Veronica Mars

Operation: Logan loves Veronica

Pairing: LoVe

Summary: AU set during their Sophomore year in High School. Logan just moved to Neptune, and will be attending classes at Neptune High. His family has already met the Kanes, and he has become friends with Lily and Duncan. What happens when he meets Veronica for the first time, and falls head over heels? What if Lily found out and decided to try and help?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

---

The wind whipped around the SUV as it took a sharp turn. Lilly Kane, the driver, laughed and pressed the gas harder. Lilly's younger brother Duncan grabbed the wheel to avoid a collision with an on-coming car. In the backseat Logan Echolls chucked to himself.

Lilly and Duncan Kane were showing the new kid, Logan Echolls around town. Right now, they were at Neptune High, where Logan would be attending school. The teens passed by the soccer field where the girls team was just coming off after practice. Veronica Mars was walking with her father and about to head home. Lilly of course had a plan of her own.

"Hey Veronica!" Lilly said, bubbling with excitement.

"Hey Lilly!" Veronica said just as excited to see her.

Duncan and Logan caught up with Lilly and they stood behind her. Suddenly, Keith Mars', walkie-talkie began to go off, the words unclear to the teens. Logan was startled at the abrupt interruption. The other teens didn't seem to notice, since Keith was the town sheriff. They were used to these types of interruptions.

"I'm going to see what's going on," he said to Veronica as he walked towards the parking lot. "I'll wait for you in the car, honey." He then pulled out the walkie-talkie to respond to the call.

"Okay Dad," Veronica replied, watching her dad walk to the car, curious to what the call was about.

"Veronica, I'd like you meet Logan Echolls," Lilly said with a slight flourish. "He is the son of Aaron and Lynn Echolls." she said with pride at being one of the first kids in town to meet him.

"Hi," Veronica said to Logan, smiling shyly.

She wasn't fazed about him being Aaron and Lynn Echolls' son. Although Veronica herself wasn't extremely affluent most of Neptune was filled wealth.

"Hi," Logan replied.

He was a little surprised but relieved that Veronica wasn't making a big deal about his parents like everyone else did. He obviously didn't see what the big deal was since he knew that his parents aren't all they claimed to be. He also couldn't help but notice how cute this girl was. Even though her clothes were dirty from practice, she was a little sweaty and pieces of her hair were coming out of her braids, she still managed to look beautiful. Then of course there was her smile. The minute she flashed those pearly whites, Logan was hooked.

"Hey Veronica," Duncan said with a smile on his face.

"Hey Duncan," Veronica replied returning the smile.

The two were in the same grade and in their freshmen year they dated. There was no chemistry between them so it didn't last long, but they continued to remain close friends.

Lilly was in awe. She couldn't believe that Veronica was acting so calm.

"Veronica! This is Logan Echolls! He's the son of Aaron Echolls, and all you have to say is hi?"

"Umm, yeah," she said giving Lily a look that clearly said, 'Way to be subtle!'

Then turning to Logan, she smiled sweetly and asked "Are you moving to Neptune?"

Lilly just rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I already moved here. Lilly and Duncan were just showing me around," Logan replied. He was lost in Veronica, but she seemed completely oblivious to his attraction to her. Duncan and Lily didn't seem to notice either.

"Huh…I have so much to teach you Veronica," Lilly sighs dramatically.

Sheriff Mars approached the group.

"Veronica, we should go now." Keith says while walking up to his daughter.

"All right, Dad."

Turning to her friends, she said, "Bye Lilly. Bye Duncan."

Then finally, turning to Logan, "Bye Logan, It was great meeting you."

Veronica smiled at her friends one last time and waved.

"Bye," Duncan and Lilly say in unison.

"Bye Veronica," Logan said returning her smile.

Veronica flashed him another smile and walked to the car with her father.

---

At Logan's old school, he was what you would call a player, so he really never had a girlfriend. He knew Veronica wasn't like that, and would definitely be the girlfriend type. This just made his dilemma that much worse, because now, he didn't know how to act around her.

