Fuck epic

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"Every one is looking at you, lady," Piz whispered in his wife's ear.

Abby started and turned around, a frown on her face. It morphed in a smile immediatly when she took him in, wearing his best suit and a red tie.

"You're here," she breathed, tugging him to her by his jacket's edges and planting a soft kiss on his mouth. "I wasn't sure you would make it."

"And miss the opportunity of showing all those guys that you're not available? Never," he joked. "I know how important this is for you."

She smiled again, mussing his hair a little.

"It is, but fundraisers and you haven't been don't mix so well."

"Hey, it's charity, what can be bad about it?"

"All the socialites?" she said. "I know how little you like these people."

"I went to Hearst college, you can't blame me for not liking them," he answered, putting his arms around her waist. "But they're the ones with the money, so you can say that they're a necessary evil."

Abby shook her head, amused. She knew he didn't really mind being here with her - after all, they had met because of her involvement with AAUW. When she had flirted with him after he was done interviewing her, he had been completely flabbergasted. Piz had never had any girl showing such blatant interest in him before, and he had acted so nervous on their first date that he had been utterly convinced she would never call him back. A few months into their relationship, Abby had confessed it was the very reason she had pursued him.

"Well, handsome, I am sorry to say we're going to have to mingle. A lot," she added meaningfully.

He took it as a warning not to disappear around the general vicinity of the buffet for the next two hours. He groaned a little, but she was already tugging him in the direction of two impeccably groomed couples, the exact kind that always made him feel inadequate.

Then he froze in his tracks as he took them in. One of the men, his back turned on him, was wearing the white uniform of the Navy, which he wasn't overly fond of. The woman next to him, close enough that anyone would immediately assume intimacy, was petite, with her blonde hair elaborately put up. He had a strange impression of familiarity which he shook off quickly. There was no way.

"Mr Echolls, I didn't expect us to join us," Abby said excitedly as she neared them.

Both couples turned to them, and apparently there was very much way, Piz thought as Logan and Veronica faced them.

The complete look of surprise on the couple's face must have mirrored his own.

"May I introduce my husband, Stosh Piznarsky," Abby said, her hand at the small of his back. "I don't think you've ever met him. Honey, this is Mr and Mrs Echolls, they have been contributors to AAUW for the longest time."

Piz took a look at Logan, impeccable in his pristine uniform, and Veronica, who looked absolutely amazing in a red dress that stopped just above her knees, and for a short moment, he was back to this awful moment when he had answered his phone, knowing what was coming.

"We actually already know each other," Veronica said with a pleasant smile. "I attended Hearst for one year."

He was immensely grateful that she didn't mention their dating history. Abby knew he had just started getting over his relationship with Veronica when they met. He had told her the whole story, once, but no names had been involved.

"Oh," Abby said, frowning. "You never told me you knew the Echolls," she added for Piz.

"It never came up," he answered, shrugging. "It is nice to see you guys."

"Likewise," Logan said, putting his arm around Veronica's waist.

For one moment, Piz thought it was for his benefit. He knew how insanely jealous Logan could get, and he almost laughed at the idea of Logan feeling threatened by him, when all parties involved knew that getting between Logan and Veronica was a bad, bad idea. Piz remembered how Wallace had warned him against going after Veronica, and he really should have heeded that piece of advice. Getting over Veronica was one of the hardest things he had ever gone through, and he had had to go through it twice. He could even pity Logan now, who had experienced it four times.

Then Veronica lifted her head and smiled at Logan, leaning onto him, and he understood that this was just something they did naturally, without thinking twice about it. They were so involved in each other, Piz could only wonder how he managed to fool himself into believing he could come between those two. For his defense, the second time around it had been eight years of her having absolutely no contact at all with him. He had thought he was safe from Logan Echolls' influence.

Abby had started talking with the other couple, and they had moved a few steps away from them.

"I didn't know you got married," Veronica said with a smile. "I'm so happy for you."

"Three years and going strong," Piz laughed. "I still don't know what she sees in me."

"Don't we all," Logan said quietly.

