A/N: Just found this lurking on my harddrive. Seems I wrote it months ago but never posted it, so hey, why not now?

(Disclaimer: All recognisable chaacters from Veronica Mars belong to Rob Thomas and other important people who aren't me!)

What Love Is

"Hey, babe. How's it hangin'?" said Dick with a grin that bordered on a leer as he opened the front door and greeted her.

"Clearly not good or you wouldn't have called" came her smart and snappy reply as she rolled her eyes and pushed her way into the apartment, "Where is he?"

"In his room, where he's been the past three days" the blond told her, pushing his fringe out of his face and stepping in too close too her, "Y'know, I thought your sister was hot as hell, but dude, you grew up good..." his sentence ended abruptly as her hand shot out shoving him away hard.

"First of all, eew, eight year age gap" she gestured between them, looking all kinds of disgusted, "and second, aren't you practically married to Veronica's friend Mac?" she frowned.

"Hey, no using the M word!" he told her, pointing an angry finger her way, "Not near Mac and totally not near Logan right now!" he hissed.

"Whatever, loser" she rolled her eyes, adjusting her purse on her shoulder and heading off to her friends room.

She knocked but didn't bother waiting for an answer before barging in, it was just her way. Logan ought to be used to dealing with women that did their own thing and got their own way, but still he was screwing it up and here she was, one more time, to help him out of a jam.

"Go away, Dick!" he yelled from his position laid out on the bed, without opening his eyes, otherwise he would have realised his mistake long before she spoke.

"Ugh, seriously, how can we be doing this all over again?" she asked, picking up a rancid T-shirt by the very corner and dropping it off the end of the bed so she had somewhere to perch.

Almost immediately, Logan was sat bolt upright on the bed, rubbing his eyes and peering at her with astonishment. His next question was written on his face so she didn't even bother to let him ask it.

"Dick called, he was freaking out and didn't know what else to do" she explained, "Which is normal from what I can tell" she smiled, glad when she raised a similar expression on her friend's face, no matter how briefly.

"You're as smart-assed now as you were aged eleven" he told her in such a way she almost expected him to stick out his tongue at her, and hell, she would've been tempted to return the favour had he actually done it.

"Some things don't change" shrugged Heather, "And you really never grow up, do you?"

He opened his mouth to argue with her, but honestly didn't know where to begin. First time they'd met, Logan had been dumped by Veronica, holed up in his room, all depressed and gross, surrounded by garbage and smelling like a pole-cat. Yeah, the kid had a point, some things really didn't change.

"Can't say the same for you" he said as he looked her over, "The years have been kind, Miss Button"

"Drool on me and I'll kick your ass, old man!" she joked, shoving him in the shoulder but not quite enough to knock him over, perhaps because he had anticipated her reaction, "So, what happened this time? Why the flashback to crazy stinky man?" she asked him, watching the sadness return to every feature, his shoulders slumping as he took particular interest in his own hands instead of her.

"Long story" he muttered, but Heather wasn't giving up so easy and he ought to have known it - she never gave up.

"Well, figure out the short version, please? I have finals to study for y'know" she pointed out, waiting with her arms folded across her chest for Logan to spill already so she could try to help.

It was the weirdest thing. For one so young, she said a lot of smart things, always had, even though Logan had yelled at her a few times for being a smart-ass or not knowing what she was talking about. Heather had become his confidante, the one little bit of innocent wisdom he had in a world that was often dark and complicated. For weeks that turned into months they had met online and kicked each other's butts at Mario Kart, and then a series of other video games. They tried to always make time for each other, and when the online gaming became child's play and boring, they started IM-ing and emailing, web-chatting and occasionally talking on the phone. They were the big brother / little sister combo that each other had always craved somehow, and yet never knew it til they found each other. Now it'd be too strange not to be in each others lives in some way or other.

"So, finals huh?" he tried to change the subject, but the minute he glanced up and met her eyes he knew she wasn't going to stand for it.

A semi-glare, a firm shake of the head. She was more similar to Veronica than he would've liked somehow, despite the fact Heather was Logan's friend and much less so hers. They'd met of course, hung out a few times, enough at least for the kid to understand the relationship they shared, how in love they always were in spite of every tough situation they were forced to go through.

"C'mon, Logan" she said with a sigh, "Whatever happened, it can't be that bad"

The painful laugh that escaped his lips then suggested otherwise.

"I don't know" he shrugged, "I mean how bad do you think it is when you ask your girlfriend to marry you and she says no?"

Heather frowned at that, almost unable to believe what Logan was telling her as he flopped back down hard on the bed. She wanted the whole story and then she wanted to help fix this problem Logan had, however impossible that might seem.

"Okay" she said, moving to lie beside her big brother figure on the bed, "From the top, don't skip anything important" she told him firmly.

Logan considered ignoring her or telling her to go away, but feigning sleep wouldn't cut it and offending Heather was the last thing he wanted to do. She was here to help, that's all she ever wanted to do, and he loved her like the little sister he never had. With a heavy sigh, he glanced at her briefly before fixing his eyes on the ceiling once again and explaining what had happened between himself and Veronica just three days ago.

"Fine, you want to know, I'll tell you" he said, giving in at last, "Some overly grateful client had been hanging around, asking Veronica out" he explained, "She handled it, like she always does, but he bugged me, you know what I mean?"

"Go on" Heather urged him, without offering her opinion yet, because she had a very bad feeling about what came next.

"So, we were on our way home from her office, talking about this tool" he went on, eyes still on the ceiling, "And I say, all romantic and sweet, how about we let these guys know you're off limits, how about we get married?" he sighed, "And she went off the wall at me"

"Oh my God" gasped Heather, though Logan had entirely the wrong idea as to why.

