[A/N Sorry its taken so long to get this chapter up. I have the final chapter written and it will be up some time this weekend. Enjoy]

She was an investigator. It was her job to have the information, and to share it with the people who asked for it, who needed it. More often than not the information she held would cause pain, but every now and then she'd have a cheerful piece to share. It had always been easy to reveal other people's stories. But sitting here asked to reveal her own, even to the man she loved, she still felt a sliver of fear, a small wave of discomfort. Sure, she trusted Logan whole-heartedly, but she knew better then anyone just what information could do to your perception. But she was Veronica Mars, and she didn't take the easy way out, no matter how hard the story was to tell…

They were both eating their salads, enjoying the wine Logan had requested. It was a bottle of 1958 chardonnay. That wasn't a particularly great year for wine or anything, but it did hold significance for the couple. The first time the Fab Four had gotten buzzed had been off this wine. Lilly had just turned fifteen and was determined that she was grown up enough to drink. She wasn't going to do it alone though, so she convinced her fourteen year old friends to imbibe the bottle she'd stolen from Celeste's stores. They'd taken it to Logan's pool house; his parents were away for the night at some benefit or something. It hadn't taken long for the bottle to disappear. It had been that night that Lilly declared them friends forever, the Fab Four.

Veronica had finished telling Logan about the night she received the scar over her eye. Though she hadn't mentioned it to Logan, it had been a few months after her father retired, after Weevil had rejoined the team. She'd been hired by one of the rich socialite wives of the 09er zip to track her husband, who surprise surprise had ended up at the Camelot. Veronica had just gotten the money shot when Weevil called to check on her. He'd told her that there was a break in one of the other cases they were working on and that instead of coming all the way back to the office, he'd meet her at the convenience store on the corner and they could go from there. She'd gone in to get some coffee and grab something to eat. She heard Weevil pull up, and the bell that warned the clerk someone had entered. The next thing she'd heard was the notch of a shotgun loading. Two guys were standing in front of the counter with guns drawn. Out of the corner of her eye, she'd seen Weevil give her the heads up. He'd come in thru the door and the first guy was unconscious before the second guy had even turned his head, which was when Veronica had made her move, tackling him. Only problem was she'd overestimated the force and velocity of her lunge. The two of them had gone right through the store window. She'd gotten some shallow cuts on her arms and bruises from where she'd collided with the guy, and a piece of glass had sliced a nice cut along her eyebrow. A few hours, a police report, and twelve stitches later and she'd been fine.

Logan had taken the news relatively well, considering how he'd acted in the past when she'd gotten hurt. He'd merely reached across the table and run his fingers over the scar. He'd then told her she looked more beautiful then ever. That story had brought them to the salad course. It was Veronica's turn now.

"So spill, what did Trina need overseas?" A look of surprise crossed Logan's face. "Dick's dating one of my best friends." She decided she'd wait to reveal exactly why she knew just a little longer.

"That's right. I should have known nothing would get by you. Trina got married Thursday night." Veronica's mouth dropped open. "That's right, my sister is now a married woman. It was a small thing in France, just me and the guy's sister. They've been together since she moved there two years ago. He's been great for her, haven't seen her name in the paper since they started dating. She called me last Saturday, said he'd proposed, asked me to fly in so they could get married. It took her four days to plan the wedding. Do you know what an achievement that is for Trina? It took her 4 weeks to plan her root canal." Logan was smiling. He really liked his new brother-in-law.

As Logan had been detailing Trina's wedding, Maria had come with their entrees. Logan had ordered the chicken marsala, the only thing left on the menu that he hadn't already tried. Veronica, of course, had chosen the lasagna, which Logan had assured her was well worth it.

"Wow, that's great. I'm so happy for her. I'll have to send her a card or something." Veronica was now very glad she hadn't called Logan earlier this week. She would have hated herself if she'd called Logan away from his sister's wedding.

"It was great to see her so happy. I was beginning to think she'd never find an outlet." Logan was extremely proud of the adult Trina had grown into since he'd last seen her. He leveled his eyes back to the blonde before him, "Back to you. Any other scars since I left?" Logan knew there were bigger things he should be asking about. The last few weeks, Dick had been extremely vague on the phone. Logan hadn't caught on to what, but he knew his best friend had been hiding something. And he would only hide something that had to do with Veronica. But Logan knew better then to push, she would let him know when she was ready to talk about it.

