In a World Chapter 4, a veronica mars fanfic

In a World

Summary: Exploring the 'what ifs' that could have happened if Lilly Kane hadn't been murdered, and her secrets – and others – had come out anyway. Pairings: Lilly/Logan, past Duncan/Veronica, eventual Logan/Veronica

Rated: M

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to 'Veronica Mars'.

Chapter 4

Saturday:

They've been at the beach for the better part of the afternoon, skin slick with saltwater and tanning oil, the sand gritty on their feet from chasing each other. It felt like one of those never-ending days of summer, even though it wasn't, and they had school again on Monday.

Veronica sneaks up behind Logan to push him into an oncoming wave, and dances backwards out of reach when Logan comes up, sputtering threats and laughing. She turns and runs. Light on her feet, almost flying, she can still hear his feet thundering on the sand behind her, his longer stride catching up to hers quickly.

A panicked burst of laughter escapes her mouth just seconds before she gets scooped up and thrown over his shoulder. Her legs wrap around his waist as he attempts to throw her into the ocean, and she makes sure he goes down with her.

Duncan had escaped the third round of horseplay, going across the street to grab a smoothie while Lilly attempted to wring out her hair after spending twenty minutes retrieving her silver flipflop that had nearly gotten lost in the ocean. She finally dried herself off and reapplied her oil to get some more sun.

"You're hair is a lost cause until you wash it", Duncan rolled his eyes and he sat on the towel next to his sister, who was attempting to brush out the knots with a curse. He knew way too much about female grooming. He was aware. Lilly liked to over-share… everything.

She growled. "This was my stupid idea, wasn't it?" she rolled her eyes, sighing good-naturedly.

"Yep." He smirked.

"Figures."

"How long before they need a nap?" Duncan nodded toward the edge of the water.

Lilly raised an eyebrow. "We don't have time for that. We need to go home and clean up and grab dinner before we go to Casey's party."

"So we're gonna go break that up?" Duncan chuckled as their friends play-wrestled on the ground.

"Before Veronica starts biting", Lilly laughed. "Oh, I'm so glad we took Logan's car. They are covered."

He snorted and stood up. "C'mon."

"No!"

"Hold still!"

"Lilly, stay away from me with that", Veronica warned backing up and pointing a light pink fingernail at the curling iron.

"Just the bottom, Veronica", Lilly rolled her eyes.

"'Just the tip, Veronica'", she said with a grimace, making Lilly snicker. "We're going to a pool party. It will be ruined in no time."

"It's still a party, and you always have to start off looking fabulous", Lilly insisted. "Now sit your cute butt down."

Veronica groaned. "Go light on the eyeliner", she said seriously as she sat reluctantly on the chair in front of the vanity table that was lit up like the surface of the sun.

"The things I do for you", Lilly sighed dramatically.

Veronica puckered her lips in a kissy-face. "Love you too", she laughed.

The four of them arrived at least two hours after the party was supposed to start, and the large backyard was full of their classmates by then.

"Ah, Casey Gant", Logan drawled derisively when his eyes landed on their host making drinks at the bar. Lilly immediately headed in that direction to procure drinks and make her entrance known. Lilly never did take the word subtle to heart. "The charming young man who asked if being a sheriff's daughter was the same as being a preacher's daughter."

Duncan furrowed his eyebrows in confused amusement. "What the hell kind of question is that?"

Veronica rolled her eyes and elbowed Logan in the ribs, but explained anyway. "I asked him if that was his way of asking me if I had a secret slutty side just itching to come out. I told him not a chance in hell. It's been smooth sailing since then."

"Where was I for that?" Duncan complained.

"It was a few months before we dated. And Logan, you really can let him off the hook for that. He's never pulled anything but some innocent flirting since then."

"That's because I'm always glaring at him!" Logan insisted. "It keeps the minions in line."

"Whatever you say, oh, keeper of the kingdom", she sighed.

"My glare keeps you in line, too, little minion", he grinned, patting her head teasingly.

She swatted his hand away. "You wish."

Duncan just snickered. Logan and Veronica had always been something like a comedy show.

"Hold my drink."

Logan is following the order before he even turns around completely. He eyes the fruity drink in his hand speculatively and takes a sip. It's not terribly strong, and doesn't lead him to think he'll be carrying a drunken Veronica out of the party in the next few hours.

The four of them had gotten separated for a bit. Duncan had a few other friends around, and Veronica had gone to talk to a few girls she actually still liked from last year's pep squad. Logan had run into Dick Casablancas and did some catching up. Dick was an easy going kind of guy most of the time, but he was always on the fringes of their group because he was sleeping with Madison Sinclair on a semi-regular basis. And Lilly and Madison always got on like forest fire. It was best to prevent it altogether, rather than try to put it out.

He looks down at the girl in question, a bit amused at her predicament.

"Well, aren't you just… wet", Logan's sentence fizzles when Veronica peels her wet t-shirt off, exposing her bikini top.

She rolls her eyes, and shimmies out of her water-logged jean shorts, throwing her clothes on top of her bag before wringing her hair out in her beach towel. "Careful, Logan", she teased lazily, noting the expression on his face. "Keep looking at me like that and people will start to think you've seen me naked."

"I have seen you naked", he challenged quietly, "In the last twenty-four hours, if you're so inclined to remember."

"Ah, yes. That damn tequila", she shook her head. "Good for all sorts of bad judgment calls."

He grinned. "What's with the wet rat look?"

"Casey threw me in the pool", she sighed, running a hand through her soaked hair.

"I knew that guy was a good hostess. When does the wet t-shirt contest start?" he asked, eyes perusing her lazily.

