Ficlet: Worried About You (Wallace), PG-13
Worried About You
By Zeelee
Wallace (gen)
817
Rated PG
Summary: He knows she can take care of herself.
Spoilers/Warnings: Set in season two. Spoilers for all episodes up to Rat Saw God.
Wallace worries about Veronica a lot these days.
It’s weird, ‘cuz he hasn’t even known Veronica that long: a year and two months. She hasn’t been his best bud since kindergarten, like Chris Johnson was back in Wallace’s hometown. She wasn’t his wingman when he approached his very first crush (later his first girlfriend, for all of two weeks); she wasn’t there when he got drunk for the first time; she didn’t stand next to him at his dad’s funeral. Wallace considers all of these things to be important events in his life, but Veronica wasn’t even on the horizon for any of them.
Yet it still feels like, if Veronica were to leave or die (and he didn’t used to think about the real possibility of his friends dying before last spring), Wallace would just... cease to exist. Become a ghost like Lilly Kane - Wallace never even knew her, but he can still tell that she’s haunting the entire town. Sometimes he even thinks he sees her, despite the fact that all he’s seen of her are various memorial and crime photos scattered around Veronica’s room and around town.
Wallace isn’t sure when Veronica became the most important person in his life, and he doesn’t think about it much. Except he does lately, because he’s been worried about her. Sick worried, unable to sleep at night worried. Which is dumb, because Veronica can take care of herself better than anyone else he’s ever met. Except for when she couldn’t; except for when Aaron Echolls almost burned her alive. But Wallace tries not to think about that.
Thing is, he never worried about her last year. As bitter - as fucking caustic -- as she was, he knew she’d be all right. And not because she thought she was so tough, either - Wallace couldn’t say what it was, he just... knew she’d be okay.
But Veronica’s different now, and this new Veronica who’s always fawning over Duncan Kane and working at that hipster cafe and pretending like she isn’t taking on just as many mysteries as she did before has Wallace worried. Like she really does think she can bury everything behind her new long blonde hair and her perfect senior year and her all-american boyfriend.
Wallace has never met anyone he trusted less than Duncan Kane.
He’s worried about her, but that didn’t stop him from leaving. He sees Veronica’s number on the missed calls list on his cell and feels guilty, horribly guilty down in the pit of his stomach, more guilty than when he sees the missed calls from his mom. He does read her emails, but never replies. Weirdly enough, it’s more reassuring to read about her tousling with Clarence Weidman than how things are still going swimmingly with Duncan; Wallace isn’t sure what that says about their lives or his mind.
He’s still pissed as hell at Veronica. For all the little things that she does that keep adding up, and for that shit with Jackie, of course. Wallace doesn’t even care that much about Jackie: hell, they’d only been dating for a few weeks, he was just getting to *know* her. No, it was the principal of the thing: the one time he needed Veronica to do something for him and she just couldn’t. Wallace figures he’ll forgive her someday, but it might not be for a while.
Wallace likes being on the road with his... dad. Still feels weird calling him that, but there’s nothing else Wallace can call him, so. His dad still acts shy around him, still testing the waters to see what Wallace likes, what pisses him off and what makes him happy.
His dad doesn’t talk much about himself. He isn’t a junkie and hasn’t been for years and years and years, but Wallace knew that without his dad having to tell him. Occasionally he tells Wallace that he should call his mother in a quiet voice. Wallace hasn’t yet; his mom knows where he is and that he’s okay, and if she doesn’t? Mars and Mars will be on his tail before he can blink. That’s one of the few things Wallace is sure of.
His dad never says where they’re driving. Wallace knows he lives in Chicago, but he doesn’t think they’re headed there; if they are, they’re taking a strange route. Wallace keeps thinking that maybe he’s taking him to a slave trader or something bad like that, but no - his dad’s a good guy. Wallace is pretty sure he’s just taking his son on a road trip.
And if he isn’t? Well, Wallace might be worried about Veronica, but he knows she won’t let anything happen to him. He could be in Antarctica, and if he was in trouble he knows she’d be there soon enough, with a fake id proclaiming her to be an Antarctic marine biologist or something, sneaking him out.