Piz was about to retort, but Logan was watching Veronica fondly. It wasn't a barb against him, but Logan wondering how Veronica bore with him. Piz couldn't say he wasn't wondering the same, but he knew Logan Echolls was a changed man. The uniform itself attested to this.

"I saw about yours in the tabloïds," he snarked, because really, that was a great story.

Logan Echolls eloping with his not-famous-yet girlfriend to get drunkenly married in Vegas had been on the front of every magazine he saw for two straight weeks. Somehow, someone had managed to find pictures of the event, and the whole of America had been treated to a sight of Logan, topless and the american flag tied like a cape over his shoulders, french kissing a disheveled Veronica Mars wearing the stripper version of a cowgirl outfit. Dick Casablancas appeared behind them in the picture, so Piz had figured he had somehow been responsible for the situation.

"It was just supposed to be our bachelor/bachelorette parties... Separate parties, I might mention, until Dick decided to crash mine," Veronica explained, glaring at Logan.

He grinned and shrugged unapologically, swooping down to press a kiss on her lips.

"It was the best bachelorette party ever, admit it," he said.

"I think it lost the right to be called a bachelorette party when we got married that day," she answered, smacking his arm.

"The picture was really funny, though," Piz commented.

"Yeah, my dad really loved it when it came out. But the best part was probably when Wallace blurted out that we didn't really need to go through with the ceremony we had planned, just because he was too hungover to get his ass showered for it. That went really well with Dad."

Piz was laughing so hard now he barely caught Veronica's glare.

"So Wallace was with you in Vegas?" he asked, regaining some seriousness.

"Yeah. I wanted him to come to my party, but he chose to go with Logan instead. Apparently my party was too girly for him. Ah!" she harrumphed. "In the end he hooked up with one of my friends from Stanford, I don't know if you remember Estelle?"

"The French girl?"

"Yeah, that one. He's actually learnt French, it's so weird when they're talking together."

"They're still together?"

"Yep. They have two kids, too," Veronica smiled. "Mac's got one, and is on her way to the second. And Dick probably has a whole litter scattered along Mexico's and California's coasts."

"Satan's minions, the lot of them," Logan stage-whispered to Piz, which earned him another smack on the shoulder. "Never make any. The making of them? Really fun part. Raising them after? It's hell, I tell you, hell!"

"Do you have any kids, Piz?" Veronica asked, turning her blue eyes to him.

Piz shook his head. He sort of felt weird, learning about their old friends having babies, but they were thirty-five now, so he guessed it was normal that every one was popping them out. Abby was younger than him, and she didn't feel ready yet though.

"Nope, no playing dolls yet. You?"

He wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Back when he had been dating Veronica, he had envisionned a whole future for both of them, and there had been some kids in the picture. He had figured once she had met his parents, he would pop out the question - and then he had answered his damn phone.

"A daughter," Logan said. "The antechrist herself. Or maybe just Veronica's daughter, but I never could really tell the difference anyway."

Cue another smack.

"I'll make sure she makes you regret these words when she's a teenager," Veronica said. "Lynn is five, and Logan doesn't want you to know that he's a complete marshmallow in her hands. I swear he's worse than Eli is with his kids."

"Nobody can be worse than Weevil," Logan protested. "I'm offended you would even suggest I get this ridiculous."

Veronica raised an eyebrow at him, and Piz was starting to feel like he was intruding. The way he had felt during their time at Hearst, even when he had been Veronica's boyfriend.

Fortunately, Abby had finished with the other couple and was heading back to them. She hugged Piz and he returned the gesture, happy with her perfect timing.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Lynn," Veronica just said, smiling.

"Oooh, how is she?" Abby cooed.

Veronica half turned to Logan and lo and behold, the tall, stoic, rod-straight Navy man magically produced a cell phone out of one of his pockets and had a picture of a small, toothy-smiling girl up in no time. Veronica smiled at Piz over the shoulder of her husband and mouthed 'worse than Weevil' to him.

The girl was Veronica's perfect replica, he thought, all blonde hair and blue eyes. And the mischevious expression. That was the telltale sign.

"And you, Mr Echolls?" Abby asked. "How's the army treating you?"

