Part 2
Hey, brother!
December 2007
Logan and Veronica were in that awkward 'yeah-we-used-to-date-but-we're-perfectly-ok-just-being-friends-as-if-that-was-the-most-normal-thing-in-the-world-to-do' stage.
So far it wasn't going so great.
Mac had set up dinner plans for the three of them at a new little Italian restaurant called Giovanni's near the campus. Logan and Veronica were already there waiting for Mac to arrive when 10 minutes later Logan got a call from their missing friend. Veronica listened in on Logan's side of the conversation and internally thought up of ways to get back at Mac.
"Yeah, family thing, we totally understand." He looked at Veronica and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll tell her . . . bye."
"She ditched us," Veronica stated immediately.
"Yep. She said she has some big family thing she completely forgot about."
Veronica snorted in reply. "She's such a bad liar."
"No shit," he sighed.
They remained silent, both of them trying to come up with ideas of how to cancel the entire evening. With Mac around they had a buffer and without her it was just them and their issues. Logan's stomach decided to grumble loudly at that moment and Veronica grinned.
"Hungry?" she asked.
"Just a little," he smiled back.
"Well, we are here. We might as well stay," she reasoned.
Logan nodded briefly. To say that he was still confused about their relationship was putting it mildly. He and Mac had ended up in the same Chem class this semester and they became close quickly. It was definitely a lot easier talking to her as opposed to Dick when it came to his Veronica issues. And he was sure Mac canceling on them was one of her plans to bring them together.
He was gonna kill her.
Veronica watched Logan from over the top of her menu and suppressed a sigh. It seemed that whenever they were left alone together, the air around them got tighter and tenser. She knew part of it was her doing since it seemed that she was never able to stop staring at him. She couldn't help but flashback to the times they were together. She had already admitted to Mac that she missed him, but there was no way Logan would want them to be together again. Especially after everything she had done to him as he so painfully pointed out not so long ago.
"So do you know what you're gonna do during Winter Break?" Veronica asked him, trying desperately to stop the uncomfortable silence between them.
Logan simply shrugged not looking up from his menu. "I don't know. Me and Dick will probably go to Mexico or somethin'."
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "What is your guys' obsession with Mexico?"
Logan finally smirked as he looked at her. "What's not to like? Booze, drugs, chicks - its fun times waiting to happen."
"All valuable things I failed to realize. You're right, I'm sorry."
"You're forgiven," he grinned.
She smiled back at him and again the silence and the tension returned.
"So I heard from Charlie," he told her trying to quell the tension.
"Your brother Charlie?"
"I thought that was the only Charlie we knew."
She smirked at him. "What did he say?"
Logan shrugged. "He left me a voicemail. I'm thinking if he's calling me he needs a kidney or something."
She shook her head at him.
"Seriously, Veronica. The guy hates me and I don't blame him."
"How do you know he hates you?"
"Because I outed him to the public as Aaron Echolls long lost bastard son. And the few times we have talked it was brief and tense."
Logan had made very little progress with developing a relationship with his half-brother. So little, that he had given up any hope of actually meeting him.
"Maybe he wasn't ready," Veronica was saying. "Maybe now he is."
"And maybe pigs can fly," Logan added.
"And maybe you should just try again."
"Why because the last few times have gone so well?" he asked her sarcastically.
"Logan--"
"Look," he interrupted. "I don't even know why I brought this up. Let's talk about something else. I'm starting to lose my appetite."
The next day Logan came home to a note that was slid under his door.
Logan - I'm not after any body parts. I just want to finally sit down and talk. Call me if you're up to it -Charlie.
Logan sat on the couch and sighed. He wondered if Veronica was the one behind this and he contemplated if he was ready to actually talk to his half-brother.
What to do? Call his brother or call Veronica?
He quickly dialed a number and sighed. "Hey, it's Logan."
Two days later Veronica spotted Logan in the campus food court. He was talking to Mac and a small part of her couldn't help but be jealous. He looked happy and there was no awkward silence like there was when she was with him. She contemplated stopping by to say hi, but she nixed that idea quickly. She turned on her heel and was surprised to hear her name being called out. She turned again and saw Mac waving her over. Logan had a tight smile on his face, but she was curious to know if anything had happened between him and Charlie too much to mind.
