"Good morning, Veronica!"

Inhale, exhale.

She turned around with the perfect rehearsed smile just in time for the bride to place two uncomfortable kisses on her cheeks. "Good morning, Parker. Well, you look great."

"Oh, thank you!" The taller blonde squealed with a hand on her clavicle. "Piz always did love the color purple on me."

Veronica eyed the silky wrap dress from head to two as expected of her, shiny lavender against the white tables all around the dining room. "Yeah, it's - uhm, beautiful."

Parker responded with her giggle-shrug thing.

Veronica smiled politely.

So what am I supposed to say now?

"Good morning, dear." The groom appeared with an instant arm around his fiancée's shoulder. "Veronica."

Piz barely nodded her way before dipping Parker into a deep, lingering kiss.

Ah, that's what we were waiting for.

Veronica shifted awkwardly as the couple smooched for another minute, knowing in her gut that a cultured audience was expected to stay right where they were until the end of the performance. She plunged her hands into her jacket pockets.

"Wow, that was amazing, sweetheart." Parker cooed as she finally resumed an upright position. Piz pulled her close with a smile.

Veronica half-grinned. What's she supposed to do - applaud?

"Oh, Veronica, I'm so sorry! I totally forgot you were right there. So rude of me!" Parker exclaimed the very next moment, her eyes round with grand mortification.

Yeah, just like you did on your birthday half a decade ago.

Veronica flashed a smile - the last shot left on her current magazine of patience. "Oh, it's fine. It's great to see you two so - happy."

The couple giggled and cuddled nauseatingly before excusing themselves apologetically.

Oh, by all means.

Her stomach up in arms in protest by now, Veronica made a beeline for the cozy brunch buffet table by the window. On any other day, perhaps the shy morning breeze toying with the pastel drapes would make her feel warm, peaceful, or even serene. Today? The food was cold, the sun too bright, and the day just far too cheerful.

She plopped generous amounts of bacon on top of the three pancakes on her plate before reaching out for the syrup.

Where's the syrup again?

"Here you go."

She looked up to all six feet of her ex-boyfriend in a dark grey henley, syrup dispenser in hand. Somehow, he's never looked handsomer.

"Oh, thanks." She lifted her plate for a generous helping.

And something about the way his toned forearm tilted the handle made her wish she was the creature being dipped in his arms instead.

Veronica!

She bit her lip, desperately fighting the blush that threatened to form at the thoughts of her stunts in bed alone last night, stunts fuelled by a repetitive mental loop of their lobby make-out.

"That's enough?"

She snapped out of it to meet Logan's quizzical eyebrows before glancing down at her brimming ceramic plate. "Yes, definitely. Thanks."

She wandered away in a daze before sitting down at the nearest table. She stared blankly at her food.

"You okay?" Logan placed his own plate to her left before grabbing a chair. "Rough night?"

She turned to face him again for a quick moment.

Guess one could say so.

"Yeah - I guess."

"Ah, forgot to pack Miss My Little Pony?" He stabbed casually at his fruits.

She smiled genuinely for the first time all morning. "I'm more of a unicorn girl, really."

"Like 'em horny, huh?"

"Yup," she replied right back at the sight of 'Brangela' prancing into the dining area entwined in each others' arms. "Just like them."

Logan briefly turned the direction indicated by her suspended fork before breaking into a chuckle.

"You heard them too, huh?" She sighed.

"More than I'd care to," he grumbled, head shaking. "I'm amazed you're still functional."

"I've had a full plate of bacon staring at me for the past five minutes without taking a single bite." She gestured at her food. "You call this functional?"

Logan laughed before pointing to his own fruits and eggs. "Beats an athlete's diet."

She smiled.

"Oh, there you are!"

Please God, not again.

"I must know if you guys had a good night's sleep last night! We so told them to give you comfortable rooms!"

