Final Gift For Montisello

[tigersroar]

Title: I Didn't Mean To Come Back To You
Author: tigersroar 
Summary: Set 10 years after the series final, Veronica comes back to Neptune only to find that some things have changed, and some things just never will.
Characters: Veronica/Logan
Total Story Word Count:  7348
Rating: PG-13, maybe a little stronger, nothing too explicit
Spoilers: None really, but we'll say the series
Warnings: Some sexual references. Ruh-roh!
Disclaimer: I definitely do not own or have anything to do with Veronica Mars.
Author's Note: This is a Christmas gift for montisello I hope that you had a glorious day and enjoy your present!





Neptune, California 2017

It all comes flooding back to me as I drive back into the town where I was unfortunate enough to grow up in, all the reasons why I haven’t come back for so long.

Nothing really changes, not here. You can call it nostalgia when the memories of times past suddenly come back to you. But nostalgia means something completely different when you can only think…

Oh, there’s the house where I was roofied and raped.

The River Styx, where I almost got a four-leaf clover tattooed onto my face.

The Coronado bridge, where not one, but two people I knew died.

The bar where I picked my mother up several times when she was too drunk to find her own way home.

And back there, on that street, the house where 17-year-old Lilly Kane was bludgeoned to death.

I love coming home.

The drive down gives me time to think. Who am I kidding? I’ve been solitary for such a long time now that I should have had plenty of time. But it’s comforting and relaxing, my only company being the series of mix CD’s given to me by the receptionist at the agency and the occasional snores coming from the passenger seat.

George is the only man in my life, and it’s been that way for some time now. I was walking home from work one day when I had heard a curious whining coming from an alleyway, so I went back, only to find a scared, lonely and hungry George shaking on the street.

I fell in love with him immediately and took him home. But he’s getting older now and my dog spends most of the time sleeping on the end of my bed.

He makes for a wonderful navigator though.

Stupidly enough, I manage to drive all the way to the Sunset Cliffs apartment complex before realising that my father hasn’t lived here for at least five years, swiftly turning my aging Saturn around and driving back through the ‘09er district.

I’m not sure whether it was a coincidence that it took barely any time between me moving out of Neptune and my dad finding himself a new lady, quickly becoming so smitten with one Denise Howard that they moved in together and made their own little love nest.

I shouldn’t comment, I haven’t been to visit their humble little two-storey house on the outskirts of the ‘09er district since they have been together. No, as soon as I left Neptune I was convinced to stay away. Finally they have found a reason for me to come back.

I smile to myself as I round the corner to a street that only looks vaguely familiar from my childhood, the house where my father lives immediately standing out as he has tied a huge bunch of colourful balloons to the letterbox.

Typical dad.

Given the clues, I was expecting a warm welcome. What I wasn’t expecting was a small child, around the age of three or four, latching on to my leg as soon as the door opened.

George barked excitedly at the outside human interaction after a very long drive as the thing attached to my leg squealed excitedly, grinning up at me as she did so.

“Keith! Keith! KEITH!” the tiny blonde girl yelled down the hallway as George licked her face enthusiastically and I attempted to move away from the doorway and the commotion.

I smiled widely as I watched my dad approaching, his face mirrored my own, and the kerfuffle that I was currently involved in only got worse as another being attached themselves, my father giving me a tight hug.

“Hey kiddo, how was the trip?” he asked affectionately, disengaging himself carefully, as to avoid tripping over the child.

“It was fine, dad. Um…is there something that you want to tell me?” I asked, motioning to the girl still staring up at me with a wide smile.

“I’m Kady,” she offered proudly.

“That’s Kady,” dad repeated.

“And you’re Veronica,” Kady said.

“I am,” I concurred.

“Well, now that that’s settled, let’s go have some dinner. Denise has been cooking all day,” dad continued nonchalantly. Kady, at this point, disengaged from my leg and ran in front of my father, heading for the kitchen. George ran slowly after her, tail wagging furiously.

“Dad?” I asked, as he picked up one of my bags.

“You remember Denise’s daughter, Jennie?” he began to explain.

“Vaguely,” I replied, beginning to walk down the hall.

“Jennie is - was Kady’s mother. She died two years ago. You remember I told you that Denise and I won custody over her biological, drug-addict of a father some time ago?”

“You did?”

