Diet Coke

What if Dick gave Madison diet coke that fateful night at Shelly Pomeroy's end of the year party? What if Veronica was sober and able to come out of her shell all on her own? How does Logan deal with the new and improved Veronica Mars? LoVe. AU/Preseason

RT they belong to you. Thoughts are in italics.

The party was in full swing when Veronica Mars walked in. I'm regretting this already, she thought, as she avoided several glares from people who she would have called her friends up until a couple months ago. Logan Echolls had made sure that they would not mistake her for their friend anymore. The word of Veronica's ostracism had spread like wildfire throughout the school and to her astonishment; everyone had just accepted it—well almost everyone. Veronica spotted Meg on the sofa and decided to try her luck at starting up a conversation with the sweetest girl she knew.

"Hi, Meg." she said cautiously. If Meg has been persuaded to hate me too I think I'll lose hope in humanity.

"Ver-Veronica" she stuttered, obviously surprised at her presence. The torn look on Meg's face said it all. She sympathized with Veronica but she was too afraid to stand up for her. And when Veronica saw her look from side to side she wondered if she might even be afraid to be seen with her. "What are you doing here?" The tone in her voice let Veronica know that she wasn't ridiculing her for being there; rather she was concerned for her. Veronica knew she was exposed here. And no, it wasn't that her pure white sundress was too revealing; it was that she wasn't on her home turf here. She was not an 09er by right, she had only been one by her association with Lilly, Logan and Duncan. Now she had no one left to support her, which left her vulnerable. The 09ers never appreciated it when their parties got crashed by uninvited lower class citizens.

Before Veronica could answer Meg, Cole swooped in to "save" his girlfriend from the disgrace of having to talk to Veronica Mars. Cole didn't even spare a word for Veronica—he just pulled Meg away in the direction of the pool. Meg looked over her shoulder and cast Veronica a pained look, but she didn't try to escape Cole's grasp. Ok, so the one person here that I was sure would actually talk to me just left me alone. What now?

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Dick watched Madison slowly sip the drink he had given her. He was simply delighted by the idea that he was going to have a sure thing tonight. Good thing I remembered to get her diet soda or all of my efforts may have gone to waste. That bitch is so uptight about counting carbs! She can just burn them off with me later tonight anyway. Dick had talked Luke into giving him both doses of his GHB to give to Madison after a rather embarrassing display of how little Madison wanted Dick to be touching her.

Madison looked unknowingly up at her boyfriend and gave him a sarcastic "Thanks for the drink, Dick." No, thank you, he thought to himself as a wicked smile split his face.

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Veronica was feeling her plan to show the 09ers that she was strong falling short. She had been ignored by most party guests, and when she did talk to someone she wished that they would have overlooked her as well. Madison Sinclair for one had been especially bitchy to her earlier in the evening. "Who invited you?" she had said. Veronica had simply looked down at the clear straps on her heels wishing that she too could be see-through and walked away. The funny thing is that Madison had actually been the one to invite her months ago, as she excitedly talked about the upcoming annual event with Lilly. Veronica noticed that Madison seemed to have relaxed some since then. She was dancing and singing to Dick, which seemed very out of character for her. I suppose she is off her diet because she looks like she has had plenty to drink tonight.

"Veronica Mars." someone slurred from behind her. I'd know that voice anywhere. It used to be a voice I was happy to hear. Veronica hesitantly turned around to face the speaker.

"Logan…" she began. She could already feel the tears start to burn behind her eyes before he had even said anything to her. It was that raw look in his eyes. She could clearly see his pain and suffering deep within his brown eyes. But what she couldn't bear to see was the hate that was situated on the surface of all that pain. The tears were making it hard to see now. She didn't need to hear his hatred for eyes to water, after all, he had said plenty over the last couple of months and she knew what was coming would be particularly brutal with all that alcohol flowing through him.

"Did you come here looking to get lucky Mars? Maybe you've forgotten, but people like us," he pointed to himself and the cronies surrounding him "are never that desperate. Maybe you should hit up the biker bar instead. You'll be more likely to find someone with lowered standards there." Veronica looked away as the first tear began to fall. "You don't belong here Mars. You never did." With that Logan turned and sped off to get himself another drink.

As he turned around the smirk fell from his face. Why does she have to be here? Seeing her makes me think of Lilly and I don't want to think about Lilly right now. Right now is the time to have fun. Logan reaches into his pocket and pulls out his dose of liquid X. He was going to save it for a more special occasion, but thoughts of Lilly, Veronica and the old Duncan were starting to bombard his brain. He needed a break from his own mind.

