in the pit of his stomach. What if she decided to officially break up with him? He didn’t know if he’d be able to take it.
Slumping on the sofa, he turned to face her. “I have something to give you before you say anything.” He handed her the gift bag he was carrying in his hand.
“Logan-”
“Open it… please.”
Hearing the desperation in his voice, she opened it. Inside was another teddy bear, larger than all the others. This one had a small tear over his heart, white cotton peeking from inside. Across the red sweater, stitched in white were the words ‘My teddy bear has a tear. Love flows from him everywhere.’
Veronica placed her hand over her mouth, barely managing to contain her snort of laughter. “This is by far the cheesiest one you’ve given me.”
Logan shrugged, “Fifteen bears. I was bound to run out of bear phrases eventually.” He watched her trail her finger over the lettering and her eyes sparkling with amusement. This was what he wanted… to be able to make her happy again.
Clearing his throat, he reminded, “So, you called?”
Tearing her gaze from the bear, she looked at him. “Right.” Her tongue shot out to moisten her lips. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“So I gathered.” His leg began to bounce in expectation.
“You hurt me.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I know that… I understand that, but that doesn’t change the fact that you did.”
“I’ll never hurt you again.”
“You can’t promise me that.” She clamped her hand over his mouth to keep him from commenting. “Neither of us can. We’re bound to hurt each other again in the future.” She placed her other hand on his knee to stop the bouncing. “So, I don’t want you to promise that. I want you to promise me that you’ll never cheat on me again - on purpose or not - because if you do, it won’t just be the end of us. It will be the end of any future Echollses you think you’ll be having.”
“You’re going to go Bobbitt on me?” He smirked, but it quickly turned to a stunned expression of awe. “Wait, does this mean-”
“I’m giving you one chance,” she said resolutely. “One, and if you mess it up…”
“No more little Logan. Got it.”
When he leaned in to reach for her, she blocked him with her newest bear. “Not so fast.”
“But I thought-”
“We’re going to take things slow.”
“Right. Of course.” He sat back.
“How about you take me for dinner and a movie tomorrow night?”
His heart warmed at her shy invitation and blushing cheeks. “Do I at least get a kiss goodnight?” he asked playfully.
“We’ll see how the date goes.”
--
“Hi, dad,” Veronica greeted cheerfully from her position at the stove. “Logan and I made lasagne for dinner.”
“Mr. Mars,” Logan nodded his greeting even as he continued to carefully chop the carrots.
“Veronica, Logan.” Keith set his briefcase down and sat at the dinner table. “Such a beautiful sight. My daughter making me a home cooked meal while her servant boy tries not to cut his fingers off.”
“Don’t worry. I rinsed all the blood off before I made the sauce.” Veronica smiled.
Logan smirked, “At least my carrot sticks are nice and even.” He nudged the pile that Veronica had cut. “Yours look like you were holding the knife with your feet.”
Keith chuckled into his hand as Veronica glared at her boyfriend.
“I’m going to my room to get my field trip form,” Veronica huffed.
Keith noticed the pleading look Logan gave her as she stormed away. Left alone with his daughter’s boyfriend, he smiled at Logan. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to bite your head off.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t do other things,” Logan mumbled.
Keith smiled pleasantly. “I might have retired from being sheriff, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten the law.”
“It means that you know your way around it.”
“Hurt my daughter again and you’ll find out just how well I can use the law in my favour.”
“So I can look forward to being castrated and then killed if I’m stupid enough to hurt Veronica. It’s a good thing that I’m not stupid.”
--
“I see you decided to take Logan back.” Wallace gave a nod of greeting to the rich, white boy as he spoke to Veronica. “Does that mean you’ll talk to Lilly again?”
“For your information, I’ve already told Lilly that I forgave her.” Veronica stopped in front of her classroom. “We’re existing in a temporary truce.”
“So as you and Logan rebuild your relationship, you and Lilly work on your friendship.”
“It’s the mature thing to do.”
Wallace snorted and grinned, “Mature? There’s nothing mature about it. You know as well as I do that you love them too much to just give up on them. Even your vindictive nature won’t let you hurt the people you love.” He chuckled, “Veronica Mars is a marshmallow. Let everyone know it.”
She punched him in the arm. “Shut up,” she ordered, but she couldn’t keep the smile from forming on her face. She turned to her smirking boyfriend. “Not a word.” At his continuing smirk, she said, “I’m going to class. I’ll see the two of you later.”
Wallace noticed the lack of smooching as Logan was abandoned by his girlfriend. “Still in the dog house?”
“We’re taking things ‘slow’.”
“And by ‘slow,’ you mean you’re going back to kindergarten? She wasn’t even holding your hand.”
“I guess that’s part of the ‘slow.’ I’m just thanking every power out there that she’s giving me a second chance.”
--
At lunch, Veronica decided to make a concerted effort to get things back to the way they were. She sat down at the lunch table with Lilly on one side and Logan on the other.
“How are you?” Lilly asked tentatively. She knew that Veronica had forgiven her, but she wasn’t so jaded by her self importance to believe that that meant things would simply go back to normal.
In response, Veronica offered her a small smile, “Okay. I’m having my schedule changed permanently so that I’ll have more time for extracurriculars.”
“So you’re spending more time working for your dad?”
“Nope. I got a part time job working at Java the Hut. Dad doesn’t want me to spend so much time working on cases. He wants me to do normal teenage stuff.”
“Like spend time with your boyfriend?” Logan suggested.
“Like study,” she responded dryly.
“You study enough.” Lilly argued, “You’re already top of the class.”
“And I have to keep it up, so that I stay at the top. Second is only a few points behind me… and I need the Kane Scholarship if I want to go to Stanford.”
Logan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You want Dick and me to sabotage Number 2? I’ll do it.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d prefer to earn it,” she smiled indulgently at her boyfriend, before patting his knee. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get a soda.”
“I’ll go with you.” Logan moved to stand.
“Although many things take two, this isn’t one of them. I’m just getting a soda, Logan.”
The pair watched as she walked away.
Lilly clasped her hands awkwardly in her lap. “So…”
“We’re not going to talk about it,” Logan said grimly.
“We’re going to have to if we’re going to be friends.”
“Then I vote that we just forget that it ever happened.”
“See, that’s the thing,” Lilly revealed, “I don’t remember what happened.”
“Then it will be easy for you to forget.”
“Logan, do you remember?”
He shrugged.
“Can you just answer the question?”
“I don’t remember.”
They sat in silence as they thought over the implications.
“How are you and Veronica doing?”
He remained carefully expressionless. “We’re fine.”
“Really? Because you seemed more distant than usual.”
“What do you know?”
“Everyone’s noticed.” Lilly fiddled with the edge of her skirt. “The two of you were always very… hands on people. Now she’s pulling away when you put your arm around her.”
“We’re taking things slow.”
“You’ve been taking things slow for the passed three years. Now you’ve slowed to a crawl.”
He glared at her. “I’m not with Veronica to have sex. If I wanted that I would have dated one of the dozen of girls throwing themselves at me. I’m with Veronica, because I love her.”
“I know that… and I know Veronica. Right now, she’s a little gun shy, so yes, give her space, but if you pull back too far, you’ll spend the rest of your relationship trailing her like a puppy dog. Neither of you will be happy.”
“I’m giving her the time and space she needs to trust me again.” Logan said firmly, “I’m not going to push her to accept me.”
“I’m not suggesting you do. I’m suggesting that you don’t pull back entirely. It’s easy enough for Veronica to accept your presence… but can she accept your touch?” Lilly gazed at him seriously. “She’s always been cautious of her body. This might make her more so.”
“She’s not you, Lilly,” Logan sneered, “and I wouldn’t want her to be. If we can’t work through this, I’ll be happy just to know that she doesn’t hate me.”
--
Veronica ran into Duncan on her way to the cafeteria.
“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked. This was the first time he’d actually had a chance to speak with her since the incident.
“Good. Homecoming’s coming up and Meg and I are going dress shopping. It should be fun.”
“You’re going stag?”
“No. Didn’t you hear? I thought Lilly would have told you… or even Meg.”