Her peripheral vision barely caught Logan's fist unclenching before he replied with well-rehearsed ease. "Ah, yes, slept perfectly well. Thank you, Parker" - he glanced towards the man attached to her arm - "Piz."

It took everything in her not to grab Logan's hand in solidarity.

"Oh, that's so good to know!" The bride giggled, still taped to Piz's side as they hovered over the small round table. "I really wanted to give you guys nice rooms - nothing but the best for our friends! But since you're both here alone and the rooms are, like, all taken. I really didn't have much of a choice!"

Parker, if you don't want one of your bridesmaids to rip off your train on your way down that chapel in the wildwood -

"So I'm so sorry if the rooms are - "

"I believe the rooms are sufficient," Logan cut her off promptly.

Why did I ever break-up with you again?

"Thank you," he added curtly.

"That's - good." Two seconds later, the couple was gone.

Veronica glanced down at her plate with the hint of a smile. "Paparazzi-trained conciseness. Color me impressed."

She could hear him smiling too.

"Apparently, you never just stop being Aaron Echolls's son."

"Sucks to be you?" She offered, finally chewing a bite of her pancake.

"Depends, it does come with its perks." He grabbed his water bottle - probably something distilled and injected with vitamins galore. "For one, I get free publicity."

She swallowed her mouthful of bacon with a nod. "And notoriety?"

"Some," he acknowledged, leaning back on the creaky old chair. "But free ad deals never hurt. You'll be surprised, bad boys tend to sell product pretty well."

Her face slipped into a smile as she turned, ready to mutter something about street cred and all when suddenly - his chocolate eyes were locked on to hers, his lips curled up in a faint, mesmerizing smile.

Bad boy charisma, Logan? No argument here.

"They must pay you really well, then." She stated the only coherent sentence in her mind.

His gaze wandered slowly from her eyes to her lips, before trailing back up. She could swear his hand was inching towards her shoulder.

Why did I break up with you again?

"Just the usual." He sounded just as absent-minded as she felt. "You know, booze and money."

"And mansions and boats?"

"Yeah, with boring parties and boring music."

"Ah, and free vacations?"

"Sure, ski trips and tropical getaways - never gets old."

And then it all crashed back.

And that's why I broke up with him.

"Excuse me." She stood up abruptly. "I gotta go."


Hands on her hips, she stared down the audacious pink box on her bed, its leopard-print bow accentuating the entire room.

From the moment Parker responded to 'I'm sorry I can't make it for the bridal shower' with 'Then let's combine it with the bachelorette party!,' Veronica had every opportunity to prepare for the dreaded evening. But apparently, hiding in your room all afternoon bracing for something undesirable didn't really make reality any less hurtful.

She heaved a heavy sigh, eyes transfixed temporarily at the uneven blotches on the ceiling.

There's only so much restoration and hearty scrubbing could do.

Having spent her formative years snapping money shots of strangely-clad hookers and mistresses during clandestine meetings, Veronica had never been into cosplay or lingerie. But when the bridal shower paperless post had arrived complete with bra size, she'd reckoned it impossible for a bridesmaid to get away with bringing a bridal-registry-approved punch bowl to the party.

She walked tentatively towards the pink box as if it were a foreign object rather than something she had picked up herself at the store. She stopped a foot away and shivered involuntarily at the recollection of its purchasing process.

Wouldn't be the first time.

"Parker would so love this!" Angela's voice echoed through the wall. "Why wear two things when one is enough?"

"Oh, and as a friend, he's not so big on the one-piece numbers."

The words zapped through her mind like a bolt of lightning, baring everything in its path. Her hands flew instantly to the bed's metal railing as she braced herself physically for the emotional torment that followed every recollection of that moment.

"Oh, Logan and I hooked up in Aspen over the holidays. I guess you two were split, huh?"

She closed her eyes, futilely willing her mind to stop. She shuddered, Madison's self-congratulatory smirk glaring at her brain like a broken neon sign.

Why her, Logan? Why her?