Veronica refused to let Logan see the rest of the tears that were inevitably going to fall due to his little speech. Veronica found an unpopulated area of the house where she could calm down and tried desperately to think about anything other than Logan's words. I don't belong here. Maybe he is right. No—I'm not going to let him get to me. After calming her breathing and a quick mental pep talk Veronica had a new found resolve and she was ready to face the crowd again.

I can do this. I am going to show them that I don't care what they think about me. It's time to crank up the volume, Mars.

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Eventually the evening turned into a giant game of 'truth or dare' and they were all sitting in a circle. Veronica was sitting behind the circle because no one would let her squeeze in beside them. She had only been observing so far and was fine with that, but suddenly she heard Sean's voice break through the barrier that the 09er students had formed. "Veronica Mars." Great, this can only be bad. "Truth or dare?"

Ok Veronica, you wanted to be included, here is your chance. Choose truth and they will try to gain information they can taunt you with for months. Choose dare and they will make you do something that will most likely be humiliating, but hopefully the embarrassment will only last tonight. Veronica had gotten used to keeping secrets over the past few months. "Dare," she said a little quieter than she wanted so she tried again, this time with confidence in her voice "dare."

"I dare you to…" Sean said, drawing it out to torture her, she presumed. Sean glanced around the room and once his gaze hit a certain truth or dare participant, the look on his face became particularly devilish. "I dare you to kiss Logan Echolls." There was a collective gasp followed by silence from the rest of the circle, and all eyes were trained on one or other of the unlikely pair.

It took Logan a minute to register what Sean said. Veronica thought he looked a lot drunker than he did during their last encounter. The look on Logan's face when he realized the implications of the dare was rather priceless: disgust, betrayal, and perhaps a little pleasure—at the expense of Veronica's pain of course. "What? Sean, dude, you don't know where she's been. Are you trying to give me some disease?" As she heard the hushed room break out into laughter, Veronica could feel the anger bubbling up inside her. He knew, more than anyone that she had never had sex before and that Duncan was the only boy she had ever kissed, aside from a few kisses shared during similar party games. Why had he started spreading such vile rumors about her? Bite your tongue Logan. And then she had an idea.

Veronica began to crawl through the wall of 09ers, pushing Shelly Pomeroy and John Enbom out of the way roughly. She saw a flash of surprise on Logan's face but then it was followed by his usual arrogant smirk. "Can't resist a kiss from me, eh Mars?" Logan decided to meet her in the middle. He knew he wasn't actually going to catch anything from the virgin, and she was a hot blonde after all. No, not hot, he corrected. But she's decent enough. Besides, he could tease her relentlessly about this later. "Fine, but I'm not calling you after," he jeered. He leaned in close and kissed her lips. This was no peck like he had figured; she pressed her mouth firmly against him and parted her lips in an invitation. Logan accepted a little too eagerly and slipped his tongue inside her mouth—and all too soon realized his mistake. "Ow! You bit me! What is wrong with you, bitch?" His words came out sounding as though he had a lisp and Veronica had to try hard not to laugh out loud.

Veronica smiled and confidently stood to her feet, now hovering—menacingly if you can believe Veronica Mars capable of that sort of thing—over the boy on his knees. "That was a warning. Next time you feel the urge to call me a slut or spread a ridiculous rumor about me—bite your tongue. Cause next time Logan," she paused for dramatic effect. She felt as though she were channeling Lilly in this moment. "I won't be so gentle." She couldn't help but grin at her triumph as she walked away leaving the entire circle of 09ers speechless in her wake.

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As Veronica walked away, she thought it would be a good idea to hide out for a bit while she reveled in her victory. She quickly went down one of the house's long hallways to find a bathroom. The great thing about 09er homes is that there are usually at least five different bathrooms which means there will be no long lines. While Veronica washed her hands she decided it was time to accept that she was on her own. She had to wash her hands of the 09ers too. The relationships she had weren't coming back and she was realizing she didn't even want them back. She decided that it was time to go home and start working on finding out who she is without them. But plans are made to be broken, right?

As she walked through the quiet upstairs hallway she passed a doorway that was slightly cracked. Inside she heard a few male voices. "Dude you can have your turn after me, but she's my girlfriend so I get the first ride."

"Dick, she's barely conscious, are you serious?" Cassidy Casablancas said with a slightly disgusted tone to his voice.

"Beaver, man get out. This is my business. Thanks for helping me carry her up here, now scram." Veronica ran to hide in a doorway further down the hall. Thankfully when she saw a disheartened Cassidy exit the bedroom, he was unaware of her presence. He slumped his shoulders as he walked away, but by the time he reached the end of the hallway he was barreling for the exit with his hand over his mouth. Veronica knew what he was doing because it's what she wanted to do right now.

