By the time Veronica made it downstairs for breakfast, at the Echolls' house, Logan and Trina had finished eating and disappeared, leaving Lynn and Aaron sitting at the table. Sunday was usually the only day that Veronica ever saw Logan's dad, if he was in town; Aaron mainly spent his time either on his yacht or in his office, memorizing scripts. Veronica knew that spending time with his kids was not high on his list of priorities.

"Good morning, sweetheart! How did you sleep?" asked Lynn happily.

There was a little slur to her 's' which made Veronica realize she must have had a few too many Sunday mimosas by this time of the morning.

Veronica sat down next to Lynn, giving her a small smile. "Good. Much nicer than my single bed at home. And more pillows."

"You could get lost in the pillows on our bed. Every time I come back from a shoot, I swear, Lynn has added another one." Aaron laughed and took a sip of his mimosa.

Veronica gave him a smile, thinking of what all the beautiful pillows on Lynn's bed would be like. A cloud. Definitely a cloud.

"I have an addiction to pillows. I'm sorry. But they're just so cozy and pretty." Giggled Lynn.

Veronica began helping herself to some scrambled eggs and toast from the trays spread out across the table. Lifting the warming lid to one of the silver trays, she realized there was still some bacon left, and her smile widened.

"Logan was down early so he ate and went to hang out in the media room. He told me about your idea to go as Nick and Nora for his birthday party," said Lynn as Veronica began eating. "I was going to call Lianne and see if the four of us could go to L.A. to meet with one of my old costume designers. I think she would love to make you both outfits."

Veronica's eyes got wide. "That would be so amazing! Thank you! I know my mom would love it too!"

Aaron clapped his hands loudly. "Lynn, you should do a Hollywood theme. Then everyone can come as their favourite character from the movies." He flashed his best movie star grin at them. "And I can come as myself!"

Veronica giggled and Lynn narrowed her eyes. "Because Aaron's biggest fan will always be...Aaron," she snarked.

Aaron's just laughed and struck an even bigger movie star pose, placing his hands on his hips and his nose in the air. This time, Lynn laughed too.

"Bet you a million dollars that Lilly comes as Marilyn Monroe," muttered Veronica between mouthfuls of food.

"What's that now?" asked Aaron as he dropped his pose.

Lynn sighed. "Lilly Kane showed up here in a string bikini yesterday, and I ran her off. She's 14 years old! If Trina tried that, at her age, you would have locked her in the pool house until she turned 18. I just don't know what Celeste was thinking, letting her get that outfit."

"Lilly's only 14?" said Aaron, raising an eyebrow. "When I saw her last week at Jake's place she looked...older..."

"She grew boobs. It adds several years, I'm told." Veronica proclaimed, causing Aaron to start laughing again.

"That would be the difference. Ahhhhh...puberty comes to the Echolls house." He raised his glass to Lynn. "We survived Trina's; I'm sure we'll survive Logan's."

"Speak for yourself. You were always on location! I was home with Trina and Logan, and trust me, Trina going through hormonal mood swings was no fun. It still isn't." Lynn refilled her mimosa from the pitcher. "And soon, all sorts of strange girls will be after my baby boy. I may need to buy a fly swatter or a water gun to keep them off him."

Veronica snorted at the mention of Logan as Lynn's 'baby'. Then she realized, Lynn was right. Soon, there would be girls buzzing around Logan; and not just Lilly. Maybe, there would be lots of girls. And all of them would probably have boobs. And wear makeup. And pretty dresses. She paused; suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore. Pushing her chair back, she began to rise.

"Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Echolls. May I be excused? I'm going to find Logan."

Lynn smiled at her. "Of course. I'll come and get you when your dad gets here."

Veronica smiled at the Echolls' and Aaron raised his glass to her. "See you next weekend, Veronica!" he said, a slightly drunk lilt to his voice.

Veronica waved and made her way down the winding stairs, into the basement to the Media Room. She opened the door to find Logan sprawled on the front-row couch, his feet up on the coffee table.