“Yeah, we did. And I know how jealous you can get, but you’ll just have to learn to get along with Kady, you’re not an only-child anymore!” he joked.

I became reacquainted with Denise in the kitchen over the feast that she had prepared. Out of all of dad’s girlfriends, I think I actually liked her best. They were good for each other, and quite clearly still completely in love.

That seemed to be a recurring theme in my life, people around me falling deeply, and head-over-heels in sickening, cheesy, teen-movie type of love.

That was kind of the reason for my return, Wallace was getting married in a matter of days, and as a best-friend kind of favour, my return had been requested - or demanded. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be.

After dinner, I retreated upstairs into the guest bedroom, George disengaging himself from his new best friend, Kady, to join me in what promised to be a peaceful sleep after a long trip.

The next few days flew by and all of a sudden, I found myself sat down at a large table, immaculately set out in front of me, as I watched people start to pour into the Neptune Grand’s ballroom for the wedding reception.

Thankfully I didn’t happen to be part of the wedding party, but that did mean, however, that I was forced to sit on a table with a group of strangers, the only real people that I knew were Wallace and his wife Julia, Wallace’s mom and brother and my own family. All of whom were inconveniently placed at different tables.

So I exchanged small-talk with the other strangers on my table and fended off the unwelcome advances of a complete idiot named Todd sitting next to me and wished for the night to hurry up, as I drank my champagnes a little faster than intended.

And then I saw something that I least expected enter through the large doors, or rather someone.

Why it was no other than Logan Echolls.

Of course it was, you know how God enjoys torturing me at every opportunity, and tonight was not his night off, apparently.

I shrunk back into my chair, just a little in the hope that he would not see me. I didn’t exactly know why I liked the option of becoming invisible. Perhaps it had something to do with my complete unpreparedness at his unexpected arrival. Because Wallace wasn’t friends with Logan Echolls, was he? And even if he was, he would have told me, right?

Logan smiled as he surveyed his surroundings, his eyes skimming over me as they reverted back to his company.

Of course there’s a girl. My heart sunk a little, just a regular sink when you see your ex with another person. It’s just a reflex. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

Except she wasn’t his regular type, she was young, perhaps ten years younger than him - than me. She was slim and tall and wore her short, bright, artificial red hair in a pixie cut and she was wearing a dress that seemed almost inappropriate to wear at a wedding - a gutsy red (matched her hair) tartan number which was cut and sewn in an interesting way. It looked as if it belonged at an underground fashion show rather than a wedding.

I looked down at my own attire, my silver strapless dress and black, thick strappy statement heels which I’d chosen for shock value now seemed very bland in comparison.

I continued to watch them, I couldn’t look away from their faces, smiling and laughing at each other. Almost as if they knew I was there and they were mocking me, miserable at a table where I knew no-one.

I hadn’t seen him for at least seven years and he actually looked happy.

“Ah, what were you saying?” I asked, finally coming out of my daze and turning to Todd, who had been talking at me for the past few minutes.

I was saved from what would most likely have been a sleazy remark, by the microphone crackling on and Julia’s father getting up to make a welcome speech.

Sometime through the duration of the wedding I realised two things: 1, I had been placed at the single’s table. 2, I hated weddings. If there is a single event that reminds you of your complete loneliness in the world, it’s a wedding. You can try to be happy for the person who is involved, but the whole affair is basically a love-letter to romance and the happiness that apparently stems from meeting your “soul-mate.”

I tried not to gag.

And then, when I finally couldn’t take it any longer, the dancing began. I decided to decline Todd’s invitation to join him on the dance-floor; I didn’t want to encourage the jerk who mistook my breasts for my eyes all night, and so I sat by myself, fully feeling the hurried sips of champagne as I dared myself not to look at him.

I failed. Miserably.

It was as if some kind of light shone around him, and my eyes did the complete opposite of what I willed them to do, in fact, I could barely take my eyes off of him. My saviour came in the form of my dad, offering me his hand as I got up to dance with him slowly.

“Are you drunk?” he asked amusedly as I tripped over his feet for the second time.

“I prefer the word ‘tipsy,’ dad,” I corrected.

“Okay, kid, whatever you say,” he replied with a cheeky smile. His attention was caught momentarily on something on the other side of the room. He pointed behind me to look.

Logan was stooped over, dancing with a tiny Kady, who was smiling widely up at him. He spun her around, laughing and she began to laugh as well.

