Title: One way to stay in touch
Author:
Tigereyes320 Pairing/Character: Logan/Veronica & Logan/Veronica/Duncan friendship
Word Count: 3267
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Veronica gets an interesting gift and with Logan’s help tries to figure out what it means for them.
Spoilers: Slight future fic January of their freshmen year of college
Warnings: None. This is in response to the VM lyric fic Challenge; Lyric from Fat Bottom Girls ‘All around the land’ my object was a pink sparkly pen. My usual beta
phoenixrae was unable to beta this for me so all mistakes are mine.
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“Are you sure you want to come with me? I know it’s not your thing.” Veronica asked Logan as she slid her arms into the coat he held for her.
“Veronica, I said I would go. I liked Meg too, she was honestly sweet. Hey what is this?” Logan asked as he picked up a long, slim, wrapped package that was on her desk.
“Oh it’s another pen. Remind me when I get back to look into who is sending them to me.”
“Another pen?” Logan asked as he tossed the package back on her desk
“Yeah, it’s this pink sparkly pen. I’ve gotten nearly a dozen of them. Why do you ask?”
“I think I got some of these too. I just haven’t done anything with them yet. You know me. I let it pile up and then have one massive throw out. Bring them with us and then we can look at mine and see if they mean anything to us or if it’s just junk mail.”
“Okay they are in that box there. Put the one on my desk in there too. I’ll bring my laptop as we’ll probably need it. You got the flowers?” Veronica asked as she left her bedroom.
“In my car.” Logan said as he signed and rolled his eyes. He waited for Veronica to lock the apartment.
“That isn’t a car, it’s a statement.”
“Yes it is and it says Logan is here you may now admire him.” Logan said with a smile he knew that arguing about his car would distract Veronica.
“How you and your ego can coexist on one continent is amazing to me.” Veronica said as she made her way to the passenger side.
“Let’s just go before we get into another fight.” Logan knew that once they started arguing it could easily get out of control.
“I thought you liked it when we fought.”
“I’ve told you, I only like fighting if there is a chance for us to have hot makeup sex.”
“So our regular sex is cold?” Veronica asked only half joking, when they got between the sheets it was always hot, but that didn’t mean her insecurities didn’t still show.
Logan looked at her for a moment, shook his head and before she could do anything; he dropped the box and swung her around until she was pressed against the Xterra. He attacked her lips with a wicked vengeance. Before Veronica realized what had happened she had her legs wrapped around Logan’s waist and was attacking his mouth right back.
He broke off the kiss, “What was that about us and cold?”
“No idea, all thoughts of cold have fled my brain. I think we’re going to have one of warm fuzzy moments that we like to have so much; after the visit to the cemetery.”
“Good idea.” Logan gave her a quick kiss on the lips as he held Veronica so she could unwrap her legs from his waist. “You are too short.” He said as he opened the passenger side door for her.
“I’m not short; I’m petite, possibly vertically challenged. I don’t hear you complaining when we’re in bed.”
“That’s because we’re horizontal.” Logan said as he dropped a kiss on her lips.
“If you plan on getting horizontal any time in the near future, quit with the short comments.” Veronica said with a smirk.
“Yes ma’am.” Logan said with a little salute. He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side and got in.
They sat for several minutes as Logan drove to Neptune’s cemetery. Logan reached down and intertwined his fingers loosely with Veronica’s. She gave his hand a quick squeeze in response.
“You got the roses I wanted right?” Veronica asked distracting herself momentarily.
“Yes I did. Here we are; I’m surprised her parents allowed her to be buried here.”
“Nothing shows you’re grieving like a splashy funeral. You know sometimes I dream that she didn’t die, and that I helped Meg and Duncan run away with little Lilly.”
Veronica and Logan got out of the SUV, and after Logan got the flowers from the back and handed them to Veronica; they headed toward Meg’s headstone.
Logan kept her hand in his as they walked, “I know you would have.”
“Even Lamb and the FBI would have if they had seen Grace in that closet.”
