A/N: Inspired by the Tumblr prompt "Can you shut up for five minutes, please?" given to me by AlinaSorokina. This quick prompt turned into something more! Alina, thank you for sending it to me! I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

It had been four days since Veronica opened the letter rescinding her acceptance from the FBI internship.

After she'd read it, the only person she'd wanted to talk to was him. However, thanks to her own rash decision to cut him out of her life, he wasn't hers to run to anymore, and that just made everything worse.

After contemplating why that really bothered her, and abruptly ending things with Piz—that went less "It's not you, it's me," and really, more "Can you shut up for five minutes, please? I'm sorry but this isn't working."—she now stood in front of Logan's door with a tasty smelling In 'N Out bag filled to the brim with Double Doubles and fries.

Having been so stressed and disappointed over everything lately, Veronica had hoped that coming back here would help alleviate some of that. Being around Logan had a way of calming her when they'd been together, except when being around him brought out the crazy person. Right now though, she craved his company. She wasn't quite sure what she was expecting from him, but hoped that her delectable bribe would at least allow her inside.

Veronica knew the instant Logan opened the door—standing there in shock, wide eyed and shirtless—that she'd made the right decision to come. She could already feel the weight on her shoulders lifting.

"Heeey there. Long time no talk." It had been almost a month. She held up the bag of food and gave him a hopeful smile. "I...was in the neighborhood?"

Leaning against the open door, he crossed his arms, clearly waiting for her to elaborate. Having prepared herself for possible resistance to her showing up unannounced, Veronica cleared her throat and pushed on.

"I...realize that I may have, um, overstated when I said you were…"

"Out of your life forever?"

Veronica winced, dropping her arm. She'd expected a bit of hesitation, but didn't think he'd still be so upset about her previous declaration. She'd told him in the food court that she'd needed time. Wasn't that a clear indication she hadn't meant what she'd said?

"Yeah...that. Look, Logan. So much has happened since that day. I've caused so much damage for so many people, mainly because I managed to piss off Jake."

"Jake? Jake Kane?" he said hesitantly.

"The one and only," she regretfully sighed. "My Dad lost the election because of it. I lost my internship. Mac and Wallace have put their futures on the line for me and are now under the thumb of Castle without even realizing it, and it's all thanks to my actions."

Straightening up and taking the bag of food from her, Logan gestured with his head for her to come in.

"I'm sorry about your internship. I know how excited you were about it." He gave her a sad smile as he set the food down on the coffee table. "So, what brought you here?"

Flustered by the question, Veronica avoided his eyes as she sat on the edge of the cushion. She'd missed Logan, fiercely, but she wasn't ready to admit that just yet. Running his hand through his hair, Logan flopped down on the cushion across from her.

"I just...I guess I needed to check in? Make sure you were OK? I haven't seen or heard from Gory since...well, you know. And I'd heard through the grapevine that Dick bailed on your summer plans, so I thought I'd come and make sure you were still kicking."

It probably sounded as unconvincing to him as it did to her, but Logan seemed to take her explanation without questioning it. She had been worried about Gory's retribution at first, but when nothing happened, she figured his 'connections' weren't as interested in his personal life as she'd feared.

"Well," Logan said, reaching for the bag and pulling out the burgers, handing one over to her. "Can't say I've been kicking anyone specific lately, but I am still here. As far as Gory is concerned, I'm honestly not too worried about it. Shit has a way of finding me no matter what I do, so I figure I'll just ride this out like everything else."

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a sardonic smile, before turning his focus to the burger in his hands. Not sure how to respond to that, Veronica looked down at her own hands and began fiddling with the food wrapper.

"So, how's Piz these days. All put back together, yet?" he quipped. As soon as the words were out, he grimaced and seemed to deflate. "I really am sorry about that."

It took a moment for her to remember that Logan didn't know they'd broken up. Clearing her throat, she lifted the burger to her mouth.

"Yeah, I know. I appreciate you saying that. I think he's OK. We um, we aren't together anymore, so…" Logan's eyebrows shot up at that and she quickly took an exaggerated bite, looking away in hopes the Piz talk would end there. Of course, this was Logan; Veronica should have known better than to think he'd leave it at that.

"You broke up?" he blurted out.

Nodding as she chewed, she dared to glance up at him, only to be met with a wary look.

"How'd Wallace take it?"

Veronica frowned in confusion. That wasn't the reaction she'd expected at all. "Wallace? Um...he's in Africa now, and I haven't mentioned it in my email." Knowing Piz though, she was sure Wallace already knew. Accepting her answer, Logan nodded.

"How about Mac?"

Realization dawned that he was trying to pry the truth out of her—about why she'd come to see him rather than her other friends. Of course, she was too stubborn to give him the real reason, so she continued to play along.

"Well, Mac is out of town...but she's my friend and supports me, regardless of my decisions," she shrugged, taking another bite. Logan smiled at that. He crumpled up the wrapper and stood to throw it into the wastebasket across the room. Tucking a leg under him as he sat back down, he propped one leg up on the couch and rested his elbow on his knee.

"So let me get see if I get this straight," he said with a laugh. "All your friends are either unavailable or out of town, so you...what? Had no one else to go to? Decided your last choice—me—was better than nothing?" He gave her a mocking smile.

Surprised at the implication of desperation, she lowered the french fry she was about to eat and huffed. Shouldn't he know better about where he really stood with her?

"Actually, you were my first choice, though now I can't recall why." Tossing the fry into her mouth, Veronicacrossed her arms and sank back into the couch. Her blunt answer was clearly unexpected, if the look on Logan's face told her anything. She held his gaze, challenging him to doubt her statement.

Their eyes unwavering, Veronica's mouth quirked as she chewed, causing his to do the same. He reached for a napkin and nodded before standing and taking a few steps to the TV stand. He picked up two console controllers, pivoted on his heel and sauntered back to Veronica, this time sitting down next to her.

"So," he began, handing her a controller. "Seeing as how you have no immediate obligations—I'm assuming, since you're here—and my BFF ditched me for daddy dearest, it seems to me like we could use some mindless recreation for a while."

Appreciating the fact that Logan hadn't pushed for her to elaborate on what she'd said, Veronica smiled and nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what would happen next, if they would try again or not now that they were both single. But she was grateful he was willing to accept her acknowledgement of her over the top reactions, and move forward.

"All right then. Prepare to get your ass handed to you, Echolls," she teased.

Logan let out a hearty laugh. "My ass? I don't think so. I'll be handing you yours, silver platter and everything."

"Don't get too cocky. The number times I crushed all of you at these stupid games back in Junior High would suggest otherwise. "

"Oh, I'll give you cocky." He bobbed his eyebrows and winked. Rolling her eyes, Veronica shook her head as she laughed.

Maybe there was hope for them yet.

A/N2: Special thanks to Irma66 for giving it her magic beta touch.

I'll still continue on my other WIP - I'm Only Human After All - but this will be posted every two weeks.

Next update April 9th