“Is that Logan Echolls?” Dad asked.

I looked at him sceptically, as if he didn’t already know. “It looks a lot like it,” I agreed.

“Huh,” was all that he said in reply. He wanted me to comment on his ‘huh,’ but I didn’t, instead remaining silent. “You know, Veronica, it’s really time that you fell in love as well.”

I rolled my eyes, my thoughts spilling straight out through my mouth, “Oh please dad, we are not doing this…you’re going to start talking about my clock ticking, aren’t you?”

He chuckled in reply, “No,” he assured me, “But it’s been a while since I’ve seen you really happy, Veronica. And you deserve that, after everything you’ve been through. Go out and fall in love.”

See, weddings. They only ever had a negative affect on singles, and made the couples even smugger than they already were.

“I am happy dad,” I shot back, “Work’s good, life’s good, what don’t I have to be happy about?”

“I’m just saying,” he said gently as the music stopped. He kissed me on the forehead, “Well I better steal Kady back and get her to bed. I’ll leave the back door open for you?”

“Yeah, thanks dad. Goodnight,” I replied as he walked over to Logan and greeted him warmly, taking Kady’s hand in his own. Kady looked disheartened at the news of her departure.

And then he looked up at me. I had been met with an inevitable Logan Echolls stare. First, surprise crossed his features and then a small smile crossed his lips as he took me in. My breath hitched momentarily. If he was anything it was intense.

I looked away quickly and pretended to see someone I knew on the other side of the room, his attention going swiftly back to my father. I walked to the back of the room and stilled myself. It was the champagne; I shouldn’t have drank so much.

I found myself stood on a balcony soon after, looking out at the Neptune skyline, champagne glass in hand, thinking to myself for a moment.

We didn’t end up having another interaction that night, if you can even call it that. I decided to retire early after Wallace and Julia left for their honeymoon, calling a taxi to take me home to bed.

I thought that it was over. That was my big Logan Echolls moment back in Neptune - a sudden glance over a crowded dance-floor.

I was wrong.

The morning after the wedding, Denise and Dad took Kady to the San Diego Zoo. I had just woken up and was watching cartoons on the couch when the doorbell rang.

I shouldn’t have answered it, but I did, opening the door dressed in an oversized t-shirt and my underwear. Big mistake.

I must have looked ridiculous as I stood at the door, attempting to make my shirt longer over my bare thighs.

Of course it was him, standing on the other side, leaning casually against the wall in his jeans, tight shirt and sunglasses.

“Hey.”

“Oh Logan, hi,” I said embarrassingly as I turned beet-red. “I…didn’t expect to see you here, so early in the morning.”

“Evidently,” he agreed, taking in my attire. I tried in vain once again to pull the shirt down.

After a moment, my mind stopped caring; he had seen me in less before. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him with a questioning look.

What exactly are you doing at my door, Logan?

As if reading my mind, he brought something out from behind his back.

“I came to drop this off, you left it at the wedding,” he explained, offering my black clutch purse back to me.

“Thanks, I hadn’t even noticed it was missing,” I said appreciatively, taking it from him with surprise. “How did you know it was mine?”

He pulled a hand through his hair casually and shrugged, “I knew you were at that table and no-one else was claiming it.”

So he must have seen me there, maybe even watched me like I watched him. A funny sort of feeling came over me for a moment.

“Well thanks for bringing it back, that was really…nice of you.”

“Surprised at the deed? I can be nice when I want to,” he joked before his face turned serious. “Hey, I had no idea that you’re… that you were…about.”

He was caught on his words, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

“About?” I pressed.

“About Kady, I had no idea,” he said.

I chuckled, “I had no idea either, until I - wait, you thought that she was mine, didn’t you?” I asked, comprehension dawning on me. I laughed as he looked down at his shuffling feet.

“Well what other conclusion can you draw when you see a tiny blonde girl with Keith Mars?” he shrugged, a sudden light being brought back into his face.

“She’s my dad’s girlfriend’s dead daughter’s child, if that makes any sense to you,” I explained.

“Hey, this is Neptune, unconventional families are the norm. It makes perfect sense.”

I nodded at his truth. “Hey, why didn’t you come over to say hello last night? Not still trying to avoid me, are you?” He asked.

“Oh, I thought it rude I crashed your little love-nest. You’re not doing too badly for yourself, are you? How old is your new woman anyway?”