"Hey," Mac grinned. "We were just talking about you."
Veronica's eyebrow went up as she glanced at Logan. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Good," Mac smiled. "But I'll leave you two alone to talk about it."
Logan tempered down a sigh. He knew Mac would pull something like this. It was hard for him to be around Veronica and Mac knew that. Every time he looked at her he wanted to throw her up against whatever hard surface was available and fuck her senseless. But then he would remember all the damn reasons they weren't together anymore and he'd just be miserable. Mac knew all this, yet she continued to leave them alone. At least Veronica looked as pissed as he felt.
Veronica sat down and picked at her salad. "So have you talked to Charlie?"
Logan took in a deep breath. "Yeah, I actually got a note from him saying he wanted to talk."
"I take it he didn't want your kidney," she grinned.
"No, just part of my liver." Veronica's mouth fell open and he chuckled. "I'm kidding."
She glared at him and threw a chunk of lettuce at him. "So what happened?"
"Um, we agreed to get together. Maybe grab lunch or something."
She watched him curiously. She knew that Logan had been waiting for Charlie to come around and it sounded like this was the first step. "That's great, Logan," she told him softly.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah," he sighed. "I'm kinda nervous," he admitted quietly. "What if it's a big disaster or something?"
"And what if it turns out to be great? You're not gonna do yourself any favors if you think of every bad thing that could happen."
He nodded briefly. "True," he answered.
She picked at her salad a bit more and finally looked up at him again. "I can come with if you want."
Logan's eyebrows ascended at her offer, completely taken aback.
"I mean, to kill some of the tension between you guys or . . . forget it, it was a stupid idea."
"No," he finally sighed. "No, I appreciate the offer, Veronica. Really," he told her sincerely. "But I think this is something I need to do on my own. Thanks anyway." He smiled at her genuinely touched by her offer and she couldn't help but smile back.
"No problem," she whispered.
They decided to meet at the same Italian restaurant he and Veronica frequented earlier. Logan arrived first and he waited nervously in the waiting area for his brother. His brother. It was just so surreal. He realized then that he didn't know what the guy looked like. Veronica had shown him a grainy photo after the truth had come out, but the image was fuzzy in his minds eye. He remembered dark hair like his, but that was the extent of it. After the Vanity Fair mess he avoided all media when it came to anything involving his family.
The door opened and Logan glanced up. His throat tightened a bit and he knew that the man standing in front of him was Charlie.
"Logan?"
He nodded and rose to his feet to greet the stranger. "Hey," Logan answered as he jammed his hands in his pockets. He was staring at Charlie, he knew it, but he couldn't stop. All he could see in front of him was his father staring right back and it left him feeling cold.
"Let's get a table," Charlie finally suggested.
When they were seated, the silence continued and Logan fleetingly regretted not taking Veronica up on her offer to join them.
"So you're probably wondering why I called."
"The thought did cross my mind," Logan answered as he stared down at the table.
Charlie fiddled with the silverware in front of him. "My birthday was last week."
Logan's eyebrows knitted in confusion as he briefly looked up at him. "Ok . . . happy birthday?"
He chuckled softly. "I, um, I turned thirty and I realized it was time for me to man up so to speak. I'm not proud to say this, Logan, but the reason I hadn't made any effort for us to meet had nothing to do with you. It was because of Aaron. I guess I finally realized what a prick I was being."
"So you had, like a midlife crisis or something?" he asked and began to rearrange the silverware in front of him.
"Or something yeah. It dawned on me I have this brother out there that I don't even know and I want to change that . . . if you want the same thing that is. No pressure. I'm sure this is weird for you."
"Weird doesn't even cover it," he mumbled.
"Yeah, I bet," Charlie sighed. "I'm not saying we'll be instant best friends or anything, but maybe we can hang out one day . . . you, uh, told me once that you love to surf. You still hitting the waves?"
Logan finally grinned. "That's putting it mildly."
He chuckled. "I've only tried it a few times myself, but maybe that's something we could do."
Logan sighed as he remembered the fake Charlie who had set him up. "Yeah, maybe."
The silence between them came back.
"I, uh, I don't know what you want me to say," Logan finally told him still not looking at him.