"He was promoted recently," Veronica answered for him, patting his chest. "And he's been affected to train new recruits, so he's stationned in the US mostly."

"Careful now," Logan admonished. "I almost got a hint that you didn't like the times I was deployed. One could even assume you were pining."

"Why would anyone think that?" she laughed. "I kept busy enough."

Piz knew that she did. He had kept tabs on her over the years, at first because he couldn't let go, and after because he felt some form of nostalgia. He wanted to know what she was up to in Neptune, which she had adamantly avoided for so long. When he had heard about her father's situation, he had almost called her, but then he had read about Logan's involvement in saving Keith Mars and his phone remained untouched.

He knew Veronica had kept Mars Investigation afloat while her father went through physical therapy. She had then finally taken her bar exam and started her own practice in Neptune, defending 09ers and the less advantaged fringes of Neptune's population alike. In the meantime, both her father and her had apparently been involved in building a case against the sheriff department, its corruption, and its role in the murder of Deputy Sachs and attempted murder of Keith Mars. They had finally revealed their information very publicly a few months before, and it had been all the talk ever since. A lot of high profile personalities seemed to be involved, and even the socialite crowd from New York had had something to say about the events in California.

"The trial is in a few weeks," Veronica said. "We'll win," she stated confidently.

"And then she plans on taking over the world," Logan quiped, tugging her back to him.

"You know it would run much more smoothly if I was in charge," Veronica deadpanned, rubbing her hands together.

Logan laughed and kissed her forehead. There was so much touching going around, Piz was starting to feel uncomfortable. Back when he had been with Veronica, there had been no PDA. She had thought it was his wish, when he had only been accomodating hers, or at least the impression he got from her. And that impression had been that Veronica was rather private about intimacy. Apparently it didn't apply to Logan Echolls, who had barely taken his hands off her more than one minute in total since Piz got there. Seven years of relationship and they were still acting like it was the first months. Weird.

Then again, the guy had waited ten years to get the love of his life back, and he was half a world away for half of their relationship, so maybe he didn't feel like letting go when he was with her. Piz couldn't relate: the longest he had been away from Abby since they met was one week.

"I think Mac's arrived," Veronica said suddenly. "I just spotted Casey. I'll be right back," she added, kissing Logan.

And then she was cutting through a sea of black suits, her red dress making her very easy to follow despite her small stature. Piz could see a few male heads turning away to watch her, and when he checked Logan's face, sure enough, there was a scowl on it.

Abby excused herself again - more rich attendees to kiss up to so they would give AAUW a lot of money. And Piz was left alone with Logan, which was not awkward at all.

"So..." Logan trailed. "Married, uh?"

"Yeah. Happily so," Piz smiled, touching his wedding ring.

"Good. I wouldn't have liked it if you were still pining over Vee," Logan said decisively.

"It's been seven years," Piz pointed out.

"She's not an easy woman to get over with," Logan shrugged. "Damn near impossible to forget."

Piz refrained from mentioning that just because Logan himself could never get over her, it didn't mean everyone else was the same. Logan was sort of right, anyway. There was no forgetting Veronica Mars once she had gone through your life. She was like a comet: once you've seen one, you never forget the feeling. But, like a comet, she was only there for a short while, and then you blinked and she was gone. Except for a few priviliged people, Veronica Mars was very unlikely to become a permanent fixture in anyone's lives.

"Well, not everybody is as focused on her as you were," Piz said.

"As I still am, you mean. No need to be coy, I know I always was a little... intense about Veronica."

Or maniacally obsessive, Piz privately corrected. But he saw no point on antagonizing someone who already kicked his ass in college so badly, before all the military training.

"She was the same," Piz said with slight bitterness in his tone.

Because really? Ten years without contact, one year of relationship with him, and one phone call was enough to send her packing for the freaking other side of the continent? He had known at that exact point that they were over, that there would be no hope of their relationship surviving if she saw Logan again. Flying to her high school reunion had been a mistake, but he had been holding on that foolish hope that everything would be alright.

"I once told her that I thought our story was epic, before Hearst. I think I got most of it right. Spanning years and continents, check. Lives ruined, bloodshed, check. I'm just sorry you were one of these lives."