Logan smirked back, “I’m detecting just a hint of jealousy, Mars.”

I put my hands in the air, “Not at all, just observing.”

“Well, you’ve got me all wrong, Veronica. Tahlia’s my neighbour and of the lesbian tendency. You should meet her, she’d like you.”

“Hopefully not too much,” I joked. Logan chuckled a little before placing one of his classic long looks upon me.

“Hey, why don’t I let you put pants on and we can continue this conversation over coffee, or something?” he suggested.

I blushed, suddenly remembering, but laughed it off. “Sounds like a plan, Echolls. Come in, take a seat. I won’t be long.”

By the time I had returned, fully dressed, I entered the lounge-room only to see my dog lying belly up, head rested on Logan’s lap.

“I think your dog is the friendliest in the world,” Logan commented.

“He’s just a suck-up. You ready to go?”

So we went and got coffee together. I learned that he had indeed moved away from Neptune, like me, but was back for a few weeks for Wallace’s wedding. He told me that he kept a house in the town so that he could come back to it whenever he had the chance, for vacations and such. He lived in L.A and worked as an investor.

I told him all about myself, about living in New York with George and my job at the agency.

“I work as a researcher,” I said, before taking a sip of my latte.

“And what, exactly do you research?”

“People, mostly. They contract us for books, biographies, documentaries. It’s just getting interviews or information from different places, really.”

“So it’s kind of like your old job but less illegal?”

“A lot like that, yeah.”

Surprisingly enough, by the time I had been dropped off, (late afternoon, we followed coffee by lunch) I felt rather complacent about the whole thing. The encounter had been comfortable, an emotion that I hadn’t been expecting with Logan. But he really had changed, settled a bit, and certainly for the better.

That feeling, that consuming feeling that takes of hold your whole body, the one that keeps you on high alert and sends shivers all through it - that feeling hadn’t gone away. If I was honest with myself, it never had, even when in the past I couldn’t stand Logan, when he’d done the stupidest thing, I had still felt it.

Careful Veronica, if you don’t look out you might find yourself falling back in love with that man.

“Hey honey, where have you been?” Dad asked as I walked through the door. George wagged his tail enthusiastically and I gave him an obliging pat.

“Logan took me out to lunch,” I replied off-handedly.

“Logan? Logan Echolls? Ooh la la!” Denise commented with a smile. Dad grinned at his girlfriend.

“My boyfriend Logan? You went to lunch with my boyfriend?” Kady asked, looking disheartened. Obviously her dancing partner had made an impact on her. We all laughed.

“Don’t worry Kady, we’re just friends,” I assured her. The smile immediately returned to her face.

“Lunch with Logan…huh,” Dad murmured audibly as he walked back into the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes, there was that ‘huh,’ again.

And then, all of a sudden and to our immense surprise, it started to rain.

It didn’t stop for three days. I came home from doing some shopping sometime during the brunt of it all and was puzzled when the usual presence of George, sitting by the door was amiss.

I wandered around the house looking for him, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

“Where’s George?” I asked the family. Denise commented that she thought that he was outside. Rain still pouring, I checked the backyard. A roll of thunder crashed loudly above me and I remembered that George was easily spooked by loud noises. The hole that had been newly dug near the fence gave me confirmation that he had run away.

I ran into the street immediately, calling out his name loudly. When I got no answer, I kept walking, shouting as I did so.

I’m not sure how far I walked, or how I ended up where I did, but on a street a few blocks away from mine, close to the beach, I watched Logan rush out of his house, jacket held above his head as he approached me confusedly.

“Veronica? What are you doing out here?”

“George!” I whistled for the dog, becoming more and more worried about him.

“Logan,” he corrected with a grin as he walked closer, standing next to me and offering his coat to cover my head as well.

“My dog’s run away in the storm,” I explained hurriedly, walking away from his jacket-offering and continuing to walk in an unknown direction.

“Let me help you,” Logan said, walking beside me and whistling.

We continued to walk; I was just about to give up when I heard a whining coming from an alleyway next to a house. I couldn’t help but noticed the parallels between this moment and the day when I had first found George as I ran towards the noise.

George gave a feeble tail-wag as we approached, but did not move. As I got closer I realised that his leg was hurt and bleeding quite badly.

My eyes started to tear up a little as I reached to pick up the small dog who was still whining softly.