"You sure Piz is into that kind of stuff?" Brandon reckoned loudly.

"What guy isn't? Those two could use some help spicing up their sex life," Angela countered promptly.

Veronica almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Sex life? Piz? Good luck with that.

She turned around briefly before collapsing on the bedside rug. Her knees shrunk instinctively to her chin while her arms circled her legs, pulling herself into a cocoon and its accompanying false sense of safety. She blinked back tears.

Veronica was a sexual being - most humans were. But when it came to awakening that part of her, there really had always been one candidate alone.

"I fooled around with this horrible girl who meant less than nothing to me, and I couldn't regret it more."

His words echoed in her mind, hollow and pained. She closed her eyes and lowered her forehead to her kneecaps.

How could he always treat sex as something so casual?

"Something meaningless," she muttered out loud under her breath before a sniff escaped her.

"No one is perfect, Veronica, and it's about time you accept that."

Leo's sad, broken voice joined the symphony in her mind. She slumped further down, nestling the back of her neck against the curve of the bed.

"Veronica! Time to go!"

Veronica jumped at the sudden voice and knock at her door. She turned her wrist until her eyes met her watch.

"Veronica?"

Can't blame Mac for being friends with both the bridesmaid and the bride.

"Coming!"

Doors slammed in her peripheral hearing. Then she closed her eyes, sighed, and pushed herself off the floor.


"Well, aren't you dressed to kill?"

She paused with her left hand still on the brass doorknob, her right hand balancing the offensive pink package. She mustered a smile at the compliment before turning up at the man who'd just exited his own room across the tight hallway. Because, of course, Piz and Parker were the 'our parties have to be on the same night' type of couple.

"You're ever the flatterer, Logan."

"Oh Mars, you wound me." He right hand flew to his chest in mock offense, fingers splayed over his dark red shirt. "I am nothing but sincere."

She couldn't resist rolling her eyes, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. She swept her free hand down the length of her figure. "If this is called dressing up, then my dad should be a red carpet regular. Vanity Fair would cry foul."

"That's when you're wrong." His lips quirked into their usual confident smirk as his eyes made an open perusal of her leather, jeans, and boots ensemble. He leaned forward ever so slightly. "There's nothing hotter than a woman comfortable in her own skin."

She caught her breath at the wink that followed.

How does he keep doing this to me?

"People! We're gonna be late!" A generic holler echoed from the ground floor.

Veronica jumped, surprised at the blush creeping up at her cheeks. Logan seemed to shift towards nowhere in particular.

"Guess we should go?"

She didn't look up before nodding silently and stepping forward.

"Oh, sorry!" His hand flew instantly to balance her by the elbows as the pink box tumbled to the ground. She glanced up apologetically.

Who built these tiny hallways anyway?

A current of electricity seemed to course from his fingers, up her arm, and straight to her heart. She blinked repetitively for two seconds before she pulled back, mumbling apologies as she crouched down to retrieve the unfortunate present, its bow utterly deformed.

He was by her side immediately, his expert hands instantly grabbing the ribbon from her and restoring it to its upright glory around the gaudy box.

"I didn't know we had to bring gifts."

It took a second for her to realize he'd said something. "Oh yeah. Uhm, I don't think you had to. It's just the girls. It's a 'double-party,' they say."

"Double party?" He supported her by the arm as they both stood up, gift box redeemed.

"Yeah." She gripped the box with both hands now, supporting it against her abdomen. "It's supposed to be bachelorette party and bridal shower all in one."

Logan shrugged in a way only men could when confronted with feminine nuances. He lifted his open palms in a 'no comment' gesture. "No argument here. If women want to buy each other sexy underthings? It's their problem."

He turned on his heel and walked towards to the stairs.

Sexy underthings?

She felt her chest constrict impossibly tight.

How could he always treat sex -

"Are you really against the one-piece numbers?"

There - she'd asked it.

Three steps away, Logan twisted around, brow furrowed. "What?"

