I didn't realize what two months of reading without writing could do to me. I apologize in advance for my rustiness. I hope you enjoy this stretch-of-the-imagination short story at least a little bit :) Scenario, characters, and setting all belong to Rob Thomas. Only the twist of events and lyrics are mine :)
"The way we want to be is not the way we used to be"
Blond ringlets bounced as their owner turned her head towards the car window.
"The day our passion died is now considered history."
Two feet away, giggles ensued from the backseat of the sleek, black limousine.
"And maybe if I had the chance to do things differently, the world we know today just wouldn't be."
Defeated, Veronica leaned back on her seat, propping her neck - ringlets and all - on the crook of Troy's elbow. How was one supposed to ignore lyrics like that? She shrugged to herself. She wasn't the one who picked the music. Troy could deal with it.
On and on, the limo rolled.
"Thanks for agreeing to join me tonight, beautiful." A soft whisper and a peck on the cheek greeted Veronica on the left.
Veronica smiled - might as well embrace every girl's dream. "No problem, buddy," came her casual response.
"Buddy? Seriously?" An expression of exaggerated disappointment spread over Troy's bowtie-framed face.
"Dude, be thankful," Wallace barked good-naturedly from the backseat, his arms draped around Georgia, "she doesn't wear that for any guy, I tell you."
Wallace gave a nod to the strapless red dress on her tiny frame. Veronica smiled and winked in response to him for getting her back.
On and on, the limo rolled.
"If only you and I had known that this is what would be, then maybe we'd be living differently."
Involuntarily, Veronica's eyes flew back to the window. Here they were - Dog Beach. Her eyes gave the interior of the limousine a quick scan. Two guys, one girl, and Veronica Mars in a limo by the beach on the night of homecoming dance - how did so much change in one year?
As a fleeting wind would whisper, Lilly's voice and image echoed in Veronica's mind. Lilly's laughter as she flashed her butt to the passing vehicle, Lilly's mischievous smile before asking Logan his first impressions of little pink Veronica, Lilly's seductive sashaying as she moved over to smooch Veronica, and Lilly's horrified shock at the revelation that Veronica had never gone through the rite of passage that is skinny dipping - how could she forget?
"And if the way we live could just for once be up to me, we would be making better memories."
"Do you mind if we make a stop?" Veronica heard her own voice speaking. "There's something I need to do."
"Well, I don't think that's a good idea, we should probably go right to the dance, right? I told your dad - "
Veronica smiled and pulled off her shoes. She jumped out the door of the limo the moment it stopped, Troy at her heels.
She quickly turned. "You have to stay here."
She smiled again and sprinted towards the water.
One puzzled look Wallace's way earned Troy his reply. "Don't ask me, man. Stopped trying to figure her out day one."
"And if the chance could come to make you see, you'll realize just how much you need me."
Her small feet tossed aside the soft, grey sand as she scuttled towards the water. Charged with Lilly's spirit, her hands moved quickly behind her to pull down the zipper of her unapologetically scarlet dress. With her neckline two inches lower than it had been, a voice caught her off guard.
Veronica clutched the dress to her chest.
One quick scan of her surroundings identified a topless male form within two yards of her. The figure walked - stumbled, really - in an obviously drunk manner towards her as it mumbled incoherent words.
She should run, really; but drawn by a sense of vague familiarity, she stood her ground.
"For if our lives were just a memory, I'd rather this not be my legacy."
Logan, she realized. It was Logan.
"Hey Ronnie, fancy catching you here." Even in his drunken state, his signature smirk stayed intact. "Missing your prince charming Duncan Kane? He's off to the homecoming party, you know, with Shelly. That dress ain't gonna get him back."
The insults pooled at the back of her throat.
Logan ran a hand through his disheveled hair before sipping from his handheld bottle. "It's not gonna be the same, Ronnie. It's never gonna be."
Disarmed by the sudden hint of sadness in his voice, and determined to walk away the bigger person, Veronica turned back towards the limo, not caring how much she was exposing her back.
SPLASH!
Did Logan just -
Veronica spun around to see Logan waving his arms from the water. His face was lit with a smile. He looked happy.
She realized she he hadn't looked happy for far too long.
Her eyes trailed to the discarded clothes on the beach. Logan Echolls was skinny-dipping alright.
Another ten seconds later, her clothes were as scattered as his.
SPLASH!
