Title: That Lovin' Feeling
Author: laughingseal
Pairing/Character: D/V with L/V overtones
Word Count: 671
Rating: PG
Summary: Duncan has the girl of his dreams once more but things are never so simple.
Spoilers/Warnings: Set during the summer of 'Normal is the Watchword'.
Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns us all. We are unworthy minions.
Duncan paused, stopping to think of how he'd gotten so lucky, for the millionth time that summer. Granted, it wasn't his first time dating Veronica Mars, but it sure felt like he was a sophomore again, pining away for the blonde-haired beauty who captured most of his dreams and waking moments alike.
He remembered the gut-wrenching pain from when he first discovered that his best friend and his ex-girlfriend were together. He wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy. There was nothing worse, he decided.
Unfortunately for him, Logan and Veronica seemed to really care about each other and it wasn't just a case of their overworked hormones or a crazy fling. He tried to tell himself that that was the case, but the look in Logan's eyes when he held out his hand to Veronica at his surprise birthday party, and the tender smile she gave him in return, told him otherwise. He was too late.
Even the arrest of Aaron Echolls and Logan's own brush with the law couldn't seem to break them apart. They seemed genuinely happy together, and Duncan was just about to throw in the towel.
Then, out of the blue, they broke up.
They didn't tell him personally, of course, since his relationship with Logan was nonexistent and his relationship with Veronica was lukewarm at best. But he heard it through the grapevine, as clichéd as it sounded. People loved to talk in Neptune and everybody in school was talking about the breakup of Logan and Veronica. Whenever he asked Veronica about why they had broken up, she'd get silent and moody, so after a while, he stopped asking.
He didn't dare to hope that she would come back to him, but he tried to be there for her, anyway. And then one day, after a cheesy gesture on his part, she stopped him on his way out of The Java Hut and agreed to go out with him. The next thing he knew, they were kissing! It was just like it was in the fairytales and Duncan had never known such happiness.
Sure it hurt to look at Logan's accusing glares whenever they crossed paths these days, which was rare. But this was the girl he was going to marry someday. He just knew, like he'd known since the moment he first laid eyes on her when she was twelve.
Tucking aside a lock of her hair, he laid a kiss on her forehead, lost in his blissful thoughts.
"Hey where'd you go off to? You were getting some seriously spacey looks there. I was afraid that I was going to have to radio Houston for help," Veronica said, looking at him questioningly.
Duncan smiled down at her. "I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life."
"Yeah, I'm pretty special, I know," she said, smirking.
"And humble too."
Duncan smiled down at her lovingly and she responded in kind before her eyes took on a faraway look. One that was a familiar expression on her face these days. Abruptly, he stopped smiling and tightened his hold on her, as if to physically prevent her from leaving his embrace while she dreamt of another.
She had a tendency of looking mournful and distant while in his arms, one minute, and then smile-y and happy the next. And he'd seen her giving Logan Echolls, pining looks, on more than one occasion.
He'd thought about confronting her about it one of these days, but he realized that he wasn't brave enough. He didnt want to lose her, even though he was losing her.
Maybe if he just kept quiet, she'd realize that she was in love with him, just like he'd always been in love with her. Maybe he wouldn't imagine her dreaming of Logan while being with him.
Maybe she'd stay.
In the meantime, he discovered that there was, in fact, something worse than watching his ex with his best friend.
And he was living it.
Fin