“Tell me what?”
“Logan and I got back together.”
“Oh… I guess congratulations are in order.” Duncan offered weakly.
Veronica frowned, “You don’t seem too happy about it.”
Duncan shrugged. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… I’m surprised you forgave him so easily.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision. Believe me. I spent the past two weeks going over everything in my head.”
“And you decided to take him back.”
“I decided that I love him too much just to give up on him. We’ve been together for three years. He deserves a second chance… we deserve a second chance.”
He nodded his understanding. “I get it.”
She smiled at him and punched him playfully on the arm. “You’re his best friend. Shouldn’t you be rooting for him?”
“I am but he was an idiot for hurting you.”
--
“So who did you decide to go to the dance with?” Meg asked Lilly curiously.
Veronica stopped her search through the clothes racks and turned to catch her friend’s response.
Lilly shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Who’s asked?”
“Everyone,” Lilly responded bitterly.
“You don’t seem happy by the idea,” Mac commented.
“Because I’m not. They only asked because they think I’m easy.”
“That never used to bother you before.”
“Maybe I’m getting older… or bored with sex. For once I’d like to be asked out on a simple date.”
The other three girls couldn’t keep the surprised expressions from their faces.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Lilly scoffed. “It’s possible - even for me - to learn from passed mistakes.” She pulled an elegant white halter dress from the rack. “I finally realized that I was only acting out to embarrass Celeste… but the only opinion that I really care about… the only opinion that matters to me is Veronica’s. Hearing you call me a slut really changed my perspective.” She held the rather conservative dress against her. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s beautiful, but it’s so not you.” Veronica smiled softly at her friend before taking the dress and handing Lilly a solid black Chinese inspired long dress.
Lilly accepted it, holding it in front of her. “And this is me?”
“Check the slits.”
She turned the sleeveless dress around to find that the slits of the dress went all the way up her thighs. Lilly grinned, “You’re right. This dress is so me.”
“Go try it on. We’ve still got some hunting to do.”
“Just grab everything and try it on.”
“Even this?” Mac held a frilly, bright orange mass in front of her.
The girls all broke out laughing.
Lilly conceded. “Okay, maybe not that.”
--
“Why am I even trying these on? They’re not in my price range,” Veronica shouted from the changing room stall.
“We’ve all found something,” Meg reminded, “and we’re not leaving until you do too.”
“Yeah, Veronica, even I found a dress I like,” Mac commented.
“Which we all know is next to impossible.” Lilly danced up to the stall door. “Come on, Veronica, it’s our last homecoming. Splurge a little.”
“I don’t know why I’m trying so hard. It’s not like Logan deserves it.”
“Of course, he doesn’t,” Lilly agreed. “The whole point is to look your best and make him regret his mistakes even more. He’ll follow you around doing your bidding for the rest of his life.”
“He already does that,” Mac pointed out.
“Logan doesn’t follow me around like that.”
“You do realize that he’s been following us from store to store all afternoon.” Meg glanced out of the store windows. “In fact, he’s sitting outside right now with Duncan and Cassidy guarding our bags.”
“That’s different. He’s my ride.”
“Cassidy’s here?” Mac peeked outside. “I’m gonna go say ‘hi’.”
“Before you go…” Veronica stepped out of the changing room. “What do you think about this?”
“That’s it! That’s the dress!” Meg squealed excitedly.
“You look beautiful.” Mac reached into the stall and grabbed all the other dresses that Veronica had yet to try. “You won’t be needing these.”
“I still need those.” Veronica grabbed for Mac.
“What?” Lilly demanded. “You’ve already got your dress.”
“I can’t afford this.”
“We’re not letting you leave without it.”
“Oh! Wait one second.” Mac rushed out the door.
“I’ll buy you the damn dress.” Lilly reached for the price tag.
Veronica shied away. “I’m not letting you spend four hundred dollars on my dress.”
“Veronica, let me do this. It’s not like my dad’s going to miss the money.”
“No!” She hid herself back in the changing room and quickly changed out of the dress. “I’ll just keep looking.”
“But it’s the perfect dress.” Meg really wanted Veronica to have it.
Mac came back waving Logan’s Black Amex. “Veronica,” she sang, “Logan’s going to buy you the dress.”
“Definitely not.”
“There’s no way you’re going to stop us from buying it,” Lilly remarked. “We’ll just come back later and get it.”
“I won’t wear it.” She came out dressed in her street clothes.
“Why not? It’s perfect.”
“You’re being difficult.” Mac huffed and stomped back out. When she came back, she shoved Logan into the changing room.
He smiled at his girlfriend. “So I’m supposed to convince you to buy the perfect Homecoming dress.”
Veronica shook her head. “Ignore them.” She took his hand to drag him out of the store, but was pulled back because he remained immobile.
“Why aren’t you buying it?”
“It’s too expensive.”
“Four hundred dollars,” Meg whispered helpfully.
“I could buy you the dress.” He took his credit card back from Mac.
“I don’t need you or anyone to buy me a dress,” she huffed.
“I know you don’t need me to, but I want to.”
She studied him suspiciously, wondering what he would say to convince her to let him buy the dress. “Why?”
“Because it’s my fault you don’t have the time to keep looking for another dress. If you had started shopping weeks ago, you wouldn’t have to settle.”
Her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m not settling. Didn’t you hear? It’s the perfect dress.”
“Well, you must not think so if you’re not going to buy it.” He hugged her to him. “Don’t worry, you can wear that blue dress you wore this summer.”
“I can’t wear that. That’s a cocktail dress. Not an evening gown.”
“Then that black strapless one.”
“I wore that to last year’s homecoming.”
“That strappy black one?”
She frowned at him.
“The lacy blue one?”
She gasped in shock and whispered in outrage. “That’s a negligee.”
“You looked hot in it.”
“I was half naked, of course I looked hot.” She slapped his arm. “You suck.”
“So will you let me buy the dress?”
--
Logan set the multitude of bags he was carrying on the ground by Veronica’s bed. He then proceeded to slump down on the mattress.
“Tired?” Veronica asked softly as she cuddled beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Who knew buying my girlfriend a dress would be so tiring.”
“You didn’t enjoy your private fashion show at Victoria’s Secret?”
He groaned. “But you didn’t buy anything. You tease.”
“Are you sure I didn’t?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know you bought something to wear under your dress.”
She shifted to straddle his waist. “You think I wouldn’t reward you for spending the day with me? Am I that inconsiderate of a girlfriend?”
Logan lifted his arms to wrap around her waist. “Reward?” he asked eagerly.
Placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, she slid off him. “I’ll be right back.”
While he waited, Logan toed off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket. He settled back on her bed and watched the door to her bathroom patiently.
His patience was rewarded when the door opened to reveal a vision in a white lace teddy. His jaw dropped.
“You like?” She could hear him swallow from across the room. “I guess that means you do.”
He nodded his head, too awed to speak. Shifting to relive his discomfort, his eyes remained locked on her image. “When did you try this on and how did I miss it?”
“This old thing?” She took a step closer to him. “I got it ages ago. I was saving it for a special occasion.”
“And today’s special?”
She pouted. “You mean you don’t remember?” She crawled on to the bed, kneeling above him.
He wracked his brain, trying to remember.
“How could you not remember? It was such a special day.” She lowered her body on top of his.
“The one year anniversary of the first time we made love.”
“Exactly.” She joined her lips to his.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what happened to going slow? I don’t want to do this if you’re not ready to trust me again.”
She kissed his nose. “I do trust you.”
“But you’ve been pulling away from me all week. You wouldn’t even hold my hand.”
Veronica’s cheeks flushed red and she pressed her face into his neck. She mumbled something against his shoulder.
“What did you say?” He turned his face toward her.
She repeated softly, slowly. “I can’t control myself around you.”
“Is that why you pulled back?” Relief washed over his body to be replaced by smugness. He rolled her over so that she was under him. He smiled cockily. “You can’t resist my sexiness?”
Shoving his shoulder, she laughed, “Shut up.”
