I keep getting pulled into this one, so I'm updating this one often. Thanks for the quick reviews. I was surprised at how much you all loved this story. Also, sometimes FanFiction turns my paragraphs into italics, which is total crap, and I don't mean for it to be like that. Italics are for my flashbacks, like the ones in this chapter. I'll make sure to fix it if I see it happen again.
Note: I love Ma/Di but I don't think they will be together in this story. I fit them into most of my stories, but please don't get upset if they aren't in this one.

Part Four

Veronica padded into the living room at 5:30 wearing jean shorts and a band T-shirt tied up at her stomach, with flip flops on her feet. She had taken another shower and arranged her hair into a perfect ponytail. She had her wetsuit in one hand and sunscreen in the other in case the low sun still affected her delicate skin.
"Ronnie, you should stay in bed." Dick stood from his spot on the couch.
"No, what I should do is go surfing with my best friend. We came on this trip to relax and so far I've been crying the hours away. It's not fair to you, Dick, and I feel better. Besides, what's the best way to deal with the shit of our lives?"
"Surfing." He said reluctantly.
Veronica had a genuine smile on her face, but he didn't understand how she'd done the complete 180 from crying and cursing love to happy girl mode.
"This is the best beach in Southern California and I'm wasting the waves by feeling sorry for myself in my room? Absolutely not."
"Okay… we'll go surfing on one condition."
"Which is?"
"You tell me what really changed your mood." He crossed his arms expectantly and she rolled her eyes.
"Why can't you be the same clueless idiot of last year? Now you're observant and stuff."
"I know you that's all. I'm waiting…" he tapped his foot and she was reminded of an overprotective older brother.
Veronica sighed but told him about Logan visiting her room when he thought she was asleep.
"I want to say I told you so, but the issue is far from over." Dick said.
"It's still hard to understand. If he loves me and not Parker, why is he with her? Why does he tell her he loves her?"
"Duh, he's a fucktard."
"Dick!"
"What? He is. He got with Parker to try to move on from you, but he hasn't. And I can't blame him. Not only are you an unforgettable little whirlwind, but Parker is a hell bitch."
"You have the worst potty mouth."
"I have no filter, yeah. Have you talked to Parker recently?"
"Even if I had the chance she'd rather run over me with a car then talk."
"Well, she isn't the same bubbly college girl you remember."
"What do you mean?"
"She's needy and whiny and freaking annoying. She calls Logan all the time and shows up unexpectedly. I got home one night from my Business class and she was like camped outside the room, waiting for him. She started barking orders at me like letting her in and finding Logan. I didn't know where the hell he was, I wasn't his mother. He shows up a few minutes later and lets her in and even from my room, with the door closed; I heard her yelling at him. That thing you said before about Logan being a different person, not your Logan, is true. The Logan I knew was badass and awesome. He didn't let any girl treat him like that."
"I treated him like that." Veronica said, looking away as she thought of how she'd storm into his suite always ready for a fight with him.
"You guys had explosive fights and then hours of hot make-up sex. This is different. Parker bosses him around and he doesn't say anything. They don't argue; she yells and he takes it."
"Logan Echolls? Are we talking about the same person? He never let Lilly or me or anyone yell without him yelling right back."
"Unless the Invasion of the Body Snatchers happened Logan's changed because of Parker."
"When did she stop being nice?"
"A week after her party. That's as much as I can remember since I wasn't in the suite with them often. I've been hanging with you far away from all that drama. Anyway, that's the first time I remember her yelling at him because she found an old mix tape."
"Mix tape?"
"Yeah, it had your name on it and the word Epic"
"Oh my God. I know that tape."