Charlie simply shrugged. "Whatever you want."
Logan started to shred the paper napkin in front of him. "I thought you hated me," he finally confessed. "For outing you as Aaron's kid."
Charlie's eyebrows furrowed and if Veronica were there she would have pointed out that at that moment he had the same facial expression as Logan. "No way," he told him quickly. "I get that you got suckered punched by that asshole from Vanity Fair. I probably would have jumped to the same conclusion that you did. I don't blame you for that, Logan. Yeah, I was pissed off at first, but I never hated you."
He blew out a breath as he cast his gaze out the window. "That's good to know."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why won't you look at me?"
Logan's eyes flickered to him and then back to the window as he sighed. "You, uh, remind me of Aaron . . . you look like him. You got the same eyes and everything."
Charlie frowned at that as he curiously watched Logan and the pieces finally fell into place. He had been a teacher for years and the telltale signs of past abuse were right in front of him. He swiveled the glass of water in front of him for a minute. The last thing he wanted to do was wreck whatever he was trying to start, but the empathetic part of him couldn't help but ask. "How long did he abuse you?"
Logan's head quickly shot back to the man in front of him. He was the one avoiding eye contact now. "I never said--"
"You didn't have to," he sighed as he looked up and watched Logan. "I've seen lots of things in my life, Logan. That would be one of them."
"This really isn't something I wanna talk to you about," Logan told him angrily. "I just met you for fucks sake and now you wanna play big brother?"
Charlie held his arms out in defense. "Sorry, I went too far. I shouldn't--"
Logan quickly stood. "I gotta go, man. I'll see ya around or something."
He made his way out of the restaurant and Charlie sighed, resting his head in his palms. "Smooth, Stone, real smooth."
The banging at the apartment door jarred Veronica awake and she made her way to the front door, baseball bat in hand.
"Who is it?" she called out gruffly.
"Veronica, it's me, open up!" came the angry call.
Her eyebrows knit as she swung the door open, bat still in hand. "Logan, what the hell? It's one in the morning. You're lucky my dad--" She finally noticed the look on his face and pulled at his arm so that he would come into the apartment. "What happened?" she asked him concerned as she shut the door.
He paced in front of her. "Tell me the truth," he asked her calmly as he watched her. "Did you call Charlie? Did you tell him that he should meet me? Did you tell him," he swallowed thickly. "Did you tell him what my dad used to--" he couldn't finish the sentence.
Veronica dropped the bat and it clattered to the ground. "God, Logan, no!" she told him. "I wouldn't do that to you."
He nodded briefly and headed for the door again. She stopped him before he could take another step.
"You are not leaving here until you tell me what happened . . . Please, Logan." Her hands fluttered to his face and she didn't know whether to touch him or not. She was so frustrated with herself and their situation that she could feel the hot tears well in her eyes. She couldn't stand it anymore and she finally grasped his face in her hands. "Tell me," she told him quietly.
He finally nodded and she led him to the couch. The space between them was little, but Veronica scooted closer to him anyways. She reached for his right hand as he rubbed his face with the other.
"I, uh, met Charlie for dinner tonight," he began softly.
He paused and she didn't dare interrupt him, so she merely squeezed his hand in response.
"He was telling me that he didn't contact me because of Aaron and that he didn't hate me for what happened with the interviews and shit." He sighed again. "It was goin' fine and then, out of nowhere, he asked me how long Aaron . . . abused me."
Veronica sucked in a breath at that. For as long as she'd known Logan that was the one subject she was never able to get him to open up about. He preferred to ignore it, pretend it didn't happen and that no one knew about it either.
"How did he know?" she asked him quietly.
He shrugged. "He gave me this bullshit story about being a teacher and knowing the signs."
She frowned again at that. "What signs?"
She could feel Logan tense next to her. "You didn't tell me he looked like him. He's got his eyes," he told her softly. "Every time I looked at him, I just saw my dad, so I just stopped looking."
"Oh, God, Logan. I'm sorry."
He nodded briefly. "I knew you didn't say anything to him. I just . . . I just didn't know where else to go."
She bit her bottom lip to keep the tears from coming, but she felt one slide down her cheek anyway. "I'm glad you came," she finally told him.
He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. "I can't do it, Veronica. I can't be around him. All I fuckin' see is his damn face mocking me."