“Well, since I’m so irresistible, I’ll do everything in my power to please you.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, he was making his way down her body. Planting soft kisses down her stomach, his eyes held hers as his hands smoothed up her bare legs. She tried to keep his gaze, but her eyes drifted closed at the feather light touch of his fingers through the soft lace of her underwear. Her mouth fell open on an inaudible gasp when his mouth set down on her wet center, his tongue sweeping out frequently to interrupt the suction his lips had on her. In her delight, her legs lifted over his shoulders, spreading herself wider for his attentions.
When her peak was almost upon her, Logan stopped. He tried to pull away but her legs held him in place.
“Don’t stop,” she pled.
“I want to be inside you when you come, Ronnie,” he said huskily. His hands came up to her soft thighs, guiding them off his shoulders. “Soon, Ronnie.”
His deep voice and his words vibrated through her body, and were enough to push her over the edge.
He shook his head playfully. “You never could take orders well, could you?” He pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants and boxer-briefs. “I ask you to wait for me, but you do the exact opposite.”
“Logan,” she said plaintively, her legs now around his waist, pulling him to her.
“For once, Ronnie, I’d like you do what I say without question.” He slipped inside her, hissing in pleasure. “But we’ll discuss that another time.”
Their joining was slow and intense. Their hands locked together, sharing every feeling and sensation that flooded their bodies. When they climaxed, they came silently, gripping on to one another, bodies pressing together.
Logan sagged to the side. Panting, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Make up sex is by far the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. We should break up more often.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” she mumbled softly, snuggling closer against him. “Our next break up might be permanent.”
“No breaking up,” he said quickly, “ever again. I can’t take it. Those weeks without you were unbearable. It was like living in hell.”
“At least you were warm.” She smiled against his chest.
“Speaking of hell, how come Lilly thinks we’ve never had sex?”
“What?” She looked at him incredulously. “We’re lying naked in bed and you’re thinking of Lilly?”
“I was thinking of hell which reminded me of Lilly.”
Glaring at him, she shifted slightly away. “I never told Lilly we had sex. It’s as simple as that.”
Not wanting her angry at him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I mentioned her.”
She shrugged, “It doesn’t exactly comfort me to know that you are thinking of Lilly when we’re having sex.”
“I wasn’t thinking of Lilly. I don’t think of her at all.”
“So thinking of hell really reminds you of Lilly?”
“She’s the reason I was living in my own private hell.” He shrugged, “At least I don’t remember what happened that night. I don’t have any scary images to haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Veronica looked down hesitantly at her hands. “So… she’s not better than me?”
It was his time to be incredulous. “That’s not even possibly.” He hugged her tight. “You are the best lay in the universe.”
She elbowed him lightly at his crudeness.
Becoming serious, he kissed her bare shoulder. “There is no way that anyone is better than you. I love you… and you love me. That’s what makes sex so mind blowing for us… and only us.”
--
The night of Homecoming, Logan and Veronica came to school in their own private limo. He had been salivating since he first set eyes on her wearing her perfect dress.
A soft shade of green that was a tone lighter than the tie that he’d been told to wear encased Veronica. The strapless dress hugged her body to just below her knees where the dressed flared widely into a trumpet skirt of tulle that circled around her. Her hair was done up in a simple ponytail at the nape of her neck, leaving the long strands to weave done her back.
The instant they arrived, Cassidy arrived and dragged Logan off to the side, having something urgent to tell him. Meg, Mac and Lilly came for Veronica.
“What’s going on?” Logan asked Cassidy, slightly annoyed to be pulled away from Veronica.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Well, spit it out.”
“You never slept with Lilly.”
--
“What’s going on?” Veronica asked the girls curiously.
“I found out that I was drugged,” Lilly blurted out.
“What?”
“The night that Logan and I supposed slept together… I was drugged,” Lilly explained. “And I’m pretty sure he was too.”
“What?”
Mac took over. “Meg and I overheard Madison complaining. She was basically bitching and moaning that you and Logan were still together.”
“She said ‘I set him up, made him look like an ass, and she still clings to him. What the hell does it take to ruin her?’ Mac and I cornered her. We got the whole story out of her.” Meg took a breath. “Madison drugged Lilly.”
“Apparently she thought I wouldn’t care if I slept with Logan,” Lilly said cynically.
“And Dick drugged Logan.”
“Why?” Veronica asked, “Why would they do something like that?”
“Dick thought Logan needed to get laid and Madison’s a bitch that doesn’t like anyone but herself to be happy,” Mac summed up.
“She is so dead.”
--
When Veronica and Logan found each other again at their table, they hugged instantly.
“What have you been doing?” she asked curiously.
“Taking care of some business,” he answered grimly.
Pulling back, she looked up at him. “What kind of business?”
“Beating the crap out of Dick for drugging me and making it look like I’d slept with Lilly.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t sleep with Lilly?”
“Apparently not. He put too much GHB in our cups and we both ended up passed out. So he stripped us down and waited for the show.” Anger still tinged his words, but he noticed that she was surprising calm at the news. “Did you know?”
“That’s what Mac, Meg and Lilly wanted to tell me,” she explained.
He eyed her suspiciously. “What have you been up to?”
She smiled coyly. “Well, you know me.”
--
By the end of the night, Madison and Dick were arrested for possession of illegal drugs, underage drinking, and intent to harm.
It seems that Principal Clemmons got an anonymous tip that some students were in possession of drugs and alcohol at the school dance. He called in the Sheriff’s department and all the students were searched.
Madison was caught handing her GHB laced soda to Gia and Dick was high as a kite from his flask of rum and ecstasy.
So Homecoming ended on a sour note for most of the class… except for a select handful.
Lilly somehow managed to punch Madison in the face without reprisal. She’d made a big show of outrage on Gia’s behalf and gave Madison a black eye before the deputies could stop her. Being a Kane, Lamb let her go, turning a blind eye to her actions.
Now the masterminds of the raid on Homecoming were gathered on the beach, giggling over their triumph and hanging out with their boyfriends.
“I’m sorry we got Dick arrested,” Mac hugged Cassidy, “but he totally deserved it.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’ll probably end up in a rehab clinic somewhere. Unlike Madison, he wasn’t caught trying to drug anyone but himself.”
“Madison will probably end up in jail. Caught trying to drug the Mayor’s daughter? Guess she’ll have to get used to community soap,” Lilly said gleefully.
“You don’t feel the slightest remorse for what you did?” Wallace looked at the girls.
“Definitely not.” Meg said, “They drugged Lilly and Logan to do hateful and harmful things. They should have gone to jail for that.”
“Yeah, we were just righting a wrong.” Mac nodded in wholehearted agreement.
“What about you?” Wallace looked to his best friend.
But Veronica and Logan were too lost in each other to be paying attention.
--
The End
The Cheesy Love Songs Challenge
Author: Snuffybaby
Pairing/Characters: LoVe, ensemble
Word Count: 8,181
Rating: NC-17 for sexual situations, drug use
Summary: AU, Logan’s wakes up to find he’s cheated on his girlfriend of three years
Spoilers/Warning: Just in case, up to 220 “Look Who’s Stalking Now.” And as a warning, people might be slightly out of character.
Author’s Note: Cheesy Love Song Challange. My song was Celine Dion’s Power of Love; Sorry if my submission was a little late. I was scrambling to finish this on time, so the endings a little rushed.
--
With a groan, Logan opened his eyes. Glancing around, he took in the familiar room.
A familiar room that he shouldn’t be in.
His heartbeat picked up.
Sitting up, he turned to the person lying naked beside him. Swallowing hard, he gathered his discarded clothing and began pulling them on.
In his scramble to get dressed, his bed partner was awakened.
“Logan?” she asked, the panic invading her voice.
“We’re dead,” he commented.
“Please tell me that we didn’t sleep together.”
“I’d like more than anything to say that, but evidence would make me a liar.”
“You are a liar.”
“But until today, I wasn’t a cheater.”
“Neither was I,” she slumped back, running her hands over her face. “How did this happen?”
“We were both piss ass drunk?” he said snidely.
“Maybe no one will ever know,” she said hopefully.
