Fic: For the Sake of a Friend, (Logan/Veronica), PG-13, 4/WIP
Title: For the Sake of a Friend, (Logan/Veronica), PG-13, 4/WIP
Author: jacedesbff supported by Merc4
Pairing/Character: Logan/Veronica, Duncan, ensemble
Word Count: 5400+
Rating: PG-13; angst and sexual situations; there is a PG-13 sex scene (because I’m a PG-13 kinda gal).
Summary: AU from the Pilot. October through Shelley’s party.
Spoilers: Familiarity with Season 1 required.
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns all.
A/N: What if Logan and Veronica were a couple all through Season 1, but had to hide it from everyone? Once again, all episode dialogue taken from Inigo Montoya’s online transcripts.
This chapter took longer to post because it’s twice as long as most of the other chapters, so enjoy! As a note, I don’t think I knew that a fic could be both this angst-ridden and this fluffy at the same time. ‘Cause, um, yeah.
I recommend reading the other chapters first so you know the background. Xposted. Feedback, as always, is adored!
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
As Veronica sat down at her usual solitary lunch table, she glanced over at the 09er table. Most people thought it was Duncan that drew her eye. The idea, of course, was for Duncan to think that, too. But it wasn’t her first love that always caught Veronica’s eye. Logan felt her glance and looked over just as briefly before turning away. Glancing away was such a habit for both of them that they had joked privately that if their relationship ever went public they would miss each other’s lips if they tried to kiss.
Only five people knew the nature of Logan and Veronica’s relationship, including their parents. The first to find out, of course, had been her father. He had been waiting for them when she and Logan returned from the orange grove that first night and the sight of the two of them holding hands as they walked into the house had been-you know-kind of a giveaway.
Keith hadn’t said anything at first. He raised an eyebrow at Logan, who had the decency to look embarrassed. Logan looked at his feet, but he didn’t let go of Veronica’s hand.
“Are you two sure about this?” Keith asked them.
Veronica looked at Logan and put her free hand on his arm. Logan looked at her and Veronica nodded to her father.
Keith nodded in return before his look became grave.
“How is Duncan going to take this?”
The teenagers looked at each other again before Veronica turned back to her dad.
“He’s not.”
Keith’s brow furrowed and Logan took a deep breath.
“Duncan can’t handle anything right now, least of all…” he held up his and Veronica’s entwined hands.
Veronica continued, “So we’re going to keep this between us. For now.”
Keith considered this for a moment before nodding. “That’s probably for the best.” Then he looked hard at the boy on his daughter’s arm. “Logan, I’m only going to say this once and then we’re going to move on.” Logan’s face froze-Keith was using his ‘cop voice’. “If you ever hurt my daughter, when I’m done with you, you’ll wish you had never been born.” He looked Logan directly in the eye. “Are we clear?”
Logan relaxed. Despite popular opinion, he believed in monogamy; he certainly wasn’t going to hit Veronica. While there were other ways to hurt people, he was pretty sure that those were the two that Keith would respond to with force. Logan knew where he stood.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said calmly.
“Now that we understand each other,” confirmed Keith, and the two men exchanged one of those “guy” looks that left Veronica certain that she had just missed something. “Alright, Veronica, you need to go to bed. Logan, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
Veronica jumped in before Logan could move. “Dad, I can’t-I can’t go back to school tomorrow. Today was too…hard. I need some time…” She didn’t want to tell her dad the specifics of why her day had been so bad, but Keith was an intelligent man.
“Okay, honey,” Keith assured her. “Why don’t we plan on you taking a few days off?”
Logan felt Veronica’s hands relax against him. What had today been like for her? He had been at the hospital all day and then had come straight here. He cringed inwardly at what must have happened to Veronica when it got around school that Keith had brought the Kanes in for questioning.
“Can Veronica come over to my place tomorrow so she doesn’t have to be here alone?” he asked the older man.
Keith smiled. “I think that’ll be okay. You’ll need to explain the situation to your parents so they can help you be discreet. I agree that it’s important that Duncan not know about this right now.”
“Will do,” affirmed Logan.
“Alright, you two. Veronica-bed. Logan-home.” He smiled at the two of them and headed upstairs, leaving his daughter and her boyfriend alone, his way of showing them that he approved of their relationship.
Logan turned to Veronica. “I’m going to go see Duncan in the morning. I think they’re going to keep him in the hospital another day. Why don’t you take a cab over to my place at around ten?”
“A cab?” she questioned.
“Trust me,” he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “I have a plan.”
Veronica giggled. “Should I be worried?”
“Probably,” he said and he kissed her again.
Veronica was quickly growing addicted to the feel of Logan’s lips. She didn’t want him to go and she certainly didn’t want him to stop kissing her, but she knew that they both needed to respect her dad’s trust. Reluctantly, they broke apart and Logan went home.
As she went to sleep that night, the taste of Logan’s lips still on her own, she wondered what the next day would be like. Would he regret what they had done? Would he be happy? She and Logan had always been casual friends. This was new territory. She tried to remember her earlier excitement as she went to sleep, to have faith in this new discovery, but deep down she was afraid it would go as horribly wrong as everything else recently had.
Wallace sat down at her table, jerking her out of her reverie.
As she looked up in surprise, she saw her new friend shaking his head.
“Girl, you should hear what people say about you.”
She had expected him to say that yesterday. The gossip mill was running a little slow this week.
“So then what are you doing sitting here?”
”I like this table.”
”It’s the same as every other table out here.”
“Don’t let the advertising fool you-this is by far the best one out here. What do you suppose this is made of? Oak?”
Veronica sighed. Enough banter-the situation was what it was. “Look, if people are saying such awful things…”
Wallace cut her off. “Well, I figure I’ve got a choice. I can either hang out with the punks who laughed at me, took pictures of me while I was taped to that flagpole, or I can hang out with the chick who cut me down.”
Veronica grinned. How enchanting-a high school student with a mind of his own.
”So you want to get the PCH Bike Club off your ass?”
Wallace laughed and Veronica smiled. She had a friend of her very own.
As she went through the rest of her classes, though, Wallace’s comment kept running through her mind.
Girl, you should hear what people say about you.
Even after her dad accused Jake Kane of collusion in Lilly’s murder, Veronica’s life hadn’t immediately been like that.
