A/N - Set in either the summer before Veronica's junior year or the summer after - I haven't decided yet. AU, obviously because Lilly is still alive and kicking and it will be LoVe
Disclaimer: hahaha (hysterical laughter) I wish. Don't own. Never have, never will.
Listen to: Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes - the inspiration and title for this story. Don't own that either.
It was the hottest day in summer. It was typical that the hottest day in summer was the very same day that Lilly had planned for their summer trip of debauchery to begin, but Veronica wasn't complaining. She was just happy to spend a week or so without parents and with some of her closest friends.
Logan sighed deeply as he turned up the air-conditioning in his car up a notch. He gave a sideways glance at Veronica as he did this, making sure that he didn't keep his eyes off the road for so long that something happened, but making sure that she was somewhat comfortable in the heat.
Luckily, the Xterra had a fantastic air-conditioning unit, and Veronica looked quite content judging from the small smile ghosting her lips as she stared out of the passenger window. He couldn't read the expression in her eyes as large sunglasses covered them.
"So what did you do to swindle an invitation to Lilly's self proclaimed 'party-fest'?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Veronica asked, turning so that she was facing him. Logan repeated his question.
"Well for one; Lilly can't stand Meg," she began. Logan chuckled his obvious agreement. "And I have a sneaking suspicion that she just wanted my company…she can't stay in the bedroom with Luke the whole time, right?"
Logan was about to say something that proved otherwise, but Veronica beat him before he could say anything more, "don't answer that," she said quickly, just showing how well she knew him. Logan smirked to himself.
"So if I'm just a moderator of sorts, how did you swindle an invite?" she asked.
"How can you have a party-fest without me, seriously? That kind of practice is impossible without my presence, Veronica," he joked. Veronica laughed.
"Wow. You really have been spending a lot of time with Dick lately."
"No but seriously, I just came so I could make Lilly really uncomfortable."
Veronica snorted, "Logan, I don't think anyone makes Lilly uncomfortable. She made out with Weevil in front of her parents."
"The Weevil era. Can I just ask what she even saw in him?"
Veronica shrugged while fiddling with the radio channels; "Don't ask me questions about Lilly I don't even know the answer to. She likes rebellious guys who she knows will push her parent's buttons, if that makes sense. But can we not talk about Lilly though? I mean, when we get to Lake Portia all she'll want to talk about is herself, so I'd rather be fresh for her then," Veronica joked.
"Okay we won't talk about Lilly," Logan said. "And don't touch the car unless you want me to break those fingers."
Veronica made a show of extending and wiggling every finger on her left hand before she turned the volume up.
"It is so hot out here. I swear all of my make-up is running because of the freaking humidity," Lilly began, hopping out of Luke's Range Rover and linking arms with her best friend, who had just gotten out of Logan's Xterra herself.
"Where're the kegs?" Luke asked loudly, while he was unpacking some of the luggage in the back.
"Oh I asked the Donut to pick them up since they're coming later. I thought it might have cooled down by then," Lilly replied.
"You know, that's actually quite a smart idea, Lil, which is really, really weird coming from you," Logan said as he walked in front of her on his way into the holiday home that they would all be staying in for the next week.
"Oh ha, ha Logan," Lilly replied dryly. Their relationship had been somewhat icy since their last breakup, when Logan first found out that Lilly was seeing Weevil; while they were still going out. Since "the Weevil era" as Logan liked to call it, Lilly had dated a string of 09ers, including Casey, Dick and currently Luke.
"Why is DK getting here later anyway? I thought his final exam was like, last week?" Logan said.
"It was. He said something about the Virgin Meg having a cheer meet or some shit," Lilly replied, rolling her eyes as she said it.
For some reason, Lilly really didn't like Meg very much. She had bequeathed the nickname "the Virgin Meg" when Duncan and her first started going out. Perhaps it was because Lilly missed hanging out with Veronica all the time like they did when she was going out with Duncan, or some other reason, but she definitely preferred it when Duncan was dating Veronica and not Meg.
"So who else is sharing with us?" Veronica asked Lilly.
"Well I invited Casey and Carrie because I'd thought that they would make a good couple, what do you think?" Lilly asked excitedly.
"You'll get in trouble one day with your impulsive matchmaking," Veronica joked.
"And I think the Donut invited Dick and Troy, who you need to finally meet Veronica. Not only is he funny and smart and good looking, but he is totally the type of guy who you'd go for. You're going to love him, I swear," Lilly gushed.