“Get your car, take us to the nearest vets,” I called out to Logan, who was still stood behind me.

“Is he alright?” he asked with concern.

“Just bring the car around, please,” I replied, not looking back. I sheltered George into my jacket and walked slowly away from the alley. Logan arrived in no time, pulling his large SUV up next to me.

The ride was silent, apart from George’s gentle whines and my occasional sniffs. I hoped that the outside rain disguised the tears I couldn’t help but spill. Logan kept looking from the road and back at me, resting his hand once on my shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.

“He’ll be fine,” the vet said as she finished bandaging George’s leg. “You’ll just need to make sure that he doesn’t exert himself for the next few days, and give him a pain-killer each day for the next week. I’d like to keep an eye on him overnight, make sure there are no problems with his foot, or shock, if that’s alright with you?”

I agreed, sniffling only slightly as I gave George a hug and said goodbye.

Walking back towards Logan’s car from the clinic, I was relieved. It must have been visible to Logan as he made small-talk on the way home.

“I think you could do with a drink,” Logan commented. I smiled gently,

“You’ve read me well.”

I pulled at his jacket - I couldn’t recall him offering me the jacket, or me accepting, but here I was, wearing it - and he drove on towards his house.

“Thanks for this,” I called, as I waited on his sofa for him to return with the drinks. I looked around his large living room, as I had been doing to his entire house since I had arrived. It was a big house (of course), but well kept, the furniture all modern and neat with interesting art pieces hanging from the walls. I liked it.

“It’s my pleasure, Miss Mars,” Logan replied, entering the room with two glasses and a bottle of wine. When filled, we clinked our glasses together and each took sips, Logan looking at me as he did so.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged, looking as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t.

“I like your house,” I commented meekly.

He chuckled, “Veronica Mars likes my house, I can die content!”

“Very funny,” I scolded, punching him lightly on the arm.

And then we talked for a while, just like we were old friends (we were never really friends), talked in the same way that we had over coffee and lunch the other day. Until we stopped.

We were well onto our second bottle of wine at this point and had reached a silence in conversation. I looked down at my lap.

“Thanks again, really. For everything, finding my dog and -”

I was cut off suddenly as his face got closer to mine. I stopped talking and leaned into him as our lips met again, as if it were the first time. Of course, it wasn’t, but all the good memories of what we were together back then entered my mind.

Maybe it was always supposed to come back to this, it was always supposed to end up like this.

His kisses steadily became hungrier, and my mouth was on the same wavelength. I found myself sitting in his lap, not knowing when I had made the move, or if he had pulled me closer.

“As much as I am enjoying this, and believe me, I am,” he said, pulling his head away from mine, “I don’t want to do this here, having couch-sex with you. As nice as that sounds, I think we can do better.”

He stood up, detangling his body from mine carefully and offered me his hand. I smiled up at him and accepted it. He was being incredibly sweet. He held my hand as he led me into his bedroom, once there, immediately turning around, taking my face in both of his hands and kissing me intensely.

We didn’t have sex straight away, instead we reached the bed, still grappling for each other, tasting the champagne on each other’s tongues and continued to kiss. Slowly we undressed each other, running our hands over the other’s body.

In parts the sex was hurried and desperate, raw need and want taking over all of our senses, but at other times it was slow, loving and gentle.

When it was over, neither of us wanted to address the inevitability of having to analyse what us being together in this way meant.

I was surprised when Logan rolled over, tossing an arm over my naked torso to face me. “Stay,” he said simply.

I couldn’t refuse. I certainly couldn’t deny after what had just occurred that I didn’t have some sort of feelings toward him.

“Sure,” I replied with a smile. He returned it quickly, leaning forward and kissing me softly on the cheek before burrowing into the bed, closing his eyes and falling into an easy sleep. I wasn’t far behind him.

I woke sometime in the morning to the smell of food being cooked, wafting into my nostrils. I pulled on my clothes from the previous night and wandered out into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he said, a smile reaching his face upon seeing me.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” I teased.

“Well prepare to be amazed,” he commented as he passed me a plate of breakfast. I took a seat on one of the stools in his kitchen, taking a bite. “The verdict?”

“It’s good,” I praised, digging in for another bite quickly. My brain was ticking over, frantically thinking of ways to salvage the situation, or something to say to Logan.

Thankfully, he spoke first, “Last night was…pretty great,” he commented with a smile.

