The Sunday after Logan asks her is when they decide to share the news with other people, instead of staying held up at home in bed, on the couch, all over each other, like they have been for the last day and a half. Logan pulls the car up against the side of the curb in front of Keith's house, cuts the ignition, and they both get out. Veronica pauses, her thumb playing with her ring as she waits for Logan to come around to her side. He holds out his hand, asks her if she's ready.
Logan leads them up to the porch, through the house, and out to the backyard. Sunday family barbecues have become a monthly tradition over the last couple of years, since not long after Alicia and Keith decided to try again. Logan was deployed when they started and Veronica was especially grateful for the distraction. She's glad that he's home for good now, won't have to miss any more of these.
They're barely through the back door when Keith comes up to them, and she knows that he knows. Logan wouldn't have done anything before talking this through with her dad over pizza and baseball on TV.
Veronica holds up her hand so that he can see the ring. He kisses her cheek, pulls her into a hug, and says "Congratulations, honey" before patting Logan on the back and returning to grill duty.
"It's about damn time, Echolls," Wallace says, walking toward them, grinning. He embraces Veronica with one arm, gives Logan a low five. "So, which one of you am I standing next to at the altar?"
Veronica peeks into their room, sees Logan still lying in bed asleep. He's in his boxers and on his back, the sheets kicked off to his side.
"Christ," she mutters, her eyes squinting. She slips through the doorway, wearing just her underwear and one of Logan's t-shirts. She places her hands on her empty side of the bed, using her weight to bounce the mattress. Logan doesn't stir, so Veronica crawls on her hands and knees over to his side. When she reaches Logan, she moves so that she's stretched out on top of him, her body flush against his. She rests one arm on his chest, uses the other to prop up her head. That's when his eyes finally flutter open.
"I've decided that I want to have a ceremony," Veronica says. "Not a big one, but something. And I'm hyphenating."
Logan's eyes move around. He's blinking at the brightness of the room.
"Okay," he says, his voice sleepy. One of his eyes closes almost all the way, but he's looking up at her. "Works for me."
"Good," Veronica responds, giving him a quick kiss and rolling off his body. She stands up and tugs at his arm. "Now get your ass out of bed. I made eggs and pancakes and they're gonna get cold. Come on." She drags out the last word for emphasis, letting a whine enter her voice, and she resists the urge to stomp her foot on the carpet.
"What are you, six? Come here," Logan slips his hands around her waist, catching her off guard. He pulls her back down on top of him, quick and easy, hugging her tightly so that she can't escape. He rolls them over and buries them both under the covers, and Veronica is laughing so hard that she's gasping for air.
"Damn you," she says, still busting up, her head pressed into a pillow. Her response is muffled by Logan's mouth closing in. His lips and tongue meet hers, and his hand slides underneath her shirt. His fingers ease up the side of her torso. She squirms underneath him and lifts her head, going deeper. Breakfast can wait.
Veronica returns from the grocery store one night, carrying all five bags in at once because she's not about to make two trips, and she finds Logan in the kitchen. He's leaning against the island in only his sweats. His legs and arms are crossed in front of him, a beer in one hand, and he's staring at the refrigerator, lost in something.
She pauses at the kitchen entrance. Her tone is suspicious when she breaks the silence. "What are you doing?"
Logan glances at her, and then nods toward the fridge, motioning with his beer bottle. "Look at this."
Veronica goes to set down the grocery bags on the island, joining Logan against the counter. She smiles when she sees it.
The face of the metallic fridge is mostly empty. A few scattered magnets and one of Hunter's first drawings of Logan flying his plane are all that they've made an effort to display. But tonight Veronica sees a photo she hasn't looked at in years, didn't know it still existed. Her dad must've found it.
The picture shows 12-year-old Veronica, all sweaty and rosy cheeks with a frizzy blonde ponytail, after one of her last soccer games. She's sitting on a park bench, holding a green Gatorade sport bottle in her lap with both hands. Her smile is wide, all teeth. But then there's 12-year-old Logan too, next to her. His brown hair is lighter from a month of summer days spent out in the sun. He's in his swim trunks and a plain orange t-shirt. He's smiling just as much as Veronica is, his eyes squinty, and his gangly arm is wrapped around her shoulder. Their heads don't touch, but they're both leaning in.