Was it Lilly's whispering? Maybe. Was it the unexpected smile on Logan's face enticing her to a bygone time? Possibly.
It may be nothing more than a rebellious spirit trying to prove she was no longer that Veronica. Or, it could be the pull of that old Veronica desperately trying to hang on to Lilly Kane by acting as much like Lilly as possible.
Veronica held her breath and dipped her head beneath the water. The warm California waves engulfed her tiny figure, tingling her every nerve. She felt both naked and clothed at the same time - lost and yet found.
A moment later, she re-emerged into the crisp evening air, careful not to reveal her bare chest above the water level.
"Go, Ronnie!" Logan's hyperactive persona was in full swing tonight as he waved his arms excitedly a few yards away in the water. He was usually very stable in treading water, but something about his lopsided posture tonight made Veronica laugh.
Laugh - she laughed - with Logan Echolls.
"If after all, this is our legacy, then let's make it as perfect as could be."
Impulsively, Veronica gathered all the strength in her tiny arms and splashed her companion.
After a two-second recovery, he splashed right back.
For the next two minutes, the former friends laughed, splashed, and giggled. They lived - again.
And maybe this was how it was supposed to be anyway. Maybe grief over Lilly wasn't supposed to tear them apart. Maybe it was all meant to put them back together. Besides, who else could truly understand what only people who knew Lilly Kane understood? Lilly Kane was not a string of piano recitals and horseback-riding lessons. Lilly Kane was homecoming night at the beach, braless dresses, and skinny-dipping in the moonlight.
And they were the only two who understood.
Minutes passed before the glint of a parked limo reminded Veronica of where she was. Was it truly just tonight that she had jumped out of that tiny thing in the distance?
While Logan dipped under the water for a quick swim, she pushed herself back on shore and quickly slipped on her clothes. Her blond curls, limp from the sea water, dripped mercilessly on her red dress. Her make-up was probably half gone. But what did it matter?
Properly zipped up, Veronica started to run back inland before her companions came searching.
"Ronnie! Ronnie, wait!"
She could hear the small splashes from Logan's footsteps. Weighed down by her soaked outfit, she paused for a moment before turning around.
And here came Logan Echolls in his birthday suit. Quickly, Veronica averted her eyes, causing her to be caught off-guard by a big, wet, sudden embrace.
His arms around her were innocent enough. She had hugged him plenty in the Fab Four glory days. But something about being pressed up against his naked body quickened her heartbeat in a way that she refused to acknowledge.
As if disallowing her to calm down, Logan pulled her in more tightly. His lowered his face into her hair. He smelled of liquor, water, and sand; he also smelled of sweetness, hunger, and sorrow.
Reflexively, Veronica lifted her hands behind him to rest on his shoulder blades.
"Logan, what are you doing?" Her voice sounded, like herself, honestly confused.
Surprising her, he pressed a soft kiss into her hair. "I don't want to stay this way."
Veronica took a quick breath.
"What way, Logan?"
He locked his arms firmly around her, pulling her flush against him. "You know, Ronnie."
She did know.
And he knew she knew.
And though she would be hard-pressed to admit it, she agreed too. The epiphany in the water had not been hers alone.
"Logan - " She pulled back to look at him. "It doesn't have to stay this way."
His deep, brown eyes gave her his answer - agreement, joy, relief.
"I'll see you here next year?"
Next year? Oh, homecoming.
Veronica smiled in spite of herself. "Okay."
And maybe it was because of his arms pulling her closer against his bare torso, or maybe it was because she just wanted to do the most irrational thing in the world - she pulled up on tiptoes and pecked him on the lips.
He responded with a smooch.
She kissed his chin.
He kissed her neck.
One kiss at a time, they pulled closer and closer until their tongues were locked, their hands in each other's hair, and their lips hopelessly swollen.
She pulled away - first her face, then her body.
She walked away slowly, backwards. Her lips parted in surprise; her eyes glistened in excitement.
"See you next year."
She laughed and ran away.
Wide eyes greeted her as she fumbled back into the limo, dripping all over its posh interiors. Troy, apparently speechless, raised his eyebrows in question.
Veronica grinned.
"I told you. there were some things I needed to do."
"But, Veronica - "
"Just let it go," she snapped, though a distant smile still lingered on her face.
"Okay, okay."
"Cuz baby if you see what I can see, you'll know it's more than just a fantasy."
On and on, the limo rolled.