She snuggles her shoulders back against the lush padding of the dark grey love seat, steaming black coffee in hand, as she stretches out her legs.

I could get used to this.

"Enjoying yourself?" Logan asks, smile in his voice, as he seats himself matter-of-factly on her left.

She turns to him with a small nod and a smile of her own. "And they say the corporate world gets all the perks."

Logan laughs. "Very true. Don't think Kane Tech's employee lounge could rival those napping pods."

Her eyes widen as she trails his head-tilt towards the two luscious pods near the back of the lounge.

This place is heaven.

"Makes you wonder why teaching is such an unpopular job," she mutters.

To her surprise, two male voices sputter in laughter to her left and right. She glances at a laughing Logan for a split second before whipping around to the stepbrother standing beside the couch.

"You will so see why it is in a moment, sista." Wallace sips his coffee.

"Sista? Really? You still owe me one, buddy," she outright complains, disregarding the bustle of other colleagues around the open space.

"For what?" Wallace perks up, eyes all innocence.

Sure, ask me in front of Logan, smarty-pants.

She rolls her eyes and groans.

"Attention, everyone!"

Veronica turns to the source of the voice and immediately pops into perfect posture like a teacher's pet. The woman may be short, but she carries plenty of punch without a gun.

"She gets to you too?" Logan whispers, he himself sitting upright.

"Would I be weak to say yes?" She whispers back.

"You'd be human."

They both smile.

"As you know, today is a very special day." The portly lady in front - grey suit and pumps and all - gestures firmly at the magnified school calendar on the screen. She throws back her grey bun with an air of absolute authority. "Today is homecoming, and we need to run through those chaperone assignments right now."

The collective groan across the crowd catches Veronica by surprise.

Aren't students supposed to be the ones complaining in school?

She recollects her thoughts, hands holding her coffee cup securely on her lap. She could sense Logan smirking right beside her.

"Since we are short of male teachers this year and need more men on duty for the second shift, only male teachers with pre-existing commitments may be excused from chapping."

To her right, Wallace shifts on the armrest and grins.

"Is this why you were so pumped about your coach convention thingy tonight?" She whispers hoarsely, willing her voice to travel upwards.

"You're slipping, sis. Who says C-CON has to be tonight thing? Those sessions run for a week." He grins back nefariously.

"Nuh-uh."

Wallace not being a model citizen?

"Uh-huh." He's still grinning.

In front, the principal drones on about why chaperoning teenagers during a school dance is the most pivotal thing a teacher could do.

"Is it really that bad?" She asks under her breath.

"Not for everyone," Logan pipes up to her left. She turns. "But for him?"

At Logan's knowing smirk, she turns back to face Wallace, brow thoroughly furrowed. Wallace shrugs. "It's one thing to see your nephew chasing girls his own age. But I do not need to see my little brother making passes at Lilly all night."

Her brain lights up as the threads connect. "Drey?"

Both Logan and Wallace nod.

"Lilly - Kane?"

They nod again.

"But I thought Lilly - "

"Lilly is every bit a junior version of her aunt," Logan explains, still whispering. "And requiring the attention of multiple specimens of the male species at any given time is an unfortunate part of her genetic make-up."

She thinks back to the girl in Logan's classroom two days ago, her ample assets threatening to spill out of her top at a moment's indiscretion. She shakes her head. "And Duncan lets her?"

Logan frowns slightly before replying, "I asked him about it before. But I guess when it comes to blind spots - he's got a titanic one with her name on it."

She frowns at the realization that this is her goddaughter they're talking about. Would the original Lilly be appalled - or proud?

"But he's not the only one blinded."

It takes a moment for her to realize he's still talking about Duncan. "Oh yeah?"

"You should see Valentina following her around like a sewn-on shadow. So disheartening."

The sadness in Logan's voice sounds far too close to parental disappointment to be anything else.

Logan Echolls - disappointed teacher. Who'd have thought?

"Mr. Echolls!"

She looks up at the principal's voice.

"You'll be taking second shift, as usual?"

Logan nods. "Yes, ma'am."

"And don't bring a shiny new convertible this time," the lady warns as a ripple of giggles pass through the room.

Veronica grins.

Guess homecoming hijinks never get old.

"Yes, ma'am." Logan sounds almost embarrassed. "I won't, Principal Stacy."

She nods, satisfied, as she continues to work the room with the rest of the assignments.