She leaned back as well and clenched his hand tighter, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Logan."
"Me too," he finally sighed.
"Hey."
Logan was unloading his surfboard from his Range Rover when the familiar voice startled him from behind. He turned to face Veronica, board forgotten.
"Scared ya, didn't I?" she grinned.
"You're just so short I couldn't see you come up from behind."
She smirked at him in response.
"Funny running into you here," he told her, a knowing grin on his face.
"Yeah, funny, huh?"
He tilted his head to the side. "So what's up?"
"Can't a girl just stop by and say 'hi'?"
"If that girl is you, then no."
"That hurts, Logan. Right here," she told him, pointing to her heart.
"Tough."
She finally sighed as she looked up at him. "It's been awhile since I've seen you."
Logan shrugged. "Been busy."
"Busy winter surfing or busy avoiding everyone that cares about you?"
He couldn't help but laugh. "Who elected you captain of the search party?"
"Would you believe me if I told you this was a one woman effort?"
He looked down and then back at her. "If you're the one woman - then yeah." He sighed and popped the hatch of the truck so that they could sit down.
"I've been worried about you," she finally sighed as she sat next to him. "It's been like a week since I've seen you."
"I know," he nodded. "I shouldn't have disappeared on you like that."
She shrugged slightly. "I wasn't surprised. You needed some time to think, I get that. "
He had disappeared on her. The night he had shown up at Veronica's door, he had ended up staying until the following morning. She had tried to get him to talk some more about Charlie, but he refused and left. Ever since then he had been avoiding everyone - Veronica, Mac, Dick, and especially Charlie.
Veronica chewed on the inside of her cheek waiting for Logan to say something.
"So it couldn't have been that hard to find me," Logan told her with a small smile. "What'd you do? Put a trace on my cell phone or track down one of my credit cards?"
Internally Veronica groaned. The fact that Logan immediately thought that of her only reminded her of why he didn't think the two of them together worked. "No," she told him softly. "Believe it or not, I just thought of the one place I'd be able to find you."
Logan's brows rose in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean--"
"It's ok," she interrupted softly.
"You been doing ok?" he finally asked.
She couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped. "I should be asking you that," she told him.
"Why wouldn't I be ok?" he asked her. "No worries here."
"So you've been avoiding everyone because you're doing so good?"
"I never said I was avoiding."
"So what would you call it then? You just admitted that you disappeared on me."
He shrugged. "There's a difference between avoidance and disappearance. I've just been enjoying some alone time."
"Ahh," she nodded. "I didn't realize you suddenly became a loner."
Again he bristled next to her. "Why don't you say what you obviously can't hold back, Veronica?"
She sighed. "I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to talk about what happened, I'm here," she told him simply. "I get that you needed space and time to process everything that's happened. I do, Logan. I guess I just wanted to remind you that you're not alone."
He opened his mouth to respond, but Veronica beat him to the punch.
"And before you tell me you're fine again, I just wanted to say I know you and I know when you're 'fine'. And guess what? You're not fine."
Logan sat there silently for a moment processing what she had said. She didn't say anything more. She just simply swung her legs from her perch on the truck.
"He's called a few times," Logan finally sighed.
"You sound surprised," she offered quietly already knowing he was speaking about Charlie.
"I guess I am," he admitted. "We didn't leave things on good terms you know."
Again Veronica nodded. "Have you actually talked to him?"
"No," he sighed. "I haven't even checked my voicemail," he admitted.
"But you're not avoiding," she teased him.
"Maybe just a little."
"So have you gotten the urge to call him back yet . . . or check your messages at least?"
He shrugged slightly. "I've been avoiding thinking about that," he told her honestly. He pulled his cell from his back pocket and twirled it a bit.
"What are you thinking?" she asked him quietly.
He sucked in a breath and flipped open the phone and pressed one for his voicemail. Veronica continued to sit next to him watching him every now and then. Logan listened to all of his messages. He was surprised there was only one from Veronica simply stating that she was there if he wanted to talk. The others were from Dick and Mac and one from a girl he went out with a month ago. The last one was from Charlie.
