The ski lodge was full of tipsy eager young college students enjoying their first year of freedom from their parents at Hearst and San Diego State University. It was almost like a small reunion of the Class of 2016 of Neptune High, most of his surviving senior class was here, he mused as Logan Echolls recalled the day he had asked Veronica Mars to his Alterna-prom.
"This.. this is high school… we are here for four years and then we move on… and all these people you see around here vanish from your life and you never have to think about them again" she had smiled gleefully.
She would have hated this… and Logan would give anything to stop thinking about her and missing her right now.
What had he been thinking? He had finally gotten everything that he had wanted… a relationship with her… a chance to be with the girl he loved more than life itself, and he had kept screwing it up he thought miserably as he stared at the photograph screensaver on his phone.
Christmas without her had been the loneliest he could remember, despite Dick's attempts at getting him to let loose on this trip.
"Dude… snow surfing is like waves but colder and less ball chaffing" his roommate had grinned.
Aspen for the holidays had been a great idea, he would have been a hundred times more miserable if his car had been sitting right there and he would be tormenting himself to stop himself from driving over to Veronica's house to beg her to take him back. It felt like this heart break wasn't going to mend.
"I've had enough of the Moping!" Dick had declared before he had thrown Logan's phone into a pitcher of beer.
"Dude! What the hell man?!" Logan complained as he pulled it out again but it was ruined.
"Relax, you have it all sync'd up to that cloud thing Mac showed you… and now you don't have to worry about getting drunk and calling her up crying. You can finally cut that noose she's got around your balls and chill out… you are on Vacation, dude!" Dick told him before handing him a shot of Sambuca. "Enjoy it"
"You just destroyed my phone dude" Logan said as he set the device down on the table and took out the battery.
"I got you a new one for the holidays" Dick said as he pointed at the unopened present's still sitting in his bag. "I am going up to the hot springs with that Blossom chick at midnight… I have a feeling there will more than one moon under those Northern Lights tonight" he winked and Logan took the shot from his friend.
"Bottoms up!" Logan said as he threw back the burning liquid and it stung the back of his throat. Drinking to forget wasn't the most healthy of coping mechanisms but it was the only thing that had really seemed to be helping him the last few weeks. Anything to avoid the truth, he wasn't strong enough to stop loving Veronica Mars. This pain… was anything but survivable. He had thought he could tough it out but he was wrong.
He wanted to call her, he wanted to be wrapped back up in his bed with her beside him.
Losing Lilly had been tough, it had almost destroyed him… and when he had found Veronica in that parking lot with her head shaved, the nightmares of all the times he had almost lost her had started to keep him awake at night. His father's attempt to kill her, the day of the bus crash, the sight of her delicate throat under Liam Fitzpatrick's fist in the River Styxx and when Cassidy Casablanca's had tried to force her off the roof of the Neptune Grand Hotel he called home. He couldn't stop himself… he had crossed a line and hired someone to protect her because she wouldn't let him.
Several shots and a few beers later he finally said goodbye to Dick as he headed off on his little booty adventure.
"Can you believe this man?" Luke asked as he pointed to the big projector screen they had up in the main lodge reception. "We still get to watch the ball drop" he mused as the watched the scene of Times Square.
"Just like being back in Neptune" Logan agreed as he watched the usual couples from his high school days forming their little cliques. Some things never changed.
Veronica would be at home watching this too, probably surrounded by her friends… he didn't want to wonder if she was with someone else. It hurt to think about it. She was too far away.
She hadn't even seemed that upset when he had broken up with her at all and it killed him. He couldn't face her after he had found out about Mo and Mercer, he had screwed up again. That was part of the reason this little trip to hide up in the snowy mountains had appealed to him in the first place.
"Ugh… can you believe that Cole and that skank Kimmy are together? Meg would be turning in her grave" Madison Sinclair said snidely as she watched them from across the room as she stood beside Logan.
"You sure you aren't still bitter because you scored a 73 on that purity test?" Luke joked before she turned and gave him a cold glare.
"Like you scored anything, Mr College Virgin" she snarked and he blushed shyly then picked up his drink and moved away.
"You know, Madison, if it bothered you so much, you could make a man out of him" Logan joked as he downed another shot. The world was starting to get that happy floaty feeling, he didn't even mind that she had decided to occupy the same space with him… then he caught the first whiff of it.
Her perfume…. The same kind that Veronica wore. He tried to brush away the thought and picked up the bottle of champagne from the table. Madison held out her glass expectantly.
"With hands like those.. no one needs to make a man out of you Logan Echolls" she smiled appreciatively.
Oh really? She thought this was flirting? He wasn't even sure why he was even still standing beside her, she was the worst kind of vapid babbling harlot.