"Shouldn't you know? I heard you were in the line-up."

"And ruin your chances? I would never", he shook his head with mock-seriousness.

"Oh, stop it", she teased, tilting her head and batting her eyelashes intentionally.

He gnawed on his bottom lip briefly before clearing his throat. "Have you seen Lilly?"

Veronica frowned. "Not in a while… We got split up. You want to go look for her?"

"Come on", he said finally, nodding towards the house. "There's a hot tub on the second floor."

Veronica just groaned and followed him. The last time Lilly had found a hot tub without Logan, they'd broken up for two months because she was making out with a party crasher from another school.

Monday morning, Veronica woke up to her alarm going off, slapping it to turn it off and found a text from Lilly when she fumbled for her phone on her night table.

'It's as hot as you are in Neptune today! Wear those dark jean shorts I bought you last weekend. Let that sexy bitch out! Rawr.'

Veronica rolled her eyes and groaned, covering her face with a pillow. It was too early to let her 'sexy bitch out'.

"Veronica, I made coffee!" she heard her dad call from the kitchen.

"Oh, thank god", she muttered, finally heaving herself out of bed. "I'll be down in a few minutes!" she yelled.

Thankfully, Casey's party on Saturday night hadn't ended in disaster. She and Logan had found Lilly in the basement doing shots with a few friends. Logan had stolen her car keys until they found Duncan, and realized he was the only was who was actually sober, because Veronica was more than a little buzzed by then.

She went to her closet and found a blue shirt with a black and silver flower design down the left side that would match her silver low-heeled sandals and the shorts Lilly had picked out for her. She found the rest of her clothes in her dresser and went into the bathroom to follow her usual morning routine before getting dressed and brushing her hair and pulling it up into a ponytail, leaving a few pieces loose in the front.

She did a minimal amount of makeup before leaving the bathroom.

Purse, keys, phone, backpack, sandals...lip gloss- ooh, earrings!

Veronica found her small pair of silver hoop earrings and put them on before sliding into her shoes and heading downstairs.

Her father was still in the kitchen reading the newspaper while drinking his coffee.

She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Morning, Dad."

"Oh good, you're awake. I was going to send in Back-up", he mused. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, it was just a long weekend. And you know..." she shrugged. "Mondays are a bitch."

Kieth lowered his paper enough to give her an unamused look, before glancing at their dog who was finishing his breakfast on the other side of the kitchen. "Honey, you know I don't like it when you talk about his mother like that", he said seriously.

Veronica hid a smile as she poured coffee in her travel mug and then fixed a cup to drink with breakfast. She opened the fridge and pulled out a container of yogurt and went to sit at the table.

"Are you coming home after school?"

She shrugged. "I don't know yet. I'll call and let you know, okay? I can come take Back-up out for a run though."

Kieth nodded. "Sounds good."

Veronica glanced at the clock. "You have to go", she reminded.

He sighed. "Yep, I do." Her father stood up.

She finished her coffee in three big gulps and stood up as well. "Me too, in a few minutes… Have a good day, okay? Be careful."

He smiled and gave her a hug. "I'll see you tonight, sweetheart."

"Be safe."

"I will. Promise. Call me after school."

"Sure thing, Pops."

"Where did I go wrong with you?" he feigned a put-upon sigh.

"All those green vegetables when I was a baby", she nodded.

"Must have been that", he shrugged and kissed the top of her head. "My deepest apologies."

She chuckled. "Go on; before you're late."

Her father was gone a minute later, and she finished her breakfast before running upstairs to brush her teeth. Back-up was waiting in the living room when she came back and she knelt on the floor to pet him. "Hey, buddy. You're a good boy, huh? I'll see you this afternoon, okay? I have to go to school."

She laughed as he let out a low 'woof', letting her know he understood her.

"You're so smart", she said with a grin before standing up. "Okay, go lie down."

Back-up went to his bed in the living room and Veronica grabbed her things she needed to take with her and left for school, locking the front door behind her.

Her mother's 2002 dark blue 4-door Mazda was sitting in the driveway waiting for her. She was relieved to know her father had checked for all her mother's hidden bottles so she wouldn't have to worry about suspicious rattling noises while she drove, or worry about getting pulled over.

She snorted, imagining getting pulled over by one of her father's deputies for any reason other than a mechanical problem. She might never be allowed to leave the house again.

Veronica knew she wasn't perfect, but there were certain lines she tried not to cross… most of the time.

She drove to school in time to meet her friends before first period, finishing her travel mug well before arriving. And when Logan handed her an iced mochachino with whipped cream… well, she said thank you, of course.

And when she finally had to explain why her legs wouldn't stop bouncing through third period and he yelled at her?

She just laughed.

A/N: Okay, guys! I finally got chapter 4 done! Thank goodness. And the next chapter has about 500 words written, so we're back in business for this story I believe. Thanks for sticking out the hiatus break with me. Not writing was unbearable. I was really missing it. But for those who didn't know, I didn't have a laptop for almost 9 months. My old one died – it was very sad. Luckily I have all my writing saved on my flashdrive, so I didn't lose it. But I couldn't get much writing done. Besides that, I was dealing with some family issues, and I have chronic migraines that I was finally getting to see a doctor for and trying to regulate my medication, and I was having trouble looking at a computer screen for extended periods of time. But thankfully, I got this chapter done.

Okay, you all know the drill! Leave a review and let me know what you think! I hope you still like how it's going. I write you back if you have questions comments, whatever. I like talking to you guys.

I think chapter 6 is going to skip forward just a bit so we get to prom, and there is a reason for that. I have a flashback we need to see to clear some things up, and send us forward. It will probably take two chapters. I can't wait!