"Hey, Logan, it's Charlie. I, uh, know things went bad last time, but I was hoping you'd be willing to meet up again. I'm really sorry about last week, honestly. It wasn't my place to say anything about . . . anything. I hope you're doing well and um, give me a call, ok?"
Logan snapped his phone shut and Veronica looked at him, trying to read his thoughts. "You ok?"
He looked at her and smirked. "You only left me one message, Veronica - I'm shocked."
She smiled in return. "I just did what I thought you'd want me to do, Logan. Leave you alone."
He nodded slightly. "Thanks." He paused for a moment. "Charlie wants to meet again," he sighed. "He said he was sorry about what happened last time."
She nodded slightly. "That's good," she offered.
"Yeah," he muttered.
They both remained silent.
"I don't think I can do it, Veronica," he admitted quietly. "Forget about the shit that he brought up," he continued. "I just keep seeing Aaron instead of Charlie. The bastard's dead, but I can't get rid of him."
Veronica processed his thoughts. "I can't tell you what to do, Logan. I can't imagine what it was like to meet Charlie for the first time and then be hit with this. But . . . don't let your dad win this one." she sucked in a quick breath. "Aaron's dead . . . he can't hurt you anymore. Charlie may look like him, but he's nothing like him. At least not from what you've told me. Don't let your dad ruin a relationship with your only brother."
"Easier said than done," Logan muttered in return.
Veronica nodded in agreement and looked up towards the ocean. Her eyes widened when she saw who was approaching them.
"Logan--"
He looked at her and followed her gaze. He sucked in a breath and hopped off the truck in dread - or was it anticipation - he wasn't sure.
"I wasn't following you," Charlie told him before Logan could even say anything. "I swear to God, I didn't know you'd be here."
Veronica was staring. It had been a little over a year since she had seen Charlie and she couldn't believe how right Logan was. The more she looked the more she realized how much he looked like Aaron. It was unnerving to say the least. She glanced at Logan and flexed her hand to stop herself from reaching out to him. Her gaze traveled to Charlie and back again.
"I'm gonna leave the two of you alone," she finally offered quietly. But before she could take a step forward, Logan clasped her hand tightly to keep in her place. "Or I can stay," she finished quietly.
"You must be Logan's girlfriend," Charlie tentatively smiled.
She reached her hand out to greet him. "Veronica. And I'm the ex actually, we're just friends now."
It was always so hard to describe her relationship with Logan. He technically was her ex-boyfriend slash current friend who she still loved but couldn't be with for a hundred different reasons that seemed less important everyday.
"Nice to meet you," he told her quietly.
"What are you doing here?" Logan finally asked him.
Charlie shrugged. "I thought I'd catch a few waves," he smiled slightly.
But Logan didn't fall for his lie. "Kinda outta your way," he told him with a tilt of his head.
Charlie shrugged. "Just a little."
"So you came out this way hoping to run into me," he clarified.
Again he sighed. "Yeah . . . look I just wanted to apologize in person in case you didn't get my message. It wasn't my place to say anything about your life. I'm a stranger to you, I get that. I just want to change that. I'm sorry if looking at me brings up bad memories or whatever. I just hope that that won't affect a relationship between us."
Veronica squeezed Logan's hand. It was hard for her to look at Charlie. Memories of Aaron trying to kill her and her father floated in her mind as well as thoughts of Lilly. She had to remind herself that Aaron was gone and it wasn't Charlie's fault he looked so strikingly like him. She glanced at Logan who was staring at Charlie, his jaw clenched.
"I just need some time," Logan finally sighed. "I just need to process everything you know?"
"Yeah," Charlie sighed and nodded his head resigned. "You have my number, call me when you're ready to talk," he added before he started to walk away.
"Charlie," Logan called out.
Charlie quickly turned to face him and Logan squeezed Veronica's hand for support.
"Maybe we can do lunch or something."
"That'd be great," Charlie grinned widely. "Bring Veronica along if you want," he added.
"Maybe," Logan agreed. "I'll, uh, give you a call later this week."
"Great," he continued to grin and waved goodbye.
Veronica turned to face Logan. "You ok?" she asked him softly.
"Surprisingly -- yeah. I just kept thinking about what you said. I'm not gonna let my dad win this one."
One Month Later
"Welcome to the world of Halo 3," Logan grinned as he started the game.