"Idle hands are ever the Devil's playground" he joked, trying not to overfill the glass.
"So how is Life at Hearst?" she asked, running a hand along his arm. Did she honestly think he was interested? But there it was again… that sweet scent that made him feel homesick.
"Oh you know… any excuse to avoid becoming a contributing member of Society for the next four years" Logan said as he took a deep long drink from the bottle.
The DJ changed the tracks and Pale Waves – New Years Eve came on and the lyrics started to filter into his head as the couples paired off under the Chinese lanterns on the balcony and the disco lights bounced around the room. He remembered last time he could even recall dancing with someone like that.
The Sadie Hawkins Dance… with Veronica.
He really wished she was here. You are pining away you idiot… he thought and remembered his beer soaked phone. Maybe Dick had done him a favour, because right now he wanted to retreat to his bedroom and call her, to hear her voice, wish her a happy new years.
To beg her to take him back.
"God, you think they would actually play something that doesn't suck" Madison complained as she licked her lips and looked at him admiringly. "I'm surprised you weren't with someone right now…" she commented.
"Oh but I am.. you are here" he said sarcastically. If that scent didn't hold him captive he would be telling her to go to hell…
"Ten minutes until the ball drops!" Casey Gant called as he brought around a tray of absinthe shots.
Logan took two of them and excused himself to his room, maybe if he put his sim card into the new phone that Dick had bought him, he could check for texts from Veronica?
He clumsily tore open the small box and fiddled with the settings of the installation menu as he sat on the edge of the bed and put in his sim card.
Sim Fail.. Network Error. He drained the last of the bottle in his hands and lay back drunkenly on his bed.
Nice one Dick… you got one tied to a different network. he sighed and reaching for his computer. Maybe he could get it unlocked? Would she have her skype open?
"Why use Porn Hub when you got such fine opportunities right here?" Madison said as she unzipped her pink sequin dress and kicked it aside to reveal a sexy set of lingerie and black stockings. There was no denying she had a fantastic body, but then that was to be expected, she was currently at University of San Diego on a full scholarship for cheerleading, not that her family needed it.
"I'm not such a big fan of the one-piece numbers" he retorted sarcastically.
"I'm not a big fan of being kept waiting" she replied as she approached the bed and straddled his hips.
"Hey.. come on…" he protested but his body was already starting to show an interest in the heat of her pressed against him.
"Come on what exactly?" she purred as she traced a hand across her cleavage and kissed him.
Her mouth tasted like gin and tonic and the scent of that perfume filled his nose.
Blond hair falling around him in waves… just for a moment if he closed his eyes he could imagine it was her…
"What's the matter Lo-gan… you forget how this works?" she teased grinding her hips against him and pulling his shirt buttons.
Forgetting… that sounded like a great idea right about now…
He grabbed hold of her wrists and flipped them so she was lying on her back beneath him as his weight pressed against her.
"Since when did you behave like such a sad sack?" she complained.
Since I was stupid and lost the love of my life?
"I know all kinds of ways to make you feel better" she promised, wrapping her strong legs around his waist.
Feeling better… even if just for a moment… just for a minute…
He reached down and kissed her as the noise from the other Lodge guests shouted Happy New Years.
"Well Honey… I think I am going to go to bed" Keith Mars declared as he put the last beer into the trash can and followed Alicia into his bedroom. It wasn't that they were getting back together, just two old former lovers keeping each other company on the holidays… Veronica thought to herself sadly.
"Still no word from Logan?" Wallace asked softly.
"Nope" she said quietly, sliding her phone back into her lap and he looked at her in sympathy. He was her best friend, he knew how deeply this break up had hurt her, even if she wasn't saying it out loud.
"New Years Resolutions?" he asked as he held out small plate with sandwiches on it.
"Drink more water?" she joked as she put down her drink and headed to the sink in the small kitchen to get a glass. She didn't like to over indulge. Some things weren't worth the hangover… or the morning after.
"Always use sunscreen… even when its cloudy?" he teased as he pointed at the tan lines on her shoulders. Christmas in Neptune came with sunburn and she had taken a little too much sun the previous day while they had been hanging out with Mac on the beach. Parker and Piz had gone home for the Holidays, but it was nice that they had had time to reconnect after the whole Mercer incident.
"Read a self-help book on how to date guys with less criminally inclined friends?" she added sarcastically. Or how to date guys who didn't woo you with stories of Epic Love and then dump your ass?
"In your line of work? Supafly the only kind of guy you meet these days have criminally inclined friends" he retorted as she joined him on the couch.
"What can I say?" she smiled as she took a bit of her sandwich.
"Happy New Years Marshmallow" he told her finally and she rested her head on his shoulder.
At least there was one guy she could still count on.