"I take it the last car is no longer the bachelor's pride it once was?" She whispers, leaning to her left.

Logan shakes his head with a grim smile. "Apparently, shiny and dark convertibles are the closest resemblance to toilet bowls that drunken, nauseated students could find near a school gym."

She can't decide to laugh or cry. "Underage drinking? My, my, what has become of my lovely alma mater?"

That one got him grinning.

"Mr. Fennel?" Principal Stacy nears the end of her list. "You're excused on grounds of representing the school to C-CON?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Veronica holds back the laughter and indignation threatening to sputter out of their own accord.

"Alright, that should be everybody! Now, for the dress code."

Veronica tunes out momentarily as female teachers brainstorm the best possible way to describe a modest hemline.

Try 'don't show your butt,' people.

"Ever wondered why we call her by her first name?" Logan's whisper interrupts her contemplation.

She turns to him with a small shake of her head.

He grins, obviously enjoying imparting this bit of information. "Cuz of her last name."

Her mind scrambles for subconscious information. "Principal Stacy. Principal Stacy - "

"Boring," Wallace and Logan blurt out simultaneously. Her eyes widen.

"No way!"

Logan nods, still grinning. "She used to be Stacy Mansfield, but she married businessman Alan Boring three years ago. Being a traditional man, he was rather insistent of her taking his last name."

"Stacy Mansfield Boring?" She's still grinning incredulously. "What better name for a principal?"

"None better."

She chuckles again at the revelation. "Well, well, we're quite the town gossip now, aren't we, Logan?"

"Trina can be slightly contagious."

"Slightly?"

"Very."

Perfectly at ease, Veronica laughs out loud.

"Miss Mars?"

She freezes at the question that sounds so much like a command. She peeks at the suited lady, body stiff and guarded. "Yes, ma'am?"

"I've just been reminded that since Mrs. Hawkins usually takes the second shift, it would make full sense for you to take her place in her absence. Please be thoroughly familiar with the student dress code, particularly for girls re-emerging from the bathroom."

What did I get myself into?

"Miss Mars, do you hear me? Chapping duties, second shift, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight. Be there."

"Makes you wish you agreed to join your baby brother for C-CON," Wallace whispers gleefully.

"Miss Mars?"

"Yes, ma'am," she finally manages. "I'll be there."

"Good." And the principal marches on to the next item on her list.

Did I just agree to be a responsible adult among an entire gym of hormonal teenagers into the wee hours of the morning?

"Hey." She feels Logan's hand on her shoulder and turns at his voice. "I can give you a ride - if you want one?"

Homecoming with Logan Echolls?

Her lips spread slowly into a smile. "Sure."


"Glad your dad didn't insist on the no-alcohol-and-sex talk," he raises his voice over the music.

She laughs, eyes tracing the colorful streamers as she leans back in her metal chair. "He's saving it all for Almira."

"Jealous?"

She considers and shrugs. "Sometimes - but only until she runs over hugging me and telling me I'm her hero."

Logan grins and takes a sip of his soda. She glances over, quietly appreciating the way he elevates faculty fashion with his simple brown suit.

Probably didn't have to change as many times as I did either.

She tugs self-consciously at the ruffled hem of her dark purple dress, feeling twenty years younger in contrast to Principal Stacey's floral-print maxi skirt ensemble.

"She picked a good one."

"Huh?" She shouts over the noise of screaming teens at the start of a new song - apparently a fan favorite.

"Almira picked a good role model," he repeats, eyes and lips smiling.

She smiles back as the music thumps far too loudly to allow normal conversation.

"Give it up for the Fab Four of the night!" The amplified male voice booms over the speakers. Veronica shifts up to catch the view as the pool of sweaty students turn to face the gym entrance with uncanny synchronization.

Fab Four?

High school nicknames don't get any more creative, apparently.

The whole room feels warmer as the students hail the arrival of high school royalty, squeals and giggles reverberating all the way to the caverned ceiling. Veronica tugs her chair to the left, attempting at a better view. Logan quickly obliges by shifting almost halfway off his seat. Unwillingly to blend in with the jumping crowd, she tries to sit taller instead.

A flash of winter white catches sparkle from the swinging lights. On top of it all, Orlando waves and grins at his fans.

Of all the entrance announcements of the evening - his is the most dramatic.

And a white tuxedo - it figures.