Logan couldn't really worry about it when he saw the time. It was getting late, and he needed to get some sleep since he started his first day at Neptune High in the morning. His parents never considered how moving with only three weeks left in the school year would affect him. It would have been easier to finish the year at his old school. He was still a little upset with his parents for uprooting him from his life in L.A., and leaving his friends behind. However, after meeting Lilly, Duncan and of course Veronica, life in Neptune was beginning to look up.

Logan learned from Duncan that spring soccer was over, so Veronica wasn't going to be by the field anymore. He hinted to Duncan that he liked her, but he wasn't positive that Duncan really understood, because let's face it, Duncan can be a little thick headed at times.

---

The second of June came along and Lilly, Logan, and Duncan were lounging around the Kane's house. Logan spent his first couple of weeks with Duncan and Lilly, at school and at their place, afterwards or on the weekends.

The boys were on the floor playing video games, while Lilly sat on the sofa painting her nails. Veronica hadn't been around for a while due to her own family life, and so Logan had only really seen her in school.

"So Lilly, do you hang out with Veronica?" Logan tried to ask casually, while trying to beat Duncan at Grand Theft Auto.

"Yeah, but mostly at school or at the mall." she said not looking up from her toenails.

"You guys never hang out here? How come?" he asked, again trying not to sound too obvious.

Apparently, it was working because Lilly didn't seem to notice Logan's sudden interest her friend, and answered casually, "Cause she actually likes her parents, she's smart, and she's nice. I don't want my parents to like my friends." She shrugged still not looking up from her nail painting.

"Oh, okay." he paused not knowing what else to say.

"Well, you could always bring her over to my house, so…you know…you guys could hang out without your parents meeting her and…uh…liking her and stuff" Logan said, clearly flustered.

Lilly looked up coyly from her toes.

"You like Veronica don't you?"

"What?" Duncan asked, looking away from the TV screen.

"You know," Lilly continued, "you two would make a great couple."

With that revelation, Logan's face got really red.

"What are you talking about Lilly?" Duncan asked, looking at his sister like she was crazy, not noticing the blush on Logan's face.

"He likes Veronica."

"Wait." Duncan said looking at his friend, confusion evident on his face "Logan, you like Veronica?"

"Yeah," their new friend admitted in a quiet voice. His reply was so quiet, they almost didn't hear him.

"Okay," Duncan said nonchalantly, then shrugged and turned back to his video game.

"Ugh!" Lilly yelled clearly annoyed with Duncan's lack of enthusiasm. "Boys!"

With that, they went back to their previous activities, as if nothing happened.

Logan was relieved that the discussion seemed to be over. Lilly however, was devising a fool proof plan to get Logan and Veronica together. 'Operation: Logan loves Veronica is underway.' she thought to herself, smiling inwardly.

---

The next morning came too quickly for Logan, he was nervous, especially now that Duncan and Lilly knew. He hoped they wouldn't try to embarrass him. Lilly however, was even more anxious than Logan; the morning couldn't come fast enough for her. Today was when her plan would go into effect.

As they entered the building, Logan and Lilly spotted Veronica, almost immediately. Lilly ran to to greet her friend.

"Hey Veronica!"

Lilly was so giddy that she looked like she was going to explode. Fortunately for her, this was nothing new. Lilly was always excited about something, so Veronica didn't notice that anything was amiss.

"Hey Lilly!" she said, shaking her head at her crazy friend.

"Do you want to hang out after school?" Lilly quickly asked.

"Sure. I just have to ask my dad, but I'm sure he'll say yes." she said as she reached for her cell phone to call her dad and make sure it was OK with him.

"Great!"

---

The day was finally over as Lilly walked up to Veronica's locker.

"Hey."

"Hey," Veronica said back.

"I called my dad, and he said it was fine. My mom, brothers, and Backup are the only ones home this weekend since my dad has to do some sheriff stuff."

"Well then you should sleep over," Lilly suggested, excited about this new turn of events.

"Um, okay. I'll just have to go to my house first, to let my mom know and get some clothes." Veronica answered while digging through her locker.

