Disclaimer: I wished on a lucky penny, a rainbow, and a cross-eyed, one-footed rabbit, but I still don't own Veronica Mars.
Chapter 2/7

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What Makes a House a Home? and The Curse of the Talking Photographs

And that's how I found myself driving my Toyota Adonis ( leased, so it will never be mine) along Interstate 15, heading south and steadily west toward home.

Home. I had only recently begun calling the Kersey house my home. I laughed out loud and the sound was absorbed into the soft upholstery of the seats. Someone once told me that there were two kinds of people in the world: those that called the place they lived "home" and those that called "home" the place where they came from. I thought I was part of the former category, but it turns out that I did not. I sighed loudly.

I had been sad leaving my house. It looked sort of forlorn as I backed out of the driveway. Almost like it was disappointed in me. It practically shouted after me, "Why haven't you used vacation time to take care of me? The powder room still needs painted! And, the cellar needs a good cleaning if you ever expect to finish it. Come back, Veronica! I'm your best friend now!"

My neighbor had promised to collect my mail while I was gone. And my closest friend from work was babysitting my cat, Kerrigan. But, there was no one to watch my house. I almost turned around to go back to it. To beg its forgiveness. But, I was only being silly. So, I soldiered on toward Neptune.

I was taking two weeks from work. The first I intended to spend with my family (and the blaméd wedding) and the second was going to be spent either at Disneyland with Allen or at home. I hadn't decided yet. Or, rather, Allen hadn't. I had a good feeling of how he might react to my invitation though. I grinned. For the first time since I'd gotten too toasted on champagne and signed, sealed, and all but delivered the RSVP to the post-office, I was almost looking forward to seeing Neptune once more. My hometown. The homestead, as dad had called it. Home.

I smiled again as I crossed the state line. "California Welcomes You," I read aloud. "Indeed."

And it wasn't two hours before I was in Neptune again. I passed the Neptune Grand, still a shining example of opulence, overindulgence, and affluence. My least favorite -ences. All the more reason to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The more familiar parts of town soon crowded my windshield. The Balboa County Sheriff's Department. Neptune's finest. Mars Investigations. Neptune's real finest. Sunset Cliffs. Java the Hut. Vinnie's office. Cliff's office.

Finally, I made a sharp left off of Ross and onto Park. 2116 Park Lane. The address sounded too good to be true. But that was where my dad was hanging his hat these days. I parked.

I wasn't out of the car for two seconds when I heard the crash of the screen door and felt my little brother's arms around my waist. I looked down at the brown head and smiled. My dad soon joined Allen in hugging me, not even giving me a minute to say hello.

When we finally parted, I laughed. "You'd think I haven't seen you in a decade!"

"It's always too long, honey," came my dad's reply. He beamed down at me. "I'm so glad you made it safely. How was the drive?"

I shrugged. "Long. And I'm starving."

Karen chimed in. "Great. We were hoping you would be. We made your favorite."

Keith gave me another proud smile, but this time, the pride was all his own. "Actually, Karen is overstepping. I made the lasagna. She made the salad."

Allen piped up, "And I made the garlic bread and the iced tea."

I exclaimed over my little brother while we unloaded my car. I hadn't brought much, but unpacking after a long drive always makes me wish I'd brought less.

After dinner, dad and I sat alone in the dining room while Karen and Allen did the dishes. They'd insisted, and I was grateful for a few minutes of selfish daddy-daughter time.

"So, how's Colorado treating you?" he hedged.

I knew what he was really asking. "No, dad, I don't have a potential fiancé for you to glare at and make feel inadequate."

He had the good sense to look abashed. He was so transparent. "I'm sorry, honey. I don't want you to rush. I just worry about you being lonely in that big old house."

"I'm not lonely. I'm only twenty-nine. I'm not quite ready to let Kerrington start reproducing a herd of felines and living the life of a spinster. Though, I have recently picked up knitting."

Dad cringed and I swatted his arm and continued with a laugh, "I'll have you know, knitting is very chic in Colorado. And, anyway, I've been seeing someone pretty steadily recently." At the way my dad perked at this little bit of news, I had to press on, "But don't start ordering flower arrangements yet, okay? We're just sort of testing the waters."

I paused and he lifted his brows expectantly. When I didn't give, he demanded, "More."

I chuckled. "Really, dad. You need to take up something and get your mind off of my love life. It's sort of sad. No, make that really sad with a big dash of pathetic."

He pulled a face. "Maybe I'll take up knitting."

"What's this about knitting?" Karen asked, taking her chair at the table with a bemused smile and effectively saving me from any more awkward questions.

Later that night, I padded around the guest room. It had become my unofficial bedroom, as it was where I always slept when I came to visit. I had a few personal effects on display, things that never fit in with my new naked mole rat life in Kersey and Dad had wanted me to keep "just in case."

On the bed, there was a little stuffed yellow-green bear named Drew. It was a horrid color and made to look even worse from twenty-nine years of cuddling, washing, and travel. I felt bad leaving it behind when I moved to Colorado.

On the dresser were three framed photographs. One was a picture of my father and I on the day I graduated from Neptune High. I had a similar picture from my college graduation from Hearst and another from my graduation from Stanford Law. But, this one was special. I recognized classmates milling around in the background. I even remember Mrs. Fennell taking the photograph.

"Smile, Keith!" Alicia ordered.

I looked up at my dad. He was smiling all right, but it was watered down with tears he would not shed. I squeezed him tighter and smiled brightly.

The flash blinded me momentarily and he kissed my forehead.