Piz wanted to say that his life hadn't been ruined, but he thought back on the fact that he was almost thirty when he finally got his life back together after the mess that had been Veronica Mars. He really wished he had never gotten involved in their epic love story. Fuck epic. It wasn't the kind of stuff he was cut out for.

"You could have gotten your shit together earlier," he said. "That would have made life easier for a lot of people."

"We were fucked up. I don't know if Vee told you about half of what we went through together, but we were really, really fucked up. And Vee's the best as running away when it gets up close and personal."

Veronica never told her anything, but Piz did his research after the break-up. That was when he started letting go. Maybe if he had known that stuff before, he wouldn't have gotten involved. It was stuff he couldn't comprehend: Piz was a no-drama man, and Veronica was a drama magnet. Opposites didn't alway attract.

"I'm happy now," Piz shrugged. "And I'm glad Veronica is too."

"We are happy," Logan smiled, his eyes unfocused, and Piz knew he was looking for a red dress through the crowd.

"Well, man, it was nice seeing you both, but I want to get back to my wife, and I can see you're starting to get withdrawal symptoms," he said.

Logan shook his head with a rueful smile.

"Yeah... Veronica also refers to our relationship as an addiction sometimes. See you around, Piznarski. Congrats on marrying Abby, though. She's one of the few people that make this kind of events bearable, and I always thought she was a babe," he said, winking.

Piz didn't have time to get angry, Logan was already power-walking through the people, ignoring people trying to stop him from getting to the blonde in the red number. He turned around, and, unable to spot Abby, made his way to the buffet, where she found him half an hour later.

"You're going to get fat," she mocked when she spotted him stuffing his mouth with canapés.

"Real men have curves," he retorted, gobling some variety of cheese.

"I would rather be the one with the biggest breasts in this relationship, if you don't mind," she said, stealing one of his appetizers. "So, I didn't know you went to college with the Echolls."

"Only for one year, Veronica transferred to Stanford after that. Logan pretty much droped out after a few months of sophomore year. He didn't take kindly to her leaving."

"She left him? I heard somewhere that they were high school sweethearts, I always thought they had been together ever since," Abby exclaimed, surprised.

She didn't left him, she left me, Piz thought, but he abstained from voicing it.

"Ok, first of all, high school sweethearts? They are, but it feels so wrong to describe them like that. Their relationship is a lot of things, but sweet definitively isn't the first word that comes to mind to describe it. And they were dating other people for like, ten years, before they finally got back together."

"Wow. They had such an interesting life," Abby commented.

Piz knew that Abby was a sucker for romance, and he felt a bit guilty for hiding his involvement in the affair. He was very familiar with his wife's wit, though, and he really didn't want to see her laughing at him for even trying to come between these two. Compassionate Abby was not when it came to the subject of his past relationships.

"I like ours better," he just said, kissing her.

"Ah! Flattery! I would like to say it will lead you nowhere, but it will probably lead you into my bed," she laughed.

"Promises, promises..."

Abby took a look around them and then tugged him to her, and then whispered in his ear: "C'mon, stud, let's ditch this party."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the reason he loved and married the woman. Fuck epic.

..

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So, obviously nothing is mine, except Abby. I loved the show back when I was in my teens, and the movie pulled me right back into my old obsession with LoVe. Curse you Rob Thomas, curse you.

This one-shot came about while I was reading some fanfics to satiate my appetite for more LoVe, and then I was thinking: what about Piz, what would it be like for him if he met Logan and Veronica a few years down the road? Abby came to be because I think Piz is the kind of guy that will marry, start a family and all that stuff. Logan and Veronica are married because I figured out that Logan would want to tie her to him in every possible way (let's not take any risks, right?) and the idea that they got married in Vegas the day before the actual ceremony amused me. I figured it was something that could happen to them, especially with Dick involved.

Sorry about the Army/Marines/Navy mix ups, I don't have a very clear idea of how the US military works. It should be fixed, but I might have overlooked some.

Anyway, this was written in two hours and not spell-checked at all. Any mistakes will be corrected as soon as they are pointed out to me (meaning: review, pretty please with Logan shirtless on top?)