He glared at her. “You do remember who my girlfriend is? Your best friend?”
Lilly buried her head in her pillow. “Veronica’s going to kill me.”
“Best case scenario.” He tugged on his shoes. “I’m just hoping that I’ll get to her before anyone else tells her the happy news.”
--
Logan knew the instant that he got to school that the public at large knew that he had cheated on his girlfriend of three years. Ignoring the whispers and disgusted looks, he sped through the hallways to get to her locker.
When he found her, he was surprised by the cheerful smile that met him.
“Morning,” she greeted, as she sorted through her things - trading notebooks for textbooks, pencils for pens. “How was the party?”
He blinked. Could it be possible that she - Veronica Mars, Private Investigator extraordinaire - hadn’t heard? “Yeah, about that, I need to tell you something.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you. I promised my dad that I’d help him out with work.”
“I know. You told me. Veronica-”
“And I did say that I’d try to make it to Lilly’s if I finished early.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. Veronica, I need to tell you-”
She slammed her locker shut.
He knew then that she had heard. Bracing himself, he waited for her to bitch him out.
She turned cold, steady eyes on him. “I finished early.”
“Shit.” Her finding out from someone else was bad. Her witnessing them together was worse.
“I thought I’d surprise you. Turns out I was the one to get a surprise.”
“Let me explain-”
“Explain? What can you possibly say that will make finding my boyfriend naked in bed with my best friend, okay?”
“Nothing, but it didn’t mean anything.” He reached to touch her face, but she slapped his hand away.
“Then I guess you can take comfort in the fact that you threw away a three year relationship for nothing.” She walked away without looking back.
“Veronica!” Logan called after her. He turned toward the locker, collapsing against it.
Meg walked up to him softly, having witnessed the exchange. “Logan?”
Sniffling, he swiped his hand across his face before turning to her. “Yeah?”
“The bell rang. Class is going to start.”
Brushing his eyes quickly, he nodded. “Right.”
Meg watched as he mechanically made his way down the hall.
When she’d first heard from Duncan what Logan and Lilly had done, she’d been prepared to hate the pair with a vengeance. Seeing Logan now… she didn’t have the heart to hate him.
He hated himself enough.
--
Lilly had been trying all morning to speak with Veronica. She hadn’t had any luck.
Either Veronica had suddenly become invisible or she’d been avoiding her.
Sitting down at her regular table for lunch, Lilly poked at her pasta. She was surprised when her brother and his girlfriend sat down to join her. “Didn’t you hear? I’m the school’s Typhoid Mary. You probably shouldn’t be seen with me.”
“You’re my sister,” Duncan commented. “No matter what stupid thing you decide to do, nothing’s going to change that.”
“Gee, thanks,” Lilly said sarcastically. Sighing, she added, “Well, I don’t need pity lunch companions.”
“Too bad.”
Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention to Meg. “I’m surprised you’re still sitting here.”
“I’m having lunch with my boyfriend.” Meg ate daintily.
“Have you seen Veronica?”
“This morning,” she willingly replied, “but not during class.”
Duncan commented, “Maybe she decided to skip.”
“I don’t think so. She’d be risking the Kane Scholarship if she got caught skipping.”
“She does have those excused absences that she got from Principal Clemmons.”
Lilly whispered sadly, “She was going to use those for our trip to Mexico during Thanksgiving.”
He looked sympathetically at Lilly. “That’s still months away. Veronica can’t stay mad at you for long.”
Meg gave her boyfriend an incredulous look. “You can’t really believe that, can you?”
Shrugging, he pointed out, “Veronica’s forgiven Lilly for tons of things. Why would this be any different?”
“Because I’ve never slept with her boyfriend before,” Lilly said bluntly. “I have my faults, but even I realize that that’s something you don’t just forgive.”
“Then why did you do it?” Duncan asked curiously.
“I was drunk… I don’t know. Everything just happened and before I realized it, I was waking up beside Logan.” Lilly dropped her head in disgust at herself. “I ruined everything.”
--
Logan looked up when he felt a pat on his back.
Dick sat down beside him. “Finally decided to drop Ronnie and spread your wings, huh?”
“Shut up, Dick.”
Beaver nudged his brother’s shoulder. “I told you that he wasn’t stupid enough to cheat on Veronica on purpose.”
“So that just makes him stupid for getting caught.” Dick shook his head, “It’s a shame too. You were so close to getting laid.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dick, before I do something I won’t regret.”
The blond studied his friend. “Why are you so broken up about it? It’s not like Veronica gave a shit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know what she saw, but I watched her leave the party. Stone cold, ice princess. She didn’t show the slightest bit of emotion. No anger, not a single tear.”
“You don’t know Veronica,” Logan said grimly. He would’ve felt better to hear that she had stormed out in a rage or left bawling. If she had, he knew that he would have been able to make things better.
Instead she shut down.
He shook his head. “An emotionless Veronica is ten times worse than a raging one.” He dropped his head in his hands. “She’ll never forgive me.”
“Do you care?”
“Of course I care. She’s my girlfriend. She’s been my girlfriend for three years and I was mooning after her for three years before that. I love her.”
Cassidy looked at him unflinchingly, “Then how could you sleep with Lilly?”
“I don’t know.” He said helplessly, “I don’t know.”
--
Determined to speak to Veronica, Lilly skipped the rest of her classes and waited by the LeBaron. She stood patiently, going over in her head what she wanted to say. Tensing the moment she heard the final bell ring, she scanned the parking lot, waiting for Veronica to appear.
The blond in question arrived quickly, stopping when she spotted the older blond.
“Veronica, I’ve been looking for you all day.” Lilly stated, “I need to talk to you.”
“That seems to be going around,” Veronica said blandly.
“I need you to know that what happened between Logan and I didn’t mean anything. I don’t even know how it happened.”
“Really? You’ve had sex often enough. I’d think that you’d know how by now.”
She flinched at Veronica’s cold tone. “I never meant for it to happen. You know that I’d never try to steal Logan from you.”
“No, but apparently you’ll sleep with him.”
“I wouldn’t!”
“You did, Lilly! I saw you - half the school saw you!” Veronica said coldly, “I always ignored it when people said that you were a slut. I guess I was proven wrong.”
“You don’t mean that,” Lilly said weakly.
“Your history is proof enough.” She brushed passed Lilly and climbed in her car.
“What can I do?” Lilly asked desperately. “What can I do to make things better?”
“Can you turn back time?”
--
Keith arrived home to find that Veronica’s stereo was blasting music through the house. Climbing up the stairs, he knocked on his daughter’s door. “Veronica?”
The volume went down and he heard shuffling in the room before the door finally opened.
“Yeah, dad?”
He took in the sight of her puffy eyes and red face. “Is something wrong?”
She brushed at her eyes. “No. Everything’s fine.”
“Then would you care to explain why your boyfriend had planted himself on our lawn.”
“What?” She rushed down the stairs and peeked out the front curtains. Throwing the door open, she said to Logan, “Don’t you have anywhere better to be?”
“No.”
“You can’t sit there all day.”
“No, but I can sit here all night.”
“Go home, Logan.”
“I can’t.”
“No one’s stopping you.”
“You are.”
“I told you to go home.”
He shook his head. “But I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t leave knowing that you hate me.”
Dropping her arms, she leaned against the door frame. “I don’t hate you.”
“You don’t?” He took a step towards her.
She stepped away from him. “But I can’t trust you. I know you and Lilly were drunk… but you’re always drinking. You drink at parties. You drink when you’re out with your friends. You drink at home.”
“You never had a problem with it before.”
“You never got drunk off your ass and had sex with my best friend before.”
“It was a mistake. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You didn’t just hurt me, Logan. You betrayed me.”
He ducked his head in shame, not being able to look her in the eye. “What can I do to make things right?”
She looked up at him with sad eyes. “I don’t know that you can.”
“There must be something.”
“Logan-”
“Veronica, I love you! I don’t want to lose you because of a stupid mistake.” He reached for her again.
But she pushed the door closed.
Leaning back against it, she knew that Logan was resting his forehead on the other side.
“Give me time,” she said loud enough for him to hear.
