A/N: This was the second of two stories written in my first foray into writing rather than reading fanfiction, way back in 2006. The season 2 finale of Veronica Mars grabbed me and wouldn't let go until I'd written two short missing scenes. This one starts the morning after Cassidy's and Aaron's deaths. Posting this now so it lives on outside of LJ…
When Keith finally escapes the three-ring circus the Grand and sheriff's department have become since news of last night's chaos broke, he is not surprised to find Logan Echolls on his couch again. Where else would Logan go? That his fingers are twined tightly around Veronica's as he lies across her lap, pretending to watch some cartoon show, is slightly more of a surprise. Logan's eyes are red and there is something unnerving about how methodically he clicks through the channel lineup. Around midnight, Keith nudges a dozing Veronica and motions her towards bed, handing Logan a blanket and pillow. In the morning, Keith finds the blanket neatly folded and Logan in the kitchen, making pancakes.
When Keith comes home that night, Logan is still on his couch. This time, he is playing video games while Veronica reads a New York City guide, her fingers running idly through his hair. Keith brings out a bowl of popcorn and they sit in companionable silence. He'd like to ask how the meeting with Aaron's lawyers went, or whether Logan was able to retrieve his belongings from the Grand, but now is not the time. In the middle of the night, Keith is woken by a cry from Veronica's room but by the time he rushes to her door, Logan is there, kneeling by the bed and stroking her hair while she whispers the details of her nightmare. Keith watches them for a minute, not sure he's ready to trust the Echolls kid again. But he trusts Veronica.
That morning, Keith is the first one up. As he gets the coffee started, he notices how awkwardly Logan's long legs hang over the edge of the couch. When Keith finds himself in the camping section at Target later that day, debating the merits of various air mattresses, he tells himself it's just to get his couch back. The Power Rangers sheet set, though, is purely for his amusement. Logan mumbles something about finding a hotel soon as he thanks Keith, and Keith disbelievingly hears himself telling the Echolls boy to stay as long as he needs. Well, he does make pretty good pancakes.
Two nights later, another mid-sleep cry from Veronica's room, but this time Keith doesn't even have time to throw on his robe before hearing Logan slip into her room. In the morning, Keith finds that the air mattress has been dragged to the side of Veronica's bed.
Aaron's funeral is that day, a lavish affair presided over by a glamorously grieving Trina. Logan does not attend, but later Keith drives to the cemetery and waits in the car with Veronica while Logan stares mutely at the freshly-mounded dirt. When they get home, Veronica and Logan disappear into her room and he hears them talking late into the night. Keith is relieved when he hears Veronica suddenly giggle, the first lightness he's heard from her all week, and so when morning comes and Veronica is asleep on the air mattress, her bed suspiciously neat, Keith merely grumbles at Logan that it's his turn to make the coffee.