Veronica was afraid. She knew she couldn't take on Dick by herself for fear of what he might do to her as well. She hurried down the hall to find help, and as she passed by the door once more she could hear Madison speaking incoherently to Dick and she could see Dick taking off his shirt. Veronica searched the party but everyone she saw that looked half-sober wouldn't even look at her. Then she spotted Duncan.

"Duncan! Duncan! I need your help!" she screamed. This of course got her some pretty harsh stares. Shelly Pomeroy, who was hanging off of Duncan's arm at the time, was giving her an especially fierce evil eye. "Duncan, Madison is in trouble upstairs. I need your help. Please, Duncan."

Duncan hesitated. He had seen her display with Logan a few minutes ago and he was a little afraid of what she might be trying to pull on him, but at the sound of desperation in her voice he nodded for her to show him the way. He didn't say a word to her, but he followed her upstairs to the guest room. Duncan burst in the room in time to see Dick pulling the underwear from underneath Madison's skirt. "Dude! What the Hell are you doing?" he screamed.

Dick was startled by the intrusion and jumped off the bed without looking. He tripped over his own pants and shirt that were lying messily on the floor and fell flat on his face. Duncan ran to where Dick was lying in the floor and started to punch him while Veronica checked on Madison. She was out of it and had no idea what was going on, but she was ok. Veronica helped her redress and noticed that one of the straps on her dress was broken. Veronica looked over at Duncan and Dick and realized that Duncan was still hitting the limp form of the blonde surfer. Is he trying to kill him? Not that that would be a terrible thought right now, but he was seriously about to do some permanent damage.

"Duncan, Duncan! Stop!" she yelled. Suddenly Duncan snapped out of his rage and crumbled to the floor. What happened to him?

Duncan slowly stood up and asked Veronica what happened. What happened? He was there, why does he not know what happened? Veronica told Duncan what had happened and asked him if he was ok.

"I'm fine Veronica. I think I should drive Madison home. We can't leave her here in this condition." he said.

"What about Dick?" Veronica asked. She wasn't sure how bad he was hurt or if he needed to go to the hospital.

Duncan stared at Dick for a minute while he pondered that question. Did I really do this to him? he wondered as he watched his friend with a bloody nose and an already bruising eye slowly wake up. "Find Cassidy. Tell him to take his sorry brother home." he finally decided.

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It took Duncan and Veronica quite a while to handle the situation. Veronica had to find Cassidy and convince him to take Dick home. He was reluctant to at first, but Duncan told him that he didn't have an option and that seemed to work once he saw the damage Duncan had caused his older brother. Duncan asked Shelly if she knew where Madison had planned on spending the night. Shelly said she was supposed to stay with her, but Veronica thought it was too risky to leave her here in that state. After several options were discussed, they finally came to the conclusion that it would be best if they just took her home. Everyone knew that Madison's parents would let her get away with anything, so even if they got caught carrying a passed out Madison inside they thought she wouldn't get into trouble.

One of Madison's friends was going with Duncan to help him carry her and so someone would be there to explain things to her in the morning. Veronica thought they should call the police, but Duncan had talked her into letting Madison make that decision when she was more aware of what was going on around her. I don't see why she wouldn't want to press charges against Dick, but it makes sense to let her make up her own mind. Once everything was settled, the group headed outside.

Now that Madison was safely in Duncan's car Veronica began walking towards her LeBaron. I am so ready to be home. This has been a pretty horrible night. If I wasn't already sure that I don't want these people as my friends, I certainly am now. Upon arriving at her car Veronica noticed a figure leaning against the driver's side door. She cautiously approached to find out who was waiting for her. Whoever it is brings the flask up to his mouth and apparently finds it lacking because he is now turning it upside down and watching a single drop fall to the ground.

"You're here." Logan said. He seemed happy to see her. What is that about? Veronica thought.

"Logan. What are you doing sitting by my car? Don't tell me you're already ready for another kiss." Veronica smirked to cover the fact that she was bracing herself for the verbal abuse that was surely coming her way. She found that she was proud of herself for not letting him see that his mere presence upset her.

Logan looked up into Veronica's eyes. "I miss you." he said with sincerity. Well, that was not what I expected.

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I would really appreciate reviews because this is my very first story. Also, I don't have a beta. I'm not quite sure how that works really, so if someone wants to volunteer...I mainly worry over sentence structure cause I want to make sure it makes sense.

Thanks for reading! More to come!