A Breath of Fresh Air
By Silverdragonfly
Author's Note: So I started another fic awhile back, a LoVe fic, and I'm still working on it but this idea sort of wormed its way into my brain and wouldn't let go. I'd love to hear what you all think, only the first chapter written so far but I've got the rest planned. Do any of you remember what Casey's grandmother's business was? I seem to recall it being a publishing company but all my stuff is in storage and I can't check for myself.
Disclaimer: None of the characters from Veronica Mars are mine. I own nothing.
Chapter One
Casey had known that it was only a matter of time before Veronica was going to come looking for him. He'd heard that she was asking questions about Shelley Pomroy's party and was pretty sure he'd be on her list of people to talk to. He was relieved that he could honestly tell her that he hadn't taken advantage of her but the guilt that he felt about not stopping the other 09'ers- that was a different story. Until Veronica had started showing up at the Mooncalf Collective he hadn't thought much about that night, about her. But as they started to become friends, as she helped him deal with his grandmother's illness and later her death, the guilt started to seep in and he couldn't make it to stop.
When he was dragged into his parents' limo by the deprogrammers, Veronica was all he could think about. He knew who these silent, menacing men had to be and if he were to be completely honest, he'd admit that he was grateful in a way, because a return to the old Casey would mean an end to the guilt. But as they drove away from the cemetery, he mourned the loss of her snarky comments and the fire in her eyes. He was going to miss Veronica Mars.
He tried to get out of telling her about that night when she caught up with him outside of school, tried to get away as fast as possible but she brought up his grandmother and the guilt rushed back in. He was able to look her in the eyes when he told her about pushing her away that night, glad that it had never even really crossed his mind to take advantage of her. He thought he could see some pain in her eyes, something that went beyond finding out about a night of drunken high school stupidity, and barely stopped himself from asking her about it. A feeling of dread like a lead weight in his stomach warned him that he didn't want to know.
He watched from a distance as the drama of her life played out, the love triangle between her and Duncan and Logan that only seemed to end when Duncan fled the country. He woke up sometimes and had to fight to set aside dreams of sweeping in and being the one to hold her in his arms.
Graduation came and went and he thought she was out of his life for good. Years passed, and his life would have been called a success by most people's standards. He ran his grandmother's business with a staggering degree of competence, making it more profitable than it had ever been. He married and divorced but never had any children. He lived a comfortable life and it had been a long time since he'd thought about a certain petite, blond PI.
Until the morning, as he review his schedule for the day with his assistant, he noticed a familiar name scrawled into his date book.
Author's Note: Please R&R honestly. I don't have a beta so I'm relying on the feedback to find errors so I can correct them. :)