"Yeah" he sighed, "I don't get where I went wrong"

"No" she shook her head firmly, socking him in the arm when he was least expecting it and making him flinch, "Not 'Oh my God, I can't believe she said no'" explained Heather, "'Oh my God, I cannot believe you're such a doofus!'" she exclaimed, getting up from the bed and standing over him, with frustration and even a little anger written on her face and present in her stance.

"What are you talking about?" asked Logan, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him a little harder than he'd ever thought she could.

"I'm talking about you being an idiot!" she yelled, perhaps a little too loudly, "Geez, I thought you were the smart one, you have Dick to be the dumb one!"

"I heard that!" the blond called back from the hall, only to receive a double-barrelled 'Shut up, Dick!' from both Logan and Heather.

"Think about what you said to her" Heather urged her big brother figure to understand, "Think, Logan!" she insisted as he sat up some on the bed, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"What?" he shrugged, apparently still not getting it, "I was being sincere and romantic" he insisted.

"You were being an ass!" Heather told him firmly as she paced around the bed like a caged animal, apparently infuriated on Veronica's behalf.

So far from being on his side, as Logan might have hoped, it seemed Heather was in fact playing the 'all girls together' card. It seemed unfair to him, being as he was the guy, but then had he thought this through he might have realised that she was only agreeing with Veronica because they were both right.

"Logan" she got his attention as she stood over him with her hands on her hips, "Think about it" she urged him one more time, "You asked her to marry you but you made it sound like you were asking because you want to mark her yours, like a dog marking his territory" she made a face at how gross that was on all possible levels.

"I didn't..." said Logan as he pulled himself up on his elbows, "Did I?" he considered, as Heather continue to stare him down.

"If I were Veronica, I'd be mad too" she said definitely, "You made her feel like property, or at best, like she can't be trusted not to cheat on you unless she has a ring on her finger"

Logan opened his mouth three times to reply but every single time he closed it again without a single word escaping. He replayed the scene in his head as he already had a thousand times, and realised with obvious pain that Heather had a point. Maybe he could've phrased things better, maybe he did see now why he might have made his gifrlriend feel bad, not because he proposed but because of the way in which he did it.

Heather almost felt bad for yelling at him, since it seemed he genuinely hadn't a clue how he'd screwed up. In the end, guys were just guys, and not always so bright when it came to matters of dating, love, and the like. Dropping down to sit on the end of the bed, she sighed.

"Y'know, you told me once I didn't know what love was" she reminded Logan, "and you were right, at age eleven I had no idea" Heather said definitely, with a sweeping hand gesture to match, "I thought love was easy, that you just said you were sorry and got a song request played on the radio then everything would be hunky-dory" she shrugged, amused by how simple she had been back then, "That's not quite how it works, I know, but I also know that you and Veronica are totally made for each other" she smiled, "She loves you, you love her, and that should not be tossed aside 'cause you made one dumb mistake" she told him, her index finger showing him the one she spoke of.

Logan shook his head sadly.

"I wish it was just one dumb mistake" he sighed, covering his face with his hands as he pitched back into the pillows once again, "I have made sooo many over the years" he admitted sadly.

"And Veronica always forgives you" his friend pointed out as she shifted further into the bed to sit beside him, "and you forgive her when she screws up" she added, prising his fingers away from his face, "It's what people in love do, right?"

Logan peered up at her hopeful smiling face and could hardly help but return the expression, despite how lousy he felt inside. Heather was such a sweet girl, a better little sister he never could've wished for, that was as true now as it had been when he met her so many years ago.

"How'd you get so smart in the ways of the heart, Miss Button?" he asked her, tapping her nose with his finger and making her squirm at his treating her so childishly.

"Some old guy taught me how it worked" she told him, and though the words might have sounded insulting to some, Logan knew to take them in kindness only.

Sitting up, he reached to hug her and she willingly hugged back. Logan was the big brother she always longed for and yet never knew she had until she got him in her life. Now she hoped they never did lose each other, equally as much as she hoped he and Veronica could patch things up. Their happiness mattered a lot to her, her pseudo-family members that meant more to her than anyone else.

"Thanks for listening" he said as he released her, "telling me what an idiot I am, etcetera, etcetera..." he smiled, rolling his eyes for good measure.

"Hey, mine's the easy job" she said with a grin, "You're the one that still has to win the fair lady back" she reminded him, poking a finger into his chest.

"Easier said that achieved" Logan noted, with a genuinely worried expression.

Heather felt awful for him. Sure, he'd screwed up, but he was a good guy at heart. She would always love him as her older brother, and was determined to help him out any way she could. After all, he was there every time she got in a jam, and she had no doubt that any issues in her love life could be talked through with him and/or Veronica if needed in the future.

"I can help" she told him, with a kind hand at his shoulder, "and I promise, no radio requests this time"

Logan actually chuckled at that, looking a little more hopeful about this whole thing working out by now. He couldn't lose Veronica, he just couldn't.

6 months later...

"I can't really believe I'm standing here" said Logan as he faced the gathered friends and family at his own rehearsal dinner, "that tomorrow I'll be married to this wonderful woman" he said with a wide and genuine smile when he glanced down at Veronica, his beautiful bride-to-be, "I have to admit, I didn't exactly get here by myself, I had a little help from a friend... a very smart friend" he told the assembled congregation with a tip of his champagne glass in the direction of Heather Button, the little sister figure in his life, "See, when I really needed it, she reminded me what love is" he explained, to those that hadn't already heard the tale of how Logan and Veronica had finally got as far as an engagement and an imminent wedding, "and that when it comes to me and Veronica" he smiled, "love is everything and all we really need"

~ The End ~