Veronica simultaneously smiles and shakes her head as she feels Logan sighing beside her.

"Not a fan of your nephew's popularity?" She teases.

"Inherited popularity, mind you."

She could see him smile a little after the gruff reply.

"Some things are inevitable," she states casually.

But the depth of his gaze when he turns around to face hers was anything but casual. Her smile falters for a split second as she catches her breath.

"Some things are - aren't they?" He whispers so softly she almost misses it.

Heart racing, fingers sweating - she just can't look away.

"Shake the floor!"

Seaver's loud holler pulls them both from their momentary trance and back to the crowd they're supposed to be watching. Shaken, Veronica tries instead to zoom in on the Vandergraff twins trailing in right after Orlando's grand entrance, the crowd chanting 'shake the floor,' 'robot man,' and all the latest strange concoctions of English words.

No one can permanently master the English language, apparently.

Then, as if choreographed, the entire room - people and music alike - falls entirely silent. Veronica looks at Logan quizzically. He shrugs and sighs, resigned.

"People of Neptune High!" The announcer bellows into his microphone. The atmospheric pressure of the room reaches a feverish height. "I give you your queen - the beautiful, stupendous, fabulicious, rivetating, extrasuperordinary Miss Lilly Kane!"

The speakers erupt with prerecorded orchestra pageant music as Lilly - decked in a barely-there crimson gown that seems to have more cut-outs than fabric - saunters in with one hand on hip, another on train. Girls squeal, guys ogle, and teachers roll their eyes as Lilly hooks her hand in Seaver's proffered arm and heads straight to the dance floor.

"That passes dress code?" Veronica whispers, her mind still trying hard to comprehend the bikini of an evening dress hanging on the Kane heiress's lithe frame.

"Didn't do your homework?" Logan quips.

She gives him a 'let's be serious' glare. He huffs with a small grin, obviously frustrated.

"Only a girl who has access to bespoke couture can manage to order something every single year that fulfills all the schools rules as well as all the boys' fantasies."

"Yours too?" The question falls out by itself.

"Oh no, Veronica, I swear to God." He inhales deeply, his eyes suddenly pained. "If I ever thought that way - "

"Hey." Her hand finds his forearm. "I was kidding, okay? I don't know why I said that."

She waits until he meets her eyes to continue. "I know you're nothing like your father."

And the grateful smile he gives her shows just how accurately she guessed his thoughts.

I'm bad at this thing called conversation.

She smiles back at him and scrambles to change the subject. "So - assuming the Vandergraff siblings aren't lame enough to take each other to a school dance - I'm assuming Orlando and Sheila?"

Logan grins, this time more relaxed. "You should've seen him when she finally confirmed her 'yes' yesterday. The kid's on cloud nine."

"I take it the family approves?"

Logan shrugs, still smiling as his eyes trail to the sight of Orlando dancing enthusiastically with Sheila. "The uncle approves, anyway. But gotta hand it to Orlando - the moment Trina heard that Lilly Kane was gonna share his limo, she didn't hear a single word he said afterwards."

"Ah, so you're the mole."

Logan laughs. "No, she's the one oblivious. You figured out more in two seconds than she has in the past year."

Veronica puts on her most offended gasp. "Really, Logan? Me and Trina in the same sentence?"

Now they both laugh. And as they do, he eases back to sit on most of his chair, his right arm reaching casually across the back of hers.

She leans back against it with a smile.

Stay on topic, Veronica.

She sighs theatrically. "Trina is being silly. Seriously, how hard is it to figure out that when two single people go to a dance with two siblings, that the two unrelated ones aren't attracted to each other?"

The way Logan inhales beside her makes her own words sink in at lightning speed.

She inhales too. "Unless - of course - "

"They are."

Their faces immediately turn to each other's, their noses far too close for casual friends. Her eyes water at the resurgence of memories long buried.

Duncan Kane may have been her date at that first homecoming dance.

But when it comes to who actually makes her relish those Kodak moments, he is dead last on the list.

"Were they?" Logan asks, eyes heavy.

Her breath grows increasingly shallow as her mind relives each confession from Logan that night.

"Yeah." She smiles. "They were."


"Thanks, Greg." Logan nods at the student who hands him the two purple mocktails in transparent cups.

Can't say homecoming hasn't gotten fancy at around here.