The day after the events in the orange grove, Veronica had taken a cab over to Logan’s house, for which he had insisted on paying, and they had told his mom what was going on. Logan had asked Lynn to fill Aaron in-Logan’s father was in L.A. doing voiceover work for the day. Veronica sensed that Logan didn’t want to tell Aaron himself, but she wasn’t sure why.
Logan had taken his mother aside for a few minutes and then he and Veronica had gone outside where a car and driver were waiting for them. All Veronica could get out of Logan was that the driver was from his parents’ exclusive car service, which paid their drivers very well to keep all of their customers’ secrets. Every time she tried to get more out of him, Logan kissed her. Eventually she kept doing it just so that they could keep making out, which led to them laughing so hard that they couldn’t make out anyway.
Either way, by the time they had arrived at their destination, Veronica was completely clueless as to where they were. She was then very confused when they came to a halt in the middle of a fairly skanky neighborhood. As she got out of the car, she looked around the neighborhood and at the prominent sign that read “Ontario A-OK Used Cars”.
She looked at Logan in disbelief. “We drove all the way to Ontario to go to a used car dealership?”
“Going to one in Neptune would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?” Logan had turned back to the driver and given him a large tip, asking him to wait until after they had purchased a car to leave.
“You’re going to buy a car,” stated Veronica, bemused.
Logan didn’t answer her directly, merely raising his eyebrows as if to say, “Duh.”
Veronica didn’t say anything else as she watched Logan go to town on the oily used car salesman who came running up to the couple who had just gotten out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Towncar. Logan proceeded to spin a tall tale about the desperate circumstances which led his brother the chauffeur to drive Logan and his pregnant girlfriend to the nearest used car dealership. (Veronica figured it was a good thing that the Towncar was parked in such a way that the salesman couldn’t tell that the driver was clearly of Hispanic descent.) She barely managed to conceal her laughter, turning it instead into little sniffles in subtle support of Logan’s charade. She also began patting her stomach at regular intervals.
Her boyfriend continued to explain to the nonplussed salesman, who introduced himself as Lyle Kitchens, that his and Veronica’s only chance in life was to buy a car that would get them to Snowflake, Arizona, where her family lived-there was a job there for him, but only if he had a car. Did Lyle have anything that would work for the poor young couple, now using their last few pennies to buy the car that would ensure their future? By this point, tears were starting to squeeze out of Veronica’s eyes as she strained not to fall over laughing.
Lyle went into sales mode, not completely taken in by Logan’s sob story, but not recognizing the young man as the son of Hollywood royalty, either. Veronica’s tears, sniffles and stomach patting didn’t hurt. He and Logan haggled back and forth for some time before finally settling on a relatively reasonable price for a dark green 1994 Mazda 626. Once all of the numbers had been settled and the paperwork had been filled out, Lyle had been less than pleased when Logan pulled out his mother’s black AmEx to settle the bill. His entire demeanor changed and he angrily pulled the credit card through the sad little machine on his desk. Lyle’s manner improved a bit, however, when Logan slid a $100 bill across the desk-amazing the power that Benjamin had to cheer people up.
As Logan and Veronica got into their “new” car and the chauffeur finally drove off in the Lincoln, Lyle had reached in to shake Logan’s hand and there had been a mutual “no hard feelings” exchange, during which Veronica was pretty sure some more money exchanged hands. As they drove off, Veronica smacked Logan on the arm, prompting him to cop an innocent expression.
“What? I could hardly drive over to your place every day in my car.”
“Ontario?” she asked blandly.
“We didn’t run into anyone we know, did we?”
He then took her to dinner at a tacky run-down children’s restaurant/mini-golf palace ruled by a Rocky & Bullwinkle theme. Veronica thought the place was kind of creepy, what with images of the cartoon moose painted on the ground, staring at them from overhead, and emblazoned upon the golf balls, but it was obvious that Logan liked it and the two of them had a great time as they went through a pizza and played a round of golf. As they laughed and talked their way across eighteen holes, Veronica realized that first of all, there was no awkwardness. They had known each other long enough that they basically skipped the awkward exposition phase that marked the beginning of most relationships and instead got to move on to the more interesting stage of getting comfortable around one another. They kept finding excuses to touch hands and arms, invade each others’ personal space, and otherwise engage in “new couple” activities.
She also became conscious of the fact that this place held special meaning for Logan, which led her to believe that he hadn’t chosen Ontario at random. At one point he mentioned that his sixth birthday party had been held at Bullwinkle’s. Veronica casually asked him some questions about it which Logan had just as casually answered. She realized, though, that coming here had in no way been a casual choice for Logan. Bullwinkle’s was the source of one of Logan’s happiest childhood memories, and he was sharing it with her.
As they turned in their golf clubs and went inside for dessert, Veronica asked how long it had been since Logan had been to this restaurant. When he told her that the last time had been on his birthday, she had to blink back tears lest Logan see them. He was sharing something with her that he had never shared with anyone-a happy place in his heart that he clearly cherished. He trusted her with it.
As they held hands following dessert, talking about everything and nothing, Veronica said softly, “I think Lilly would like this. You know, not if she were alive,” she smiled at that. “But given the circumstances, I think she would approve. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” he had said as the pad of his thumb rubbed her palm. “I think you’re right.”
That night as she went to sleep, Veronica did so without any worries.
Things had gone well for about three weeks, even when the two of them went back to school the following Monday. Duncan went back, too, surprising everyone who thought his parents would make him take more time off, but he mentioned offhandedly to Logan that constantly being around his parents was more depressing than anything school could throw at him, so head back he did. Veronica was universally shunned by her former friends, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, thanks mostly to Logan’s subtle influence.
Now that the leaders of the pack had returned, the hive mind of the 09ers had an example to follow. Duncan pretended that Veronica didn’t exist, so Logan did the same-it was Duncan they were doing this for, after all. Logan even went so far as to tell Madison Sinclair to shut the hell up when she started to go off on Veronica around the lunch table one day. Madison looked stunned as Logan noted curtly that Veronica had lost her best friend, too.
“But her dad…” protested Madison.
“Drop it,” stated Logan flatly and that was that.
And so it remained until the day that the video of Lilly’s crime scene leaked. Near the end of the day, to her horror Veronica came across some boys watching the footage in the library. She raced out of the library past an equally distraught Logan. The instant school was over, disregarding all of the routines they had established over the past few weeks, Veronica raced over to Logan’s house.
