I don't own VM or the characters. I make no money of this – I only lay claim to the plot.


A/N There is a beating in this chapter. I tried to make it less violent that I originally had planned, but this story hasn't exactly been a childish or fluffy one from the start, so I hope it's all right. I also really hope you'll all enjoy the chapter regardless!


CHAPTER SIX

Logan woke up feeling more content than he had in a long time. He felt warmth around him despite the fact that he had no covers over his tall frame. A smirk made its way onto his face and he opened his eyes. He glanced down to one side and saw Lily lying on her back with her mouth hanging halfway open. Logan couldn't see her scar because of the way her face was turned and for one brief moment he remembered all those mornings they'd woken up like this. Well, not entirely like this, Logan corrected inwardly and turned his face the other way to look at his other guest.

Veronica was also lying on her back, but her head had somehow moved up to his arm. Her hair was hiding most of her face, and he gently reached out a hand and placed some of the hair behind her ear. He instantly regretted touching her, because she snorted violently for such a tiny person and turned her head away from his arm.

Logan sighed and carefully rolled on to his side so he could watch her more closely. In the soft morning light she looked absolutely stunning and Logan had to readjust his position to make sure she didn't wake up to something very unexpected. Logan rolled his eyes at himself with a smile and for a moment he allowed himself to try and figure out when exactly it was he'd fallen in love with Veronica Mars. I've always loved her, he decided and eyed the way her hair slowly slid down from her face, at first it was like I would've loved having a sister, well, one that wasn't overly dramatic and phony like Trina, Logan amended with a small smile and added, but that's not how I feel now...

The way she'd looked the night of the accident suddenly flew into his mind. The way her eyes had blazed with determination – so much so, that he himself hadn't even noticed her own injuries. Logan sighed and blinked the internal image away. It didn't matter to him when he'd fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend's girlfriend, but he had – irrevocably so.

Suddenly Logan snapped back into reality, when Veronica softly whimpered and her eyes began moving rapidly behind her eyelids. Without thinking Logan gently caressed her cheek and muttered quietly into her ear, "It's okay Ronnie – you're not alone…" To his immense delight he noticed that his words calmed the blonde down and she happily carried on her adorable soft snoring.

Try as he might Logan couldn't take his eyes of her – this was the first time in a long while that he'd been able to have some quality time with her – at least this way she didn't fidget uncomfortably whenever people other than Lily and him were too close for comfort. This long uninterrupted staring time also meant that Logan couldn't ignore what his mind had been trying to tell him for some time now. Something was wrong with Veronica.

She was still beautiful, Logan doubted he'd ever see her as anything less, but even in sleep, it was easy to see dark circles beneath her eyes and he couldn't deny the fact that the hollowing of her cheeks was a clear proof of substantial weight loss. I guess it's the whole Parent issue that's giving her stress, Logan thought and decided then and there to try and take Veronica's mind off her absent father and slutty mother. I do know something about less than perfect parents, Logan admitted with a smirk.

Again his mind was brought back to reality by a soft movement from Veronica. She tensed and then blinked once and locked eyes with him for a long second. At first Logan swore he saw some kind of emotion in her bright blue eyes, but then they turned light with teasing, "What are you planning?" she asked and slowly looked up at the ceiling. Logan swallowed down his disappointment and began round number 324 of Veronica versus Logan banter.

---

A while later after he'd suffered through a both deep and somewhat embarrassing honest conversation with Lily; Logan drove them all to the school. Out of the corner of his eyes, Logan saw that Lily sent an unusual amount of looks at Veronica. Veronica in return suddenly looked a lot more exasperated than normally as she all but attacked her breakfast. Lily's sigh was soft as she quickly looked away. I wonder what's going on? Logan thought curiously and rubbed his eyes. The memory of his conversation with Lily came sneaking back into his mind and Logan dove into it when he remembered the almost eager look in Lily's eyes.

After he'd bantered with Veronica, he watched her go to the bathroom to freshen up. Logan's mind had been full of images of her in the shower the next few moments so he guiltily jumped when Lily spoke, "Logan?" He turned with a sheepish smile and said, "Mornin' Lily." To his surprise Lily rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't get a chance to ask questions, because the Kane girl bluntly said, "So, how long did you stare at our little blond friend this time? Last time we spent the night here you looked like you hadn't slept at all."

Logan fought back an embarrassed flush for a few long seconds and then firmly said, "It's not like that Lily – It's not," he added a bit louder when Lily raised her eyebrow at him. Damn blonde and her perceptive ways, Logan thought and finally admitted the truth in words, "Oh – all right." Feeling exceptionally vulnerable after his admission Logan walked over to his closet and began looking for something to wear as he continued quietly, "I'm falling in love with her – but you already know that, so I won't go into detail." Please don't make me go into details…

After a heavy sigh that Logan could almost feel in his bones, Lily effortlessly changed his chosen attire and stated, "I only know how you feel, because of the way you sometimes look at her – it reminds me of a time where you kinda looked like that at me." Oh…Logan felt the awkwardness in the room and didn't know what to say, but fortunately the persistent blonde by his side continued without embarrassment, "Of course it's obvious for me to see you're totally smitten with our little gal way beyond your old affections for me. And," Logan held his breath when Lily's eyes sparkled, "she clearly loved you too, so why don't you just pull your rich head out of your little firm backside and tell her you wanna be with her?"