"Hi honey I'm home." Veronica grinned, stepping into the Neptune Grande penthouse. "Logan? Where are you?"
Logan stepped out of his closet with his hands behind his back.
"I have a surprise for you."
"And it's behind your back? Hmm, did you adopt a pony for me?! Can it be? Will someone finally grant me my childhood dream?"
"Sorry, love, that's not it." Logan bent to kiss his little blonde girlfriend and produced a tape from behind his back.
"A tape? Epic." She read the label on the tape and stared up at him, confused.
"A mixed tape. For you. These are songs that remind me of you or make me think of something we shared together."
"Sway? I Hear the Bells?"
"Check and Check. Our first dance at the Sadie Hawkins dance was, in my opinion, a beautiful occasion and even though Alterna Prom didn't end on the best note for us, you love that song. A few days after the prom I was hit by this memory and it just started with that song. I closed my eyes and tried to grasp at the rest of the memory. I played the song on my computer and then I remembered."
"Remembered what?"She asked softly, having never heard this story before.
"I thought our story was epic, you know? You and me." He began and Veronica whispered her line.
"Epic how?"
"Spanning years and continents, lives ruined in bloodshed. Epic. But summer's almost here and we won't see each other at all. Then you'll leave town and it's over."
"Logan." She said and this time she wasn't saying his name in disbelief over his words, but in emotion at his perfect recital of that speech of almost a year before.
"I'm sorry about last summer, you know if I could do it over…" he looked at her, wanting her to play along.
"Come on, ruined lives bloodshed? You really think a relationship should be that hard?"
"Hmm. Well no one writes songs about the ones that come easy." He finished and there was a moment of silence before Veronica felt his thumb brush her face and she realized she was crying.
"I can't believe you remember. All of it."
"It took me some time, but it all came back to me. I'm sorry about Kendall. And the next morning. I'm sorry about a lot of things."
"I am too." She wiped away her tears and gave him a bright smile. "What else is on here, Casanova?"
He chuckled.
"Excited by the romantic inside me?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda turned on too."
Logan raised an eyebrow.
"Wanna listen to it while we engage in other physical activity?"
"Best idea ever." She said, kissing him eagerly.
"Control yourself, bobcat. Let me pop the tape in." he walked to his stereo and put the tape in.
Veronica listened as the tape started with Elvis Costello's Veronica.
"Unoriginal, I know, but the song repeats your name a lot. Good enough for me." He shrugged and Veronica kissed him.
As they made love to his mix tape Veronica knew she loved Logan. She also knew she couldn't say it yet.
That was okay, though. Logan would wait for her. Then, when she finally said it they could think of their future. Epic couples are destined for epic futures. And that's what they were.

"Ronnie?" Dick's voice pulled her back to the present.
She shook her head to clear it from the fog of nostalgia.
"Yeah, I was saying I know that tape. What happened when she found it?"
"It was in his stereo and she had been going through his things, looking for some music when she found it. She went crazy, throwing his cologne and clothes to the floor. She threw the tape too."
"It broke?" she asked, feeling that the answer would somehow affect her.
"No, Logan said it fell on some clothes and after the fight he told me to hide the tape in my room. I have it in one of my dresser drawers, if you want it."
"I do." She breathed.
"Right, so I'll get my wet suit and we'll head down to the beach. Logan's already there."
"Oh, but our boards are in your car so we'll have to find him for the keys, right?"
"No, I have a spare set of keys. In case of emergencies."
"You thought of emergencies and planned ahead? Were you invaded by a body snatcher?"
"Very funny. I love the Dickmobile and I'm prepared for any sort of car disaster." He went into his room and came back with his wet suit and car keys.
"We'll put them on at the beach. You wearing your bathing suit?"
"Yeah." She lifted her shirt and Dick whistled at her tiny black bikini.
"Trying to give Logan a heart attack?"
"Just a glimpse of what he's missing." She said slyly and Dick gave her a high five.
-

Logan had surfed for almost two hours, but he had gotten tired of the isolation. He usually loved the peace he felt alone with the ocean and his board, but knowing Veronica was a few blocks away and in pain made him feel a strange disconnection from the world. He'd taken off his wet suit and put his stuff back in Dick's car before wandering down the beach to the area Veronica had mentioned about the Luau party. He'd missed lunch and the barbeque so his stomach was protesting loudly.
"Hey, you a surfer?" a guy asked, pausing in his work setting up a tent.
"Yeah, is this where that luau is happening?"
"Yep, it isn't set to start for another hour, but if you help me with this stuff I'll let you have a turkey burger." The guy smiled, hearing Logan's stomach.
"Deal."