Colorful lights still flashing chaotically around him, he turns back towards the teacher's station he's been sharing with Veronica. One look at her petite form, golden hair, and sparkling blue eyes later, he sighs and stays where he is.

Oh, Veronica.

He takes a sip of his own drink, still gazing at her, tapping her foot in rhythm to the music as she watches over the hopping, swaying, screaming dance crowd.

Logan sighs and wishes he has a free hand to run through his hair, just like old times.

He hasn't really dated anyone after Tiffany. In fact, after her brutal upheaval of his life two months before the wedding, he's resigned himself to never settling down until Orlando's at least off to college. He smiles grimly. Apparently, no matter how gorgeous the house, most women don't think living with a teenaged nephew and a gushing sister-in-law worth the trouble.

But Veronica's different.

He furrows his brow, willing his mind to stop.

Sure, she's still very attractive. Sure, they're both currently unattached. And yes, he almost kissed her twice tonight - and he still wants to.

But with two extra decades between now and the time he first met her, he's learned to anchor his impulsiveness with a healthy dose of common sense. He has an administration to answer to, a young man to help raise, and a household to care for - would it even be fair to drag her into this?

What if she wants to be?

Logan sighs again, his eyes admiring the lively spirit in her eyes. Neither of their bodies have escaped the toil of time; his muscle pains after each school camping trip will tell you that. But with her ever-vivacious smiles and snark, she could still pass for a college teen. She's so fresh, so exuberant - has so much of her life ahead of her.

And who am I to get in the way of that?

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The master of ceremonies bellows over the speakers again. "Don't forget to head to the registration booth to tap in your votes! Remember, participating members get the chance to win - courtesy of Embom Airlines - two VIP tickets to the tour premiere of XStarters!"

Female squeals hit the roof as half of the girls on the dance floor drop their partners to scramble towards the voting booth. Logan raises an eyebrow, only to meet Veronica's eyes - her eyebrows equally raised. He smiles and walks back to sit on the chair next to her.

"Sorry that took a while." He hands over her drink.

"Thanks." She smiles. "Any idea who the XStarters are?"

Logan shrugs. "Boy band of the month?"

She chuckles and tilts her head towards the jumpy students. "Oh, wait till they hear the devastating news of their disbandment."

"Right - and how it all went wrong after that internal feud over a girl."

"Mm hm." She nods and shifts to her ditzy, young voice, right hand clutching her heart dramatically. "Can't believe we'll never see them all together again!"

"It's tragic." He shakes his head sagely.

"Unbelievable."

"But don't worry, Snookums." He leans over with a comforting smile. "I'm sure they'll have a reunion tour by the time we're fifty."

"Oh! And we'll bring all our friends to see them! It'll be just like old times!"

"And our daughters can make faces at how gross it is that mommy used to find those people hot!"

"Like so gross."

"But they really are hot!" Logan insists, smirk intact.

That's when they both give up trying and break into real, thorough laughs.

Veronica was the first to stop chuckling with a sigh. "Circle of life, people."

His eyes follow the up-and-down movement of her hand on her own knee for a quick second. He smiles. "Nothing new under the sun."

"Nope," she concurs. Her smile turns wistful. "Remember when we thought homecoming was the highlight of our entire life?"

"Yup, no song unsung, no wine untasted."

She quirks a brow. "Les Mis? Really?"

Logan shrugs bashfully. "It's easier to get them interested in the book that way."

She laughs.

I like this Veronica.

"You never showed up to homecoming the year after that."

He's pulled out of his thoughts by her statement.

"Oh - yes." He thinks back to his drunken, lonely grieving on the beach that night in the blurry, distant past. It's a miracle no one found him face-down in the ocean the morning after. "It - it just didn't feel right, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess." She lowers her eyes.

"Did you go?"

"Huh?" Her eyes look almost teary for a moment, before she blinks the moisture away. "Uhm, yeah - I went with Troy. And Wallace and his date."

He nods, suddenly imagining alternate realities.

"But I stopped to think of Lilly."

He looks at her. "What do you mean?"

She seems to blush for a moment. "You know that one question of our 'I Never' game that only I drank to?"

A forgotten dream starts to re-emerge in his subconsciousness.

"About - skinny dipping?"

She smiles back shyly. "Yeah. I just couldn't forget that, you know?"

"Right," he mutters, his mind still racing.

No, it can't be.

"So on the way to school, I told the limo to stop right at the beach," she continues, eyes starry. "I warned Troy and everyone else to stay put."