She ran in to find him slumped on the floor next to the front door, tears streaming down his face. He stood when he saw her and the two of them held each other, her back to the wall, their foreheads together. An indeterminate amount of time passed before either of them moved, at which point Logan kissed Veronica’s temple, followed by a chaste kiss which quickly turned almost violent in its intensity. It was as though they were using the physical contact to remind themselves that they were alive and to chase away the images of death they had been forced to relive. At that exact moment the doorknob had turned and Dick and Beaver burst in.
Recognizing Veronica’s car in the driveway, they skipped knocking and so barely missed finding the couple passionately entangled. They were still against the wall, however, and apologizing with his eyes, which the intruders couldn’t see, Logan had covered for the two of them.
In a low but audible whisper, he said, “If you ever come here again looking for absolution, I will make sure that you are never able to show your face in this town again.” He leaned in closer and delivered the final blow. “Now get the hell out of my house before I have to have it fumigated.”
To the catcalls of the Casablancas brothers, Veronica had run out in tears. It took Logan most of the afternoon and evening to get rid of his uninvited guests, who had come over to console him through the application of copious amounts of alcohol and video games. By the time he went up to his room and called Veronica, it was 11:00. He was too drunk to drive and too miserable to do anything but repeat over and over again how sorry he was. Ultimately he had just listened while she cried softly, which was the best thing he could have done, anyway. And so began their nightly 11:00 tradition, whether on the phone or in person, the time when they were always there for each other. The timing could not have been better, because it was at that point that school became a living hell for Veronica.
Having been given permission-in their minds-to target Veronica, the 09ers went at it with a zeal that was almost frightening. Dick in particular led the charge as he reveled in telling everyone how Veronica had begged Logan for forgiveness and Logan had slammed her to the ground like a professional wrestler. Not only could Logan do nothing to stop it, on the occasions when he didn’t join in, it only made the situation worse. What’s wrong, Logan? Did she say something? He must be thinking of Lilly-Veronica is such a whore. Duncan, of course, lived on in silence.
Veronica found dead fish in her locker; all four of her tires flat; crushed Cheetos in her backpack; graffiti on her locker informing the world of what a slut she was; spitballs in her hair; rotten eggs crushed in her seat when she arrived to a class; pictures with her head Photoshopped onto Pamela Anderson’s body, Roseanne Arnold’s body, and into shots from porno movies.
It was during this time period that her home life imploded, as well.
Lianne had always been a relatively heavy drinker, but since Lilly’s death her drinking had spiraled into full-blown alcoholism. She was often too far gone to make dinner, leaving Veronica and Keith to fend for themselves. She stopped doing housework. The only conversations she had with Keith were arguments and most of her exchanges with Veronica were semi-coherent. Veronica wasn’t sure why her best friend’s death had affected her mother so strongly, but it had.
A few weeks after the tape leaked, the voters of Balboa County held an emergency recall election and Sheriff Mars became Keith Mars, private citizen. Veronica got the worst of it on both sides. At school she was the subject of even further derision and ridicule. At home the fights between her parents escalated, and when they had to move out of their home and into an apartment, Lianne just kept on going. She vanished over the Neptune city line leaving her daughter devastated.
The only things holding Veronica together were Keith and Logan. Her father used what little savings he had to rent an office downtown and set up a private investigation business while Veronica went to work for him, answering phones and setting up the filing system. At least she had a place where she felt needed-her dad acted tough, but the truth was that he needed her to be there, not just as an office manager (although he most certainly needed that), but because he needed her. Veronica and Keith’s relationship grew exponentially in the weeks after her mother left as she and her father built a new family on the ashes of their old one.
And then there was Logan. Along with being there for her emotionally, he started telling her ahead of time what the 09ers were planning next whenever possible. This helped to make their harassment of her seem juvenile instead of hateful-if you know that someone is going to fill your locker with flour, wear white and make a comment about wishing you had your Easy Bake Oven. Their abuse still hurt, but having the inside edge on her tormentors was more than a minor emotional victory.
She and Logan called each other every night and whenever possible he came over to see her. She was sure that most of her neighbors thought she was dating a gang banger. Logan always came over dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses-regardless of the time of day-wearing baggy jeans and a baseball cap slouched on underneath the hood to complete the outfit. If nothing else, he looked like he belonged in her neighborhood, although not necessarily with her.
So she rebuilt her life one piece at a time. They were small gains, to be sure, and on occasion she felt like she was having phantom limb pains-like amputees-when her heart remembered her mother, but she was trying.
And then came Shelley’s party.
Veronica had attended the previous year’s party with Lilly; hearing about its impending return made her ache for her friend. She decided to attend, to show the 09ers that they hadn’t beaten her, that she could hold her head up in front of them and not be ashamed. She didn’t tell Logan because she knew he would try to convince her not to go. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea she had ever had, but she felt like it was a necessary one in order for her to be able to keep looking at herself in the mirror every morning.
When she arrived the party was already in full swing, kegs flowing, clothes shedding. As she walked across the living room, making her way through lip-locked couples (including Duncan and Shelley Pomeroy), someone passed her a plastic cup. She started to take a drink when a strong hand snatched it from her fingers.
“What the-“ Couldn’t she even have a-
Her thought was cut off as she looked into Logan’s eyes.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he dragged her out onto the pool deck. Everyone they passed snickered, assuming that he was telling her off for daring to show her face at their party. They were right, of course, they just had the reason wrong.
Veronica stared back at him, a steely glint in her eye.
“I’m tired of being the victim,” she stated in a low tone. “I wanted-I needed to come here.” Her gaze altered and her eyes pleaded with him. “Don’t you understand?”
He visibly sagged. He did understand why she was here; he also knew how stupid it was.
“Fine. Whatever. But don’t drink anything. At all. Not even water.”
“Why not?” she gave him a strange look.
He sighed. “Some of us scored some Liquid X in Tijuana last weekend.” The look on her face instantly transformed to pure I’m-your-girlfriend-and-I’m-going-to-kick-your-ass. “Yell at me later, okay?” he ground out. “In the meantime- Don’t. Drink. Anything.” He emphasized his words by grabbing her, almost shaking her. Veronica was shocked by the level of fear in Logan’s eyes. What in the hell did he think was going to happen to her?