Twenty minutes later the tent, along with tables, chairs, grills, and various Hawaiian decorations were set up. The guy, Donovan, had let Logan have two turkey burgers and some chips, sitting next to him talking about the beach and random parts of life.
"I come down here, from San Francisco, every month."
"Do you go to college?"
"Yeah, in San Fran. But, there's something more important here." Donovan took a sip of his beer.
"Amazing waves?"
Donovan chuckled.
"Oh, I'm not a surfer. I come here for Cassandra."
"A girl?"
"The girl. If you know what I mean."
Logan did know. He knew very well.
"What made her the one?"
"It wasn't love at first sight, that's for sure. We met in high school in San Francisco and oddly enough we hated each other. She thought I was a jackass and I thought she was annoying and a prude." He laughed, thinking of some encounter with the girl.
"What changed?"
"This guy, her boyfriend at the time, was pushing her around at this party we were at and she looked so scared and so tiny, you know? I stepped in. Kicked the guy's ass and the rest was history. She moved here to live with an aunt after her parents split up and I wanted to follow her the second she left, but my parents wouldn't let me leave until I finished my senior year of high school. It was torture. Finally, I finished graduated top of my class and told my parents to shove it. I applied to the best school in San Francisco and before the first semester started I tracked down Cassie down here. She'd been waiting for me too. I told her I loved her and she said she loved me too. I don't want to be a bum who has no job or education, so I go to college and I'm studying to be an engineer. It's my third year at college and one more before I get the Associate's degree. Then, I'm transferring to the small college here. Even with a monthly trip to see her, long distances are killer." Donovan admitted.
"Where is Cassandra now?"
"She'll be at the luau later. She was doing something with her aunt. I help out the guys who handle the events on Trestle Beach. One of them is an old friend of mine so I chip in. What are you doing at Trestle? You don't seem like the lone surfer type."
"Lone surfer?"
"There are some loners who come down for the waves with no friend or girl and they have a specific type. There's an intense, creepy look in their eyes and they usually have beards or tattoos. You don't seem like that type."
"I'm here with some friends" he said, looking out at the ocean.
Getting into further details of Veronica and even Dick would reveal parts of his past that weren't told to strangers, no matter how nice they were.
"It's cool I'm not asking for the story of your life and relationships. The luau will start soon and you can see all the other surfers and people from around here. They're nice and a lot of cute girls come down."
"They surf too?"
"Not really. I've seen one or two that surf, the rest are just eye candy. But, that's what most guys look for, right?"
I used to, Logan thought.
"Hey, there's a real cute girl. Actually, she's extremely hot. And please, God, don't tell Cassie I said that." Donovan was staring left of Logan and when Logan followed his gaze he almost gasped out loud.
There was Veronica in a tight, little bikini sliding her milky thighs into a wet suit and getting ready to enter the water with Dick.
"Veronica."
"You know her?" Donovan questioned.
"Yeah she's a… friend."
"Uh-huh." Donovan said, unconvinced. "Is that guy with her another friend?"
"Yeah. We're all… friends." The word felt lame when associated with Veronica.
"A hot girl that surfs? Whoever is her boyfriend is one lucky dude."
"Yeah." Logan said, eyes trained on Veronica.
-

"That was the best surf ever! I've never been that exhilarated in my whole life!" Veronica exclaimed, dropping her board on the sand and shaking out her hair.
"Gotta hand it to you, Ronnie. You picked an awesome beach."
"Thank you, monsieur. I'm hungry. I think the luau I told you about started already. In the mood for some food?"
"That rhymed." He gave a childish giggle and Veronica stared with her eyes wide.
"Okayy. Let's move on from that."
Dick glared at her and took both their surfboards to his car. The friends peeled off their suits and put them on a designated carpet on the floor of the trunk. Veronica left her T-shirt in the car and pulled on the jean shorts so she was left in the bikini top and shorts. Dick chose to stay shirtless and pull on his swim trunks. They walked to the luau and Veronica spotted Logan sitting with a couple near a circle of tiki torches.
"Dude!" Dick greeted when they were still at a distance, always one to call attention to himself.
His loud voice made several people turn and eye them. Veronica elbowed Dick in the side.
"Ow, what was that for Ronnie?"
"We're not at a street market, Dick."
"And we're not at a library."
"Moderate your voice."
"Yes, Mom" he said sarcastically and Veronica daintily put her foot in his path so that he tripped and fell face-first into the sand.
Almost everyone looked over at his fall. Veronica burst into laughter and Logan stood to bend down where Dick lay.
"What did you say to piss her off?"
"Called her mom."
"Ouch." Logan shook his head and approached Veronica. "Hey." He said, lowering his voice so they could converse without anyone hearing.
"Hey."
"How are you doing?"
"Better. Stress meltdown, I guess."
"You mentioned seeing Mac earlier. What happened?"
"Forget it. That's not something I want to talk about."
"Did you tell Dick?"
She didn't answer and he knew she had.
"Got it. We aren't really friends then, are we? You don't want to tell me what bothers you or anything."
"Friends? It's funny, the definition I know of friends are people who support you and care about your feelings. Friends don't badmouth their friends on phone calls with their girlfriends." Veronica didn't say anything else and she walked over to help Dick up and lead him to a table with food set up buffet style.
The phone call. Of course. She heard it and that's why she ran away. Logan ran a hand through his hair and cursed.
"Everything all right?" Donovan asked, having seen Veronica walk away from him after their brief exchange. "If your friend okay?"
"We aren't friends." Logan said in a distant tone.
Donovan realized there was something there but he didn't comment. Instead, he passed Logan a beer and pulled him back to his seat into a conversation about surfing. Cassandra held Donovan's hand as he talked and every once in a while they'd share a quick kiss as if reminding each other they were truly next to each other. Logan glanced at Veronica and saw her dancing happily with Dick and some other guys, her exposed midriff beckoning any single man to touch her. It made Logan furious.
And I can't say anything because she's already angry. I'm such an idiot. I was so focused on calming Parker down that I said mean things about Veronica and then told Parker I loved her. I'm a hypocrite now. I did what I said I'd never do. Lied about love.