"Okay?"

It can't be.

"And when I was far away enough, I pulled off that red satin dress - "

It can't be - can it?

He feels the air pull out of his lungs.

"And I waded into the ocean in nothing but my skin."

He can't breath, long-buried visions coming to life once more in his mind.

"And you know what, Lo? It was great. It was - "

He interrupts her by bursting into a woeful, confused laugh.

"Logan?"

He closes his eyes as he scrambles to breathe again. A few seconds later, he turns to her with a hesitant smile. "Remember the night you came back from New York after graduation?"

She looks puzzled by the change in topic, but answers anyway, "Yes, of course - why?"

"That, uhm." He swallows. Then glancing around to ensure their privacy, he leans close to her ear. "That may not have been the first time I saw you naked, after all."

The recognition in her wide eyes when he pulls back shows how thoroughly she understood.

"No way!" She looks more shocked than upset. "And you never thought to mention it?"

He shrugs, smile on his lips and relief in his veins at her amicable response. "I thought I'd imagined it."

"You imagined me - " She shakes her head, incredulous. "You know what, fine - guess that's how it was meant to be."

"Meant to be?" His throat feels a tad tighter.

"You know - remembering Lilly - together." She shakes her head, fingers toying with her hem again. "I should've figured you might've been on the beach that night too."

He relaxes as he sees her laugh.

Who says the past always has to be hurtful?

"Mr. Echolls! Miss Mars!" The two of them turn to the sound of pattering high-heeled feet.

"Yes, Valentina?" He moves to stand up.

"Seaver and Drey and Lilly," the student pants, chest heaving under her pale yellow dress. "Could you please come and help? Please?"

The two teachers follow her in an instant.


"She came to homecoming with me!"

"But that doesn't mean she can't kiss me!"

A folding table, along with half a dozen empty plastic cups, tumbles behind them as fists and forearms press together in a forceful deadlock.

"You think you have a shot at her? You're nothing but a distraction, baller boy."

"And you're just a ticket to a free limo ride!"

Moving sideways, the boys almost trip over a loose microphone wire.

"Well, at least I have a limo." Seaver grasps his opponent's collar tighter; Drey grabs at Seaver's tuxedo just as hard. "You don't think she's actually gonna want to take off this thrift shop suit, do ya?"

Groaning, Drey shoves Seaver further back towards the wall.

"Seaver! Drey! Enough!" Logan's voice makes the two teens stop walking, their fists still clinging to each other. Logan stalks over and physically separates them, not unlike Clemmons used to do for him.

"What's going on?" Logan demands.

The boys, breathing heavily, merely glare at each other.

"What happened?" Veronica catches up, standing next to the two girls witnessing the fight. She looks at the one right next to her first. "Valentina?"

"I don't know, Miss Mars. They were only yelling when I went to get you guys."

Veronica frowns. "Lilly?"

On Valentina's other side, Lilly leans all her weight on one high-heeled foot, an arm on her lifted hip. She blows on the fingernails of her free hand in the universal girl gesture of 'I don't care.'

"Lilly, were you here all this time?"

The heiress shrugs, rolling her eyes.

"Why didn't you stop them?" Veronica turns until she's fully facing the two female students, hands on her own hips. "Did you actually think it was fun to watch two guys fight over you?"

Still no response.

Veronica shakes her head, appalled. "How narcissistic could you get?"

Ready to launch into a lecture about everything that once caused the original Lilly Kane to lose her own life, Veronica finds herself interrupted by the feel of Valentina's small hands on her forearms.

"Miss Mars, please. I think she's sorry. You don't have to blame her. It was the boys who started it themselves."

Veronica glances at the contriteness in Valentina's eyes for a quick moment before she catches the self-satisfied glint in Lilly's.

Utterly unacceptable.

"Ver - Miss Mars?"

She turns at Logan's voice. "Yes - sir?"

"Seems like these two boys need a bit of talking to. You handle the girls?"

She admires his calm, authoritative demeanor for a sliver of a moment.

"Sure. Go ahead."

With a quick nod, Logan grabs both Seaver and Drey by the shoulders and leads them further towards the back of the gym.

"Thank you, Miss Mars."

Huh?

Veronica whips back around at Valentina's voice. "Thank you?"