She sighed, her fingers digging into the flashy box.

Oh, to hell with it.

"Madison."

That one word was apparently enough to have him stand fearfully still.

Hands still gripping the present tightly against her body, her eyes jumped back and forth between his grim face and the worn-out carpet. She licked her lips. "She - she met me one time at - a shop."

He stayed silent, eyes trained on her.

She inhaled. "When she walked up at the counter, she told me that you weren't into the one-piece numbers. She - "

Veronica looked down, refusing to meet his laser eyes. She desperately tried to lighten her tone. "She told me you guys hooked up in Aspen, and well - I mean, we were broken up at that time, and I totally get it now. But when she's talking about your lingerie preferences? I mean - it made me feel silly for even thinking of buying anything to hang off this bag of bones, you know. And I - "

"Hey - " His hand flew to her shoulder, and her eyes flew to his. The pain reflected back at her made her ribcage feel three sizes too small for her heart.

And then it dawned on her.

"She made that up, didn't she?"

Logan nodded, brows and shoulders slumping. His voice came out low. "It was a drunken orgy of a night at the cabin. Random men and women with unlimited alcohol and very uninhibited limbs. It was the luck - or unluck - of the draw whoever ended with whom by the end of the night."

He looked up at her, his fingers tight on her shoulder. "I regret it more than anything else."

Her eyes blurred of their own accord. Her next breath felt like an intake of cold, freezing air.

Veronica, let this go.

"Why?"

Logan - big California surfer star - hung his head. "I don't have an excuse. Trust me, I wish did. But if it makes any difference - I didn't know it was her until the morning after."

But why did you -

"Logan! Veronica! Are you guys coming?" Mac's voice bounced through the wooden walls.

"Coming!" She hollered, pushed her way past Logan, and flew down the stairs.


"Oh he's so gonna love that!"

Yet another surge of unearthly screams assaulted her ears as she forced her hands to remain firmly on her lap. She shifted uncomfortably on the puffy armchair, an apparent highlight of the old-fashioned tea house, as the other girls swooned at the most recently revealed negligee. It's white again, of course.

Kill me now.

"Veronica, isn't this gorgeous?"

She looked up at the bride's summons, said bride parading her latest present of white satin against her shoulders. She twisted her hips as if dancing. "Piz would totally love this, don't you think?"

Veronica plastered on a grin; it's gotten easier with practice, after all. Her fingers toyed with the lining of her jean pockets, the denim contrasting sharply with the frilly, floral dresses everyone else seemed to be wearing. "It's lovely, Parker. You'll look absolutely perfect."

"Don't I know it?" Parker giggled before settling back on her chair of honor, the other bridesmaids caving in around her for the next reveal.

Veronica sighed under her breath.

"You okay?" Mac whispered behind her.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "That's your go-to phrase now?"

"Only when it's deserved."

She glanced at the open sincerity on Mac's face for a quick moment before conceding with a slump of her shoulders. "As okay as I could be."

Girls squealed in the background as the two friends huddled closer, alternating sips of the signature black tea blend with their whispers.

"You and Logan took a while to come down today. You guys - patching up?"

Veronica scoffed. "More like excavating old wounds."

Mac's face scrunched instantly. "I know this wedding is uncomfortable for both of you, but maybe it's a good time for a truce? It's only two more days, Vee."

Truce?

Veronica almost laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion. They never were good with truces.

It's all love or all hate, never in between.

"To Parker from Veronica. All the best." The bride's tag-reading voice forced both of them to refocus at the task at hand.

Veronica looked up to an image of Parker rushing over to give her yet another overly enthusiastic hug. She limply returned it.

"Thank you so much, Veronica! I just know I'm gonna love this!"

Veronica offered as sincere a smile as she could muster. "No problem. Why don't you open it?"

Off came the leopard bow, plop went the barbie box, and out came the light pink lace bustier that had been the tamest thing in the entire store she'd visited. Veronica braced herself.