“No need to sound so smug about it,” I joked at his tone.

“I’d like to see you again,” he blurted, completely serious.

“I’d like that too,” I agreed, brushing a strand of blonde hair behind my ear nervously.

He cleared his throat, “It’s actually really good to see you again, Veronica.”

I looked up at him, “I feel the same. I was so sure that our lives would intertwine after school and college, you just seemed like this permanent feature, and then you just weren’t around for so long. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again.”

He walked over to my side of the bench, leaning down and kissing my cheek. I turned around and forced his lips to meet mine, kissing him steadily.

Breakfast at Logan’s became a habit while I stayed in Neptune for the few weeks.

Sleeping with Logan also became part of my routine.

As I was on leave from my job while I was in Neptune and Wallace was still on his honeymoon, I was glad that I had run back into Logan. My time in Neptune would have been incredibly boring had I not seen him again. We both enjoyed each other’s company, even when we weren’t showing it to each other physically.

It was clear that we had both matured in the seven-odd years since we had previously been acquainted, yet the perpetual question still lingered, what exactly were we?

We had rushed into this friendship/sleeping together/ (dare I say it) relationship so quickly that neither of us were quite sure how to address the issue.

Both Logan and I felt it though, as the few weeks went past and my time to go back to New York quickly approached. I thought that I would be the one leaving and that would be that, I was quite surprised then, when Logan was the first to approach the subject.

We had just finished a home-cooked dinner at Logan’s one night when I was sat on his sofa, watching TV. He returned from the kitchen with two bowls of ice-cream, handing one to me, which elicited a predictable smile.

“Rocky road?” I cried excitedly, “You remembered!”

He smiled, “I’m like an elephant, I never forget.”

“If you keep eating, you will be an elephant. So, I think that you should probably hand over your ice-cream as well, Echolls,” I said, feigning seriousness.

“Is that right?” he responded playfully. “Careful, Mars, I do have the authority to kick you out if you don’t start being a little nicer to me.”

“The authority! You’ve got the authority!” I commented in jest.

He smiled, poking out his tongue before we both had a spoonful of ice-cream.

“Mmm,” I couldn’t help but elicit at the deliciousness that I had just experienced.

“You know, I think you made exactly the same noise when you were riding me this afternoon. Interesting.”

I punched him in the arm, “No, I think I made more of a ‘mmmhm’ noise,” I replied.

Logan looked as if he were contemplating it, “I’m still not sure. Perhaps you’ll have to demonstrate exactly what kind of noise it was after this,” he said suggestively.

“Nice,” I said, all man-like as I raised my hand for a hi-five. Logan slapped it eagerly, smile on his face.

We finished off our ice-cream in relative silence, watching the news on TV and making irrelevant comments along the way. And then Logan suddenly spoke, clearing his throat to draw my attention.

“I, ah, well the firm that I work for are getting impatient, I can’t work from home forever,” he said, giving a nervous chuckle. I felt my heart sink just a little; I knew what was coming next, judging by the nervous path of his words.

“You’re leaving?” I asked in a small voice that didn’t sound like mine as it left my mouth.

“In three days,” he confirmed, nodding his head with a sigh. “I wish I wasn’t but… I’ve stayed here for longer than I expected.” His hand flew through his hair, a habit that he had retained since I had known him.

“You stayed for me?” I asked before I could think.

He turned to me sharply, “Yes, I did,” he replied honestly. “I didn’t want to leave and I didn’t want you to leave. Look Veronica, I don’t know what we are, all I know is that as soon as I saw you, I felt this way about you immediately. Every time I see you, I feel it.”

“I feel it too,” I said, assuring him softly. He gave a small smile.

“I don’t want to lose you again, Veronica,” he stated. “I want to be with you…so I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like you to come to L.A with me…if you want to be with me too.”

I was taken back by his complete openness, by his proposal. I thought about it for a moment. Everything was happening so quickly.

“Logan, I don’t know,” I said automatically, before looking at his crestfallen face, “I mean, I feel the same way, but I live in New York, I’ll have to go back to my life soon enough as well. I…just, give me some time to think about it, okay?”

He took in my words for a moment before looking back at me, an unexpected sparkle returning to his eyes.

“Okay,” he said, moving closer to me on the couch and putting his arm up on the back of the sofa, over my shoulders.