"Be careful at that party tonight," he warned with a grin.

"Always. Careful is my middle name."

"Your middle name is Trouble."

"Right. It's a family name. I keep forgetting," I replied ruefully. "You be careful, too."

"Always. I can't risk not coming home to you, Veronica," he said seriously. Then, he added with a smile, "The town of Neptune would never survive without me to keep you in check."

I smiled and waved him away. "Go catch your bad guy, Mr. Mars."

He gave me a little mock salute and with a smile, disappeared into the crowd.

The other was a picture of Wallace and I in line for Splash Mountain at Disneyland. It was taken the year between our sophomore and junior years at Hearst. He was laughing and I was grinning like mad. I remembered that we'd been on the ride six times already and it showed because my hair was dripping and my tank top was stuck to me. I smiled. But, of course, I also remembered that my boyfriend at the time had been the one to take it. My smile faltered.

"I need to capture this on film," Logan said with a half-licentious grin.

"What?" I giggled, peeling the wet cotton from my stomach with a little smacking sound. I laughed again.

"This," he said, encompassing me with a good-natured leer. "Come on, Wally, get in there with her so I can pretend it's in the name of friendship."

Wallace laughed and threw his arm around my shoulders and the camera snapped, effectively preserving us in that moment.

"However, the photographer didn't even last until I developed the film," I said mildly as I replaced the frame.

The last one was of Lilly and me. I remembered the moment as clearly as if it had just happened.

"Veronica! You look absolutely scandalous in that! I love it! I'm already borrowing it!"

I glanced down at the red bikini she'd talked me into buying. It was far too flashy and far brief, even if it was flattering. My cheeks flamed hot pink. Scandalous was a good word choice. But, I didn't say so.

Duncan stood up from his deck chair and crossed to me. He placed his hands on my bare waist and held me at an arms length from him and grinned foolishly. "She's a keeper, huh Logan?" he asked, glancing back at his best friend, who was lounging next to Lilly.

He peered up at me from beneath his sunglasses. He gave a little nod and answered, "Right, DK. A keeper." He slid his eyes shut once more.

I blushed harder at his appraisal. I stepped out of Duncan's hot grasp and laid down beside Lilly on a blanket next to the pool. We were whispering together about one of Logan's hot friends who had lazily drifted by on a blue raft. Apparently, Lilly had made out with him the day before. He was twenty-two!

Duncan called Lilly's name and we both looked up. We smiled. Mine was the smile of a girl afraid of getting caught and Lilly's was a smile that told the world that she hoped for nothing better than a good scandal.

Duncan snapped the picture and froze us like that forever.

I smiled wistfully as I replaced the photograph. They were great pictures. And, at my house in Kersey... no, my home in Kersey, I would probably glance at them and smile. But here in Neptune, memories flooded me every time I looked at something. Anything. Even that damnable hotel.

"When are you going to take me at my word, Veronica? Ever? Or is that just too much to ask?" Logan asked as he packed clothes into a suitcase.

The bedroom was a mess. He was moving into a normal apartment before classes started again the following week. And for someone so seemingly unattached to an address or personal belongings, he was certainly making a big deal over packing up his meager life at the Grand.

"You don't listen to me when I talk, do you?" I fired back from my place at the closet. I was gesturing wildly with a wooden hanger. "All I did was ask you about your trip to San Francisco. Most people would just take that as a friendly inquiry, not the third degree."

"Nothing with you is ever simple. Everything is an accusation. You can't even ask me for the remote with out thinking that I might turn the Playboy channel on."

I rolled my eyes and threw the hanger on the floor where it clattered against its mates. I turned back to the closet and spotted something shiny on the floor in the corner. I picked it up.

Red satin panties. Red satin panties that were not mine. Red satin panties that were not mine in my boyfriend's closet. I whirled on him

"What is this?" I demanded, holding them aloft. The dripped from my fingers like blood.

Logan looked up and for a split-second, looked completely dumbfounded. Then he answered, "It appears to be a thong. But, that is a contested term. It looks more like a g-string to me."

"And who might they belong to?" I asked, crossing the room so that I stood not a foot from him.

He continued folding clothes with an exaggerated eye roll. "I don't know. Maybe they wrote it on the tag?"

I threw them at him and he dropped the sweater he'd been folding to face me. I looked at them rather than at him. They looked gruesome, half-clinging to the sand comforter.

"Honestly, Veronica. They don't belong to anyone I know. The only girl that has ever been in this room with me is you. And, if they're not yours, I don't know who they belong to."

I let him make his little speech while I stood and trembled with an unhealthy mixture of rage, embarrassment, betrayal, and horror. Logan was a lot of things to me, but I never believed he'd actually cheat. Not after what he'd been through with Lilly. But I was proven wrong.

I held back my tears and said as calmly and as coldly as I could manage, "Don't ever try to talk to me again. Ever."

I turned on my heel and walked out the door and I hadn't seen him since.

I climbed into the twin bed, noticing its marked difference from my enormous four-poster back in Kersey. I wriggled into the mattress, almost not wanting to get comfortable. I felt like it would be giving in. But, the fluffy comforter and the pillows piled high were too much for me and I succumbed to sleep immediately.

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A/N: I also don't own Toyota, even though I made up that particular make :)


To my anonymous reviewer, sara: Thanks a million! I hope you liked this chapter, too! And to the rest of you out there, keep spoon feeding me those reviews, and I'll keep posting quickly. I think this is an apt time to insert diabolical laughter ;)

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