As she listened to him leave, she slid down the door, resting her head on her knees.
--
Over dinner, Keith looked at his daughter. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Logan and I had a fight,” she remarked. “It’s nothing.”
“Did you two break up?”
“I don’t know… I guess… I haven’t decided yet.”
“May I ask what your fight was about?”
“He… did something that…” she trailed off. “I don’t know if I can trust him anymore.”
“He didn’t… force you… did he?”
“No! Of course not! Logan would never do that.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Veronica couldn’t help but smile at how relieved her father looked. “Can I ask you a something?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you still think about mom?”
Keith looked up from his dinner in surprise. Veronica never spoke about her mother. “Sometimes.”
“Do you wish that she’d come home?”
“When she first left, I used to hope everyday that she’d come back, but after awhile I realized that I’d been hoping because I wanted your mother back… Your mother, not my wife.” He shrugged, “I guess I finally had to admit that I hadn’t been happy with her.”
“So you don’t love mom anymore?”
“I’ll always love your mother. I’m just not in love with her anymore.”
“Was it because of her affair with Jake Kane?” she asked hesitantly.
Keith shook his head. “We drifted apart well before Lianne’s affair with Jake.”
“Dad,” she whined, knowing full well that Jake and her mother’s relationship started in high school before Keith had even moved to Neptune.
Relenting, Keith sighed, “I knew she was cheating on me, but I decided to ignore it.”
“Why?”
“I chose to.”
“It didn’t bother you that she was having an affair.”
“Of course it did.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything to her?”
“What could I have done? Yell at her? Try to convince her to stop? Beat up Jake Kane? I had to decide for myself whether it was worth staying with Lianne even though it was obvious that she didn’t want me.”
“What did you decide?”
“I loved you more.”
Veronica was almost brought to tears. “You let mom stay because of me?”
“And you were worth it.”
She went around the table and hugged him. “You really would do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”
He held her tight. “You know it.”
--
“Logan, would you like something eat?” Lynn called through the closed door.
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry,” he called back.
Sighing, she headed back down the stairs to the living room. Pouring herself a martini, she took a seat on the sofa.
“Is something wrong?” Aaron asked curiously from the kitchen.
“No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that Logan’s been in his room since he got back from Veronica’s.”
“And this is unusual?”
“He’s usually in the pool house playing video games.”
“Are you sure he’s not - you know - satisfying himself?”
“Our son does not lock himself in his room to masturbate.”
“He’s a growing boy. He has needs.”
“I think something happened between him and Veronica.”
“Would you like me to talk to him?” Aaron offered.
Setting down her untouched drink, she said, “No, I think I will.”
Making her way back up the stairs, she knocked softly on Logan’s door.
“I said I wasn’t hungry.”
She pushed his door open and walked in to find him sitting on his bed with an open box beside him. She smiled softly, “Reminiscing?” She knew Logan kept all the things related to Veronica in that box.
“Latching on.”
Lynn noticed the gravely tone of his voice. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“We broke up.”
“Oh.”
He pulled out a jewellery box, holding it open for his mother to see.
Nestled within the velvet box was a simple platinum chain graced with a four-leafed clover. Its petals each made of a single deep green emerald tear drop.
“Logan, it’s beautiful.”
“I got it for our three year anniversary next month… homecoming.” He snapped the box shut. “I guess I won’t be giving it to her.”
“There’s no chance you’ll make up?”
“Not after what I did.” He fell back on the bad, throwing his arm across his eyes.
“It can’t be as bad as it seems,” Lynn said soothingly.
“I got drunk and slept with her best friend,” Logan said bitterly. “It doesn’t get much worse than that.”
Lynn sat back - stunned. “You had sex with Lilly Kane?”
“I don’t know how it happened.” He rolled over on to his side in frustration, clutching his head. “I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff while I was drunk, but nothing like this.”
“I agree.”
“Gee, thanks, mom,” he said sarcastically.
“Logan, I mean it. You do a lot of stupid things - drunk or not - but you’ve never considered cheating on Veronica.”
“Of course not. I love her.”
“I know you do.” She patted his knee comfortingly. “Now, all you need is a plan to win her back.”
“She won’t have me.”
“Logan, Veronica loves you… just as much as you love her. You can’t just give up.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Win her back.”
--
Mac looked up in surprise when Veronica sat down beside her. “Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had English this period.”
“I do, but I spoke to all my teachers and they don’t mind that I’ll be switching classes for awhile… as long as I still attend.”
“Only you could manage that.”
“I can talk people into doing pretty much anything.” Veronica shrugged, “And this way I get out at three instead of four so I can help my dad out at work.”
“And avoid two certain someones,” Mac said softly.
The smile dropped from Veronica’s lips. “Yeah.”
“Have you talked to either of them yet?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d they say?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Are you okay?”
“Not really, but there’s not really anything I can do about it, is there?”
“Revenge?”
Veronica let out a bitter laugh. “What? Sleep with his best friend and Lilly’s boyfriend? Given the amount of boys Lilly dates, I’d be labelled the town slut before I was through.”
“I wasn’t thinking of the ‘eye for an eye’ kind of revenge.”
“Then what?”
“I was thinking more of the ‘Veronica’ brand of justice.”
Veronica’s shoulders slumped. “What’s the point?”
Class started, leaving no room for Mac to answer, but Veronica’s response worried her. She’d never seen her friend so exhausted before… so defeated.
--
“Hey, superfly, where you been at?” Wallace said cheerfully when he spotted Veronica sitting on the front lawn of the school where students never went during lunch. “You should have come sit with me and the boys.”
“No, thanks. I didn’t feel like being gawked at. Plus Lilly and Logan are there-”
“And if they saw you, they’d try to talk to you.”
“Neptune High would have their own floor show.”
He studied her. “How are you doing?”
“As good as can be expected.”
“So you feel like crap?”
“Pretty much.”
“Can I say something that you probably don’t want to hear?”
“Shoot.”
“They both love you… more than they could possibly love anyone else. I agree that what they did was wrong, maybe unforgivable, but you shouldn’t hate them.”
“I don’t hate them.”
“You don’t?”
“I’ve already forgiven them.”
“Really? Then why are you sitting here by yourself?”
“I’ve forgiven them, because I know they didn’t set out to hurt me… I’ve forgiven them, but that doesn’t mean I trust them.” She turned watery eyes at him. “How do you get passed the fact that the two people you trust most in the world could go behind your back and break that trust - accidentally or not?”
--
“What’s that?” Meg asked when she peeked over Veronica’s shoulder into the open locker.
Veronica reached in and grabbed the stuffed bear from the locker. She trailed her finger across the stitched letters of the bear’s sweater ‘I love you beary much.’
A small secret smile inched onto her lips.
“Who’s it from?” Meg asked curiously.
Setting the bear back into her lock, Veronica replied, “Logan.”
“You still love him, don’t you?”
“I don’t think I could stop if I tried.”
“Are you going to take him back?”
Veronica bit her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
--
For the next two weeks, Logan had abided by Veronica’s need for time. He kept his distance, but he made sure that she knew he still cared and was waiting for her.
Everyday, he’d get to school early and leave a teddy bear in her locker.
By the end of the two weeks, Veronica had a collection of teddy bears each with a different phrase stitched on to its sweater.
“What does the bear say today?” Mac asked.
“‘Can’t bear to be without you.’”
The girls all gave a resounding “aww.”
“My favourite was ‘Love makes life bearable,’” Mac commented.
Meg shook her head. “‘Never bear a grudge’ is so much cuter.”
“That was better than ‘I miss you teddibly.’”
“And ‘Have a teddy-rific day.’”
“I thought the ‘Grin and bear it’ one was cute,” Cassidy remarked.
The girls all stopped and gave him odd looks.
Wallace added, “‘Home is where your honey is’ was a tear jerker.” He snatched the new bear from Veronica’s hands. “So when are you going to put the boy out of his misery?”
“I’m not doing anything to him.” Veronica took the bear back.
“He’s been waiting for you to take him back for two weeks now. How much longer does he have to wait?”