Logan put on the shirt Lily had given him and said as he ran a hand through his untamed hair, "It's not that simple. She's going through all those things with her dad and I'm sure she's still heartbroken over Duncan's stupid behavior…I mean, she looks kinda sick and tired every now and again." Another look flashed in Lily's eyes – almost like anger directed at him and for the life of him, Logan couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong. Suddenly she deflated, grabbed his comb and said nonchalantly, "Yeah – I noticed that too. Maybe you should sit her down and make her talk about it, don't you think? I mean, she really listens to you more than me most times…"

Pure unmanly giddiness grew inside Logan's mind and he felt like laughing out loud, but then he remembered Veronica's sadness and anger the last time he'd tried talking privately with her. The night before in his car. If I push her, she might not talk to me anymore, the thought nearly broke Logan's heart, I couldn't live with that… Suddenly he realized that Lily hadn't scolded him for not answering her question and he looked down at her. She had a faraway look in her eyes and the comb was hanging unused in her hand. Logan frowned a bit in worry and gently shook her out of her thoughts. "Where did you go just now?" To his mild annoyance Lily immediately put on one of her fake smiles and said, "I was just wondering if Veronica is gonna make good on her promise with the hot water, 'cause I gotta shower too, you know."

Suddenly Logan was torn out of his memory when he heard a car in the distance honk and to his shock he realized they'd almost arrived at the school. Thank God I didn't run over someone, he thought. When they arrived at the parking lot a few seconds later, he managed to put his foot in his mouth and upset Lily over something as silly as her devotion to her brother. Smart move buddy, Logan's conscience sneered as he watched Lily walk away from him in a huff. Better fix this, he thought and ran after her - putting his earlier talk with Lily out of his mind for now.

Fortunately she accepted his apology and he quickly walked into his first class of the day. The class was boring as always, so Logan hardly bothered keeping tabs on the lecture his slightly bandana obsessed teacher was trying to get out. But then, after a few glances around the classroom, Logan realized that even for this class, the attention was severely lacking. He frowned and leaned a bit over to his side and nudged Dick. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. Then his world tipped upside down when Dick laughed loudly and said, "It's that tiny Mars chick – she went all Carrie on D.K, it was awesome. I'm telling ya I almost wet myself."

Anger immediately flooded Logan's entire being, he began to shake and pictures of Veronica's frail body danced in front of his eyes. If he laid one finger on her… He grabbed his desk and clenched his hands on it so hard his fingertips turned white. "Dude, relax…" Dick's voice sounded far away and Logan took a deep breath, trying not to lose it in front of all his classmates. Finally with some small semblance of control over himself, Logan blinked and turned back to a now pale Dick. "Tell me everything," he demanded and the blonde male quickly did as ordered.

--

When the bell rang Logan flew out of the room in his haste to see if Veronica was okay. A moment later he noticed a large group of people and he walked up to them and saw that they were all busy eying Veronica and Lily. "…will make me leave your side." Lily's voice was soft and soothing and Logan released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Lily's got it under control; he thought and walked away from the other lingering witnesses. Despite his best efforts though, Logan couldn't help but feel a bit jealous that Veronica had gone to Lily. Maybe she thinks I'll be on Duncan's side? Logan pondered, but then he shook his head, no way – out of the three of us, she knows I'm the one, who's never failed to voice my opinion…

Logan stopped and crossed his arms as his eyes landed on the very reason behind his thoughts. Speaking of which… "Kane!" he yelled out and spared a quick internal thanks to the Heavens above for the lack of witnesses. Duncan stopped moving and nodded once to Luke, who stood beside him like a watchful guard dog. Logan slowly made his way over to his former friend and then sent his best death glare to Luke and ordered, "Go away." Luke's eyes widened and he quickly looked down at Duncan, who shrugged his approval, before he walked away.

Logan eyed the disappearing teen a second before he turned his attention back on Duncan. Logan bit back an urge to giggle like a schoolgirl, when he noticed the dark areas around the billionaire's throat. When she gets mad, she really gets mad, he thought to himself. "What do you want Echolls?" Duncan's voice was a bit hoarse and this time Logan smirked evilly.

Duncan's eyes flashed with anger and Logan made his face look expressionless as he leaned forward and said slowly, "Be grateful she turned the tables on you Kane, because if you'd touched one hair on her head, I promise you, I'd have killed you."

Duncan leaned back in his chair and tried to give off an air of nonchalance – with poor success – and said, "I wouldn't have touched her. It won't happen again" Then he brightened and said just as evilly as Logan usually did, "Besides I don't like psychical fights, I'm not the one who gets his ass beat by my daddy whenever I've done bad. Which reminds me; has the principal informed Mr. Echolls about the fight yesterday yet?"