Veronica chuckled at her friend, "again with the matchmaking trouble you're going to get into."
"I don't care. You're hot property, Veronica Mars, and you haven't been with anyone since my idiot brother decided that he'd latch onto some other virgin," Lilly started, but Veronica shushed her friend, hoping that she'd turn the volume down a bit, "sorry…anyway, you need to hookup Veronica; and if you don't by the time this vacation is over, I'm going to have to intervene. I mean, we're practically surrounded by hot guys. I'm sure you can find one that you like."
"Is everyone else staying at John's?" Veronica asked, changing the subject and motioning to one of the big houses on the other side of the lake, which belonged to their friend John Enbom.
"Caitlyn, Sean, Cole, Shelley, Madison, Kaz and a few others are over there," Lilly replied, ticking the names off of her fingers as she named them. "And I know that there's this really hot college guy that holds parties in that house every night, so you have no excuse, Veronica."
Veronica blushed slightly, "I don't know," she admitted.
"Well let me assist you then," Lilly insisted, waggling her eyebrows at her best friend, which sent said best friend into a giggling fit.
It was tradition that on the first night of arriving at the lake that a celebratory party was held. Probably celebrating the end of the school year, or just the fact that they were finally on summer vacation, Veronica wasn't sure, but hours later, the party was just getting started as she walked down near the dock, where a bonfire was burning, keeping the rapidly cooling air warm.
Two boats were tied up on the Kane's dock, Veronica recognized one as John's but didn't recognize the other. She presumed that it belonged to one of the twenty-or-so random partygoers who had surrounded themselves within the pulsing music and around the fire.
"Hey!" A friendly voice came from beside Veronica and she turned around, a grin meeting her lips when she recognized Meg and gave her a hug.
"So how was the cheer thing?" Veronica asked conversationally.
"A cheer thing," Meg replied boredly, taking off her jacket.
"Veronica Mars get your cute and totally available ass over here and meet Troy," Lilly's voice came from Veronica's other side. When she registered that Veronica wasn't alone, her tone became less friendly as she greeted her friend's acquaintance. "Meg," she said stonily.
"Lilly, how are you? Great party," Meg commented.
"I pride myself on 'em," Lilly replied, "Now come on!" She tugged at Veronica, leading her away from Meg as Veronica shot Meg an apologetic look.
"Troy Vandegraff, meet Veronica Mars," Lilly said brightly as she released her friend.
Veronica looked up to see the boy. Lilly was right, he was kind of cute.
"Veronica Mars? The same Veronica Mars that Duncan and Lilly will not shut up about, no matter how much you tell them that, 'yes, I know she's awesome.'" He joked.
"Wow. My reputation proceeds me," Veronica admitted.
"At least it's in a good way. You want a drink?" he asked, motioning towards the keg that sat a good meter away from where they were standing. Veronica looked around at Lilly for some kind of confirmation, only to find that her friend had abandoned her.
"Sure," she replied in answer to Troy's question. He smiled and a moment later, Veronica had a new drink in hand. "Thanks."
"You're more than welcome, my fair maiden," Troy joked, bowing overdramatically, which made Veronica laugh. "So is it me, or is Lilly trying to set us up?" he asked after a moment.
"Oh, it's definitely not you, that's typical Lilly for ya," Veronica agreed. "She insisted that I meet you…she said, if I can remember her exact words… 'Funny, smart, good-looking and totally my type.'"
"Lilly said that about me?" Troy asked incredulously. "That's weird because she's usually insulting me about one thing or another," he laughed and Veronica joined him, "no, but apparently you're 'smoking hot, eligible and totally my type.' It's good to know that she was actually right about something for once," he said, causing Veronica to blush beet-red.
Troy and Veronica continued to converse and subtly flirt for another hour, until Caitlyn Ford interrupted them.
"Oh my god, Troy?" she squealed, throwing herself at him and holding on for a little longer than necessary. Veronica had seen this all before; she knew when a boy had or had had something going on with a girl, and there was definitely something more than friendship going on between Troy and Caitlyn.
"I think I see Meg, I'll see you guys later," Veronica said and Troy looked as if he was going to say something to object, but Caitlyn silenced him by asking him loudly where he had been hiding all night long.