Logan nudges Veronica's arm with his elbow, waits for her to meet his glance. "You remember?"
"I do remember," Veronica says with a nod. She reaches for his beer, takes a sip, and hands it back to him. "But I never found out how you managed to watch from the bench for, what was it? Like, half the game?"
"I told the assistant coach that you and Lilly would start crying and lose it all if I didn't sit specifically in that spot," he smirks, placing the bottle on the counter. They face each other, both with crossed arms. "You guys were on your way to losing when I did this."
"And he believed you?" Veronica's eyes narrow and she frowns in disgust. "I'm a little offended."
"Ah, but it got us this, didn't it?" Logan's head angles in the direction of the fridge.
Veronica's stance softens. She smiles up at him and she can't roll her eyes or make a weak quip because he's doing this again, this thing where his eyes meet hers, and just like that, they're both thinking about how every tiny occurrence between them has led to this moment, led to everything.
They're standing in front of a shared refrigerator, in their shared kitchen, looking them when they were two of four best friends, fitting together even then. And now it's just the two of them, again, and she's wearing his grandmother's ring and they're on their way to forever.
She leans forward to kiss Logan's shoulder, and then puts her arms around his lower back as his arms bring her closer. The side of her face rests against his chest. Her eyes find the picture again before they close.
"And this."
The wedding is two days away. Veronica is a mess.
She doesn't know how she ends up at Lilly's grave site, but she knows it's a mistake. She can count on one hand the number of times she's been there, the last being the morning before her big, scary departure from Neptune.
Veronica still misses Lilly, knows she always will. But it's during the bigger, life-altering moments that her heart aches for her best friend in a way that it does for no one else. She just wants one day, or one hour, to talk with Lilly, to hug her, to tell her how happy she finally is. Lilly should be here for all of this. Lilly and Veronica should have planned all of this. She still needs her, even after years without her.
"An Elle Woods phase and a Navy pilot that wants to be yours 'til death do you part," Lilly would say, grown now but still sultry as ever, her fingers carefully arranging Veronica's hair around her face and shoulders before the ceremony. "I knew you wouldn't be one to disappoint me, Veronica Mars."
Veronica kneels down on the grass, uses her sweatshirt sleeve to wipe away the tears that won't stop falling. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and stands up to leave.
The empty house doesn't help anything. When Logan comes home an hour later from his day on base, Veronica's eyes are swollen and bloodshot and everything is unsteady. She knows she's worrying him, but she can't calm herself down. He tells her she doesn't have to apologize or explain or hold back, knows that this isn't anything but a release she still needs. He holds her until the trembling finally stops.
Logan understands. He always has.
Veronica peers over the gossip magazine that she's pretending to read and sees Logan and his favorite young companion in the distance. They're both straddling surfboards, focused, the water moving them to the side and back every so often. Hunter watches Logan with intensity as he points to different surfers, instructing with his hands. They won't go out today, Hunter knows this. But he also knows that they will eventually, knows that Logan will stay true to his word, so he's listening and taking everything in and he'll be prepared.
Veronica used to panic any time she saw parts of herself in Hunter. It didn't seem right, seemed painfully unfair to him in ways he would only start to understand years later. But their mom stayed, his dad didn't, and she and Logan got him one Saturday each month – maybe two if Lianne was willing to meet halfway – and soon their innate connection was more like grace than something she wanted to run away from.
"VER-ON-I-CA!"
She looks up and Hunter is running in her direction, through the water and then the sand, his small arms holding his new surfboard. Logan follows him. They both plop down on either side of her.
"So," Veronica starts, tossing her magazine behind them and leaning back on her hands. "How was today's lesson, boys?"
"Logan said that we can go out in the waves next time," Hunter says, his voice cool but wavering with excitement. "Maybe even before mom takes me back home, after tomorrow."
"He did, did he?" Veronica responds eagerly. Hunter nods. She sits up and wraps one arm around Logan's, running her hand along his wet skin. Her fingers lace with his. "It's about time."
"I think he's ready," Logan says, giving Hunter a quick nod. He pulls his hand away from Veronica's so that he can wrap his arm around her waist. He dips down to kiss her cheek, just barely. "But first, we have wedding obligations."
The ceremony is all that Veronica had hoped for, once she realized she wanted one. It's small, thirty people at most in attendance, at a garden estate and vineyard just outside of Neptune. It's not too long and nothing too fancy.