"So sexy! So scandalous!" Parker's childhood friends gushed instantly. The bride's mother - what's she doing here anyway? - furrowed her brow rather disapprovingly.

"Oh Veronica! This is gorgeous! I'm so gonna bring it on my honeymoon!" Parker sounded sincere enough as Veronica softly whispered that she's welcome.

"Pink lace, really?" Mac's voice was at her ear. "Didn't peg you to be so feminine."

Veronica shrugged. "Didn't get the white-and-satin-only memo."

"At least you have one un-boring friend," Angela declared loudly as she grabbed the bustier from Parker's hands and promptly deposited it amongst the pile of white underthings. Veronica sighed.

Hail to the upstaging sister.

"So," the sister-of-the-hour announced as she stood up, her frame as tall as Parker's, "gifts done. Time for snacks and games. Serve the refreshments, people!"

At her cue, the servers placed fresh tiers of finger food on each table and replenished everyone with freshly steeped tea. Veronica, never the fan of daintiness, eyed the trays idly. Being a perpetual fan of food consumption, however, she absent-mindedly reached out for a cookie.

"No way!" Another bridesmaid squealed to her right. "Angela! You're so naughty!"

Naughty?

Veronica glanced down at the cookie in her hand, its uneven swells bearing a bite mark of her own.

What's so naughty about -

She shut her mouth as hard as she could before she could scoff cookie crumbs all over the hand-sewn tablecloth. Her eyes flew to the rest of the items on the tray - the scones, tarts, cakes, and cookies - all lounging around as anatomically disproportionate imitations of male genitalia. She'd seen plenty of exaggeration in the two bachelorette events she'd been unfortunate enough to attend before today. But while those exaggerations tended towards unrealistic female fantasies, the one currently in her hand hadn't even hit puberty.

"Piz wouldn't approve of this!" Parker protested.

"What?" Angela shrugged. "It's a bachelorette party! You're not gonna tell me you're still a virgin, sister."

Oh Angela, what would this wedding be without you?

"But Piz - " Parker paused and lowered her voice. "But he's a very private person. You know that, Angie."

Again, the sister shrugged. "Come on, girl, be fun! It's not like I took a picture of him and actually replicated his dong."

Veronica burned her tongue as she quickly gulped down her tea before she could sputter it all over the table. She glanced sideways at the tray again.

Actually, Angela -

"But he wouldn't like this, okay?" Parker continued. "He promised me no strippers tonight, and I promised him nothing too sexual."

Angela countered right back. "I wouldn't compare this to strippers, Parker."

I agree.

"But he's just - " The bride wouldn't back down. "He doesn't like to be public about anything sexual, okay?"

Veronica contemplated the comment for a moment, but only until Angela responded right back, loud and clear as day. "Parker! You told me Piz had a sex tape in college! How is that being a private person?"

The gasps that gathered around the room corresponded perfectly with her own. Veronica clutched the edges of her jacket tighter.

Please don't mention me. Please don't mention me -

"Her?" Angela's voice cut through her mental pleas. "Mac, Parker, you're both looking at Veronica. Was she the ex-girlfriend who made a tape with Piz?"

All eyes in the room zoomed in on the leather-clad lady. Veronica, hopelessly cornered, sighed.

Slowly, whispered accusations began to permeate the room.

"She used to date Piz?"

"What a horrible thing to do!"

"A sex tape? What a slut!"

I can hear you, people.

"Veronica," Mac's voice cut through the mumblings as she put a hand on Veronica's shoulder. "Just tell them the truth."

Veronica huffed.

Cuz what do I have to lose?

Jaw set, she sat up straight and squared her shoulders. She looked Parker right in the eye. "I never had sex with Piz."