“Here it is. Do you want me to wait over there?” Logan asked, knowing Veronica still didn’t like witnesses to her grief.
“Yeah, we need some girl time,” quipped Veronica. She waited until Logan had moved a safe distance away before she continued, “Hey Meg, I’m sorry I haven’t been by, I didn’t think it was safe. The FBI still thinks that I had something to do with Duncan kidnaping his daughter. I know if you looking down, you know your little girl is safe. I kept my promise. I don’t know where they are, but I’m sure Duncan is taking very good care of her. Your parents named her Faith, but Duncan renamed her Lilly. Maybe she’ll turn out to be the best Lilly Kane yet, all of Lilly’s fabulousness and all of your sweetness and honesty. I miss you; I hope you know that we discovered the truth behind the crash and that you’re at peace. I’m with Logan again, we have our ups and downs, a lot of them, but I’m happier with him then I ever thought possible. We’re both at Hearst, I’m going for criminology, Logan’s doing English for right now, but he think he might change. I probably won’t come back Meg; I just wanted you to know how sorry I am that you were on the bus, especially if you were there because of me. I really hope that you and Lilly are up there sipping champagne, breaking hearts, and having a great time.” Veronica put the mix of pale pink and bright yellow roses on Meg’s grave. She got up slowly and made her way back to Logan who was standing off to the side.
He didn’t say a word as he wrapped his arm around her. As they walked back to the car Logan let her lean on him.
“So where to?” Logan asked.
“Well let’s see, Dad’s out of town for two more days. I say we go back to my place and pickup Backup. Then we go back to your place.”
“And what will we do at my place?”
“I’m sure we will find something to do.”
It took them less then an hour to get Backup, and a few things Veronica wanted to take to Logan’s. She left a note for her Dad as well as called and left a voice mail that told him she would be at Logan’s until he got back.
Since Logan’s beach house had more then one bedroom, the agreement was Keith would assume that Veronica was sleeping in one of the other bedrooms and Logan and Veronica were not allowed in any way to shatter that particular illusion.
Logan and Veronica were sitting in his kitchen munching on some pizza and drinking soda’s when Logan broke into Veronica’s thoughts. “I’m going to tell you something I once swore I would never repeat. Duncan told me when he discovered Meg was pregnant. Before you say anything, I told him he needed to tell you; and that he was living in a fantasy world, if he didn’t think this baby would affect your relationship. I also told him that he needed to step up and do what he could to help Meg and his baby. You would expect him to do the right thing and stand by Meg and their child.”
“You told him that?”
“Yes, I did, I also told him to stop treating you like a piece of glass. Granted, I wouldn’t have minded if you dumped him, so you could come back to me.”
“Weren’t you still with Mrs. Skanky Casablancas?”
“I would have dumped her for you, and relished telling her all about how a younger woman did more for me than she ever could.”
“I wish it could have worked out for everybody.”
“Me too, Hey get those pens let see if we can figure out why we are getting pens we didn’t ask for. Maybe we’re getting a secret message.”
An hour later they were still puzzling over everything. Veronica had the postmarked wrappers in front of her Logan’s in one pile, hers in another. They also had almost two dozen pink sparkly pens.
Logan was playing with one of them. “You know no male would ever be caught dead with one of these.”
“Maybe if the male was gay?”
“Veronica, most gay men have excellent taste, pink sparkly pens are not good taste in anyone’s book.”
“They are if you’re a twelve year old girl. You know this is weird both of us got our first pen from the same place.”
“Really, where was that?”
“Guthrie, Oklahoma. Have you ever heard of that place?”
“Nope, I’ve never even been to Oklahoma, unless you count the musical.”
“You went to musicals?”
“I went with my Mom, she always liked Oklahoma, and she’d sing Oklahoma, OK in the car on the way back. Hey Go.”
“Go where?”
“Not go as in leave, Guthrie is the g and Oklahoma is the o. G-O spells go.”