Overreact much?
“Fine,” she told him archly. “May I go now?”
“Who am I to stand in your way?” She looked at him when he said this, but his expression was inscrutable.
She wandered around the pool, looking at all of the people she used to call friends. None of them spoke to her; in fact, no one looked at her at all-she might as well have been transparent. She went back inside the house, but it was the same. Sometime during her conversation with Logan, the 09ers seemed to have reached a group consensus to treat her as though she didn’t exist. Somehow this new method of social punishment was more painful than anything else they had done to her, maybe because it marginalized her very existence. After thirty minutes of it, Veronica couldn’t take it anymore; neither could she leave without feeling like they had won. She told herself she was compromising by slipping into an empty bedroom.
As she lay down on the bed, tears fell onto the pillow. She could hardly call this showing them that they hadn’t beaten her. The door opened and she sat up, dashing the tears from her eyes as she did so.
“I saw you come in here,” said Logan.
Veronica didn’t say anything as fresh tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Veronica.”
“Well, I’m tired of it!”
Logan came to a halt, surprised by the harsh tone in his girlfriend’s voice.
“I’m tired of being the victim, damn it!” Veronica stood up and started pacing. “I’m tired of sitting by while they torment me or act like I’m invisible!”
“Veronica-“
“Don’t you get it?” she cut him off. ”I’m tired of life happening to me instead of going out there and living it myself. This is stupid! Even before all of this happened-“ she waved her arms in the direction of the party, “-Lilly made all of the decisions. Where we went, what we did. And I let her! I let everyone else decide my life and I’m tired of it! I’m done!”
Silence followed this tirade, filled only by the sound of Veronica’s heavy breathing.
Veronica finally moved. She crossed to Logan and put her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat through the fabric of his shirt.
“It’s time for me to start making my own decisions.” She looked up at Logan and he knew exactly what she meant.
“Veronica-“ he began uncertainly.
“Logan,” she said gently but firmly, “wouldn’t you say this is inevitable?” He didn’t respond. “And you have protection, right?” He looked away and she put her hand on his face and turned him back to look at her. “Then why don’t we let me be the one to say that it’s time? That I’m ready? That I want my first time to be with you, that I want it to be special? I want you, Logan. And I know you want me.” She reached up and kissed him. And Logan was lost.
Logan hadn’t been a virgin when he slept with Lilly for the first time, but she had been responsible for his figuring out how to do it well. And he was determined to use all of that knowledge to make Veronica’s first time as beautiful as she deserved for it to be. He set about doing so in earnest.
The most serious conversation that Lilly and Veronica ever had was about what Veronica should expect when she finally lost her virginity. Basically Lilly had told her best friend to set her expectations low. However, now that the decision had been made, Logan took charge and Veronica quickly realized that Lilly’s lecture had been given with the belief that Veronica’s first time would be with Duncan and it didn’t apply here. She quickly came to the conclusion that their talk would have gone much differently had Lilly known that the guy involved was going to be Logan.
The experience was nothing like what she had been led to believe it would be. It was not awkward, uncomfortable or disappointing and it certainly wasn’t quick. Logan took his time, exploring what seemed like every part of her, encouraging her to explore him in return. Veronica had no idea that foreplay could be so amazing. And the rest of it…
If the noises that Veronica was making were any kind of indication, Logan knew that she was enjoying it exactly as much as he had hoped that she would.
Afterward as they lay there taking in what had just happened, the only word that came to mind was “perfect”.
“Wow,” she said in awe. “And I mean, wow.”
Logan laughed. Lying on his side next to her, he tenderly smoothed a lock of hair back from her face.
Suddenly, Veronica blew out a huge breath and with great enthusiasm said, “Let’s do that again!”
Through his laughter, Logan told her, “I think you may be a little sore.”
“Oh…” Veronica’s voice dripped with disappointment.
“But…” Logan continued, “…there are other things we could do that can be just as much fun...” His voice trailed off as his gaze lowered.
“Oh, really?” Veronica wasn’t sure whether she should be really excited or really nervous. As Logan’s mouth blazed a trail downward, she exclaimed in a rather shocked voice, “What…what are you doing?! Oh, wow!” And again with the noises. Veronica stopped being shocked and just went with the moment.
As they fell asleep, her back against his front, his arms around her, Veronica had a flash of insight that told her this wasn’t normal. This wasn’t the first time that most girls got to have. As her eyes closed and her mind drifted, she felt safe, loved and completely at peace for the first time in a very long while. For Logan’s part, it was the first time in weeks that his sleep wasn’t haunted by dreams.
When Veronica woke up the next morning the first thing she noticed were Logan’s arms around her. Then she was surprised that Logan was the first thing she noticed given that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. She smiled and pulled Logan’s arms tighter around her.
“You’re awake,” said a voice behind her ear.
Veronica smiled as she turned to face him. “What are you doing up? I thought you didn’t believe in waking up before noon on the weekend unless the surf was up.”
“The surf is up,” he said suggestively as he moved his leg over hers.
“I’ve created a monster!” she laughed.
“Cookie monster!” Logan growled. “Cookie monster want cookie!” He lowered his lips to hers and hungrily kissed her.
Veronica’s laugh under his lips turned to ardor. Logan pulled back.
“I don’t want to hide anymore,” he said as he looked into her eyes.
“What?”
“I know that we’ve kept quiet for Duncan, but I’m done. I can’t sleep with you at night and hate you during the day. I won’t do that to you. I want everyone to know how we feel. We can talk to Duncan first-he should hear it from us. Is that-is that okay with you?”
Veronica smiled and nodded. “I think that’s a good decision.” She reached up and kissed him.
Logan’s phone rang.
Veronica’s eyes slid to the phone, but Logan ignored it.
The ringing stopped and their kissing intensified.
The phone started ringing again and the two of them sighed. Logan reached for the phone.
“Celeste?” he said surprised as he looked at the caller I.D. He flipped it open as he sat up. “Hello?”
Veronica could only listen to Logan’s end of the conversation, which didn’t sound like it was going well. He hung up and sat immobile on the edge of the bed.
“Logan?” she asked, placing her hand on his back. When he didn’t answer, her tone became more insistent. “Logan?”