Veronica hesitated. The small scar on her eye was one thing, it hadn't been her fault, and it was one of those wrong place and time scenarios. The one on her chest, however, was very much a result of her own stubbornness and pride. "Yea, there's one other one." She took a breath, she was pretty sure she was about to shatter the calm he'd held during the first story. "Dad had a heart attack about seven months after you left." She continued the story quickly, not giving Logan the opportunity to ask after her father. "It was just a small one, but doctor's orders put him in the office. I told him we'd be fine, that I would pick up the slack. We had to limit our cases to stuff I could handle, cheating spouses, finding things that had been lost, and no more bail jumpers. I was fine for about a month. Then I took the wrong case. I thought it was a simple money shot, had the picture inside of forty-eight hours. Only problem was when the client delivered the divorce papers to his wife, he told her she could thank us for proof of her invalidating the pre-nup. My picture meant she got no money. She lost it, started sending me threatening letters. Instead of showing my dad, or taking them to Van Lowe, I took matters into my own hands. I tracked her down, told her she deserved whatever happened for sleeping with her husband's best friend. She went all crazy, lunged at me with a knife. I dodged, got in a shot to her face. She recovered quicker then I did. If dad hadn't found the letters and tracked my phone, she would have killed me. Weevil got there just as I was falling. He knocked her out, called the ambulance." Veronica traced the scar. "Shoulder to hip, 72 stitches. Doctor said it could have killed me, if the cut had been just a little deeper." She stopped, looked Logan in the eye, hoping he would understand just how serious this next statement was. "It's not like that anymore, Logan. I haven't been on a case alone since then, Weevil or Wallace, one of them has been with me. Piz and Dick have been helping out too. When you broke up with me back at Hearst, I was too angry to see your side of the argument, and with the rape, it was just too close to home for me to walk away. But I learned my lesson, I swear." She had. Her father had been so upset, she'd been worried he might have another heart attack; Wallace too had been beyond upset. Weevil had come to see her in the hospital to yell at her, and to tell her he was coming back to work with her.

Logan tried to keep his calm. He wouldn't have expected anything less from Veronica, then to go after someone who messed with her. But knowing she'd nearly gotten herself killed over it, it terrified him. The sincerity in her eyes when she promised she wasn't like that anymore gave him some hope though. "Geez, Veronica. What would have happened if this woman had killed you? What do you think that would have done to Weevil and Wallace, to Mac or your father, to me? You're not indestructible. Sometimes I could swear you didn't care what happened to you."

"I do care, Logan. It was a mistake. It was one of the reason's you left. It was something I needed to learn on my own. And I did."

He believed her, but that didn't make it any easier to accept that she'd been hurt, or that it was her own fault. He took a few breaths, trying to calm himself and to remember that she was okay, and that was what mattered. "I'm glad you learned your lesson. I just wish it hadn't taken a trip to the hospital." He reached across the table and took her hand, gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you, Logan, for understanding." Veronica was relieved; she'd been worried that learning about her stupidity would upset him.

"It's your turn, Ronnie, ask away." Logan could accept she'd done something stupid, he himself had done stupid things before, what mattered was that she could accept it was a mistake and at least try to not do it again.

Veronica had a million questions, wanting to know what he had been up to since he came to the Big Apple, but she knew that the best way to show Logan she had changed was to change the game. "I need to tell you something, Logan."

Logan leaned forward; this was what he'd been waiting for. Veronica was going to tell him what had been bothering her since he'd seen her for the first time looking at the pictures in his house. He was also pretty sure it would be the same thing Dick had been hiding for the last couple weeks.

Veronica tried several times to start talking, "Logan, I… Last week…about a month ago…" But thinking about what had happened last week brought tears to her eyes.

"Ronnie, what is it?" Logan got up and walked around the table to kneel at her feet. He took hold of both her hands.