The plaintive look in the bride's eyes gave way to indignation. She crossed her arms. "Don't lie to me, Veronica. I'm not blaming you two anymore for what happened, but don't try to tell me that - "

"We never went that far," Veronica concluded. She lowered her eyes, sounding calmer to herself than she'd even expected. "We, uhm - we did some hands stuff from time to time. And that video - that illegally created video - was just some foreplay, I guess you could call it."

She looked up at Parker again, gaze unflinching. "But we never got to the playing itself."

The softening of Parker's features showed that she believed her at least a little bit.

The room fell silent.

Parker spoke first. "But why?"

Veronica looked down.

"I had my reasons to not want sex in my first relationship after my - rape." Parker gulped. "But you - why not?"

Veronica met her eyes tentatively, the conclusion dawning on her for the first time. "Because I was in love with someone else."


"Oh yeah, baby! Come on, come on! Lovin' this!"

"Yes! Ah! Yes!"

Veronica groaned like a wild boar as she pressed the sides of her pillow even more tightly against her ears. She kicked away the too-hot comforter.

"Yes, baby! I love you, yeah!"

She rolled over and buried her face against the sheets.

Please, Parker! I don't deserve this!

"That was amazing!" Another loud declaration filtered easily through the thin wall.

Veronica sighed before rolling back to face the ceiling.

Thank God it's over.

Stuck in the no man's land of emotional exhaustion and actual desire to sleep, she flung a forearm over her eyes. It only took two weeks to grow accustomed to the evening noises near a school campus. But now, in contrast, the early Midwestern silence felt far too quiet for normal slumber.

"I can't believe you!" Angela's shriek echoed into her room.

On second thought, I'll take the quiet.

"What? It's not like I arranged it!" Brandon had apparently raised his voice too.

Veronica grumbled at the intrusion.

"I thought there weren't gonna be any strippers!" Angela cried.

And yet - she's just as intrigued as she was tired. She rolled up to a seated position on the lumpy mattress, effortlessly eavesdropping.

"There weren't! They were just dancers!"

"But they probably did the whole sexy dance thing that makes men think of boobs!"

Veronica pictured the awkward snacks this afternoon.

Angela a hypocrite - who'd have thought?

"It was a bachelor's party, baby!"

"Don't you baby me, you horrible, despicable - "

"I get it! Okay? I get that you're upset. Calling me names isn't gonna change anything that's already happened!"

Veronica shut her eyes.

"So you admit it then! Something did happen!"

"No! Nothing bad happened!"

"Oh, so you thinking about the boobs of another woman isn't anything bad?"

"I wasn't thinking of any other woman!"

"Yeah, sure - cuz strippers are totally not women."

"We didn't have strippers!" Brandon practically bellowed. Veronica's fingers instantly grabbed the bed to keep her stable.

These two are impossible.

She shut her eyes tight, bracing herself for another round of arguments. It would be midnight before they're done.

Instead - there was silence.

Huh?

She turned around tentatively, alternately wishing for a continuation of the story and for some much-needed peace and quiet.

"You don't even love me," Angela muttered at last.

Veronica scrunched her brow.

"You don't know how to love," her husband countered.

You don't really know how to love, Veronica.

She exhaled, willing Leo's words to stop looping in her mind.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

The couple next door exchanged the last words of their argument before Veronica heard, and felt, the powerful slamming of a bedroom door.

Now she felt almost guilty for praying for peace and quiet - almost. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

How could anyone survive a marriage like that?

Time and time again, people failed in marriage and then tried again, and again, and again. Why wouldn't anyone just give up?

Lost in thought, she almost didn't hear the two sharp, concise knocks on her door.

Angela?

She scrambled off the bed, still clad in her tank top and sweat pants, and opened the door to a very drowsy-looking Logan Echolls.


A/N: As always, much love and thanks to irma66 for being such a helpful beta :) And thank you to everyone who read and liked the first chapter! Thanks for giving this odd setting a chance. The angst got cranked up a little bit this chapter, but I hope everyone will hang on until the sun shines again. Any thoughts? Please leave a review! :)