The next three days went pretty quickly, and it became obvious to both my dad and Denise that something had been bothering me, both of them asking me on several occasions what was wrong. By now they were both aware that something was happening between Logan and I - I had spent far too many nights not in my own bed for them not to know, but they hadn’t addressed the issue head-on, rather with knowing smiles and winks and nudges.

My time was up, and I headed over to Logan’s early in the morning of the day he was leaving with still no idea what I was going to say to him.

In the end, sure that I was going to break his heart if I hadn’t already smashed it up enough in the past, I told him that I couldn’t go with him, and wasn’t sure that continuing into a long-distance relationship was the right thing for us.

To my immense surprise, he shrugged, looking as nonchalant as they come, “Okay,” he replied calmly, leaning down to give me a tight hug, which I returned just as firmly.

I spoke into his ear as we hugged, “So you’re okay?”

He stood up straight, taking a breath before he spoke, “I’ll be fine, Veronica. I, uh…I don’t think that you’d like me in L.A, anyway. You wouldn’t like me at all.”

He followed his words with a small chuckle as I tried to comprehend what he was saying. These were the words which would follow me around, circling my brain for the next few months. I attempted to question him, but he cut me off.

“I’ll miss you,” he said solemnly, looking down at me with an intense gaze. I brushed my hair behind my ear, before repeating his goodbye.

“I’ll miss you too,” without hesitation.

And then he walked away. I breathed in, staying still for a moment before I continued on walking back to my father’s house, not sure of how I felt.

The only thing I was entirely conscious of at that point were his words, “You wouldn’t like me in L.A.” What the hell did that mean?

Had he grown up to be the worst Logan possible? Living off of his parent’s money, sleeping around, an alcoholic?

My perception of Logan was suddenly shot to pieces. Was the loving, mature, intelligent and humorous Logan who I had become reacquainted with simply a lie? The memories of the past few weeks were suddenly so vivid, Logan dancing with a tiny Kady at the wedding, having his family-less neighbour Tahlia over to dinner several times and then everything that had happened between the two of us.

If I was honest with myself, I had fallen completely back in love with him.

Damn him. Damn him and his cryptic little farewell. What did I really know about Logan Echolls?

The question haunted me all the way back to New York, the long drive with George (whose leg was nicely bandaged and on the mend) was spent thinking wholly about different scenarios. He probably wasn’t even an investor for god’s sake!

If my work hadn’t been completely mind-consuming, I probably would have reverted back to my old ways to find out exactly the meaning behind his words, what he was hiding.

Thankfully for a while, the agency was chaotic. Until one day, work and the preoccupation of my mind met in a sticky embrace.

The firm’s West Coast office offered me a position at least once a year. They needed a researcher like me and had been seeking me out for a long time. I declined each time, of course. But this time it was different. I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no, they offered me a considerable pay-rise, with full company benefits, and the option to choose my own cases.

I accepted, and called my father to tell him that I would be relocating to Los Angeles within the next few weeks.

“That’s great, honey!” he replied, obviously ecstatic. He cleared his throat, “Your decision wasn’t influenced at all, was it?”

I smiled, “Well being closer to Neptune and you and Wallace will be an added bonus, I can’t deny…”

“No,” he said, cutting me off and specifying, “It doesn’t have anything to do with Logan?”

“Not at all,” I snapped. “This is about bettering my professional standing… and career! I’m not coming back for Logan, dad. I don’t know why you’d think that.”

“I’m sorry honey, I just thought, maybe…It doesn’t matter. We’re really happy for you, Veronica. I’m so proud!”

“Thanks dad,” said with a grin. My short time spent in Neptune had definitely grown on me, how much I yearned to be back with my dad.

I moved to Los Angeles within a few weeks, in a brand, shiny new apartment paid for by the agency - they really wanted me. I started work soon after, my new co-worker, Lisa, showing me to a large cabinet where I was to select my cases from.

My first case: an expose on business high-flyers. This is how I found myself sitting in Logan Echolls’s huge, leather desk chair, waiting for him to return from lunch.

I waited for a good half-hour, shuffling through his desk and the items that sat on it.

“Mr Echolls-” a muffled, insistent voice came through the door. Showtime.

I heard Logan’s voice, tired and bored, not allowing himself a moment to listen to his secretary. “Not now, please Janice.”

“But Mr Echolls!”