"I'll drive us over there." Lilly replied quickly.

"Okay, let me just tell my brother," Veronica said, as she closed her locker ready to leave.

"All right, let's go see Duncan on the way." Lilly said smiling.

They walked over to Duncan's locker, which was in the next hallway.

Lilly knew Logan would be at her brother's locker, thus her reason for passing by Duncan's on the way to the car.

"Hey Logan," Lilly said with huge grin on her face that said 'What? I didn't do anything.'

Logan's eyes got a little wide, when he saw Veronica next to her, but quickly hid his surprise.

"Hi Lilly," Logan said, trying to act cool.

"Hey guys," Veronica said smiling.

"Hey," Duncan said taking his head out of his locker, finally finding the book he'd been looking for since before Veronica and Lilly came.

"Hi Veronica," Logan said, surprised that he could even speak.

"Veronica is sleeping over tonight," Lilly quickly cut in.

She already knew that Duncan and Logan were going to hang out tonight, which meant that Logan would end up crashing on Duncan's couch for the night.

"All right. Logan is going to be over tonight also," Duncan said, clearly not part of his sister's plans and not noticing that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

"Okay, let's go Veronica," Lilly said, as they walked towards her car.

"Where are you guys going?" Logan called out to them. Even though his stomach was going crazy seeing her, he didn't want Veronica to leave just yet.

"To tell her brother our plans, and then to pick up some clothes at her house," Lilly yelled back.

"Oh, okay," Logan replied, relieved that he would see her but nervous for that same reason.

"See you guys in a little bit," Veronica yelled, as she turned around and waved.

"Why doesn't your brother just come over also?" Duncan asked.

"Do you think your guys' parents would mind?" Lilly asked Veronica.

"No, and I'm sure he will be grateful to have something to do. He hangs out with me a lot, so that means he's usually dragged along on my cases." she answered.

"And how can P.I. work be boring?" Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not that he thinks it's boring, it's just that he wants his life to be a non-stop Nelly video, and last I checked, Nelly wasn't a Private Investigator," Veronica said with a pointed look.

---

"So Veronica," Lilly started coyly as she walked through the large door and dropped her keys on a nearby table.

"Why do you sound to devious?" Veronica questioned her while walking through the door with Wallace in tow.

"Oh, no reason, I was just wondering what you thought of Logan Echolls. He's pretty hot, isn't he?" Lilly inquired.

"Why don't you go ask him out then?" Veronica said as she was taking off her jacket. "I mean, you're the most popular girl in school. How can he say no?"

"Oh, Ronica, Logan is so not my type. He might act like a bad boy sometimes, but I can tell he's sensitive. I just don't do sensitive," Lilly said back.

"Well, according to the basketball team, you'd do anyone," Wallace said jokingly.

"Well, that's true," Lilly smiled and laughed. "Though, I haven't had the pleasure of corrupting you," she added flirtatiously.

"Oh, please, no, no, no. I don't want to hear this Lilly!" Veronica said covering her ears from the comment.

"Oh, please V. Wallace is hot," Lilly replied smiling at Wallace.

"He's my brother!" Veronica said still horrified.

"That doesn't make him any less hot. In fact, if we had a child together, you'd be an auntie. Oh, and if we married, we'd be related!"

"I'm gonna go upstairs now," Veronica said.

"What? Would you rather be called aunt?" Wallace asked Veronica.

"I don't think I'm ready to be an aunt or auntie yet. No matter what you call me," Veronica said to Wallace and Lilly.

"Well of course not Veronica. We'll have a kid after I get married to some rich, hot Hollywood star. Then Wallace and I will have an affair. We will become lovers and create a love child. I'll divorce the star, get half his money, and then you'll be an auntie," Lilly explained.

"Oh, of course. Were you aware of this plan Wallace?" Veronica asked.

"Its been planned for a while, V." Wallace smiled and then excused himself upstairs to hang with the guys.

---

"Do you want to get some ice cream or something?" Lilly asked Veronica.

They were both sprawled upon her queen sized bed with a large pile of magazines keeping them company.