Veronica shivered slightly as she walked away from the fire, wrapping her jacket over herself tighter, realizing that it really had gotten cooler outside. To be truthful, she was feeling slightly dizzy from some kind of smoke coming from Dick Casablancas' proximity and she decided to take a walk.
On return, Veronica realized that she was just in time for the other tradition of any 09er parties; it was time for one of the girls to be thrown into a body of water. It happened every time, a tradition that you could definitely bet on to occur. It was usually Madison Sinclair into the pool, or the ocean. The boys usually threw in the person they knew it would affect most. That's why Madison was an easy target; she usually complained about the dunking for at least another hour after it had happened.
Tonight though, it seemed like Lilly was the victim of choice. Veronica was surprised; the guys usually stayed away from Lilly because she was such a force to be reckoned with, and because it was usually her party. Yet, the proof of Dick, Kaz and a few other college guys who Veronica didn't recognize lifting a squealing Lilly onto the dock and into the icy water, completely contradicted the usual tradition.
Around her, the entire party whooped and clapped as a saturated Lilly walked out of the lake, her clothes and hair plastered to her body. The whooping only continued as the guys realized that Lilly was wearing a white t-shirt. Veronica laughed to herself. There really was no one like Lilly; who looked quite pleased with herself at the attention that she was getting while Luke frantically tried to tell onlookers that the show was over, trying to get them to leave and not stare at his girlfriend.
"Lilly, put this on," Duncan said from the dock as he took his own jacket off and threw it at his sister while trying to avert his eyes embarrassedly.
"She always does seem to be the center of attention," Carrie Bishop commented as she sidled up next to Veronica, sipping her drink slowly.
"That's Lilly Kane for you," Veronica replied with a smile.
Later that night, when the bonfire had been extinguished, Enbom's boat was back on the other side of the lake, the sky was beginning to turn a shade lighter and the party was over; Veronica walked back to the room that she was sharing with Meg, only to be met with a surprise.
When Veronica opened the door, she was met with the sight of Duncan on top of Meg, making out and groping each other furiously.
"Oh my god," was Veronica's first reaction, as she stood frozen in the doorway.
"Veronica," Meg said quickly, pushing Duncan off of her and trying to cover herself with the comforter even the tiniest bit.
Veronica's hand flew to over her eyes, blocking out the sight, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea," she spluttered out, still shocked by what she had just walked in on.
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Duncan and I are sharing a room. You're taking Duncan's spot in Logan's," Meg said, her face reddening with every word.
"Okay. I'll just…go then," Veronica said, walking out and closing the door behind her.
Veronica was tired. Although she wasn't sure about the sleeping arrangements and not at all happy with them, she wasn't in the mood to complain or set up camp on the couch; besides, if Duncan and Meg had decided that they were sharing, if she complained, she'd probably be stuck with Carrie as her roommate, and while she got along with Carrie just fine, she knew Logan much better and knew that he would be a lot more fun than being stuck with Carrie while she gossiped about every student at Neptune High.
As Veronica walked to the guest bedroom that Duncan and Logan were supposed to be sharing, she noticed that her stuff had been moved and was sitting just outside the door. She picked it up and opened the door as quietly as she could. When she was inside, she didn't realize that the door banged shut loudly behind her with the impact.
"Who's there?" Came Logan's sleepy, yet alert voice from the middle of the room. Veronica couldn't see a thing anyway because there was no light.
"It's just me," she assured him, dumping her things somewhere on the floor.
"Veronica?" he asked uncertainly.
"Who else would it be?"
"Someone hot coming to give me a little midnight delight," Logan replied. Veronica snorted at his answer.
"Maybe you should go back to sleep so you can keep dreaming," she said. Logan chuckled. "Do you mind if I turn on the light? I can't see a thing."
"Do I mind? Probably-" he started, but Veronica ignored him and turned on the light anyway, causing Logan to shield his eyes. "But by all means, go ahead," he said sarcastically.
As the light was cast around the room, Veronica saw that Logan was sleeping in the middle of a large king-sized bed; one of the only pieces of furniture that occupied the room.
"Were you and Duncan going to share a bed?" Veronica asked, a laugh threatening to spill out at the very thought.
"Have you seen the bed? It's fucking huge, Veronica," Logan slurred from under the comforter, a position he had obviously decided would shield him from the light a little better. "He'll be on his side and I'll stay on mine. Any cuddling will be all DK, not me. Wait – what do you mean were?" he asked, poking his head out from under the cover and exposing his tender eyes to the light.