The poor guy, he should have taken the time to receive the news of my arrival. Perhaps then he wouldn’t have been so surprised to see me.

The large door opened with a whoosh and I looked up, a small smile on my face. His facial expression changed in a second, turning from one of frustration to pleasant surprise.

“Seriously, your security - could do with an upgrade. And no TV? I’m a little disappointed.”

“You’re two months late,” he commented with a grin.

“Look at you, all professional-like. You don’t scrub up too badly, Echolls,” I commented, taking in his suit-and-tie look.

“I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised, you should be an expert by now at breaking in to people’s offices, houses, cars…”

I laughed, “No, you’re just special.”

“You sure know how to flatter a man, Mars!” he said with a lazy smile, taking a seat opposite his own, which was currently occupied.

“What can I say?” I joked, shrugging my shoulders. I noticed that a large smile hadn’t left his face since he walked into the room. I cleared my throat.

“I’ve got a few questions,” I stated, bringing out a notepad into view. He smirked. “You’re my next project - high business fliers. You are a successful investor, right?”

He chuckled, “I like to think so, yeah. So I’m your project, you came all the way here for what, an interview? How exactly did you land me, Mars?”

“I’ll answer your question in the least dirty way, much to your disappointment, I’m sure. I got offered a job at the L.A firm of my agency, decided to take it - and just happened to come across this job. So here I am.”

“Wait. So you’re back, here?”

“My apartment is a few blocks away, yeah,” I said.

I sat asking him a few simple questions in between some regular banter from both of us for around an hour, finally clicking my recorder off when I was confident that I had all that I needed.

Professionally, I stood to exit, holding out my hand for him to shake. “Well, thank you for your time, Mr Echolls. I’ll contact you if I need anything else.”

He shook it warily, “You’re welcome Veronica. Wait, that’s really all you came for?” he asked, as if waiting for something else.

“Well, there was one other thing…now that I’m in L.A, why won’t I like you? I mean, we’ll most likely be running into one-another. I’d hate to find out only now that you had a… girlfriend or a drug problem.”

And then he smirked, he was more smug than I had possibly ever seen him before, and suddenly a theory popped into my head at the same time that he smiled a very genuine smile and said softly,

“There is no deep, dark secret. Sorry to disappoint you, Veronica.”

“Of course not,” I said, comprehension dawning on me. “You knew that I wouldn’t be able to resist a juicy little secret, and you tricked me!” I hit him over the arm with my notepad, which was filled with phony notes that we both knew would never be able to be used.

If I expected him to laugh playfully or cry out in fake pain, I would have been wrong as he suddenly lurched forward and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me in for a long and intense, passionate kiss.

I looked up at him, stunned but smiling, it felt like the first time he had pulled me in for an unexpected kiss, just like that day at the Camelot.

“Two months overdue,” he said plainly. “And yeah, I did lie. I said that because I knew it was the only way you’d come of your own accord. I wanted you to come back to me, even if it was your subconscious’ fault for being far too suspicious.”

“When did you get to know me so well?” I asked, astonished at his master plan.

He chuckled, “A long time ago, Veronica. I just got smarter, realised what I wanted.”

“And what, exactly, is that, Logan?” I asked, smiling up at him.

“You.”

My breath hitched involuntarily, and I could feel my eyes as they started to fill with moisture. Nothing was ever clearer to me in my lifetime. I was in love with Logan Echolls and had been for a very long time, if I was honest with myself.

He scooped me up once again in his arms as he kissed me thoroughly, my mouth happily obliging. Once finished, he took my hand in his and held it firmly, leading me out of his office.

“Where are we going?” I asked uncertainly as we walked through the door.

“Janice, cancel the rest of my appointments for this afternoon - I’m taking my girlfriend out for lunch.”

“But Mr Echolls-”

He held out his free hand, he didn’t want to hear it. I smiled apologetically at Logan’s secretary, still clutching his hand tightly. We exited the building, after a frantic make-out session in the lift, neither of us able to wipe the smiles from our faces.

We held hands as we continued to walk down the streets of Los Angeles, neither of us knowing whether this was a good idea, or how long we would last this time around. Not knowing where we were going or how we were getting there. The only certain thing was that it would work itself out, surely, and it wasn’t going to be easy, or simple.

The only thing that I knew for certain was that we were Veronica and Logan, and we were only ever going to belong to each other.

The end.