"Lilly, we did get some ice cream," Veronica said to her.

"Yeah, but I'm still hungry," she lied.

"No, you just want to go downstairs and see the guys," Veronica stated. "Last time we went down they weren't even there, so what makes you think they're there now?"

"I'm psychic?" Lilly said not even bothering to deny it.

"Then where's your crystal ball?" Veronica asked.

"Oh, come on Ronica. Lets just go say hi," Lilly said.

"Why don't you just talk to him?" Veronica asked.

"Talk to who?" Lilly said confused.

"Logan, who else? I've never known you to be shy. What's different with this guy?" Veronica asked.

"Wait, you actually think I like him?" Lilly asked.

Veronica nodded her head. "Well, duh."

"Am I hearing things, or did you just sound jealous?" Lilly said with a smirk on her face.

"Why would I be jealous?" Veronica asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you like him," Lilly replied.

Veronica averted her eyes from Lilly's so they were now concentrated on the magazine in front of her.

"Yeah right."

"Oh, you do like him!" Lilly yelped.

"Shh," Veronica said panicked.

She brought her eyes off the magazine and covered Lilly's mouth with her hand.

"They might hear you."

Veronica dropped her hand.

"Well, if it's not true, then why does it matter?" Lilly said.

"Because even though I know the truth, they don't," Veronica said proud of herself for answering so quickly.

"But it's just a rumor," Lilly said.

"But it's not true," Veronica said back.

"You've never cared so much about rumors before. Maybe it's because this one's actually true," Lilly said.

Veronica had no other argument. There's only so much you can say to deny the truth.

"Fine, there's potential."

"Potential?" Lilly asked.

"Yes, there's potential. I could possibly get to like him...a lot. I still don't know much about him," Veronica said.

"Well, we could easily fix that," Lilly replied.

"Oh, no, no, no Lilly. He's going to think I'm weird. He probably already does!" Veronica said.

"Don't tell me you actually believe that," Lilly said.

Veronica looked confused.

"I knew you were oblivious, but not this oblivious. Come on, don't you notice how he looks at you?"

"How he looks at me?" Veronica said confused.

"Like he wants to throw you against the locker devour every part of you," Lilly said.

Veronica's eyes got wide.

"Lilly!"

"You'd think with all your bad ass work you wouldn't be as naive and innocent," Lilly stated. "Don't worry, he won't throw you against the lockers," she pauses,"yet."

"Do you really think he likes me?" Veronica asked.

"I know he likes you. He told me himself," Lilly said smiling. "Why do you think I invited you to sleep over tonight?"

"Uh, 'cause we're best friends," Veronica said.

"Yeah, that too, but didn't you find it odd that it was the same night Duncan and Logan were hanging out?"

"Not really. I just figured you didn't know about it," Veronica said.

"I know everything, Veronica," Lilly said grinning. Veronica smiled back.

---

"So, do you guys think the girls are upstairs now?" Logan asked.

The guys were sitting on the couch playing video games.

"Yeah," Duncan answered.

"Why do you keep asking every five minutes? We went up there before and they weren't there," Wallace asked.

"Just curious," Logan said wrapping his hand around a cold soda and drinking some.

"What you got a crush on Veronica or something?" Wallace said jokingly.

Logan's eyes widened. "Uh, no," he said.

A loud gun shot came from the TV.

"Dude, I just shot you," Duncan said being his thick-headed self.

"You like Veronica?" Wallace asked.

"Um..." Logan said.

"Ew, she's my sister!" Wallace said now knowing how Veronica felt earlier in the day.

Logan looked back at the TV screen.

Wallace looked uncomfortable.

"You guys aren't gonna start making out in front of me, right?"

Logan looked over at him and smiled. "I'll try to control myself."

"You guys really suck at this game. I just whooped both your asses," Duncan said.

Logan and Wallace just shook their heads and started a new game.

That's it. It's edited. Sort of. I'm sorry for the wait. I don't know when I'll edit the next chapters, but I'll get around to it.

Thanks for being patient and when I'm done editing I'll work more on the new chapter.

courtney