"Oh God, Logan, I should have let Dick tell you. It would have been easier." That statement helped her catch her breath. "That's wrong; it wouldn't have been fair to let him do it. I should have called before. I should have done something; I should have made him get a second opinion." She had been arguing with herself, but that last sentence ended her little rant. She dissolved in tears, put her face in her hands, and sobbed.

"Who needed a second opinion? Veronica, who's sick?"

Veronica caught her breath, took a second to stop the tears. "I'm sorry, Logan, I'm acting like a child. It's been a long month."

"It's alright. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened." Logan was starting to get a little worried. He hadn't seen Veronica this upset since the night they'd graduated, when she'd thought Keith was dead.

She took a deep breath. "Dad went in for a checkup about a month ago. The doctor told him he had cancer, which they'd missed it before because they'd been more worried about his heart. It was already stage four. He could try chemo, but at best, it would give him an extra month. Dad didn't want that, two months in the hospital, unable to move, he wanted to spend what time he had left at home. And he did. Tuesday morning, I got a call from the CA Highway Patrol. My mom had crashed her car into a tree. She was dead by the time they got to her. When Dad heard the news, I guess it was like he was waiting for it or something. I buried them both yesterday morning." She took a deep breath, and felt a weight lift. Her heart had been waiting for this since the early hours of that horrible morning, the moment where she told the one person that mattered most to her about her newest pain. His silence brought her eyes up.

"Oh God, Veronica. I'm so sorry." He stood, pulling her into his arms. She offered no resistance, having been waiting for this for almost a week. He held her close, rocking her gently back and forth. "Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you call, I would have come home. I would have been there for you."

"I know you would have, Logan. And I wanted you there; you have no idea how badly. But you were at Trina's wedding."

"I would have left, she could have waited."

"That wouldn't have been fair to you, or to her. Besides I needed to do it alone." She pulled back a little, in order to meet his eyes. "I know it sounds stupid, but I didn't want you to think I'd called just because of what happened. I wanted you to know I called because I wanted to."

He leaned in closer, kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't dare think otherwise."

He held her for a minute, rocking her back and forth. "Do you want to get out of here? We could head back to my place, have coffee? Or I could take you back to your hotel, if that's what you…"

"No, I've been alone for way too long." The words were out before he'd finished the offer. Her voice turned pleading, "Please don't leave me again."

He pulled her close, "I won't. I'm not going anywhere, Ronnie."

She breathed in his scent, holding tight to the man she loved. Her and Logan had problems, they always had. She was fairly certain they always would. But she'd tried living without Logan; every day had been a struggle. She'd wanted to pick up the phone just to hear his voice so many times. But knowing that she could live without him made her positive she wanted to have him. He was her other half, the person she could trust and rely on. Everything they'd been through, all the pain they'd survived, both together and apart, had made them perfect for each other.

Veronica looked forward to the coming years. She looked forward to a life with Logan, every day a chance to make up for the time spent apart. Looking into his eyes, she knew now was the time. They'd both finally reached a place where this relationship could work. They'd overcome the problems and they'd moved past the things that had happened in high school. She leaned forward, "I love you Logan."

He smiled, thrilled to hear those words. He was ready to marry this girl, to build a life with her. "I love you, too. Let's go home, I miss that California sun."

She laughed; not at all surprised that he was ready to be back in the Sunshine State. He was probably desperate for a decent wave. "I have till Tuesday, what do you say we spend a few days alone first?"

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Sounds like a plan. What do you say we take dessert to go?"

They called Maria over; she was ready with both dessert and the bill. "Logan told me you were a huge tiramisu fan. And you two didn't look like you'd be sticking around much longer." They said good night and left the restaurant. The valet brought the car around and the couple got in. They drove the short way back to Logan's with their hands clasped over the center console.

They pulled into Logan's driveway and both got out of the car. Veronica began to walk toward the door but Logan pulled on her hand, stopping her. "I have one more question for you." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small aqua box. He opened the box and held it out, the diamond catching the light from the porch, shining.

Veronica looked from the ring in Logan's hand to the look on his face. "Logan…" She had come to the conclusion long ago that marriage was not for her. She'd told Logan that one night what seemed like a lifetime ago. He had agreed with her. A lot had changed in the time since they'd been apart.