The luau broke up at ten o clock and everyone promised to meet back for the event planned for the next day. There would be a surfing competition for any semi-professionals interested and tons of food for all. Logan said good night to Donovan and Cassandra before trudging over to Dick's car, where Dick was already waiting.
"Where's Veronica?"
"Talking to Mark."
"Mark?" Logan questioned but Dick didn't respond.
Veronica skipped over to the passenger seat, victorious smile on her face.
"Why so chipper?" Dick asked.
"Mark asked for my phone number."
"And?"
"I said if I saw him tomorrow I'd give it to him."
"And?"
"He said he lived two hours from Neptune and if I didn't see him tomorrow he'd drive to Neptune every day to find me and ask me out. He said he couldn't survive if he never saw me again."
"Hook, line and sinker! Up high, short stuff!" Dick raised a hand and Veronica jumped up to high five him.
"How 'bout you?"
"Three phone numbers. All red heads." Dick announced proudly.
"Atta boy!"
Logan stood there, again feeling out of place, and simply got into the backseat without a word.

When they got to the suite Veronica bid them good night and skipped to her room, shutting the door behind her. Dick took a shower and then let Logan take his turn. They had turned off the lights and curled into their separate sides of the bed when Dick spoke, startling Logan who thought the other boy was asleep.
"You know why she was crying." Dick said, not a question.
"Yes."
"You know that you're a fucktard."
"Yes." He said again.
"Why are you with Parker? Can't you see what's in front of your stupid face?"
"I'm not good for Veronica."
"No shit, but who is? I don't think anyone deserves Veronica, but if someone has to have her I choose the guy who supposedly loves her more than anyone else."
"I do, Dick."
"Sick way of showing it."
"What do I do? Break up with Parker? Fall to my knees in front of Veronica and beg for her to take me back?"
"Dude, has being with Parker really made you this retarded and pathetic? First, you've got to end it with Parker and erase her from your life. Stop those needy phone calls and her camping out in front of our room. Seriously, that's creepy shit."
Logan nodded in the darkness.
"As for Ronnie, you have to figure out how to do it. Don't beg on your knees. She won't want that; she'll think you're mocking her or something. You guys were known for your arguments and fights. It usually made you stronger together."
"Until it broke us up."
"What broke you up was trust issues and sleeping with the whorebag of California."
"Do you hate me for that too?"
"I could care less about Madison Sinclair. It hurt Veronica because she still blames Madison for things at Shelley's party. Madison teased her about it and played on all her insecurities. Mainly the one about you."
"What?"
"She didn't tell you how she found out about you and Madison?"
"No, and I never thought to ask about it. It was hard enough knowing what I'd done."
"Ronnie was in a lingerie store, finding something to prove she was a dedicated girlfriend. She chose something and Madison shows up, says you wouldn't like that type. She tells Ronnie you guys slept together and that she only wanted to give Ronnie some tips so she wouldn't embarrass herself with you. Veronica is still insecure about sex. You know that."
Logan wished his morals allowed him to hit a woman because he'd only want one hit: at Madison's big, pernicious mouth. Veronica had taken some time to be intimate with him. She was nervous and worried about being inadequate or bad. Logan had told her to stop being ridiculous. She would be the best simply because it was her. And he had been right. Sex with Veronica was one of the best things on earth, second only to holding her close and feeling her heart beat with his.
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah, I figured. Don't tell her I told you. The only reason I'm bothering to talk to you is because we've grown close and I know her better than almost anyone. She hasn't moved on. I don't think she can."
Logan felt hope in his chest.
"I have a chance?"
"It's slim. Miniscule. And you don't have that much time."
"Why?"
"She may still want to be with you, but if you don't tell her how you feel soon she's leaving. For good."
"Leaving?"
"Transferring to another college out of state."
"She said that?"
"She already filled out the forms. Northeastern wants her. It's got an amazing Criminal Justice program. She got the dean and Professor Landry to pull a lot of strings. Probably used the head tilt. She's going to get that FBI internship in Virginia for the summer and she's going to a college in Massachusetts after that. You won't see her again."
"Fuck."
"She has the interview with the Northeastern scholarship board in two weeks. After she passes that, there's nothing we can do. I won't change her mind if I think her life will be better away from all this drama and pain. But, if she has something worthwhile here then I would try to convince her to stay for me, for her dad, and for…"
"For me. I love her, Dick."
"Then prepare to fight for her."