“It’s Duncan,” he said in a vacant tone. “He tried to kill himself.”
To be continued.
Author: jacedesbff supported by Merc4
Pairing/Character: Logan/Veronica, Duncan, ensemble
Word Count: 5400+
Rating: PG-13; angst and sexual situations; there is a PG-13 sex scene (because I’m a PG-13 kinda gal).
Summary: AU from the Pilot. October through Shelley’s party.
Spoilers: Familiarity with Season 1 required.
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns all.
A/N: What if Logan and Veronica were a couple all through Season 1, but had to hide it from everyone? Once again, all episode dialogue taken from Inigo Montoya’s online transcripts.
This chapter took longer to post because it’s twice as long as most of the other chapters, so enjoy! As a note, I don’t think I knew that a fic could be both this angst-ridden and this fluffy at the same time. ‘Cause, um, yeah.
I recommend reading the other chapters first so you know the background. Xposted. Feedback, as always, is adored!
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
As Veronica sat down at her usual solitary lunch table, she glanced over at the 09er table. Most people thought it was Duncan that drew her eye. The idea, of course, was for Duncan to think that, too. But it wasn’t her first love that always caught Veronica’s eye. Logan felt her glance and looked over just as briefly before turning away. Glancing away was such a habit for both of them that they had joked privately that if their relationship ever went public they would miss each other’s lips if they tried to kiss.
Only five people knew the nature of Logan and Veronica’s relationship, including their parents. The first to find out, of course, had been her father. He had been waiting for them when she and Logan returned from the orange grove that first night and the sight of the two of them holding hands as they walked into the house had been-you know-kind of a giveaway.
Keith hadn’t said anything at first. He raised an eyebrow at Logan, who had the decency to look embarrassed. Logan looked at his feet, but he didn’t let go of Veronica’s hand.
“Are you two sure about this?” Keith asked them.
Veronica looked at Logan and put her free hand on his arm. Logan looked at her and Veronica nodded to her father.
Keith nodded in return before his look became grave.
“How is Duncan going to take this?”
The teenagers looked at each other again before Veronica turned back to her dad.
“He’s not.”
Keith’s brow furrowed and Logan took a deep breath.
“Duncan can’t handle anything right now, least of all…” he held up his and Veronica’s entwined hands.
Veronica continued, “So we’re going to keep this between us. For now.”
Keith considered this for a moment before nodding. “That’s probably for the best.” Then he looked hard at the boy on his daughter’s arm. “Logan, I’m only going to say this once and then we’re going to move on.” Logan’s face froze-Keith was using his ‘cop voice’. “If you ever hurt my daughter, when I’m done with you, you’ll wish you had never been born.” He looked Logan directly in the eye. “Are we clear?”
Logan relaxed. Despite popular opinion, he believed in monogamy; he certainly wasn’t going to hit Veronica. While there were other ways to hurt people, he was pretty sure that those were the two that Keith would respond to with force. Logan knew where he stood.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he said calmly.
“Now that we understand each other,” confirmed Keith, and the two men exchanged one of those “guy” looks that left Veronica certain that she had just missed something. “Alright, Veronica, you need to go to bed. Logan, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
Veronica jumped in before Logan could move. “Dad, I can’t-I can’t go back to school tomorrow. Today was too…hard. I need some time…” She didn’t want to tell her dad the specifics of why her day had been so bad, but Keith was an intelligent man.
“Okay, honey,” Keith assured her. “Why don’t we plan on you taking a few days off?”
Logan felt Veronica’s hands relax against him. What had today been like for her? He had been at the hospital all day and then had come straight here. He cringed inwardly at what must have happened to Veronica when it got around school that Keith had brought the Kanes in for questioning.
“Can Veronica come over to my place tomorrow so she doesn’t have to be here alone?” he asked the older man.
Keith smiled. “I think that’ll be okay. You’ll need to explain the situation to your parents so they can help you be discreet. I agree that it’s important that Duncan not know about this right now.”
“Will do,” affirmed Logan.
“Alright, you two. Veronica-bed. Logan-home.” He smiled at the two of them and headed upstairs, leaving his daughter and her boyfriend alone, his way of showing them that he approved of their relationship.
Logan turned to Veronica. “I’m going to go see Duncan in the morning. I think they’re going to keep him in the hospital another day. Why don’t you take a cab over to my place at around ten?”
“A cab?” she questioned.
“Trust me,” he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “I have a plan.”
Veronica giggled. “Should I be worried?”
“Probably,” he said and he kissed her again.
Veronica was quickly growing addicted to the feel of Logan’s lips. She didn’t want him to go and she certainly didn’t want him to stop kissing her, but she knew that they both needed to respect her dad’s trust. Reluctantly, they broke apart and Logan went home.
As she went to sleep that night, the taste of Logan’s lips still on her own, she wondered what the next day would be like. Would he regret what they had done? Would he be happy? She and Logan had always been casual friends. This was new territory. She tried to remember her earlier excitement as she went to sleep, to have faith in this new discovery, but deep down she was afraid it would go as horribly wrong as everything else recently had.
Wallace sat down at her table, jerking her out of her reverie.
As she looked up in surprise, she saw her new friend shaking his head.
“Girl, you should hear what people say about you.”
She had expected him to say that yesterday. The gossip mill was running a little slow this week.
“So then what are you doing sitting here?”
”I like this table.”
”It’s the same as every other table out here.”
“Don’t let the advertising fool you-this is by far the best one out here. What do you suppose this is made of? Oak?”
Veronica sighed. Enough banter-the situation was what it was. “Look, if people are saying such awful things…”
Wallace cut her off. “Well, I figure I’ve got a choice. I can either hang out with the punks who laughed at me, took pictures of me while I was taped to that flagpole, or I can hang out with the chick who cut me down.”
Veronica grinned. How enchanting-a high school student with a mind of his own.
”So you want to get the PCH Bike Club off your ass?”
Wallace laughed and Veronica smiled. She had a friend of her very own.
As she went through the rest of her classes, though, Wallace’s comment kept running through her mind.
Girl, you should hear what people say about you.
Even after her dad accused Jake Kane of collusion in Lilly’s murder, Veronica’s life hadn’t immediately been like that.