Charlie grinned as he grabbed the other controller. "Get ready to get your ass kicked, little brother."
Logan snorted loudly. "You wish, old man. Did they even have video games back in your era?"
His comment earned him a punch to his shoulder. "If that's what you need to tell yourself to get over the fact that I beat you at Madden last week, more power to you."
The two brothers engrossed themselves in the game as if it were the most normal thing in the world. A half hour later, Charlie finally let out what he was thinking. "So how are things going with you and Veronica?"
Logan paused slightly at Charlie's question and it caused him to almost get shot. He quickly looked over at Charlie who was still engrossed in the game. "What do you mean?"
Charlie paused the game and Logan looked on at the frozen TV in disbelief. "Fill me in, kid."
"What, are you a twelve year old girl now?" Logan asked him as he dropped the controller to the ground and turned to look at his brother.
Charlie grinned at Logan and scratched the side of his cheek. "Seriously, what's going on with you two?"
Logan narrowed his eyes a bit trying to read Charlie's thought patterns. Veronica had been brought up once or twice in their conversations, and Logan had simply told him that they were done and over. No more, no less. "We used to date and now we're not," he told him simply.
He shook his head in response. "Ya know, whenever I don't want to talk about a chick that's done serious damage, I always give the simplest answers. Like you," he added with a grin.
"I never said she's done serious damage," Logan tried to defend himself.
"You didn't have to. Been there, done that and all that shit."
"So then why are you asking?"
"Because unlike me, I can definitely see that there's still something going on between you two. She still loves you, Logan."
He snorted in amusement. "You've met Veronica like what - four times? What makes you think she loves me?"
He shrugged slightly. "I don't know. You kinda can't help but notice, you know. She worries about you, she obviously cares about you--"
"We're friends," he interrupted.
"There's something else there, Logan."
He sighed tiredly and ran a hand down his hair. "Charlie, look, this really isn't something I wanna talk about. Me and Veronica . . . we just don't work."
"It couldn't have been that bad of a breakup if you're still friends."
Logan took a pull of his nearby beer. "It was bad," he finally admitted. "Me and Veronica . . . we were together, but not really together. I loved her and sometimes I wondered if she even liked me. Fuck, I don't even know how we managed to get together in the first place. At first we were friends for a long time and then Lilly--"
"The girlfriend Aaron--?"
"Yeah, after that -- we pretty much hated each other. I treated her like shit for the longest time and then my mom died." He sucked in a breath at the memory and briefly wondered if that pain would ever go away. "She helped me a lot to put it mildly and she didn't have to. We started to be friends again and then we just . . . jumped into this relationship that lasted like a few weeks. She accused me of Lilly's murder, shit happened and we ended up back together again, but that only lasted through the summer." He frowned at his own thoughts. "It took practically another year for us to get back together again and it was thanks to another disaster with Cassidy Casablancas."
"The kid who jumped?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "Then after that, the semester started and we dated and then we broke up, got back together again and guess what? Broke up. And then she followed that up a little later on by telling me that I was out of her life for good."
Charlie couldn't help but snort. The last thing Logan was for Veronica was out of her life.
"You know what though, Charlie. During the entire time we were together or not together, I knew -- I knew deep in my gut that it wasn't going to work. She doesn't trust me. She never did and I don't think she ever will. And when she finally told me that she loved me, I thought she was going to give herself a heart attack from the effort." He snorted bitterly. "The bottom line, big brother, is that Veronica Mars could care less about me."
"Wow," Charlie sighed. "That has got to be the most self-pitying story I've ever heard."
He frowned. "It's not self-pity, it's true."
"You're going to sit there and tell me that everything you did in your relationship was right? You did no wrong?"
"For shit's sake, of course I fucked up. I admitted it then too. The difference is that once I did something wrong, Veronica couldn't get over it. She wants that normal guy that doesn't have any baggage. I was never good enough for her." He shrugged resigned. "I'll never be good enough."
"Do you still love her? Tell the truth."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I never stopped loving her."
Charlie took that moment to slap him across the back of his head.
"What the fuck was that for?" Logan asked him angrily.
"Just trying to knock some sense into that thick head of yours."