“I haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Come on, V. You know as well as I do that you decided weeks ago to take him back. You’re just stringing him along.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re right. You’re not. You’re too afraid to give him a second chance, because you don’t want to risk getting hurt again.”
Meg took Veronica’s hand in reassurance. “If Logan’s idiotic enough to hurt you again, I’ll help you beat him up.”
“And I doubt Logan would do anything stupid,” Mac tapped the nose of the bear. “He’s been on good behaviour since the incident.”
Cassidy nodded. “Dick’s been complaining that Logan’s been boring lately.”
“I didn’t realize Logan had such a big fan club,” Veronica said wryly.
Meg grabbed the bear from her hands. “The teddy bears were too cute… and you didn’t see him that day in the hall. I don’t think anyone hated him as much as he hated himself.”
Veronica studied her friends’ expressions. “I’ll think about it.”
“Then think on this,” Wallace said, “If you give him a second chance, he probably won’t drink another drop of alcohol without you around to watch him. He won’t risk losing you again.”
Cassidy added grimly, “Especially since the only thing that’s been keeping him from cracking is the thought of winning you back.”
--
Veronica opened her front door.
“You rang?” Logan waved his cell phone in front of her. “Or more like texted.”
“Come in.”
He wasn’t sure how to react. A feeling of dread was pooling in the pit of his stomach. What if she decided to officially break up with him? He didn’t know if he’d be able to take it.
Slumping on the sofa, he turned to face her. “I have something to give you before you say anything.” He handed her the gift bag he was carrying in his hand.
“Logan-”
“Open it… please.”
Hearing the desperation in his voice, she opened it. Inside was another teddy bear, larger than all the others. This one had a small tear over his heart, white cotton peeking from inside. Across the red sweater, stitched in white were the words ‘My teddy bear has a tear. Love flows from him everywhere.’
Veronica placed her hand over her mouth, barely managing to contain her snort of laughter. “This is by far the cheesiest one you’ve given me.”
Logan shrugged, “Fifteen bears. I was bound to run out of bear phrases eventually.” He watched her trail her finger over the lettering and her eyes sparkling with amusement. This was what he wanted… to be able to make her happy again.
Clearing his throat, he reminded, “So, you called?”
Tearing her gaze from the bear, she looked at him. “Right.” Her tongue shot out to moisten her lips. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“So I gathered.” His leg began to bounce in expectation.
“You hurt me.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“I know that… I understand that, but that doesn’t change the fact that you did.”
“I’ll never hurt you again.”
“You can’t promise me that.” She clamped her hand over his mouth to keep him from commenting. “Neither of us can. We’re bound to hurt each other again in the future.” She placed her other hand on his knee to stop the bouncing. “So, I don’t want you to promise that. I want you to promise me that you’ll never cheat on me again - on purpose or not - because if you do, it won’t just be the end of us. It will be the end of any future Echollses you think you’ll be having.”
“You’re going to go Bobbitt on me?” He smirked, but it quickly turned to a stunned expression of awe. “Wait, does this mean-”
“I’m giving you one chance,” she said resolutely. “One, and if you mess it up…”
“No more little Logan. Got it.”
When he leaned in to reach for her, she blocked him with her newest bear. “Not so fast.”
“But I thought-”
“We’re going to take things slow.”
“Right. Of course.” He sat back.
“How about you take me for dinner and a movie tomorrow night?”
His heart warmed at her shy invitation and blushing cheeks. “Do I at least get a kiss goodnight?” he asked playfully.
“We’ll see how the date goes.”
--
“Hi, dad,” Veronica greeted cheerfully from her position at the stove. “Logan and I made lasagne for dinner.”
“Mr. Mars,” Logan nodded his greeting even as he continued to carefully chop the carrots.
“Veronica, Logan.” Keith set his briefcase down and sat at the dinner table. “Such a beautiful sight. My daughter making me a home cooked meal while her servant boy tries not to cut his fingers off.”
“Don’t worry. I rinsed all the blood off before I made the sauce.” Veronica smiled.
Logan smirked, “At least my carrot sticks are nice and even.” He nudged the pile that Veronica had cut. “Yours look like you were holding the knife with your feet.”
Keith chuckled into his hand as Veronica glared at her boyfriend.
“I’m going to my room to get my field trip form,” Veronica huffed.
Keith noticed the pleading look Logan gave her as she stormed away. Left alone with his daughter’s boyfriend, he smiled at Logan. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to bite your head off.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t do other things,” Logan mumbled.
Keith smiled pleasantly. “I might have retired from being sheriff, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten the law.”
“It means that you know your way around it.”
“Hurt my daughter again and you’ll find out just how well I can use the law in my favour.”
“So I can look forward to being castrated and then killed if I’m stupid enough to hurt Veronica. It’s a good thing that I’m not stupid.”
--
“I see you decided to take Logan back.” Wallace gave a nod of greeting to the rich, white boy as he spoke to Veronica. “Does that mean you’ll talk to Lilly again?”
“For your information, I’ve already told Lilly that I forgave her.” Veronica stopped in front of her classroom. “We’re existing in a temporary truce.”
“So as you and Logan rebuild your relationship, you and Lilly work on your friendship.”
“It’s the mature thing to do.”
Wallace snorted and grinned, “Mature? There’s nothing mature about it. You know as well as I do that you love them too much to just give up on them. Even your vindictive nature won’t let you hurt the people you love.” He chuckled, “Veronica Mars is a marshmallow. Let everyone know it.”
She punched him in the arm. “Shut up,” she ordered, but she couldn’t keep the smile from forming on her face. She turned to her smirking boyfriend. “Not a word.” At his continuing smirk, she said, “I’m going to class. I’ll see the two of you later.”
Wallace noticed the lack of smooching as Logan was abandoned by his girlfriend. “Still in the dog house?”
“We’re taking things ‘slow’.”
“And by ‘slow,’ you mean you’re going back to kindergarten? She wasn’t even holding your hand.”
“I guess that’s part of the ‘slow.’ I’m just thanking every power out there that she’s giving me a second chance.”
--
At lunch, Veronica decided to make a concerted effort to get things back to the way they were. She sat down at the lunch table with Lilly on one side and Logan on the other.
“How are you?” Lilly asked tentatively. She knew that Veronica had forgiven her, but she wasn’t so jaded by her self importance to believe that that meant things would simply go back to normal.
In response, Veronica offered her a small smile, “Okay. I’m having my schedule changed permanently so that I’ll have more time for extracurriculars.”
“So you’re spending more time working for your dad?”
“Nope. I got a part time job working at Java the Hut. Dad doesn’t want me to spend so much time working on cases. He wants me to do normal teenage stuff.”
“Like spend time with your boyfriend?” Logan suggested.
“Like study,” she responded dryly.
“You study enough.” Lilly argued, “You’re already top of the class.”
“And I have to keep it up, so that I stay at the top. Second is only a few points behind me… and I need the Kane Scholarship if I want to go to Stanford.”
Logan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You want Dick and me to sabotage Number 2? I’ll do it.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d prefer to earn it,” she smiled indulgently at her boyfriend, before patting his knee. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get a soda.”
“I’ll go with you.” Logan moved to stand.
“Although many things take two, this isn’t one of them. I’m just getting a soda, Logan.”
The pair watched as she walked away.
Lilly clasped her hands awkwardly in her lap. “So…”
“We’re not going to talk about it,” Logan said grimly.
“We’re going to have to if we’re going to be friends.”
“Then I vote that we just forget that it ever happened.”
“See, that’s the thing,” Lilly revealed, “I don’t remember what happened.”
“Then it will be easy for you to forget.”
“Logan, do you remember?”
He shrugged.
“Can you just answer the question?”
“I don’t remember.”
They sat in silence as they thought over the implications.
“How are you and Veronica doing?”
He remained carefully expressionless. “We’re fine.”
“Really? Because you seemed more distant than usual.”
“What do you know?”
“Everyone’s noticed.” Lilly fiddled with the edge of her skirt. “The two of you were always very… hands on people. Now she’s pulling away when you put your arm around her.”
“We’re taking things slow.”