Keith walks Veronica down the aisle, hugs her tightly, and shakes Logan's hand, gives his shoulder a good squeeze before taking his seat in a front row chair next to Alicia. Lianne is seated next to them.
Logan and Veronica let their hands join between them and she takes a shaky breath as she looks away from him for a second to observe their audience. She sees a handful of guys from Logan's squadron, plus two of his superiors, all with significant others. Veronica's two closest friends from Columbia made it in, and Cliff is there, along with their only neighbors that they know – a young family of four that lives down the beach from them and a sweet elderly couple.
Logan decided early on against wearing his uniform and Veronica didn't push it. Instead he wears a black tux and a bowtie, her a strapless white gown. Hunter is in charge of their rings, and Wallace, Dick, and Mac stand up with them.
Veronica and Logan only have to suppress their laughter once while the pastor does his job, and they each catch the other with teary eyes three separate times before it's all finished, before they're married. Husband and wife, kiss the bride, this is it.
Logan brushes Veronica's hair away from her face and his hand cups her cheek as he kisses her a second time before they make their exit, ready for the reception. She laughs and tears flow as she kisses him back. Their arms are linked as they walk between the rows of chairs, everyone standing and clapping, Logan's buddies whistling and hollering, trying to embarrass him.
This is it.
Logan left most of the wedding planning up to Veronica, but he insisted on putting together the playlist for the reception. Before the evening is over, she finds out why.
Veronica is at a table, talking to Hunter and Lianne as they finish their cake, when she lets her attention divert to Logan. He's on the dance floor, swinging Mac around one final time as the current song comes to an end. Veronica stands up, excuses herself, and arranges her dress so that it's not a trip hazard. She walks carefully toward Logan and Mac, maneuvering between disheveled chairs and mostly empty tables. She spots Keith, Alicia, and Wallace chatting near the bar.
Mac and Logan are deep in conversation, so Veronica waits at the edge of the dance floor for a minute after she makes it over there. Veronica sees Mac smiling at her over Logan's shoulder. Mac gives Logan a hug, waves at Veronica with both hands, and saunters off.
Veronica walks up to Logan as he spins around to face her, his eyes look up and then down her body, and he takes a measured breath.
"Hi," she says, her breathing nervous too.
"Hey you," Logan responds, his face warm, features soft. They're both glowing. "Wanna dance?"
"Only with you. But no more music?"
Logan looks over at the deejay, then back at Veronica, and holds out his hands for her to take. "There will be."
Veronica's face scrunches up. He's up to something. She places her hands in his, and he lifts them up, releasing them behind his neck. His hands fall low on her hips. The next song starts playing after a minute, and the all too familiar piano melody is suddenly all encompassing.
So this is why Logan was strangely possessive over their reception music, because he wanted to slip some John Legend into the mix. And not just any John Legend song – specifically that "All of Me" track that Logan was obsessed with during their first six months apart, which unbeknownst to him, the radio conveniently played on the regular.
Veronica grins as she hits him on his shoulder, then she relaxes into him, pulling him a little closer. His cheek meets the side of her head, her fingertips brush through the hair above his neck. They're swaying, making gradual, easy strides around one corner of the dance floor.
You're my end and my beginning / even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me / and you give me all of you
Logan tilts his head down, whispers into her ear. "You know I had to. It's our-"
Veronica leans her head back and her hand covers his mouth. "Our song," she finishes, looking up at him. Her mouth is as close to his now as it can be without making contact. "I'm glad you did."
She leans in to kiss him, but he pulls back, their mouths still lingering.
"I wife you up and now you agree, huh?"
"Maybe I always have."
Logan laughs against her lips, kisses her finally.
"Thank you for marrying me."
"Sure, babe. Thank you for asking me."
"I love you."
"And I love you."
Their noses touch, lips meet again. They've made it.
The song Logan and Veronica hear while eating dinner in Chapter 1 is "I Wanna Be Yours" by the Arctic Monkeys. The story's title is also taken from that song.
"All of Me" by John Legend has always been a Logan/Veronica song to me - even after it became a massive mainstream hit and overplayed. ;) The idea of Logan being really into it and them dancing to it at their wedding reception was basically my sole reasoning for writing this story in the first place. Thanks for reading!