Mwaha, I'm back! And, with a brand new LoVe/Pizonica story! So this was inspired by my fic "This Feeling's Taking Control". If you read that, then this is just a longer, story verison of that ficlet that will develop a lot more (:
If you're a new reader, then welcome! I hope you all enjoy! And remember! R&R! (:
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing involving Veronica Mars; it all belongs to that genius Rob Thomas.
Prolouge
Veronica's face instantly lit up with a bright smile as she walked through the front door of the Mars family apartment. Her first few months back in her sophomore year of college sure hadn't been easy, and Veronica found peace in being able to escape the college life, even if it's just for a short amount of time, by going home.
She dropped her bag onto the couch and headed to the refrigerator to grab water, and to see what she would be working with tonight. Her father was working late again (the price you pay when you're sheriff) again, and Veronica had promised him a nice home cooked meal for when he got home. She had just pulled out some frozen chicken to defrost for later when she heard her phone buzzing from the coffee table. She placed the food down and went over to check who was calling…only to have her breath caught short.
Her phone read that it was Logan Echolls calling in.
Veronica hadn't seen much of Logan since returning from her internship with the FBI last month. She had left Neptune with many unresolved issues, mostly revolving around Logan and Piz, her boyfriend at the time. Before leaving, she and Piz had agreed to take a break that summer and see how they were when she returned. They both knew that a lot had happened before she left, a lot that had affected their relationship in a good and bad way, and that the best thing to do was take some time away from each other.
Logan and she, on the other hand, had resolved nothing. After the incident in the cafeteria, Veronica hadn't seen Logan at all until the day she was getting ready to leave. He stopped by her house, literally an hour before she was leaving to hop on a plane.
"You and Piz broke up I hear?" he said to her that day.
"We're taking a break while we're both away this summer," she corrected.
"I want you to know, I'm changing, Veronica; I'm changing for you because I don't want to loose you. Not again."
"Saying you're going to change and actually changing is two completely different things, Logan."
"I'll prove to you that I've changed. By the time you come back, you'll see I'm a completely different person. I swear."
Veronica shook that memory from her brain. Whenever she thought of that conversation, her chest seemed to tighten up ever so slightly. She looked down at the phone, tempted to just ignore the call, but something inside of her, something deep down in her stomach, told her that she needed to answer.
"Hello?" she said into the phone.
"Hey, Veronica. I'm outside of your house. You think you can come outside to talk to me?"
Curious, Veronica peaked her head out the window, and sure enough the first thing she saw was Logan's car parked right in front of her apartment door.
"What is this about, Logan?"
"Please just come outside? It's important, okay?"
Veronica sighed and closed her phone. Once again, she was tempted to just ignore Logan; to ignore his attempts at seeing her, but she got that feeling again that told her she needed to talk to him.
Veronica thought back to when she returned from Virginia. The internship had gone well; she got to experience what crimes outside of Neptune were like, how serious and dangerous the world can really be firsthand. Upon returning to Neptune, Veronica felt her usual happy mood (something that probably seemed odd for someone who just spent all summer with the FBI) fade into a gloomy one as she remembered all the baggage she left behind.
Veronica returned home to find some very different changes with the people around her. For one, her dad seemed to be happy as the sheriff again; he seemed less stressed surprisingly. Mac, one of Veronica's few close friends, seemed to be spending more time with Dick, the brother of Mac's deceased ex boyfriend (who also happened to be a murder). Wallace had made new friends with kids on their team's basketball team (but of course he was more than thrilled when Veronica, his best friend, returned).
The biggest surprise, however, was the one with Logan. She soon discovered after returning home from Mac that he had moved out of his suite at the Neptune Grand and now shared an apartment with Dick. He spent less time out partying and surfing, and more time catching up on any work he had missed during their second semester of their freshman year of college. He was still the same old carefree Logan when Veronica talked to him the first time after coming back from Virginia; Veronica knew that would never change, but there was something different about him. He had matured a lot over the summer, even Veronica could see that.
Every time she saw Logan, however, a small pain filled her chest. No matter how many times she saw how he had changed, changed for her, she couldn't see past all the pain he's put her through, all the pain she's put him through. She couldn't forget how much work it was for her just to be happy to be with him, or how tired she was after every fight she had with him. "Relationships shouldn't be this much work," she constantly thought to herself.