Two mellow brown eyes look up at hers gratefully. "Yes, I know I shouldn't have disturbed you and Mr. Echolls. I didn't realize that the situation could be easily handled. I - "

"Wait." Veronica cuts in. "Why are you thanking me?"

Valentina lowers her eyes.

"For letting us off easy, Miss Mars," Lilly scoffs, slurring her letters as she moves slightly closer. She throws her eyes up to the ceiling, fingers flying all around in perfect diva delight. "For the record, I was the reason the boys were fighting. They were the ones who started lunging at each other's throats. And Princess Valentina here was a perfect angel who did no wrong."

"Lilly, please. I didn't - "

"Bup, bup, bup." Lilly silences her friend with a hand in mid-air. "I know you need that perfect conduct grade, girl. It's boring as hell - but you want it."

The shrug Lilly gives and the sigh Valentina lets loose feel strangely familiar.

Far too strangely familiar.

"Lilly," Veronica starts, voice level. The teen looks at her in the eye for once. "I'll let you all off with a verbal warning. I know you didn't break any real school rules."

The teacher runs her eyes disapprovingly over Lilly's heretical interpretation of evening wear. "But word of advice? Lots of boyfriends and very little clothing aren't really all they're made up to be."

Lilly shrugs, looking everywhere else again.

Veronica sighs. "Okay, you may go. Enjoy your party - but not too much."

Little Miss Kane prances away without so much as a word.

Veronica shakes her head slowly.

"Thank you, Miss Mars. I hope you enjoy the party too." Valentina offers respectfully before turning to go.

"Wait!"

The young girl turns back in surprise, her shoulders instantly tense. "Miss Mars - am I in trouble?"

And this is definitely not the nice version of familiar.

Veronica walks over, hesitates, and then finally places a hand on Valentina's shoulder. "Could I call you Val?"

The girl nods shyly.

"Okay, Val." Veronica huffs before her hands find her hips. "Listen, I just - "

Come on, Vee, you've talked down gangsters before.

Veronica sighs. "I just want you to know that things don't always have to be this way."

"This way?"

Veronica fights the urge to shrug.

What's so hard about this?

"Val, I realize you are really good friends with Lilly," Veronica begins.

"Best friends, actually."

"Okay, best friends." Veronica mumbles.

Man, the gangsters were easier.

"And best friends are always very forgiving of each other," she continues.

Valentina nods.

Cuz hardened gangsters don't count on you to not screw up their formative years.

Veronica almost groans. "So, uhm - there are lots of stuff that Lilly does that - even if we all know are really, uhm, unhealthy - she just does them anyway, you know?"

The girl nods again.

"But, well - just because Lilly doesn't really care about how much she hurts other people." She pauses, trying hard to separate the two generations in her mind. "It doesn't mean that we have to let her, right? We - we can still stand up to her and call her out on it."

She makes sure to look the student right in the eye. "Before anyone gets really, really hurt."

A fleeting look of confusion gives way in Valentina's face to humble comprehension. She hangs her head.

"I don't blame you, Val," Veronica comforts, hands on the girl's two shoulders now. "I just - I just know you can be so much more if you don't let Lilly Kane walk all over you. So just - just think about it, okay?"

Brown eyes meet blue.

"Okay," the teen complies, small smile on her lips.

Veronica nods, somewhat relieved.

"Now go." She shoves the younger girl back towards the crowd. "Go enjoy yourself - for real. Okay?"

Valentina nods and backs away. Veronica smiles.

"Oh, Miss Mars?"

She looks back at her name. "Yes?"

"Thanks for not going all Echolls on Lilly and me."

"All Echolls?"

He's a verb now?

"Yeah, like - you know, like be really hard on us or be super strict, like Mr. Echolls does."

She could barely stifle the threatening laughter.

"Sure, Val. No problem."

The girl smiles and skips away.


"Seaver?"

The teenager grunts and pulls his crossed arms closer against his body, face scrunched in a deep frown.

Logan sighs. "Drey?"

This one looks sideways, equally avoiding the teacher's gaze, his deep black curls bobbing.

Very well.

"Alright then." Logan shrugs. "We'll see what Principal Stacy says when she hears that - "

"No!" The two rivals react in unison, eyes and hands wide open.

Logan cocks his head and smirks, one hand in pocket. "Looks like we finally agreed. So - Drey, you first. What happened?"

"But he - "

Logan shoots Seaver a stern look, and the teen instantly backs down.