The mini theatre was filled with leather chairs facing a big screen. The first row was made up of couches so couples could cuddle up together. The room was always cold, and Logan was under a big, fluffy blanket. "The Princess Bride" was on the screen.

Veronica came and sat next to Logan and he looked over at her, a touch of sadness in his eyes.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Can I come in?" she asked, her head dipping to one side.

Logan nodded and lifted an edge to the blanket. She slid in next to him and he put his arm up on the back of the couch. Veronica wiggled so she could feel the warmth of his body and he dropped his arm over her shoulders before turning back to the movie.

While they never cuddled in bed, they always cuddled on the couch together while watching movies. It started when they were little, mainly because Veronica was always freezing in the media room. By the time they were older, it was just a habit and no one ever questioned it.

"You put on my favourite movie," she stated.

"It's mine too," he remarked.

"Why did you leave last night?"

Logan paused and looked down at her. "I had a nightmare."

Veronica frowned. "I thought you don't get nightmares when I'm around."

He shrugged. "Last night I did."

Veronica was quiet. "Does this have to do with the...other dreams...we talked about last night?"

Logan shifted a bit beside her. It was hard to lie to someone who was so close, she could hear his heartbeat speed up. "Maybe."

Veronica moved so she could see his face better. "Did you have one of those other dreams?"

"No! But I was worried I would so I left," he admitted. "I didn't want to freak you out more than I already did.

Veronica laughed. "You didn't freak me out. In fact, I've devised a plan to get my dad to take me to the library, after he picks me up, so I can research if this happens with girls. Because, frankly, I really need to know."

Logan laughed. "Keep me in the loop?"

"Pffft, of course! But be warned, if I find out that I can do this, and it feels as good as you say, you may not hear from me for a few days. I may just stay in bed for the rest of grade 7," she replied, her eyes wide and full of mischief.

Logan shook his head. "I don't doubt it."

The two locked eyes, both giddy with the knowledge that they shared another great big secret in a long history of secrets.

Veronica forgot all about her sadness from that night. She put her head back on Logan's shoulder and her hand on his heart. She felt him exhale and he put the side of his face on the top of her head Veronica was sure that this was, in fact, the best feeling in the world.

Veronica loved when her dad picked her up from the Echolls' on Sundays. It was their time to play hooky together and usually ended up on the boardwalk or the ice cream parlour or the surf shop. Today, it was the ice cream shop and father and daughter happily shared a banana split, with all the toppings. Keith told her about some of his more interesting cases, without breaking any confidentiality, and Veronica told him about her classes and how her surf coach thought she could start competing. Keith was impressed and they talked about upgrading her board to a better one at Christmas. She kept expecting him to mention feelings or boys or hormones, but he was merciful and stayed away from all those topics.

As they walked back to their car, she asked if they could stop at the library, and he agreed, happy to have the opportunity to get lost in the "True Crime" section for a while.

The Neptune Public Library was a massive limestone and glass building near city hall. Three stories high with swooping angles, it was constructed a decade earlier by several 09er families who deemed the old library an eyesore, took over the board of directors for the organization, and promptly had something they liked built in the old library's place. Veronica remembered her mother telling her Celeste Kane was one of the board members, and after seeing the Kane house, she saw a correlation in Celeste's taste – cold and grey.

While Keith headed through the stacks to the 300 section for his "Crime" reading, Veronica ducked down the long aisles to the 600 section for "Human Growth and Development", praying that her father didn't come looking for her.

Once she found the 612.0 books, she quickly began skimming the book spines for something that may answer her burning questions. After breezing over a few, she grabbed a thick volume titled "Puberty for Dummies." Flipping quickly to the index, she looked up "dreams" and lo and behold, she found the words "wet dreams" in the list. This was exactly what she was looking for and she slammed the book closed and clutched it tightly to her chest. Her eyes darting left and right, she began walking down the rows of books, arbitrarily grabbing ones to stack on top of the volume she selected. By the time she met her dad, she had a decoy stack about six books high.

Walking together to the check-out counter, Keith talked excitedly about the book he found on a long unsolved case in Sacramento. Stopping at the desk, Keith pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and produced his library card for the librarian. Veronica groaned.

Keith looked at her, confused. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot my card at home," she muttered.

"Well, if this is for school then I'll just take them out. You know, if they're late, I know where you live," he said with a chuckle.

Veronica looked panicked and clutched the stack to her chest. "No. It's okay. I'll just..." But it was too late.

Keith slid the books from her arms and handed them across the desk. Veronica watched in horror as her father saw two cookbooks, a "Careers in Sanitation" book, a proper care of hamsters manual, the history of the Mustang car, and finally, the book about puberty, go past him. Heat rose in Veronica's cheeks and she avoided Keith's side glance.

Ignoring the looks from the old librarian, Keith calmly put his library card in his back pocket, piled the books back up, and handed the stack to Veronica. He started walking quickly towards the exit, causing Veronica to run to catch up to him.

"So...thinking about getting a hamster?" he asked as they got to the car.

Veronica was sure that puberty, would in fact, be the death of her.

Veronica's father never mentioned the book she took out from the library. When they got home, she ran to her room, claiming a burning need to do homework, and shut her door until dinner. Immediately, she turned on her CD player and made herself comfortable on her bed; "Puberty for Dummies" in hand. The more she read, the more she needed answered; the more answers she got, the more powerful she felt. Each time her curiosity was satisfied, Veronica felt like she was the smartest girl in the world and she loved thinking she was in possession of a mysterious knowledge that others had yet to discover.

She was giddy as she sat down to eat, that evening. During dinner, her father didn't mention the book, instead listening with interest as Veronica and Lianne discussed Lynn's plan to take them to L.A. for Veronica's Halloween costume.

Veronica practically skipped to her bedroom from the table, closing and locking the door behind her. She turned on some Alanis Morissette and began tossing off her clothes to get dressed for bed.

This time, when she looked in the mirror, she felt in control of her body. The book had assured her, she would get her period soon, her breasts would grow, her body hair would fill in, and she would get hips and curves. She was not doomed to look like this forever. As she tossed on her sleep shorts and a baggy t-shirt, her phone rang.

Seeing Logan's number on the call display, she began the conversation as soon as she answered.

"I have sooo much to tell you!"

"What if I was Dick?" Came Logan's voice from the other end.

"Oh, you'll have to share this all with Dick. Porn cannot be his only teacher. It's up to us to keep our brother informed or he'll do something stupid," Veronica said and rolled onto her relatively small bed.

This bed really needs more pillows, she thought to herself.

"This is true. I think Dick thought, before we watched porn, that he stuck it in a girl's bellybutton," Logan laughed. "Which would account for the horrified look on his face throughout."

"See. This is why real information is good. I find out, I tell you, you tell Dick. We all feel smarter. And then there is no need to use porn as a 'leaning tool'."

"Okay then, Doctor Ronnie. What did you find out?" he said with a final chuckle. "Full report."

Veronica took a deep breath and dropped her voice, just in case her mom was listening in through the door.

"So, those dreams you're having are called 'Wet Dreams' or the technical term 'nocturnal emissions'. It's basically a sex dream so intense that you have an orgasm."

"Sounds about right," he muttered.

"And, I found out, girls can have them too," she said with glee in her voice.

Logan laughed. "So, you're calling in sick tomorrow?"

"Yeah, well, I'm still not too sure how to make them happen. I'm not watching porn, like, ever. And I don't have a boyfriend or anything," she explained.

"Just think about someone else. Like that guy from that show you like. The one with the big arms and great hair..." Logan teased. "Or you can think about Ca-seeeee."

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "I hate you."

"Pffffffff...you love me. What about Clint Eastwood? Tony Hawk? Leonardo DiCaprio?" He continued.

"Ewwwww! You're an idiot and you need to shut up or I won't tell you the best news ever," she drawled.

"Okay. I'm sorry. What is the 'best news ever'?"

Veronica scrunched up her face as she chose her word carefully. "You can make yourself have an orgasm. You can masturbate. Basically, you just play with your junk until you make yourself come. You know how everyone used to call each other 'jerk-off' in elementary school. Well, that's what it actually means."

Silence. Logan was dead silent. If his head had actually exploded, she was sure she would have heard a 'boom' through the receiver.

"Are you kidding me?" he finally hissed.

"No! I'm not!" Veronica laughed.

He was silent for a moment more. "That explains what the girl that was alone in the porn video was doing," Logan said absently.

Veronica started laughing until she couldn't breathe. Logan was quiet at first, and then he slowly joined in.

"So, you're staying in bed all day tomorrow too?" She giggled.

"Are you going to try it?" he asked.

Veronica thought for a second. "No. I think I'm going to go with the dream thing and see if that works." There was silence on Logan's side. "You're going to try masturbating aren't you."

"Ummm...yeah!" he exclaimed.

"Full report?" she asked.

"Ummm...no!" Logan said firmly.

"Why not?" Veronica giggled at him.

"Because I said no," he stated.

"But why?" she begged, knowing she was driving him insane.

He groaned. "Because you don't need to know about every...single...thing...I...do."

"Yes I do."

"Veronica..."

"Fine. But then you don't get to find out what happens with me," she snarked.

"I am really okay with not knowing who you fantasize about," he muttered.

"Well then, I guess I will see you tomorrow. Enjoy your new knowledge."

"Thanks! I will. Good night best friend."

Veronica smiled in spite of herself. "Good night, best friend," she said and hung up the phone.

An hour later, Veronica was in bed, under the covers. The house was quiet. Her parents were in bed as well so she knew there was a long hallway and two doors between them.

Staring up at her stucco ceiling, she tried to conjure up a sexy thought to fall asleep to, but nothing came to mind.

How do you think about sexy things, when you've never experienced sexy things, she thought.

Veronica started flipping through her list romantic movies in her head: The Princess Bride, Pretty In Pink, Say Anything, Shakespeare in Love, Robin Hood, An Affair to Remember, Casablanca...

Veronica sighed deeply. Who needed sex when there was romance. True love, first love, unrequited love, forbidden love; it was all so wonderful; it made her feel happy all over. So in place of anything "sexy", she fell asleep listing all the movie romances she loved so much.

Veronica stood near the open window, looking over the rolling hills of Florin. Her white and gold gown, draped from her tight bodice to the floor, her long hair cascading down her back. The evening chill was in the air and the castle walls were beginning to feel cold to the touch.

From behind her she heard the gentle rustle of fabric. She knew he was there, but did not turn to meet him. Veronica felt the heat from his body standing inches from her and her own body went ridged with anticipation. She let out a small gasp as she felt his hand fall gently on her right hip. His other hand followed on the other side and he finally pressed his long frame against her. She leaned into him and he reached down and caught her neck.

Moving her head, she made room for his exploration of her exposed flesh. His hair was still covered by the black bandana, his eyes still hidden by his mask. The Dread Pirate Roberts began moving his hands to circle her waist and she turned in his embrace to face him.

Looking up, through his mask, she saw his deep brown eyes gazing back at her with love. Standing on tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his. They were as soft as she always imagined they would be.

Pulling back from the kiss, she took another look into those familiar eyes. "Make love to me," she whispered.

A smile crossed his lips. "As you wish," he murmured back.

In a swift motion, he gathered her up in his arms and kissed her again, deeply. He carried her across the room to the giant bed, and lay her down in a mountain of embroidered pillows.

Connecting with his eyes again, she reached up to his scarf. Running her fingers to the back, she undid the knot at the base of his skull, releasing the fabric. A mass of brown shaggy hair fell down over his face. She gently moved the locks from his forehead and reached for his mask. Taking a deep breath, she pulled off the mask to reveal Logan's full face.

"Do you still want me, now that you know who's is behind the mask?" He questioned her.

Veronica smiled. "Yes. I will always want you. Make love to me, Logan," she replied.

He caught her lips again in a passionate kiss. She felt the happiness well up inside of her. Removing his lips from hers, he began kissing her face, trailing lower to her neck, then even lower until...

Oh.

Veronica's eyes shot open, stars dancing in front of them. Her body was pulsing to a rhythm from deep inside of her. She felt a rush of warmth and then a wetness...

Oh.

She closed her eyes, realizing what had happened. She did it. She conjured up a dream and made herself come. And it felt as good as Logan said it would.

Oh. But. Logan.

She closed her eyes tightly, but there he was again; Logan in black, hovering above her. Veronica opened her eyes and whispered to the empty room.

"Shit. Shit...shit...shit...shit."

The next morning, Veronica was quiet at the breakfast table. So quiet that her mom checked her forehead to see if she had a fever. She had gone inside her head and refused to come out. She kept rolling her dream around in her thoughts. In a fog, she floated through her morning routine, losing herself in thought again as she sat in the back of the police cruiser, on the way to pick-up Logan.

What did that dream mean? Am I in love with Logan? Of course I 'love' him but am I 'in-love' with him? Or was he in my dream because he's the only boy she really knows? But Dick wasn't...ewww...stop thinking about that... Maybe it would be different if I hung out with other guys? Maybe Logan is just too accessible...

The car door opened, shocking Veronica from her thoughts. Logan slid in, but didn't make eye contact.

"Hey," he muttered, looking at his shoes.

Veronica's cheeks went hot with embarrassment.

"Hey," she replied and turned to look out her window. From the reflection, she saw him look at her briefly and then turn to look out his window.

The silence was deafening and Keith tried to get the kids to talk, but both of them only responded with "Yes" and "No" answers so he gave up.

Logan was let out of the car first. As Keith let Veronica out, Logan began walking towards the quad, leaving her behind. After saying a quick goodbye to her dad, Veronica had to run to catch up with Logan.

Veronica managed to get in front of him and he stopped in his tracks, but still didn't look at her.

"Hey..." She started and reached out to grab his hand. As Veronica made physical contact with Logan, she felt a shock of warmth run through her from his skin. She looked up at him and his eyes shifted to hers. His hand curled around her fingers momentarily and the warmth swept through the rest of her body. She realized that he felt it too, because his eyes got darker and more intense.

Veronica's mouth went dry and she croaked out her words. "What's wrong?"

He didn't respond right away, holding her gaze, letting the feeling they were sharing linger. Then just like that, he dropped her hand, his eyes returning to normal.

"Are you going to rake me over the coals about last night?"

Veronica's mouth dropped open slightly. If she asked him what happened, she would have to divulge what happened to her last night.

"No. You said you weren't going to tell me and I won't pry," she answered quietly.

Logan gave her a shy smile and tan his fingers through his hair. "Okay. Thank you. I know how hard it must be for curious Veronica to not have all the answers."

Veronica smiled back. "Maybe curious Veronica sometimes needs to chill."

Logan arched an eyebrow. "Well, don't be too hard on her...she's one of my favorite people."

Veronica's heart began to pound. She looked down at the white tips of her Converse sneakers.

"Thanks. I'd better go. See you at lunch," she said quietly.

Not waiting for a response, she turned and scurried towards her locker. She was hoping the silly grin that pulled on her lips, and the dancing butterflies in her stomach, would be gone by homeroom.

Chapter End Notes

Just in case anyone wasn't aware...the "Dread Pirate Roberts" and the phrase "As you wish." are from the movie "The Princess Bride" - it is not my character or my line of dialogue (but it is still one of my favorite movies!)