"You'd better make sure you stay on your side, Echolls. Because there will be no cuddling," she sighed, "It looks like I'm your new roommate for the next week, seeing as I'm pretty sure I walked in on Duncan and Meg getting friendly Adam and Eve style only fifteen minutes ago."
"Wow. Duncan and Meg?"
"Saw it with my very own eyes…and oh, how it burns. You have no idea how embarrassing it really was, Logan," Veronica said, causing Logan to chuckle a little.
"Seriously, move over. I'm really tired, and turning off the light now," Veronica said as she kicked off her shoes. Logan obliged by moving as close as possible to the edge of his side of the bed.
Veronica switched off the light and walked over to her side of the bed, keeping her hands in front of her body so that she wouldn't un-expectantly trip over anything. When she finally got into bed, Logan muttered a sleepy "goodnight" which she returned before falling into an immediate sleep.
It seemed that she had hardly been asleep for anytime at all when a loud bang woke Veronica and Logan up. Lilly Kane bounced into the room happily as she jumped onto the bed, lying close besides Veronica on the bed, while Logan tried to block her out, crawling under the covers and moving even closer to the edge of the bed in an attempt to get away from his ex.
"Oh my god, Veronica Mars. Guess what I just walked in on?" she asked excitedly.
"Two people trying to get some sleep?" Veronica asked sarcastically and sleepily, the question eliciting an almost inaudible "damn straight" from a lump in the bed where Logan was last seen.
"Yeah that and…" Lilly said. When Veronica didn't answer, Lilly supplied, "Duncan and Meg sleeping rather cozily together. I think that Duncan may have finally grown some balls and done the deed."
"Sorry to disappoint you Lil, but we kind of already knew, so can you leave us alone now?" Logan asked, poking his head out from the blankets and looking about ready to throw something at her for waking him from his deep, drunken slumber.
"How do you know?" Lilly asked, surprised that someone had gotten the hot goss before herself.
"Miss Innocence herself walked in on DK and Meg getting 'friendly Adam and Eve style' as she put it so delicately," Logan supplied. Lilly looked immediately at Veronica.
"Really?" she asked.
Veronica groaned, "yes, really. And since when have I been 'Miss Innocence'?" she asked, poking Logan sharply in the side, which made him groan.
"Since…I dunno, sixth grade?" Lilly supplied.
"Seventh," Logan corrected, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed, finally deciding that his attempts at going back to sleep would be useless now that Lilly had decided that they should be awake. "Remember, she used to give Chinese Burns in sixth, and mean ones at that…definitely not innocent at all."
"I did not!" Veronica said, punching Logan in the arm. "And if I ever did, undoubtedly you deserved it."
"Imagine my surprise when I go in to wake you up, and there is the Virgin Meg and the Donut getting all friendly under the covers. Of course Duncan was all 'get the hell out, Lilly,'" Lilly reenacted, changing the subject and getting a rewarding giggle from Veronica at her attempt of imitating her brother. "Bombshell number two comes when Duncan announces that his ex has taken residence with my ex. Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?" Lilly asked pointing between Logan and Veronica.
Veronica immediately started shaking her head and was just opening her mouth to assure her friend, when Logan started talking, "I don't see how it's any of your business…and definitely something you, or anyone else should know about," he said, feigning serious-ness.
Lilly's eyebrow rose in interest, "really?" she asked excitedly.
"He's lying." Veronica immediately almost yelled in exasperation. "There's nothing going on."
Logan and Lilly both started to laugh at the embarrassment in their friend's face. Lilly started to get off of the bed, stepping over Veronica as she did so, "I know," she said. Slowly, and inconspicuously, she leaned further down and whispered into Veronica's ear, "but if there was, I'm glad it's with Logan."
She patted her best friend on the arm as she slinked past, leaving Veronica blushing slightly from embarrassment.
"Play nice you two," Lilly called from the doorway as she left the room.
"You know that she's going to try and set us up now, right?" Logan asked, turning around to face Veronica, who herself threw the comforter away and got up out of bed.
"It's Lilly, she tries to set everyone up," Veronica countered, walking into the adjoining bathroom.
A/N Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, and seeing as I have got a large portion of this story already written, I can guarantee that the more reviews will equal the quicker update! I'm always up for hearing your ideas on what you think will happen, or what you'd like to see, or what you liked/disliked. I just like reviews. lol. Cheers again for reading it means a lot :D
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