“Logan you’re right. I wonder if all of them do that. Let’s see where your postmarks are from. There is Charlottesville, Virginia, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, Rawlins, Wyoming, Olean, New York, Indio, California, and Anaconda, Montana. Boy this person really like to travel around the land know as the US. So we have G-O-C-V-E-W-R-W-O-N-I-C-A-M.
“Take out the two w’s and the m at the end and look what it says.”
“Huh?”
“Go see Veronica. They used the letter C instead of spelling out see. I wonder what yours spell out.”
“Let’s find out. Guthrie, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Cody, Wyoming, Tok, Alaska, Kahului, Hawaii, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Lima, Ohio, Glendale, Arizona, New Castle Wyoming, Irving, Texas, Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, and Utica, New York. Okay that gives us the letters G-O-T-O-C-W-T-A-K-H-E-W-L-O-G-A-N-W-I-T-H-W-U-N. If it take out the first h, and the second w, and the last n; I have Go to CW and take Logan with you.”
“Who is CW?”
“Clarence Weidman, he is head of security for Kane software.”
"Why would we need to go see him?"
"I guess we’d better go see him. First I better make sure he’s there." Veronica said as she pulled out her cell phone. "Hi, Mr. Weidman in, or is he is a meeting? No, no message I’ll call back."
“I take it he’s in?"
"Yep, let’s go see what the hell this is all about." Veronica said as she grabbed her jacket. Logan followed her out to his car.
It felt like moments later when they pulled up to Kane software. They go out and walked into the building. As they walked up to the receptionist desk.
"Miss Mars, and Mr. Echolls I was wondering when you would be arriving."
"So you were expecting us?" Veronica asked skeptically.
"A mutual friend had a message for the both of you."
"A mutual friend?" Logan asked.
"If you’ll both come this way to my office."
Logan and Veronica exchanged a look and followed him back to his office.
When they got there he was holding what looked like a DVD disk. "You two were never here, I never saw you pick this up and quietly leave. Though when you leave, Miss Mars you might want to take this with you." Clarence said as he held up a black 9 x 12 envelope. With that he left his office.
"Now that is a man who knows a good exit line when he has one." Logan said as he tucked the envelope in the waistband of his dark tan cargo pants. "You grab the DVD. Let’s get the hell out of here."
"Let’s go back to your place." Veronica said as she held out her hand to him.
Logan took her hand and pulled her toward him. "Okay."
They didn’t watch the DVD when they first got to Logan’s. They barely made it inside the door when they turned and began to take each others clothes off. The times that they could spend lots of time together were further apart than either would have liked. Between their class schedules and Veronica working when she could to afford to keep the LeBaron up. Logan was threatening to get her a newer car just so he’d know she was safe on her stakeouts.
A few hours later they were back on Logan’s bed eating cold pizza and arguing about what movie to watch.
"Veronica Just get it out so we can watch whatever is on it. You think it’s from Duncan don’t you?"
"Yeah, I do." Veronica said as she grabbed Logan’s t-shirt off the floor and put it on to go get the disc. When she got back to his bedroom, Logan was on top of the bed in his boxers.
"It’s all ready to go."
Veronica put the DVD in and pushed play. She then joined Logan on his bed.
Duncan’s face came on the screen. "Hi guys, I hope you aren’t too mad about the way I had to get this to you. I can’t send anything to you directly yet. Mom and Dad are still helping me fight for custody of Lilly. They say within a year or two I might be able to come home with my daughter. Lilly come say ‘hi’ to Aunt Veronica and Uncle Logan."
Duncan had Lilly on his lap and was waving one of her little hands at the screen. Veronica could definitely see Meg in the shape of her face and her blonde hair. She had Duncan’s bright blue eyes, but that little mouth was pure Lilly Kane. "We miss you two.”
“Veronica, I know what happened with Cassidy, I’m so glad you’re okay and that Logan was there for you. I have a couple of confessions for you both. I know you two are back together and I’m happy for you. You two gravitate toward each other like two magnets. You’ll be able to make it work this time, if you remember to talk to each other. I was never very good at that was I Veronica?”