The day after the events in the orange grove, Veronica had taken a cab over to Logan’s house, for which he had insisted on paying, and they had told his mom what was going on. Logan had asked Lynn to fill Aaron in-Logan’s father was in L.A. doing voiceover work for the day. Veronica sensed that Logan didn’t want to tell Aaron himself, but she wasn’t sure why.
Logan had taken his mother aside for a few minutes and then he and Veronica had gone outside where a car and driver were waiting for them. All Veronica could get out of Logan was that the driver was from his parents’ exclusive car service, which paid their drivers very well to keep all of their customers’ secrets. Every time she tried to get more out of him, Logan kissed her. Eventually she kept doing it just so that they could keep making out, which led to them laughing so hard that they couldn’t make out anyway.
Either way, by the time they had arrived at their destination, Veronica was completely clueless as to where they were. She was then very confused when they came to a halt in the middle of a fairly skanky neighborhood. As she got out of the car, she looked around the neighborhood and at the prominent sign that read “Ontario A-OK Used Cars”.
She looked at Logan in disbelief. “We drove all the way to Ontario to go to a used car dealership?”
“Going to one in Neptune would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?” Logan had turned back to the driver and given him a large tip, asking him to wait until after they had purchased a car to leave.
“You’re going to buy a car,” stated Veronica, bemused.
Logan didn’t answer her directly, merely raising his eyebrows as if to say, “Duh.”
Veronica didn’t say anything else as she watched Logan go to town on the oily used car salesman who came running up to the couple who had just gotten out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Towncar. Logan proceeded to spin a tall tale about the desperate circumstances which led his brother the chauffeur to drive Logan and his pregnant girlfriend to the nearest used car dealership. (Veronica figured it was a good thing that the Towncar was parked in such a way that the salesman couldn’t tell that the driver was clearly of Hispanic descent.) She barely managed to conceal her laughter, turning it instead into little sniffles in subtle support of Logan’s charade. She also began patting her stomach at regular intervals.
Her boyfriend continued to explain to the nonplussed salesman, who introduced himself as Lyle Kitchens, that his and Veronica’s only chance in life was to buy a car that would get them to Snowflake, Arizona, where her family lived-there was a job there for him, but only if he had a car. Did Lyle have anything that would work for the poor young couple, now using their last few pennies to buy the car that would ensure their future? By this point, tears were starting to squeeze out of Veronica’s eyes as she strained not to fall over laughing.
Lyle went into sales mode, not completely taken in by Logan’s sob story, but not recognizing the young man as the son of Hollywood royalty, either. Veronica’s tears, sniffles and stomach patting didn’t hurt. He and Logan haggled back and forth for some time before finally settling on a relatively reasonable price for a dark green 1994 Mazda 626. Once all of the numbers had been settled and the paperwork had been filled out, Lyle had been less than pleased when Logan pulled out his mother’s black AmEx to settle the bill. His entire demeanor changed and he angrily pulled the credit card through the sad little machine on his desk. Lyle’s manner improved a bit, however, when Logan slid a $100 bill across the desk-amazing the power that Benjamin had to cheer people up.
As Logan and Veronica got into their “new” car and the chauffeur finally drove off in the Lincoln, Lyle had reached in to shake Logan’s hand and there had been a mutual “no hard feelings” exchange, during which Veronica was pretty sure some more money exchanged hands. As they drove off, Veronica smacked Logan on the arm, prompting him to cop an innocent expression.
“What? I could hardly drive over to your place every day in my car.”
“Ontario?” she asked blandly.
“We didn’t run into anyone we know, did we?”
He then took her to dinner at a tacky run-down children’s restaurant/mini-golf palace ruled by a Rocky & Bullwinkle theme. Veronica thought the place was kind of creepy, what with images of the cartoon moose painted on the ground, staring at them from overhead, and emblazoned upon the golf balls, but it was obvious that Logan liked it and the two of them had a great time as they went through a pizza and played a round of golf. As they laughed and talked their way across eighteen holes, Veronica realized that first of all, there was no awkwardness. They had known each other long enough that they basically skipped the awkward exposition phase that marked the beginning of most relationships and instead got to move on to the more interesting stage of getting comfortable around one another. They kept finding excuses to touch hands and arms, invade each others’ personal space, and otherwise engage in “new couple” activities.
She also became conscious of the fact that this place held special meaning for Logan, which led her to believe that he hadn’t chosen Ontario at random. At one point he mentioned that his sixth birthday party had been held at Bullwinkle’s. Veronica casually asked him some questions about it which Logan had just as casually answered. She realized, though, that coming here had in no way been a casual choice for Logan. Bullwinkle’s was the source of one of Logan’s happiest childhood memories, and he was sharing it with her.
As they turned in their golf clubs and went inside for dessert, Veronica asked how long it had been since Logan had been to this restaurant. When he told her that the last time had been on his birthday, she had to blink back tears lest Logan see them. He was sharing something with her that he had never shared with anyone-a happy place in his heart that he clearly cherished. He trusted her with it.
As they held hands following dessert, talking about everything and nothing, Veronica said softly, “I think Lilly would like this. You know, not if she were alive,” she smiled at that. “But given the circumstances, I think she would approve. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” he had said as the pad of his thumb rubbed her palm. “I think you’re right.”
That night as she went to sleep, Veronica did so without any worries.
Things had gone well for about three weeks, even when the two of them went back to school the following Monday. Duncan went back, too, surprising everyone who thought his parents would make him take more time off, but he mentioned offhandedly to Logan that constantly being around his parents was more depressing than anything school could throw at him, so head back he did. Veronica was universally shunned by her former friends, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, thanks mostly to Logan’s subtle influence.
Now that the leaders of the pack had returned, the hive mind of the 09ers had an example to follow. Duncan pretended that Veronica didn’t exist, so Logan did the same-it was Duncan they were doing this for, after all. Logan even went so far as to tell Madison Sinclair to shut the hell up when she started to go off on Veronica around the lunch table one day. Madison looked stunned as Logan noted curtly that Veronica had lost her best friend, too.
“But her dad…” protested Madison.
“Drop it,” stated Logan flatly and that was that.
And so it remained until the day that the video of Lilly’s crime scene leaked. Near the end of the day, to her horror Veronica came across some boys watching the footage in the library. She raced out of the library past an equally distraught Logan. The instant school was over, disregarding all of the routines they had established over the past few weeks, Veronica raced over to Logan’s house.