“You’ve been taking things slow for the passed three years. Now you’ve slowed to a crawl.”
He glared at her. “I’m not with Veronica to have sex. If I wanted that I would have dated one of the dozen of girls throwing themselves at me. I’m with Veronica, because I love her.”
“I know that… and I know Veronica. Right now, she’s a little gun shy, so yes, give her space, but if you pull back too far, you’ll spend the rest of your relationship trailing her like a puppy dog. Neither of you will be happy.”
“I’m giving her the time and space she needs to trust me again.” Logan said firmly, “I’m not going to push her to accept me.”
“I’m not suggesting you do. I’m suggesting that you don’t pull back entirely. It’s easy enough for Veronica to accept your presence… but can she accept your touch?” Lilly gazed at him seriously. “She’s always been cautious of her body. This might make her more so.”
“She’s not you, Lilly,” Logan sneered, “and I wouldn’t want her to be. If we can’t work through this, I’ll be happy just to know that she doesn’t hate me.”
--
Veronica ran into Duncan on her way to the cafeteria.
“Hey, how are you doing?” he asked. This was the first time he’d actually had a chance to speak with her since the incident.
“Good. Homecoming’s coming up and Meg and I are going dress shopping. It should be fun.”
“You’re going stag?”
“No. Didn’t you hear? I thought Lilly would have told you… or even Meg.”
“Tell me what?”
“Logan and I got back together.”
“Oh… I guess congratulations are in order.” Duncan offered weakly.
Veronica frowned, “You don’t seem too happy about it.”
Duncan shrugged. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… I’m surprised you forgave him so easily.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision. Believe me. I spent the past two weeks going over everything in my head.”
“And you decided to take him back.”
“I decided that I love him too much just to give up on him. We’ve been together for three years. He deserves a second chance… we deserve a second chance.”
He nodded his understanding. “I get it.”
She smiled at him and punched him playfully on the arm. “You’re his best friend. Shouldn’t you be rooting for him?”
“I am but he was an idiot for hurting you.”
--
“So who did you decide to go to the dance with?” Meg asked Lilly curiously.
Veronica stopped her search through the clothes racks and turned to catch her friend’s response.
Lilly shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Who’s asked?”
“Everyone,” Lilly responded bitterly.
“You don’t seem happy by the idea,” Mac commented.
“Because I’m not. They only asked because they think I’m easy.”
“That never used to bother you before.”
“Maybe I’m getting older… or bored with sex. For once I’d like to be asked out on a simple date.”
The other three girls couldn’t keep the surprised expressions from their faces.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Lilly scoffed. “It’s possible - even for me - to learn from passed mistakes.” She pulled an elegant white halter dress from the rack. “I finally realized that I was only acting out to embarrass Celeste… but the only opinion that I really care about… the only opinion that matters to me is Veronica’s. Hearing you call me a slut really changed my perspective.” She held the rather conservative dress against her. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s beautiful, but it’s so not you.” Veronica smiled softly at her friend before taking the dress and handing Lilly a solid black Chinese inspired long dress.
Lilly accepted it, holding it in front of her. “And this is me?”
“Check the slits.”
She turned the sleeveless dress around to find that the slits of the dress went all the way up her thighs. Lilly grinned, “You’re right. This dress is so me.”
“Go try it on. We’ve still got some hunting to do.”
“Just grab everything and try it on.”
“Even this?” Mac held a frilly, bright orange mass in front of her.
The girls all broke out laughing.
Lilly conceded. “Okay, maybe not that.”
--
“Why am I even trying these on? They’re not in my price range,” Veronica shouted from the changing room stall.
“We’ve all found something,” Meg reminded, “and we’re not leaving until you do too.”
“Yeah, Veronica, even I found a dress I like,” Mac commented.
“Which we all know is next to impossible.” Lilly danced up to the stall door. “Come on, Veronica, it’s our last homecoming. Splurge a little.”
“I don’t know why I’m trying so hard. It’s not like Logan deserves it.”
“Of course, he doesn’t,” Lilly agreed. “The whole point is to look your best and make him regret his mistakes even more. He’ll follow you around doing your bidding for the rest of his life.”
“He already does that,” Mac pointed out.
“Logan doesn’t follow me around like that.”
“You do realize that he’s been following us from store to store all afternoon.” Meg glanced out of the store windows. “In fact, he’s sitting outside right now with Duncan and Cassidy guarding our bags.”
“That’s different. He’s my ride.”
“Cassidy’s here?” Mac peeked outside. “I’m gonna go say ‘hi’.”
“Before you go…” Veronica stepped out of the changing room. “What do you think about this?”
“That’s it! That’s the dress!” Meg squealed excitedly.
“You look beautiful.” Mac reached into the stall and grabbed all the other dresses that Veronica had yet to try. “You won’t be needing these.”
“I still need those.” Veronica grabbed for Mac.
“What?” Lilly demanded. “You’ve already got your dress.”
“I can’t afford this.”
“We’re not letting you leave without it.”
“Oh! Wait one second.” Mac rushed out the door.
“I’ll buy you the damn dress.” Lilly reached for the price tag.
Veronica shied away. “I’m not letting you spend four hundred dollars on my dress.”
“Veronica, let me do this. It’s not like my dad’s going to miss the money.”
“No!” She hid herself back in the changing room and quickly changed out of the dress. “I’ll just keep looking.”
“But it’s the perfect dress.” Meg really wanted Veronica to have it.
Mac came back waving Logan’s Black Amex. “Veronica,” she sang, “Logan’s going to buy you the dress.”
“Definitely not.”
“There’s no way you’re going to stop us from buying it,” Lilly remarked. “We’ll just come back later and get it.”
“I won’t wear it.” She came out dressed in her street clothes.
“Why not? It’s perfect.”
“You’re being difficult.” Mac huffed and stomped back out. When she came back, she shoved Logan into the changing room.
He smiled at his girlfriend. “So I’m supposed to convince you to buy the perfect Homecoming dress.”
Veronica shook her head. “Ignore them.” She took his hand to drag him out of the store, but was pulled back because he remained immobile.
“Why aren’t you buying it?”
“It’s too expensive.”
“Four hundred dollars,” Meg whispered helpfully.
“I could buy you the dress.” He took his credit card back from Mac.
“I don’t need you or anyone to buy me a dress,” she huffed.
“I know you don’t need me to, but I want to.”
She studied him suspiciously, wondering what he would say to convince her to let him buy the dress. “Why?”
“Because it’s my fault you don’t have the time to keep looking for another dress. If you had started shopping weeks ago, you wouldn’t have to settle.”
Her arms crossed over her chest. “I’m not settling. Didn’t you hear? It’s the perfect dress.”
“Well, you must not think so if you’re not going to buy it.” He hugged her to him. “Don’t worry, you can wear that blue dress you wore this summer.”
“I can’t wear that. That’s a cocktail dress. Not an evening gown.”
“Then that black strapless one.”
“I wore that to last year’s homecoming.”
“That strappy black one?”
She frowned at him.
“The lacy blue one?”
She gasped in shock and whispered in outrage. “That’s a negligee.”
“You looked hot in it.”
“I was half naked, of course I looked hot.” She slapped his arm. “You suck.”
“So will you let me buy the dress?”
--
Logan set the multitude of bags he was carrying on the ground by Veronica’s bed. He then proceeded to slump down on the mattress.
“Tired?” Veronica asked softly as she cuddled beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Who knew buying my girlfriend a dress would be so tiring.”
“You didn’t enjoy your private fashion show at Victoria’s Secret?”
He groaned. “But you didn’t buy anything. You tease.”
“Are you sure I didn’t?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know you bought something to wear under your dress.”
She shifted to straddle his waist. “You think I wouldn’t reward you for spending the day with me? Am I that inconsiderate of a girlfriend?”
Logan lifted his arms to wrap around her waist. “Reward?” he asked eagerly.
Placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, she slid off him. “I’ll be right back.”
While he waited, Logan toed off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket. He settled back on her bed and watched the door to her bathroom patiently.
His patience was rewarded when the door opened to reveal a vision in a white lace teddy. His jaw dropped.