"Wh--"
"Shut up for a minute," Charlie interrupted him. "Look, Logan, I've been in a lot of relationships with a lot of women and for one reason or another, things go wrong. What you have with Veronica, that's something big. That's something that everyone wants. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Don't blow it."
"Didn't you hear anything I said? Me and Veronica don't work."
"Veronica and I," he corrected him.
"Seriously? You're gonna pull the teacher card right now?"
"Sorry, habit. You're still not getting my point."
"Charlie, what the hell is your point?"
"You're fooling yourself if you think that things are 'over' between the two of you. It's screwing with your head. Next time you see her, open your eyes and see what's staring right back at you. Trust me, you won't regret it."
Three Weeks Later
Logan glanced down at his watch and sighed. "I think we've been stood up again."
Veronica rolled her eyes. "Did Mac get a hold of Charlie already?"
"Apparently," he grinned. "Whatever. You still hungry?"
"When am I not?" she grinned back. "You're not allowed to eat the garlic bread," she told him as he signaled for the waitress.
"What? Why?"
"I am not going to be stuck in a car with you when you have garlic breath."
He started to laugh. "Veronica, we're in an Italian restaurant. Everything they have here has garlic in it."
She wrinkled her nose. "Just stay away from the bread."
He started to pout. "But that's my favorite thing they have here."
She rolled her eyes in return. "Fine, but you need to chew a whole pack of gum before we leave."
"Deal," he grinned.
A comfortable silence settled between them and Veronica couldn't help but reflect how much had changed in the past two months. She and Logan had become closer and even better friends. There was still some unresolved tension between them, but it was a thousand times better than before.
Logan tilted his head to the side as he discretely watched Veronica stare at him. To say that things were better was putting it mildly. He and Veronica had become closer. And although he never thought he'd be 'over' Veronica, where they were in their relationship was probably the healthiest it had ever been. The urge to grab her and kiss her, he'd realized, would never stop. So he learned to quell the instinct instead.
He grinned at her and she smiled back.
"What?" she laughed.
"You were the one checking me out," he teased her.
She scoffed lightly. "In your dreams, Echolls." The truth was that she wanted him back, but she knew it was pointless. Logan would never get over the reasons they separated so long ago. "You have something on your face," she lied. "That's why I was looking at you."
He frowned and rubbed at his cheek.
She leaned over and gently brushed his other cheek. "All better," she told him softly.
He smiled back at her. "Thanks . . . for everything," he added softly.
She shrugged in return. "Buy me dinner and we'll call it even."
He shook his head slightly. "I mean it, Veronica," he told her softly. "I don't think me and Charlie would have had a second shot if it weren't for you. I was ready to forget he existed."
"That was all you, Logan," she corrected him. "I was just there for moral support. You're not giving yourself enough credit."
He shrugged. "Maybe, but I still couldn't have done it without you."
She smiled sadly. "That's what friends are for, right?"
He looked down at the table and back at her. "Right."
Again the silence descended.
"So are you and Charlie still going surfing next weekend?"
"Yeah," he grinned. "I think he finally has the whole surfing thing down."
"You're a good teacher," she smiled.
"Nah," he shook his head. "He already knew the basics. He just needed some pointers and someone to ride his ass."
She laughed. "You are good at that."
"I know," he grinned.
"So things are still going good with the two of you then?"
He shrugged. "It's weird having a brother, but yeah. I guess I can't complain."
Things had surprisingly been going really well for them. He and Charlie had even briefly talked about the abuse he had gone through. It was one of the first times Logan had openly talked about it with anyone. They had begun to develop a friendship and Veronica had even been there a few times when they had met for lunch. Ever since Logan had opened up to Charlie about his relationship with Veronica, he continued to try to convince him that there was still something there to fight for. And Logan had to admit that every time he looked at Veronica now, he kept looking for signs. Something that would tell him that they could make it work. She smiled at him and something in his chest tugged at the simple gesture. Maybe . . .
"I'm happy for you, Logan," she told him with a smile, breaking him out of his thoughts. "It's about time things went good for you."
He chuckled softly. "It's an adjustment, that's for sure. Who knows," he told her, leaning his cheek on his palm. "Maybe things will start getting better for me after all."
"Maybe," she told him mimicking his posture.
"Who knows what the future holds, after all, right?"