But with Piz there was no extra effort needed; it wasn't constant fight after fight with him. While Logan seemed to be her storm cloud, full of passion, yet always brewing for another fight, Piz was her sunshine, filling her with warmth; while Logan gave her a reason to be angry, Piz gave her a reason to smile. Her time with Logan may have been epic, but her time with Piz could be the love story every girl always hoped they'd achieve.
That's why Veronica choose Piz.
Xxx
Veronica crossed her arms across her chest defensively as the door to her apartment closed behind her.
Logan stood only twenty-five feet away from her, his hands in his pockets as he leaned against his car. He was trying to look casual, but Veronica could easily tell how uncomfortable he looked; maybe even a little hurt too.
She hadn't seen much of Logan since getting back together with Piz two months ago. Veronica had hoped to try and be friends with him, but Logan always pushed her away.
"You moved on, I understand. Now it's my turn," was the last thing Logan had said to her before continuing his life on, ignoring Veronica's existence.
Veronica took a hesitant step towards him. Finally, Logan looked up from the ground and made direct eye contact with her. "Hey Veronica," he said softy.
"Hi Logan," Veronica replied in an almost whisper.
Both were quiet for a moment. Logan's eyes darted back to the ground and stayed there for a minute before returning to Veronica's face. She watched as pain crossed Logan's boyish face. Veronica knew instantly that what he was about to say was going to hurt them both inside.
Logan heaved himself off the car and took a small step towards her. "Veronica, look. I…I am here to tell you something." Logan's eyes darted back down to the ground. "Something I thought would be a lot easier to say than it really is," he said, almost to himself, letting out a small, dark chuckle.
"What is it, Logan?" Veronica asked.
"I'm leaving Neptune," he finally blurted out after another minute of silence.
Veronica looked at him for a moment, unsure of the importance of that statement. Logan shook his head. "I don't think you get it, Veronica. I'm leaving Neptune…and I'm not coming back. I'm leaving Hearse. Well, actually, I've already left Hearse. I dropped out of all my classes a few days ago."
Veronica starred at Logan. "…What? But…why? You were doing so well here, Logan."
Logan took a moment before responding. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. "Because you made your choice. You don't want me anymore. There's nothing left in Neptune for me anymore; it just holds all these bad memories. I would have left a long time ago, but you were the reason I stayed; you kept me here. But now, I'm not the one you want, so…" Logan trailed off, shrugging his shoulders once more.
"But what about your friends? Dick? You're just going to leave him?" blurted out Veronica.
"Dick knows I'm leaving; I told him I was planning on it a few weeks ago. He was a little hurt, but he understands. He'll be fine; him, Mac and Wallace seemed to have formed an interesting new friendship. Plus, I trust you'll keep an eye on him too."
Veronica starred at Logan for a few seconds, testing to see if he was really serious, and finally sighed. "Is this really what you want to do, Logan?"
Logan shrugged for the third time. "I don't know. Part of me doesn't want to leave; this place may hold some pretty shitty moments of my life, but it also holds those people that I'll always love." Logan stopped speaking to stare at Veronica for a moment; it was truly killing him to say this. "But part of me, a bigger part of me, knows I need to get out of here now…or things will never change." Logan didn't clarify what he meant, but he didn't have to; Veronica knew exactly that he was referring to his feelings towards her.
When Veronica didn't say anything, Logan took another step towards her, now only a mere couple of inches away from her face. He carefully took a hold of her chin and tipped it up towards his face. When she didn't pull away or resist him, he slowly leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips. Veronica allowed herself to close her eyes, momentarily forgetting that she was being kissed by someone not her boyfriend.
Logan pulled away a few seconds later, and whispered to her: "I'll miss you, Veronica."
"I'll miss you too, Logan," she replied without a moment's hesitation. At the time, she didn't understand why, but Veronica felt like the world was crashing down on her as realization dawned on her that Logan was leaving.
They looked at each other a moment longer, before Logan broke off the stare and headed to his car. He opened the door to his car, and gave one final look back at Veronica before getting in and starting it. Veronica watched from the sidewalk as Logan pulled away from her apartment and drove away.
She felt a small piece of her heart break that day as she realized it could be the last time she ever saw Logan Echolls.
So what did you guys think! I know, I know, this was a bit more Pizonica then LoVe & I'm pretty sure most of you guys are probably LoVe shippers. But, bare with me! While there will be some Pizonica chapters, I promise you there is a hell of a lot of LoVe to come (:
