Nine days...not bad really considering this is the longest chapter of this story so far. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Part of mine is still this weekend. OK so I cover quite a bit in this chapter. I really didn't think it would end up this long but I think it needed it. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews. I really appreciate them. I think I got everyone answered this time. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought after reading it. Hope you like it!

Logan got the most unusual wake-up call he had ever had…Veronica's dog Backup was licking his face. He groaned as his eyes opened and noticed how the smiling dog was staring at him. Yeah, he and Backup had always gotten along. He slowly sat up and stretched. His back hurt a little. Veronica's couch was anything but comfortable but then again, he was not about to complain. He'd take sleeping on a lumpy couch any day over worrying whether or not his dad was going to beat the shit out of him. He scratched behind the dog's ears.

He then realized that if Backup was up that must mean that Keith was up too. He slipped on his shoes and quickly peeked around the corner. He could hear Veronica and Keith talking but wasn't able to make out any of their conversation. He gave a final pat to Backup and quietly snuck out the apartment before either of them knew he had left.

A few moments later, Veronica came out of her room with Keith trailing behind her. Veronica stared blankly at the empty couch.

"Where did he go?" Keith asked.

"No idea." Veronica sighed as she heard her phone beep. She rushed back into her room to read the message. She knew it was from Logan. She stared sadly at the

message. –Not a word, Veronica

"Veronica, I'm waiting for an explanation." Her dad reminded her.

"I know, dad but really it is something Logan has to tell you."

"Well he's not here and you are."

"Dad, it's complicated. I promised Logan that I wouldn't say anything."

"What are you hiding for him? It's got to be something big otherwise you would be telling me."

"Dad…"

"Does it have something to do with the black eye he had?"

She sighed. "You saw that."

"Yeah, I did."

"OK, look, he got into a fight. I really can't say more than that. It really has to be him who tells you."

"Why are you protecting him, Veronica? We're talking about Logan Echolls here. This is the boy who has treated you so horribly since Lilly died."

"Don't worry; I haven't forgotten." Veronica told him. "Ever since a few nights ago at his house and having his mom get stabbed though, it made me see a few things."

"Like what?" Keith pressed.

"Let's just say that based on what I saw, his attitude towards the whole world makes more sense now and it's not just because of Lilly's murder."

"Veronica…"

"Dad, it's complicated and hard for me to try to explain. Just trust me, I know right from wrong and I won't do anything that's illegal or puts anyone's lives in danger. I'm just trying to be a fri…" Veronica caught herself before she finished the word because Keith's eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "end." She finished.

"Friend? Do you really think Logan deserves someone special like you as a friend after the hell he's put you through in the last year?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "Part of me thinks he's still the psychotic jackass he's been since Lilly died."

"And the other part?"

"The other part, in the past few days, has seen some glimpses of the guy I used to know. With what's happened with his mom, I think that's what made it resurface."

"What makes you so sure that the guy you used to know is really still there and not just a fleeting moment because of what happened to Lynn?"

"I guess I don't. I haven't been much of a dreamer since Lilly died but I like to call it wishful thinking."

"I think you're being naïve."

"I'm not…" She argued as she went into the kitchen to grab some cereal. "There is a whole different side that I never knew existed."

"Honey, what are you talking about?"

"Never mind. Call it sleep deprivation." She told him as she went ahead and poured herself some cereal and took it in with her to her bedroom.

"Veronica we are not done talking about this!" He called after her.

"Fine but you need to realize I can't give you more answers right now. If and when the time is right, I'll convince Logan to tell you. I tried to do it last night but he's not ready. Give me some time, OK?"

Keith sighed. "Fine but if I find you are doing anything illegal…"

"I promise I'm not." She didn't elaborate further and shut her door.

She fell back asleep for another hour after she ate breakfast. She had sent Logan a text message asking where he went but he didn't respond.

At 11 o'clock Connor called and asked her about going out that night. She told him she couldn't though because her dad was mad at her. When Connor asked her why that was she told him that she had to help Logan with a problem the night before and he found out about it. When he asked her if she would elaborate she told him she couldn't more than Logan had a problem that took all night to solve but they did. He fell asleep on her couch. She then bit her lip realizing she shouldn't have told him that and asked him not to say anything. He told her he wouldn't but couldn't understand why. She told him it was too convoluted to explain. He let it drop at that.

It was a rather quiet day at the Mars apartment. Both Veronica and her dad had stuck around there. Veronica was unsure if it was just a coincidence or if it was because Keith was trying to keep an eye on her. She really hated not telling him about what was really going on but it was Logan's situation to talk about.

At 4:30, Veronica told her dad that she was headed down to Dog Beach to take Backup for a walk. Her dad told her she needed to be back by 6. She nodded as she put the collar and leash on the dog. She drove him to Dog Beach and let him off the leash to let him run. Veronica played a game of fetch with him as she made her way down the beach.

Backup had been running back to her when she squinted down the beach and saw someone sitting in the sand, just staring off into the horizon. She tossed Backup's toy one last time but this time instead of bringing the toy back, he headed further towards the person sitting on the beach and dove on them.

"Backup!" She yelled as she ran as fast as she could towards him. As she got closer though, she realized that the dog wasn't trying to maul anyone; he just recognized the person. She picked up his toy and made her way to where her dog was licking Logan's face.

She sighed as she shook her head.

"Your dog apparently loves me." Logan told her as she hooked his leash back onto the collar.

"I'll have to have a talk with him about that." Veronica sank onto the sand beside Logan.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He glanced over at her as he rubbed Backup's belly who was lying in between them.

She stared at him for a moment as she pet her dog. Logan's black eye had faded some but it was still visible. His bloody knuckles from last night were now scabbed over. "No, it's not." She whispered as she turned her attention back to the ocean. "So why didn't you tell me where you were?"

"Because I wasn't sure if it was you texting or your dad using your phone."

"My dad doesn't text." She told him.

"Did you tell him?" He asked as he stared at the ocean.

"Of course I didn't tell my dad, Logan. You told me I couldn't."

"Since when do you listen to me?"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"No, you don't get to pull that crap with me, Logan. What did that mean?"

"You don't listen any other time when I give you warnings."

"Such as?"

"Your boyfriend."

Veronica groaned. "First of all, that is none of your business. Second, one date does not make him my boyfriend. I barely know him."

"That's right; you barely know him."

"You have no right to judge whatever this is with Connor."

"I know him a hell of a lot better than you do. You're going to get hurt, Veronica."

"And you'll just be laughing your ass off at me when it happens." She reminded him.

"No, I won't."

"Yeah, right."

"You'll get a big fat 'I told you so' but I won't be laughing."

"You've done it all year long, Logan. Why should I think any different now?"

"Because you had the opportunity to laugh your ass off at me when you found out about my dad and you didn't."

"I would never laugh at you being abused, Logan. You know me better than that."

"True but I can also see you thinking that I may be did something to deserve it."

"Logan!" Veronica gasped. "I would never think that. I've been around the legal world long enough to know that. I just…" She paused to think of how to describe what

she was thinking. "It just floors me to think I didn't notice this sooner."

"I'm very enigmatic that way." Logan smirked.

"Obviously." Veronica commented. "No, he doesn't know the whole story but he knows something is up. I did tell him you got into a fight…"

Logan's eyes darted over to her.

"I had to. He saw your black eye but I didn't mention what had happened with your dad."

They stared at the ocean. "Here's the thing though. I can't lie to him forever. I told him it was up to you to tell him. I'd try to convince you it would be a good thing to do

but it had to be on your timetable."

"Why don't you get that I can't tell him?"

"Explain something to me, Logan. Why did you come to me for help if you don't want it?"

"Because you know the truth about what's going on."

"Still, I'm the person you hate the most. You've dealt with this for so long without any help from anyone."

"I don't hate you the most."

"I'm the person you hate the most after your dad."

"That's still not you."

"Really? So who's that?"

Logan was eerily quiet; that kind of scared Veronica.

"Who, Logan?"

"Lilly."

Veronica thought her ears were deceiving her. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious, Veronica." He took a long pause. "I…I knew she was cheating on me when I left for TJ the day before she was killed."

"Lilly wouldn't…"

"Cut the naïve crap, Veronica! She was not this goddamn angel you're idolizing her as being!" Logan barked. "Yes, she would and yes, she did. I have the proof."

"How? Who?"

"How, from her directly. As for the who, it was one of the PCH'ers." He ran a hand through his hair. "I heard a conversation between Weevil and one of them a couple

days before she died. I confronted her. She denied it at first but she ultimately admitted that she slept with this guy."

Veronica watched his expression. It was somewhere between sad and irate. "What?" She asked, confused.

"He wasn't the only one apparently."

"Logan…"

"I had a hard time stomaching that news so when Dick brought up TJ, I jumped at the chance. I needed to get away from her and just here in general."

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

"I'm trying to…I don't know."

Veronica laid her head on her knees.

"I wanted to tell you…I don't really hate you."

"Now it's your turn to cut the crap, Logan. You're lying and you know it." She glared at him coldly. "You have made the last year as miserable as possible for me just for your amusement."

"I was testing you." He rationalized.

"Testing me." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, I wanted to see if turning everyone against you would change you."

"Mission accomplished." She retorted. "You succeeded in that plan. You knew damn well when you gave me that ultimatum Logan that I wasn't going to choose you. You just wanted the easiest way to kick me out."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is."

"Duncan's dad is like…"

"Like what? A father to you?" Veronica guessed.

"Yeah."

"Let's get something straight. Jake Kane is no saint either. I know stuff about him that you wouldn't believe."

"Like what?"

"Like…we're not to that point yet. We're not friends yet. We have a ways to go before we would ever get back there."

"Veronica…"

"You admitting that you didn't hate me and why you did what you did may have helped a little but I'm not automatically going to forgive you just because you said it."

Logan looked down at the sand.

"I'd really like us to get back to being friends, Logan. I want that. I do. I like the fact you trust me to help you with this considering Duncan is your best friend and he had no clue."

He glanced up at her then.

"I have to know though. Is what I told Connor last night true? Is the old Logan that I was best friends with still in there somewhere?"

"The old Logan?" He repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, the old you who I kidded around with and went to parties with. The guy I played 'truth or dare' and 'I never' with and the guy who would just offer advice when I needed it. That you. Is he still in there somewhere?"

Logan was quiet. Wow! What a tall order. He didn't realize just how much of a confidante he was to her. It took him roughly 15 seconds to answer. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

She didn't say anything but he could tell what she was thinking by her body language. She seemed to relax more.

"Is the old Veronica in there?"

"No, the old Veronica is dead." She told him bluntly which made him frown. "The old naïve Veronica is long gone."

"I didn't mean naïve Veronica."

"Then what version are you talking about?"

"The one I was best friends with. I think she's still in there somewhere too." Logan told her as he looked down and saw that Backup was asleep. "You see, I saw a glimpse of her a couple days ago when she helped me see my mom…"

"Yeah, it failed miserably though and you still got the beating of your life."

"That wasn't your fault, Veronica." He told her. "It worked. Too well actually but someone at the hospital ratted me out. That's the only thing I can come up with."

Veronica bit her lip. They were so cleverly disguised. She didn't even recognize Logan with that wig on. Her heart sank then. God, it was Connor then. It had to be him. She knew he had told her that he didn't do it. She would like to believe it was true but she had this nagging feeling he could have told Aaron. Oh god. He knew that Logan had stayed the night at her apartment too. What if Connor was telling everything she told him to Aaron? She slowly exhaled. OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. She had no proof of that.

"Are you OK?" Logan took note of her crestfallen expression.

"Yeah, fine. You were saying…"

"Yeah so she helped me out when I needed her and plus I got to hear her do another impression of my whiny, annoying sister."

Veronica smiled. "That was fun."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, it was. I'd like to believe she's in there too. The girl who was the only one who could eat more ice cream than me or beat me at video games…"

"Any game in general actually including Texas Hold 'Em."

"OK true. The one I partied with and told all my secrets to."

"Apparently not all of them."

"Apparently so." Logan reminded her.

She looked confused for a moment then she nodded. "I guess so even if it did come 5 years late."

"Regardless you still know. Do I wish I admitted this sooner? Yeah, maybe. Maybe things would have been different. We can't go back though."

"No, we can't." She whispered. She glanced at her watch then. She had 15 minutes before she had to be home. "Where are we, Logan?"

He looked at her like she just asked the stupidest question ever. She groaned. "I meant, where are we? In the grander scheme of things."

Logan sighed. He didn't know what to say for sure. If you had asked him a week ago where he would be right now sitting on the beach having a pleasant…ok that was an exaggeration. A civil conversation with Veronica Mars he would have told you that you were out of your mind. Having this conversation tonight…even though it was hard to hear at times made Logan realize something. He missed her. He never realized just how much until he heard her list the things that she liked about him. The things that made him her best friend. Sure he had missed her before that. He watched her constantly but he would never own up to that.

He had never been happy that he made her choose but he had to stick up for Duncan. He was his best friend first and Jake was like a father to him. Like an actual father who knows better than to beat his son. In a way he felt like by doing this he was somehow defending Lilly's honor or memory in the process. In reality he knew that if Lilly was alive and she knew what he was doing to Veronica, she would be beyond pissed off at him. She would remind him that Veronica was not Keith. He would imagine that she would call him a few colorful names too.

"Truce." Logan finally said.

"A truce?" Veronica raised a curious eyebrow.

"We have to start somewhere." He shrugged.

"So is this just a truce between you and me or…"

"I'll get everyone to back off."

"Seriously."

"Yeah, seriously. Look, I'm having a party tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve." Veronica reminded him.

"I'm aware of that. I want you to come."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen. That's like walking into the Lion's Den."

"Why are you backing down now? You haven't all year."

Veronica flashed back to the last 09er party she crashed. It did not end well. She woke up naked in bed with no real clue from the night before. Memories of that night were still fuzzy at best. "I have my reasons."

"Look, I know for a fact that Meg is coming. Come with her."

"Logan, I don't know."

"Veronica, I'll…I'll make them behave. Besides, the other part I remember about my old best friend is that she never backed down."

Veronica smiled to herself.

"No matter what kind of a challenge Lilly threw at her, she was up for it."

"Yeah, OK. That's true."

"So?"

"So…what time?"

"Nine."

"Where?"

"Here." He looked around. "Maybe a little further up though."

"OK." Veronica nodded as she looked at the time. She had 5 minutes before she had to be home. She rose and pulled on the leash which then woke up Backup. She let him off his leash one last time to go to the bathroom. The dog came back a couple minutes later. "I need to go. Dad wanted me home by 6."

"You'd better fly then cause you have like 2 minutes."

"Yeah, I know. So…any theme I need to be aware of since this is more than likely a Christmas party?"

"Not really. I'm not really one of those party theme people though."

"OK, need to go." She put Backup back on the leash. "Bye Logan."

"See ya Veronica." He cracked a smile as she left.

Veronica made it home at 6:02.

"You're late."

Veronica groaned. "By 2 minutes. Come on."

"What were you doing?"

"I told you. I took Backup for his walk or maybe I should say run."

"Really? That's all?"

Veronica sighed. That of course meant that he followed her and knew she was with Logan. "OK so when I got there, I found out that Logan was there."

"Veronica…"

"I promise I had no idea he was going to be there." Her dad gave her a stern look. "Seriously!" She exclaimed. "I'll show you the text message I sent him that went unanswered. I really did only go to take Backup on his walk."

"You talked for a long time." Again, it was a statement not a question.

"We…had a lot to talk about." Veronica told him quietly as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"About what?" Her dad asked. She glanced over at him. She gave him a sad smile.

"About the past…about the future." She took a drink from the bottle.

"And…"

"And we're calling a truce." She told him and Keith's eyes grew wide.

"You're forgiving him for everything?"

"No!" She told him adamantly. "No and I told him that it wasn't going to be that easy just because he explained to me why he did what he did. He knows that. But…we're going to stop these stupid games to see who can hurt who worse."

"Veronica I really don't like this path that you're going down. I'm scared for you."

"Don't be." She sighed. "I know you think I'm naïve and stupid but I'm doing this with my eyes wide open. I know what I'm doing."

"I'm still worried."

"I know you are. You're an overly concerned parent but I'm very capable and I definitely know how to handle teenage boys." She pulled her taser out of her bag. "Anyone crosses the line, they'll get a visit from Sparky here."

Keith stifled a laugh. "OK."

"OK so that now leads me to tomorrow."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Well, I know it's Christmas Eve and everything…"

"Veronica, just ask me."

"Well, I got invited to a party tomorrow night and I was kind of wanting to go."

"And just who is throwing the party?"

Veronica sighed and Keith immediately said no.

"Dad, I'd be going with Meg. You remember Meg, right?"

"Yes, I remember Meg."

"Well, then. I'll stick by her."

"Veronica I really don't think it's smart."

"I know you don't but Meg and I will be there together so you really don't need to worry. Like I said, I plan on carrying." She flipped the taser on. "My little friend here."

Keith sighed. He was losing. He had to remember this was his very responsible, level-headed daughter. She rarely made bad choices. Of course there was the time she didn't listen and went up to the Half Moon Collective when she wasn't supposed to. Or that Homecoming incident when Lilly was still alive and they had the limo party and stayed out all night but overall, he knew his daughter was a good kid. "OK, Veronica. But I need to know when Meg's curfew is I know when to expect you home."

"OK. I'll call her and find out."

Meg was thrilled to hear that Veronica was coming to the party. "See what did I tell you? Did I not tell you that you still had friends among the 09er group?"

"Whoa, whoa, Meg." Veronica quickly protested. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Friends is still a stretch."

"Believe what you want, Veronica. You know deep down that you still have friends among the group."

"Yeah, I do and I've always known it." She told her truthfully. "You've been the only true 09er friend I've had through the last year."

"Veronica…"

"So, my dad wanted me to check and see what time your curfew was."

"Oh, it's 12:30."

"It's 12:30, dad." Veronica looked over her shoulder at her dad.

"OK, fine. No longer than 12:30 then."

"Do you want me to pick you up or did you want to drive?"

"Either way."

"I'll pick you up at quarter after 9."

"Sounds good. Bye Meg."

"Bye Veronica."

That night, Veronica laid awake in bed. She wondered what Logan was doing right now. On a general level she didn't care that much but as far as his home situation goes, she did. She hoped he would survive the night without getting some sort of torture from his dad. His mom was home now so hopefully she could act as a buffer for him. Given the fact that Aaron still beat his son after all these years though, she didn't think Lynn would be able to be much help.

It was just after 9:15 when Meg arrived at Veronica's front door. Her dad had answered it and talked to Meg while Veronica finished getting ready.

"Meg, I'm still concerned about this party. The kids that are going to be there have been treating my daughter horribly this past year."

"I understand Mr. Mars but you don't have to worry. I'll be there to help her out if anyone gives her a hard time."

"Dad." Veronica made her way down the hallway. "For the hundredth time, if anyone gives me any crap, they'll just become better acquainted with Sparky." She produced the taser again. Meg stifled a laugh while Keith smirked.

"OK. Fine, honey. I'll drop it now."

"Thank you." She gave her dad a hug. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, honey." He cracked a smile. "Drive safe."

Meg smiled. "Will do."

They left the apartment and Meg looked between Veronica and the apartment door. "What's going on? Your dad seemed exceptionally worried about this party."

"It's a long story." Was all Veronica said as she got into Meg's car.

When they arrived at the party, there were already dozens of people…and they all took notice when she arrived. Logan glanced over at her and met her gaze. He cracked a smile before he turned his attention back to Dick and Cassidy. Dick was telling Logan a story about his latest surfing trip to TJ and the hot girl he met while he was there.

Dick then glanced over to see what had Logan's attention. "Oh god. Who the hell invited Veronica Mars to this party?"

"I did." Logan told him, his eyes never leaving her.

Dick laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, right. Who really did?"

He finally looked over at Dick. "I. did." He said succinctly.

"As some sort of joke on her or what?"

"No, Dick. No joke. Leave her alone."

"Have you gone crazy, Logan?" Cassidy asked.

"No, I haven't. We…uh…called a truce."

"Are you fucking insane?" Dick exclaimed.

"No, I'm not and I really don't appreciate you thinking that I am." Logan scowled at him. "I have my reasons."

"Did you sleep with her?"

Logan's head whipped around so fast to stare at him. "Are you fucking insane, Dick? Of course I didn't sleep with her. Why is it so hard to believe that I could call a truce with her?"

"Because you've made her life a living hell for the last year." Cassidy reminded him.

"Yeah, well, like I said, I have my reasons."

"Yeah, let's hear 'em."

"I'm not sharing." Logan told him bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because it's none of your business." Veronica chimed in from behind Dick. They all flipped around to look at her.

"Well, well Ronnie." Dick smirked. "Surprised to see you here. Don't try and make out with me this time, OK?"

Logan stared at her confused.

"Watch it, Dick." She grabbed her taser. "See the difference between this party and Shelly Pomeroy's party is that at this party is I have my little electrical friend with me." She turned it on. "How would you like 50,000 volts coursing through your body?"

Dick instinctively backed up. "Umm…hey. I was just kidding with you, Ronnie. Honest."

"Sure you were. As for why Logan and I struck a truce, you're not going to get the reason out of either of us so it would be wise to just drop it."

Dick glanced over at Logan for confirmation. "She's right." Logan then noticed how the party stopped and everyone was staring at them. Most of the people had shocked expressions. "Now go and tell the masses there's a truce in place and no one is to bother Veronica. Got me?"

"OK, whatever dude." Dick reluctantly left with Beaver trailing behind him. They went to spread the word and most people weren't happy about it. They loved the fact

that Veronica was an outcast. There were a few though, Duncan, Meg and Casey Gant, that appeared to be happy about the news.

"So you OK?"

Veronica nodded as she turned off her taser and put it back in her purse. "I'm great."

Logan hesitated asking this but he couldn't help himself. "You're not really planning on tasering anyone, are you?"

"If they piss me off enough I will." Veronica reached in and pulled out a can of Sunkist. Logan stared at her. "OK so what don't you have in that purse?"

Veronica smirked as she popped it open and took a drink. "The kitchen sink."

Logan chuckled and pretty much everyone's eyes went wide in disbelief. Logan Echolls laughing at one of Veronica Mars' jokes? Oh hell has surely frozen over.

Veronica stared at everyone as she drank her Sunkist. "You seriously think this is going to work?"

"It will." Logan confirmed as he drank his beer. "Have some faith, Veronica."

"Wasn't I telling you that a few days ago?"

Logan grinned as Meg and Casey made their way over to them.

"I like seeing this." Meg told them.

"Seeing what?" Logan asked.

"Seeing you two being civil to each other. Almost, dare I say, friendly." Casey told him.

"Oh no, Casey. We're not there." Veronica quickly responded. "Not yet anyway."

"Hopefully we'll get there though." Logan added.

"Good." Meg smiled. "I hope so." She looked down at the sand then. "You know, you two won't ever admit to it, but you both know that you've been miserable without

the other one."

Veronica and Logan shared a look.

"With the way you two were just looking at each other, you know it's true." Casey told them.

Neither one of them commented on that.

By 10:30 almost all of the 09ers had enough alcohol in them that they didn't care that Veronica was there, much less reached a truce with Logan. Then there was

Madison Sinclair who couldn't help but throw death glares at her.

"Got a problem, Madison?" Veronica smiled tightly.

"No just a comment. Logan must be on some serious drugs to ever consider calling a truce with you."

"Keep talking, Madison. Please. Give me a reason to use my taser tonight. I'd love to see you writhing in pain."

"You wouldn't dare."

She produced the taser and flipped it on, which showed the blue crackle to let her know it was on. "Try me."

The boys then stepped into intervene. Logan pulled Veronica back and Dick pulled Madison away.

"You stupid bitch!" Madison screamed at her.

"Oh yeah? Well, you're a fucking whore Madison! Why don't you finally own up to sleeping with half the football team behind Dick's back?" Veronica screamed back.

Dick's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"She's lying!"

"Oh give me a break. I've got witnesses to this."

"Like who?" Dick demanded.

Veronica scanned the crowd. Meg was one that stepped forward. Queen of Gossip Carrie Bishop stepped forward along with a couple others.

The look on Dick's face was one for the books. "Why the hell didn't any of you tell me?" He screamed.

"Well, Madison paid us $1,000 each to keep quiet." Meg admitted.

"Of course for me, she had to give me 5." Carrie smiled sweetly at Madison who looked like she was going to be sick. "I wasn't going to keep quiet for just $1,000."

"Bet you wished that you had let me taser her now, don't ya Dick?" Veronica remarked as she flipped it off again.

"Madison, I think it's time you left." Logan told her as he let his grasp on Veronica go.

"You can't banish me, Logan! I'm not going willingly." Madison spat.

Logan sighed as he nodded to Casey, John Enbom, and a couple others who escorted her off the beach. He then told everyone. "Come on! This is a party! Party!"

Everyone went back to what they were doing. Logan then looked back at Veronica. "How long have you known about Madison?"

"For awhile." Veronica told him.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Why would I be nice to the people who openly loathed me?" Veronica told him.

"Infidelity, among other things like drugs and alcohol, runs rapid through the 09er veins."

Logan smirked at the comment. "Apparently so. Apparently no one has the ability to be faithful anymore."

"Not true." She told him quietly. She glanced around and noticed they were the only ones by his X-terra then cleared her throat. "So…everything OK at home?"

"Depends on your definition of OK." Logan shrugged. "Nothing happened last night but then again, dad is on location for a week in Vegas so that would be why."

"But your mom's home now, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's supposed to take it easy for a few more days. Mrs. Navarro is at the house helping her out."

"That's good." Veronica paused for a moment. "Did they wonder where you were yesterday?"

"You mean when I had stayed at your apartment?"

She nodded.

"Dad had left already when I had gotten home. I sent mom a message letting her know that I crashed at Duncan's the night before and then decided to go to the

beach."

"She didn't question that?"

"Nope."

Veronica nodded."Good. That's good."

"So…I take it you told your dad I was throwing this party."

"No way around it."

"And he let you come?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Well, I didn't know if you were going to have to sneak out or not."

"Nope."

"So what sold him on letting you come?"

"Meg."

Logan grinned. Yeah, he wasn't surprised by that.

"Her and of course, my little friend here." She put the taser back in her purse.

"You love threatening people with that thing, don't you?" He smirked.

"I trust very few people in this crowd, Logan."

"Do you trust me?"

Veronica stared at him. "No, not completely." She admitted as she looked away. "But I do trust you more than most people here."

"Well, that's something."

"It's big actually." She told him. "Because if you would have asked me that question a week ago, I would have laughed in your face."

"So we're making progress."

"I'd like to think so. It's going to take time, Logan."

"I know."

"Everybody's calmed down at my presence. Do you think it's because they're all drunk?"

Logan laughed. "Could be."

"You think any of them are going to remember this truce tomorrow morning?"

"I'm hoping so. We'll just have to remind them otherwise."

Veronica smiled.

"Hey Veronica?"

Logan and Veronica looked over and saw Duncan approaching them.

"Yeah?" She said.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Umm…sure."

She walked down the beach with Duncan. "What did you need, Duncan?"

"So this truce between you and Logan…this is real?"

"Yeah, Duncan, it's real."

"What happened?"

"We…it's hard to explain, Duncan. After Lynn got stabbed, it made us realize that the whole vendetta thing wasn't worth it. We're not friends yet; we're hoping eventually but right now, we're going to stop purposely hurting each other."

He was quiet.

"Are you mad about this?"

Duncan looked surprised. "Why would I be?"

"Well, you know the reason we were estranged in the first place."

"Well, I know that was more resentment towards your dad I think than anything, Veronica. Logan blamed you and he shouldn't have. It was your dad he had the

problem with, not you."

"He admitted as much a couple nights ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a slow process. Very slow process but we're working on it."

"Good. I am glad to hear it."

"Thanks Duncan."

"Veronica!"

She turned around and saw Meg calling her. She headed back towards her. "Hey, we should go. It's almost curfew time."

"OK." She nodded. "See you later, Duncan."

"Bye Duncan." Meg gave him a quick wave.

"See ya."

The girls almost walked by Logan but Veronica decided to stop. "Hang on." She stood in front of him. "Hey."

"Hey. Everything OK with Duncan?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He was happy to hear about the truce."

"I'm sure he is."

"Listen, I need to go. I'm doing everything in my power to not piss off my dad."

Logan nodded. "No, sure I understand. Thanks for coming."

Veronica smiled. "Well, thanks for inviting me. I actually had fun."

"Really?" He raised an amused eyebrow. "What part in particular?"

"Threatening Madison of course."

Logan died hysterically. Everyone looked back over at him. This time it was amusement at Logan's expression.

"Of course that would be the best part."

"You played a part too."

He nodded.

"Glad to see you were true to your word about this truce."

He smiled.

"Better go."

"See ya Veronica."

Meg and Veronica headed to her apartment. Meg smiled. "You're smiling, Veronica. You must have had fun."

"It had its moments." She commented.

"You think that Logan and you will be friends again?"

"It's wishful thinking, Meg but it does have real possibilities now."

Wouldn't that have been great for the opportunity to taser Madison ;) Like I said, I covered A LOT. I kind of took the chicken way out as far as Logan and Keith talking goes. I almost called this chapter Naive based on how many times I said the word in it. I had to look up the voltage for tasers and I found they normally run 50,000 volts. Anyway, hope you liked it. Debating on where I'll pick up. There's not going to be more than 1 or 2 chapters before Connor's gone. I know I had people worried that it was going to turn into something serious but I wouldn't do that. This is a Logan/Veronica story after all. Anyway, hope you liked it. Review please!