veronica/weevil, one door closes another opens

The internship at Quantico was a huge break for her. An open door into a world she had longed to go for years and years.

At the same time it closed lots of other doors. It was the first time she really got away from Neptune. Right before she left she would close the door on her and Logan once and for all. And in the fall, when she'd decide to stay in Virginia for school so that she could continue her internship it had ended her and Piz as well.

And of course the longer she stayed in Virginia the less she saw of Wallace, Mac, Parker, Weevil, Leo, and so on. She talked to them sometimes, but people drift apart over time and she missed them. Hell she might even have missed Vinnie a tiny little bit, not that she'd ever admit it to anyone.

Still, the opportunity was an amazing one and she'd never regretted it.

Then, five years after she'd left, five years in which she'd only made a few trips home, she stopped at her favorite local restaurant and finds herself staring straight at Weevil Navarro.

"Weevil," she calls out before she can stop herself.

He is head pops up. Slowly a smile spreads across his face, "Well well, if it isn't Veronica Mars." He puts a hand up to his mouth like he's telling her a secret, "Nobody really calls me Weevil these days."

"Oh really? You've gone straight then have you?"

"As an arrow," at her doubtful face he put a hand over his heart, "I swear. Got my own auto business now."

"Around here?"

"Angel's business picked up over the last few years as he got more specialized. Started doing lots of big jobs and then he took out a loan and branched out. I managed a chain in L.A. for a while and then he decided he wanted to head to the east coast. So, my cousin Manuel is Florida, I'm here and we're working on a few more in the next couple of years. Angel made me a full partner last year."

"Weevil, that's…" she stopped, "I mean Eli, that's…that's wonderful."

"Don't sound so shocked V. I got myself out of messes before you. Did you think I couldn't do it once you were gone?" There is a tinge of bitterness in his voice.

"Of course not, I just, I never really knew where you were."

"Well that tends to happen when you don't contact people for five years."

She searched for the right words, "My dad got married again. He comes here with his new wife a lot. It just seemed….once I got out I didn't want to go back."

He shrugs, back in casual relaxed mode, she's seen him do the shift before, and "I get it V. Just….good to see you."

He smiled and she smiles and just like that it's good again.

It starts there will dinner. She doesn't expect him to call when she gives him her new number…but he does just three days later. They go see a movie. He takes her to his favorite club and tries to teach her to dance. He doesn't laugh when she steps on his toes. She takes him to the gun range and scares the shit out of him with her aim. He cooks dinner for her and rubs her feet. She kisses him exactly one month after they reuniting. They move into together six months later.

And a year after that and Eli marry.

Moving to Virginia had changed her life, giving her a new place to live, a new job, a new purpose…and it had brought her an old friend and a new love. It was a fact she was forever grateful for.