She ran in to find him slumped on the floor next to the front door, tears streaming down his face. He stood when he saw her and the two of them held each other, her back to the wall, their foreheads together. An indeterminate amount of time passed before either of them moved, at which point Logan kissed Veronica’s temple, followed by a chaste kiss which quickly turned almost violent in its intensity. It was as though they were using the physical contact to remind themselves that they were alive and to chase away the images of death they had been forced to relive. At that exact moment the doorknob had turned and Dick and Beaver burst in.
Recognizing Veronica’s car in the driveway, they skipped knocking and so barely missed finding the couple passionately entangled. They were still against the wall, however, and apologizing with his eyes, which the intruders couldn’t see, Logan had covered for the two of them.
In a low but audible whisper, he said, “If you ever come here again looking for absolution, I will make sure that you are never able to show your face in this town again.” He leaned in closer and delivered the final blow. “Now get the hell out of my house before I have to have it fumigated.”
To the catcalls of the Casablancas brothers, Veronica had run out in tears. It took Logan most of the afternoon and evening to get rid of his uninvited guests, who had come over to console him through the application of copious amounts of alcohol and video games. By the time he went up to his room and called Veronica, it was 11:00. He was too drunk to drive and too miserable to do anything but repeat over and over again how sorry he was. Ultimately he had just listened while she cried softly, which was the best thing he could have done, anyway. And so began their nightly 11:00 tradition, whether on the phone or in person, the time when they were always there for each other. The timing could not have been better, because it was at that point that school became a living hell for Veronica.
Having been given permission-in their minds-to target Veronica, the 09ers went at it with a zeal that was almost frightening. Dick in particular led the charge as he reveled in telling everyone how Veronica had begged Logan for forgiveness and Logan had slammed her to the ground like a professional wrestler. Not only could Logan do nothing to stop it, on the occasions when he didn’t join in, it only made the situation worse. What’s wrong, Logan? Did she say something? He must be thinking of Lilly-Veronica is such a whore. Duncan, of course, lived on in silence.
Veronica found dead fish in her locker; all four of her tires flat; crushed Cheetos in her backpack; graffiti on her locker informing the world of what a slut she was; spitballs in her hair; rotten eggs crushed in her seat when she arrived to a class; pictures with her head Photoshopped onto Pamela Anderson’s body, Roseanne Arnold’s body, and into shots from porno movies.
It was during this time period that her home life imploded, as well.
Lianne had always been a relatively heavy drinker, but since Lilly’s death her drinking had spiraled into full-blown alcoholism. She was often too far gone to make dinner, leaving Veronica and Keith to fend for themselves. She stopped doing housework. The only conversations she had with Keith were arguments and most of her exchanges with Veronica were semi-coherent. Veronica wasn’t sure why her best friend’s death had affected her mother so strongly, but it had.
A few weeks after the tape leaked, the voters of Balboa County held an emergency recall election and Sheriff Mars became Keith Mars, private citizen. Veronica got the worst of it on both sides. At school she was the subject of even further derision and ridicule. At home the fights between her parents escalated, and when they had to move out of their home and into an apartment, Lianne just kept on going. She vanished over the Neptune city line leaving her daughter devastated.
The only things holding Veronica together were Keith and Logan. Her father used what little savings he had to rent an office downtown and set up a private investigation business while Veronica went to work for him, answering phones and setting up the filing system. At least she had a place where she felt needed-her dad acted tough, but the truth was that he needed her to be there, not just as an office manager (although he most certainly needed that), but because he needed her. Veronica and Keith’s relationship grew exponentially in the weeks after her mother left as she and her father built a new family on the ashes of their old one.
And then there was Logan. Along with being there for her emotionally, he started telling her ahead of time what the 09ers were planning next whenever possible. This helped to make their harassment of her seem juvenile instead of hateful-if you know that someone is going to fill your locker with flour, wear white and make a comment about wishing you had your Easy Bake Oven. Their abuse still hurt, but having the inside edge on her tormentors was more than a minor emotional victory.
She and Logan called each other every night and whenever possible he came over to see her. She was sure that most of her neighbors thought she was dating a gang banger. Logan always came over dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses-regardless of the time of day-wearing baggy jeans and a baseball cap slouched on underneath the hood to complete the outfit. If nothing else, he looked like he belonged in her neighborhood, although not necessarily with her.
So she rebuilt her life one piece at a time. They were small gains, to be sure, and on occasion she felt like she was having phantom limb pains-like amputees-when her heart remembered her mother, but she was trying.
And then came Shelley’s party.
Veronica had attended the previous year’s party with Lilly; hearing about its impending return made her ache for her friend. She decided to attend, to show the 09ers that they hadn’t beaten her, that she could hold her head up in front of them and not be ashamed. She didn’t tell Logan because she knew he would try to convince her not to go. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea she had ever had, but she felt like it was a necessary one in order for her to be able to keep looking at herself in the mirror every morning.
When she arrived the party was already in full swing, kegs flowing, clothes shedding. As she walked across the living room, making her way through lip-locked couples (including Duncan and Shelley Pomeroy), someone passed her a plastic cup. She started to take a drink when a strong hand snatched it from her fingers.
“What the-“ Couldn’t she even have a-
Her thought was cut off as she looked into Logan’s eyes.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he dragged her out onto the pool deck. Everyone they passed snickered, assuming that he was telling her off for daring to show her face at their party. They were right, of course, they just had the reason wrong.
Veronica stared back at him, a steely glint in her eye.
“I’m tired of being the victim,” she stated in a low tone. “I wanted-I needed to come here.” Her gaze altered and her eyes pleaded with him. “Don’t you understand?”
He visibly sagged. He did understand why she was here; he also knew how stupid it was.
“Fine. Whatever. But don’t drink anything. At all. Not even water.”
“Why not?” she gave him a strange look.
He sighed. “Some of us scored some Liquid X in Tijuana last weekend.” The look on her face instantly transformed to pure I’m-your-girlfriend-and-I’m-going-to-kick-your-ass. “Yell at me later, okay?” he ground out. “In the meantime- Don’t. Drink. Anything.” He emphasized his words by grabbing her, almost shaking her. Veronica was shocked by the level of fear in Logan’s eyes. What in the hell did he think was going to happen to her?