Drey speaks up, voice harsh, "I was on the dance floor when Lilly came over. I danced with her. Then she asked for drink. When I came back with it" - he glances sideways at Seaver - "She kissed me. And then before I know it, Vandergraff's all over me screaming and taunting - "

"You kissed her!"

Logan reaches forward, grabbing Seaver by the arms, before he could touch Drey. The brunette huffs, not budging. "Lilly was with me. We both asked her to the dance, she said yes to me, she comes with me, so she's leaving with me. And you have no business whatsoever putting those dirty lips all over my girlfriend!"

Drey stands a foot away, fists already clenched. His voice remains level. "Lilly is not your girlfriend."

"How dare you? You - "

"He's right," Logan barks. Both boys turn to face him, surprised.

Logan glances firmly at Seaver until he stops pulling forward. The teacher lets go.

For two seconds, he fights the urge to shake his head at the utter immaturity on display.

But who am I to talk?

"Seaver, you realize that punching Drey isn't gonna make Lilly any more faithful."

The brunette sulks back, chest still heaving. His face angles down, but his eyes glance up at Logan's towering frame.

"You've seen Lilly at school, flirting with every breathing creature. And you don't want to believe that she would have the nerve to kiss someone else at a dance?"

Both boys shift their weight awkwardly.

"Come on, you guys can do better than that."

Four eyes look up at him, and then down in contemplation again. Was he just as stubborn at their age?

But you never had any adult help - they do.

"You both deserve better," he counsels, eyes compassionate. "And honestly? What's a homecoming date anyway? She doesn't have to be the love of your life."

He glances behind them - just for a moment - before turning back around.

"And for all you know, the actual love of your life could be in this very room at this very moment." He smiles. "And you're just too blinded to see her."


"Hey, we're - "

He stops at the sight of the small blonde figure curled up in the passenger's seat. Logan smiles.

She'll never outgrow the word 'petite.'

Staying up cramming or making out may have been their game a few years back, but they're definitely on the tired adult side of things now. His smile grows wistful as she curls up tighter against the beige leather, seatbelt twisted multiple times around her right arm.

He places a hand on her shoulder and whispers gently, "Veronica?"

She stirs then, taking a few seconds to regain her senses, before unraveling herself back to a seated position.

"We're here?" Her question comes out in a half-yawn.

He grins. "Unless you've changed your address?"

She peeks outside the window at the grey suburban house. "Nope, still dear old daddy's front porch."

"He still has that telescope?"

"With two daughters in the house? Heard he just upgraded to a Browning M2 as a companion piece."

They both laugh.

She sighs, still smiling. "I like this."

"This?" He quirks a brow.

"Yeah, you know." She keeps her eyes on the windshield. "Being relaxed, being funny - life in the Bureau could be - well, intense."

She's not talking about you, silly.

He nods.

"You're glad you came back?" He opts for politeness.

"Yeah." She shrugs. "No better place to take a break than home, right?"

She whips around to face him, smile intact.

Let's just ignore that shattering noise at the back of my mind for a moment.

He manages to smile back. "Right - of course. Hope you're enjoying your stay?"

"You're not my travel agent, Logan."

He smiles sheepishly, watching her shyly as she opens her mouth to speak only to have her lips stretch involuntarily into a yawn.

"Bed time?"

"Yeah," she mumbles, slightly blushing. "Thanks for the ride tonight, by the way."

"No problem. Walk you to the door?" He moves to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"It's fine." Her hand flies over his.

Please don't notice the embarrassing shaking.

"Thanks, Logan." She smiles up at him, leaning unexpectedly close. "I had fun."

He nods. "See you at the lounge?"

"Wouldn't miss it." She beams back, still not moving away.

It's junior high all over again.

He leans forward to press a chaste kiss to her forehead. Her quick blink and smile indicate it was the right call. "Goodnight, Logan."

"Goodnight, Veronica."


A/N: Deep and heartfelt thanks to everyone who encouraged me with their follows, favorites, and reviews. Your support keeps me going! Someone once told me that my stories tend to all read like one-shots - very straightforward and plot-driven. This type of world-building, character-driven tale is very unusual for me. So thank you for bearing with me as I experiment with a new genre!

Lots of love and thanks to irma66 for checking my multitude of writing errors. She puts up with so much in a stubborn writer like me. And I promise that "Boring" really is a last name. It's amazing what kind of names come up in a college yearbook :)