“Which leads me to my first confession; I’m not a nice guy. Don’t argue with me, I’m not. Veronica I knew you were happy with Logan, but when everything happened I knew it would only be a matter of time before Logan being a jackass drove you two to a fight. I made sure I was there to pick up the pieces. I also know I didn’t make you happy Veronica. We tried to go back to the people we were before Lilly died. We changed and the normal that we wanted back belonged to Logan. So I knew, once I was out of the picture, you two would get back together. I didn’t expect it to take as long as it did.”
“Logan, I’m sorry for everything. You were a much better friend to me than I was to you. I broke the best friend code. If I hadn’t, Lilly would have her mother. I just need to tell you that I missed you two and the Fab four we used to be. I know everything about the trial. Veronica I want you to know I got tested and I’m ok. I hope you are too.”
“This is the hardest one to admit to. Logan you may not forgive me for this and if you don’t I understand. I arranged for Aaron to die, I won’t say anything more then that. He was a monster and when the law decided to let him go, I lost it. He needed to pay for what he did to Lilly. For the rest of my life I’ll have that blood on my hands, I have to live with that. I still want to be the best Dad I can be. So I’m asking you not to seek revenge at least not Lilly’s of age”
"If you two want nothing more to do with me it’s ok. Just get a message to CW. If you do when ever I get a new DVD to him I’ll send you a sparkly pink pen. It’ll be our bat signal. Let me tell you it was not easy getting all those packages send to all those different places. So that’s it for now, we’re doing good. Veronica, what’s in the envelope is only a fraction of what my family owes you. Please accept it. I’ll rest easier knowing you have it. I love you both and I hope you can one day forgive me for all the pain caused both of you."
All of a sudden the DVD went blank. Logan and Veronica sat on the bed in stunned silence, absorbing Duncan’s confession.
Veronica got under the cover and snuggled next to Logan. Logan also got under the cover to join her.
"Are you okay?" Logan asked her putting his arm around her.
"Are you?"
"I don’t know."
"I don’t either. Let’s think about it later. I just want to sleep right now."
“Veronica did you open the envelope.” Logan asked suspiciously.
“Yes.” Veronica said as she sat up and straddled Logan’s lap.
“You want me to torture it out of you? What was in it?” Logan said as Veronica began to work her lips around the pulse in his neck.
“A check for eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, I can now do what ever I want. Stay at Hearst, go to Stanford, buy a house.” Veronica added as she nipped his earlobe and then moved to the other.
“You’ve always wanted to go to Stanford.” Logan said as he caressed her skin beneath the t-shirt, and slowly began to tug it off of her.
“Yeah, but I’m doing good in my classes. I’ll be a good girl and put it all in the bank except for a little bit of spending money.” Veronica raised her arms to assist in the removal of the shirt.
“Please tell you’re buying a new car.” Logan said as he turned them so he was poised over her.
“I think I might just trade in the La Baron, get some new wheels. I was also thinking of something else.” Veronica said closing her eyes as Logan began kissing her neck.
Logan got rid of his boxers and covered Veronica again with his body. “What?”
“Maybe we could take a vacation somewhere together. Over summer break.”
“We could do that. In fact I’d really like that. Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know yet. Let’s throw some darts in the morning.” Veronica said finding it hard to concentrate as Logan’s tongue danced across her skin.
“We don’t have any darts.”
“Then we’ll throw our pink sparkly pens. Now are you going to talk all night or are you going to give my brain something better to think about.”
“Well I do love a challenge. We need to make that decision about Duncan too.”
“Then let’s do it tomorrow. I want a distraction right now.” Veronica said as she grabbed his shoulders and rubbed her body against hers.
Logan’s body reacted as it always did. “You are so bossy, tiny blonde one.” He said as he reached over to turn the light off.
“And you love it.”
“That I do.”
The End
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