Overreact much?
“Fine,” she told him archly. “May I go now?”
“Who am I to stand in your way?” She looked at him when he said this, but his expression was inscrutable.
She wandered around the pool, looking at all of the people she used to call friends. None of them spoke to her; in fact, no one looked at her at all-she might as well have been transparent. She went back inside the house, but it was the same. Sometime during her conversation with Logan, the 09ers seemed to have reached a group consensus to treat her as though she didn’t exist. Somehow this new method of social punishment was more painful than anything else they had done to her, maybe because it marginalized her very existence. After thirty minutes of it, Veronica couldn’t take it anymore; neither could she leave without feeling like they had won. She told herself she was compromising by slipping into an empty bedroom.
As she lay down on the bed, tears fell onto the pillow. She could hardly call this showing them that they hadn’t beaten her. The door opened and she sat up, dashing the tears from her eyes as she did so.
“I saw you come in here,” said Logan.
Veronica didn’t say anything as fresh tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Veronica.”
“Well, I’m tired of it!”
Logan came to a halt, surprised by the harsh tone in his girlfriend’s voice.
“I’m tired of being the victim, damn it!” Veronica stood up and started pacing. “I’m tired of sitting by while they torment me or act like I’m invisible!”
“Veronica-“
“Don’t you get it?” she cut him off. ”I’m tired of life happening to me instead of going out there and living it myself. This is stupid! Even before all of this happened-“ she waved her arms in the direction of the party, “-Lilly made all of the decisions. Where we went, what we did. And I let her! I let everyone else decide my life and I’m tired of it! I’m done!”
Silence followed this tirade, filled only by the sound of Veronica’s heavy breathing.
Veronica finally moved. She crossed to Logan and put her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat through the fabric of his shirt.
“It’s time for me to start making my own decisions.” She looked up at Logan and he knew exactly what she meant.
“Veronica-“ he began uncertainly.
“Logan,” she said gently but firmly, “wouldn’t you say this is inevitable?” He didn’t respond. “And you have protection, right?” He looked away and she put her hand on his face and turned him back to look at her. “Then why don’t we let me be the one to say that it’s time? That I’m ready? That I want my first time to be with you, that I want it to be special? I want you, Logan. And I know you want me.” She reached up and kissed him. And Logan was lost.
Logan hadn’t been a virgin when he slept with Lilly for the first time, but she had been responsible for his figuring out how to do it well. And he was determined to use all of that knowledge to make Veronica’s first time as beautiful as she deserved for it to be. He set about doing so in earnest.
The most serious conversation that Lilly and Veronica ever had was about what Veronica should expect when she finally lost her virginity. Basically Lilly had told her best friend to set her expectations low. However, now that the decision had been made, Logan took charge and Veronica quickly realized that Lilly’s lecture had been given with the belief that Veronica’s first time would be with Duncan and it didn’t apply here. She quickly came to the conclusion that their talk would have gone much differently had Lilly known that the guy involved was going to be Logan.
The experience was nothing like what she had been led to believe it would be. It was not awkward, uncomfortable or disappointing and it certainly wasn’t quick. Logan took his time, exploring what seemed like every part of her, encouraging her to explore him in return. Veronica had no idea that foreplay could be so amazing. And the rest of it…
If the noises that Veronica was making were any kind of indication, Logan knew that she was enjoying it exactly as much as he had hoped that she would.
Afterward as they lay there taking in what had just happened, the only word that came to mind was “perfect”.
“Wow,” she said in awe. “And I mean, wow.”
Logan laughed. Lying on his side next to her, he tenderly smoothed a lock of hair back from her face.
Suddenly, Veronica blew out a huge breath and with great enthusiasm said, “Let’s do that again!”
Through his laughter, Logan told her, “I think you may be a little sore.”
“Oh…” Veronica’s voice dripped with disappointment.
“But…” Logan continued, “…there are other things we could do that can be just as much fun...” His voice trailed off as his gaze lowered.
“Oh, really?” Veronica wasn’t sure whether she should be really excited or really nervous. As Logan’s mouth blazed a trail downward, she exclaimed in a rather shocked voice, “What…what are you doing?! Oh, wow!” And again with the noises. Veronica stopped being shocked and just went with the moment.
As they fell asleep, her back against his front, his arms around her, Veronica had a flash of insight that told her this wasn’t normal. This wasn’t the first time that most girls got to have. As her eyes closed and her mind drifted, she felt safe, loved and completely at peace for the first time in a very long while. For Logan’s part, it was the first time in weeks that his sleep wasn’t haunted by dreams.
When Veronica woke up the next morning the first thing she noticed were Logan’s arms around her. Then she was surprised that Logan was the first thing she noticed given that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. She smiled and pulled Logan’s arms tighter around her.
“You’re awake,” said a voice behind her ear.
Veronica smiled as she turned to face him. “What are you doing up? I thought you didn’t believe in waking up before noon on the weekend unless the surf was up.”
“The surf is up,” he said suggestively as he moved his leg over hers.
“I’ve created a monster!” she laughed.
“Cookie monster!” Logan growled. “Cookie monster want cookie!” He lowered his lips to hers and hungrily kissed her.
Veronica’s laugh under his lips turned to ardor. Logan pulled back.
“I don’t want to hide anymore,” he said as he looked into her eyes.
“What?”
“I know that we’ve kept quiet for Duncan, but I’m done. I can’t sleep with you at night and hate you during the day. I won’t do that to you. I want everyone to know how we feel. We can talk to Duncan first-he should hear it from us. Is that-is that okay with you?”
Veronica smiled and nodded. “I think that’s a good decision.” She reached up and kissed him.
Logan’s phone rang.
Veronica’s eyes slid to the phone, but Logan ignored it.
The ringing stopped and their kissing intensified.
The phone started ringing again and the two of them sighed. Logan reached for the phone.
“Celeste?” he said surprised as he looked at the caller I.D. He flipped it open as he sat up. “Hello?”
Veronica could only listen to Logan’s end of the conversation, which didn’t sound like it was going well. He hung up and sat immobile on the edge of the bed.
“Logan?” she asked, placing her hand on his back. When he didn’t answer, her tone became more insistent. “Logan?”
“It’s Duncan,” he said in a vacant tone. “He tried to kill himself.”
To be continued.