“You like?” She could hear him swallow from across the room. “I guess that means you do.”
He nodded his head, too awed to speak. Shifting to relive his discomfort, his eyes remained locked on her image. “When did you try this on and how did I miss it?”
“This old thing?” She took a step closer to him. “I got it ages ago. I was saving it for a special occasion.”
“And today’s special?”
She pouted. “You mean you don’t remember?” She crawled on to the bed, kneeling above him.
He wracked his brain, trying to remember.
“How could you not remember? It was such a special day.” She lowered her body on top of his.
“The one year anniversary of the first time we made love.”
“Exactly.” She joined her lips to his.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what happened to going slow? I don’t want to do this if you’re not ready to trust me again.”
She kissed his nose. “I do trust you.”
“But you’ve been pulling away from me all week. You wouldn’t even hold my hand.”
Veronica’s cheeks flushed red and she pressed her face into his neck. She mumbled something against his shoulder.
“What did you say?” He turned his face toward her.
She repeated softly, slowly. “I can’t control myself around you.”
“Is that why you pulled back?” Relief washed over his body to be replaced by smugness. He rolled her over so that she was under him. He smiled cockily. “You can’t resist my sexiness?”
Shoving his shoulder, she laughed, “Shut up.”
“Well, since I’m so irresistible, I’ll do everything in my power to please you.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, he was making his way down her body. Planting soft kisses down her stomach, his eyes held hers as his hands smoothed up her bare legs. She tried to keep his gaze, but her eyes drifted closed at the feather light touch of his fingers through the soft lace of her underwear. Her mouth fell open on an inaudible gasp when his mouth set down on her wet center, his tongue sweeping out frequently to interrupt the suction his lips had on her. In her delight, her legs lifted over his shoulders, spreading herself wider for his attentions.
When her peak was almost upon her, Logan stopped. He tried to pull away but her legs held him in place.
“Don’t stop,” she pled.
“I want to be inside you when you come, Ronnie,” he said huskily. His hands came up to her soft thighs, guiding them off his shoulders. “Soon, Ronnie.”
His deep voice and his words vibrated through her body, and were enough to push her over the edge.
He shook his head playfully. “You never could take orders well, could you?” He pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants and boxer-briefs. “I ask you to wait for me, but you do the exact opposite.”
“Logan,” she said plaintively, her legs now around his waist, pulling him to her.
“For once, Ronnie, I’d like you do what I say without question.” He slipped inside her, hissing in pleasure. “But we’ll discuss that another time.”
Their joining was slow and intense. Their hands locked together, sharing every feeling and sensation that flooded their bodies. When they climaxed, they came silently, gripping on to one another, bodies pressing together.
Logan sagged to the side. Panting, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Make up sex is by far the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. We should break up more often.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” she mumbled softly, snuggling closer against him. “Our next break up might be permanent.”
“No breaking up,” he said quickly, “ever again. I can’t take it. Those weeks without you were unbearable. It was like living in hell.”
“At least you were warm.” She smiled against his chest.
“Speaking of hell, how come Lilly thinks we’ve never had sex?”
“What?” She looked at him incredulously. “We’re lying naked in bed and you’re thinking of Lilly?”
“I was thinking of hell which reminded me of Lilly.”
Glaring at him, she shifted slightly away. “I never told Lilly we had sex. It’s as simple as that.”
Not wanting her angry at him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’m sorry I mentioned her.”
She shrugged, “It doesn’t exactly comfort me to know that you are thinking of Lilly when we’re having sex.”
“I wasn’t thinking of Lilly. I don’t think of her at all.”
“So thinking of hell really reminds you of Lilly?”
“She’s the reason I was living in my own private hell.” He shrugged, “At least I don’t remember what happened that night. I don’t have any scary images to haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Veronica looked down hesitantly at her hands. “So… she’s not better than me?”
It was his time to be incredulous. “That’s not even possibly.” He hugged her tight. “You are the best lay in the universe.”
She elbowed him lightly at his crudeness.
Becoming serious, he kissed her bare shoulder. “There is no way that anyone is better than you. I love you… and you love me. That’s what makes sex so mind blowing for us… and only us.”
--
The night of Homecoming, Logan and Veronica came to school in their own private limo. He had been salivating since he first set eyes on her wearing her perfect dress.
A soft shade of green that was a tone lighter than the tie that he’d been told to wear encased Veronica. The strapless dress hugged her body to just below her knees where the dressed flared widely into a trumpet skirt of tulle that circled around her. Her hair was done up in a simple ponytail at the nape of her neck, leaving the long strands to weave done her back.
The instant they arrived, Cassidy arrived and dragged Logan off to the side, having something urgent to tell him. Meg, Mac and Lilly came for Veronica.
“What’s going on?” Logan asked Cassidy, slightly annoyed to be pulled away from Veronica.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Well, spit it out.”
“You never slept with Lilly.”
--
“What’s going on?” Veronica asked the girls curiously.
“I found out that I was drugged,” Lilly blurted out.
“What?”
“The night that Logan and I supposed slept together… I was drugged,” Lilly explained. “And I’m pretty sure he was too.”
“What?”
Mac took over. “Meg and I overheard Madison complaining. She was basically bitching and moaning that you and Logan were still together.”
“She said ‘I set him up, made him look like an ass, and she still clings to him. What the hell does it take to ruin her?’ Mac and I cornered her. We got the whole story out of her.” Meg took a breath. “Madison drugged Lilly.”
“Apparently she thought I wouldn’t care if I slept with Logan,” Lilly said cynically.
“And Dick drugged Logan.”
“Why?” Veronica asked, “Why would they do something like that?”
“Dick thought Logan needed to get laid and Madison’s a bitch that doesn’t like anyone but herself to be happy,” Mac summed up.
“She is so dead.”
--
When Veronica and Logan found each other again at their table, they hugged instantly.
“What have you been doing?” she asked curiously.
“Taking care of some business,” he answered grimly.
Pulling back, she looked up at him. “What kind of business?”
“Beating the crap out of Dick for drugging me and making it look like I’d slept with Lilly.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t sleep with Lilly?”
“Apparently not. He put too much GHB in our cups and we both ended up passed out. So he stripped us down and waited for the show.” Anger still tinged his words, but he noticed that she was surprising calm at the news. “Did you know?”
“That’s what Mac, Meg and Lilly wanted to tell me,” she explained.
He eyed her suspiciously. “What have you been up to?”
She smiled coyly. “Well, you know me.”
--
By the end of the night, Madison and Dick were arrested for possession of illegal drugs, underage drinking, and intent to harm.
It seems that Principal Clemmons got an anonymous tip that some students were in possession of drugs and alcohol at the school dance. He called in the Sheriff’s department and all the students were searched.
Madison was caught handing her GHB laced soda to Gia and Dick was high as a kite from his flask of rum and ecstasy.
So Homecoming ended on a sour note for most of the class… except for a select handful.
Lilly somehow managed to punch Madison in the face without reprisal. She’d made a big show of outrage on Gia’s behalf and gave Madison a black eye before the deputies could stop her. Being a Kane, Lamb let her go, turning a blind eye to her actions.
Now the masterminds of the raid on Homecoming were gathered on the beach, giggling over their triumph and hanging out with their boyfriends.
“I’m sorry we got Dick arrested,” Mac hugged Cassidy, “but he totally deserved it.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’ll probably end up in a rehab clinic somewhere. Unlike Madison, he wasn’t caught trying to drug anyone but himself.”
“Madison will probably end up in jail. Caught trying to drug the Mayor’s daughter? Guess she’ll have to get used to community soap,” Lilly said gleefully.
“You don’t feel the slightest remorse for what you did?” Wallace looked at the girls.
“Definitely not.” Meg said, “They drugged Lilly and Logan to do hateful and harmful things. They should have gone to jail for that.”
“Yeah, we were just righting a wrong.” Mac nodded in wholehearted agreement.
“What about you?” Wallace looked to his best friend.
But Veronica and Logan were too lost in each other to be paying attention.
--
The End
The Cheesy Love Songs Challenge