By Zeelee
Wallace (gen)
817
Rated PG
Summary: He knows she can take care of herself.
Spoilers/Warnings: Set in season two. Spoilers for all episodes up to Rat Saw God.
Wallace worries about Veronica a lot these days.
It’s weird, ‘cuz he hasn’t even known Veronica that long: a year and two months. She hasn’t been his best bud since kindergarten, like Chris Johnson was back in Wallace’s hometown. She wasn’t his wingman when he approached his very first crush (later his first girlfriend, for all of two weeks); she wasn’t there when he got drunk for the first time; she didn’t stand next to him at his dad’s funeral. Wallace considers all of these things to be important events in his life, but Veronica wasn’t even on the horizon for any of them.
Yet it still feels like, if Veronica were to leave or die (and he didn’t used to think about the real possibility of his friends dying before last spring), Wallace would just... cease to exist. Become a ghost like Lilly Kane - Wallace never even knew her, but he can still tell that she’s haunting the entire town. Sometimes he even thinks he sees her, despite the fact that all he’s seen of her are various memorial and crime photos scattered around Veronica’s room and around town.
Wallace isn’t sure when Veronica became the most important person in his life, and he doesn’t think about it much. Except he does lately, because he’s been worried about her. Sick worried, unable to sleep at night worried. Which is dumb, because Veronica can take care of herself better than anyone else he’s ever met. Except for when she couldn’t; except for when Aaron Echolls almost burned her alive. But Wallace tries not to think about that.
Thing is, he never worried about her last year. As bitter - as fucking caustic -- as she was, he knew she’d be all right. And not because she thought she was so tough, either - Wallace couldn’t say what it was, he just... knew she’d be okay.
But Veronica’s different now, and this new Veronica who’s always fawning over Duncan Kane and working at that hipster cafe and pretending like she isn’t taking on just as many mysteries as she did before has Wallace worried. Like she really does think she can bury everything behind her new long blonde hair and her perfect senior year and her all-american boyfriend.
Wallace has never met anyone he trusted less than Duncan Kane.
He’s worried about her, but that didn’t stop him from leaving. He sees Veronica’s number on the missed calls list on his cell and feels guilty, horribly guilty down in the pit of his stomach, more guilty than when he sees the missed calls from his mom. He does read her emails, but never replies. Weirdly enough, it’s more reassuring to read about her tousling with Clarence Weidman than how things are still going swimmingly with Duncan; Wallace isn’t sure what that says about their lives or his mind.
He’s still pissed as hell at Veronica. For all the little things that she does that keep adding up, and for that shit with Jackie, of course. Wallace doesn’t even care that much about Jackie: hell, they’d only been dating for a few weeks, he was just getting to *know* her. No, it was the principal of the thing: the one time he needed Veronica to do something for him and she just couldn’t. Wallace figures he’ll forgive her someday, but it might not be for a while.
Wallace likes being on the road with his... dad. Still feels weird calling him that, but there’s nothing else Wallace can call him, so. His dad still acts shy around him, still testing the waters to see what Wallace likes, what pisses him off and what makes him happy.
His dad doesn’t talk much about himself. He isn’t a junkie and hasn’t been for years and years and years, but Wallace knew that without his dad having to tell him. Occasionally he tells Wallace that he should call his mother in a quiet voice. Wallace hasn’t yet; his mom knows where he is and that he’s okay, and if she doesn’t? Mars and Mars will be on his tail before he can blink. That’s one of the few things Wallace is sure of.
His dad never says where they’re driving. Wallace knows he lives in Chicago, but he doesn’t think they’re headed there; if they are, they’re taking a strange route. Wallace keeps thinking that maybe he’s taking him to a slave trader or something bad like that, but no - his dad’s a good guy. Wallace is pretty sure he’s just taking his son on a road trip.
And if he isn’t? Well, Wallace might be worried about Veronica, but he knows she won’t let anything happen to him. He could be in Antarctica, and if he was in trouble he knows she’d be there soon enough, with a fake id proclaiming her to be an Antarctic marine biologist or something, sneaking him out.