Logan gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to pound his hand into Duncan's smirking face and said, "Don't tell me you care for my wellbeing all of the sudden Kane? I'm touched…Now, to get back to the matters at hand; Leave Veronica alone and while we're at it; stop being a dick to your sister."

Duncan's eyes narrowed, but before he could say another word Logan had walked away. But if Duncan had been able to see his old friend's face, he'd have known he'd managed to rattle him for once, because Logan's face was paler than usual and his eyes were dark with wariness.

Logan had just realized that Duncan had had a point. Aaron Echolls would eventually find out his son had been making a fool of himself in public – and said son was not looking forward to when it happened. Maybe this time he'll agree with me, Logan thought and entered his second classroom of the day, he likes Veronica – maybe he'll think I did the right thing by defending her…

The class went by fast and so did the next one and before Logan knew it, it was lunchtime and he walked with Dick and Beaver out to the quad. They'd already ordered some kind of take out, so Logan didn't bother going to the cafeteria.

As he sat down next to his 09'er "friends" Logan felt uncharacteristically uneasy. He knew he had problems with touch every now and again, but the way he felt at that moment was ridicules. Dick was more than two feet away from him, but Logan felt goosebumps on his skin just because there was a possibility the blonde might accidentally bump into him. This is stupid, Logan thought with an internal growl. Then he spotted Veronica over at her usual table and immediately stood up. He gestured towards her so Dick and Beaver would understand his sudden departure and then walked over to Veronica.

On the way he recognized the black kid from the flagpole, who Logan vaguely remembered was named Wallace. He looks all right, Logan decided as he got closer to the table. Wallace's eyes looked up and met his and in them Logan saw a hint of embarrassment and a large pool of gratitude for the assistance the day before. Logan instinctively knew not to mention the incident and turned on his rarely used charm. "Hi, I'm Logan. You're new here, right?"

Wallace's shoulders slumped in relief before he quickly nodded and introduced himself. Logan smiled and sat down next to Veronica. In the back of his head, Logan knew it was odd that it was only Veronica who never made his skin crawl. Even Lily on occasion bothered him. "So," Veronica's melodic voice interrupted his thoughts and Logan looked down at her, "I was actually gonna talk to you later. I need your help."

Logan nodded, "Sure, what's up?" Please say you need someone to be your second opinion when you go to the lingerie store… "Logan!" Again Logan was ripped out of his now not entirely R-rated thoughts and he smirked and he hoped that he didn't look to obvious. "I'm here," he said and Veronica shook her head at him.

She picked up a roll from her tray and began shredding it to small pieces as she explained Wallace's situation to him. Then she sighed and looked up at him with serious eyes, "So, I told you this 'cause I need a helping hand, Logan. I need that tape, but I'm sort of persona non grata at the Sheriff's department these days," Logan noticed the shadows in her eyes and wisely said nothing as she continued with fake enthusiasm, "which is where you come in. I'm gonna get a little help from Corny and after we've placed that help in Duncan's locker, I need you to go down to the police department and find the tape in the evidence room. I tried talking to one of Keith's friends from the fire department, but he thinks I'm just out to play a trick on the old man, so he's not gonna help me."

Logan crossed his arms and glanced over at Wallace, who looked sad at the fact that Veronica didn't have the greatest relationship with her father and Logan's opinion of the guy grew a few inches. He sighed and looked back at Veronica as he asked, "I'm guessing there's something or other in that "help" from Corny that's gonna make an awful fuss and that I'm gonna be conveniently placed in the midst of it all so I can go in and retrieve the tape." Veronica nodded and broke out into such a relieved smile, that Logan didn't even hesitate with his agreement. "I'll go after school tomorrow." And maybe I'll finally get some answers from Mr. Mars himself, he added silently.

Veronica smiled and set down her utensils and gently punched him on the shoulder in thanks. Logan smiled and was about to tease her about her weak arms, but she suddenly looked away and frowned. Logan followed her gaze and immediately stood up – ready for anything at the sight of Weevil Navarro touching his ex - girlfriend, but then he slowly sat back down when Lily shook her head at him to leave her alone with that Weevil guy.

A few moments later Logan realized Veronica hadn't touched her food and gently nudged her in the side. "Aren't you gonna eat that?" he asked and narrowed his eyes a fraction when he saw her guilty glance towards the now arguing Lily. "Err…I'm not hungry at the moment Logan – I sort of promised Lianne to save room for some lasagna tonight. Between you and me I think she's guilty about that Jake thing." Logan nodded in agreement.

Dick's voice suddenly called for his attention and he looked over and saw that the food had arrived. He kissed Veronica's cheek in goodbye; nodded at Wallace and quickly walked back over to the 09'er table to eat his lunch. A minute later he spotted Lily going back to Veronica with an almost sad look on her face and he took a box of Chinese and walked over and sat down next to her – ignoring the small discomfort he felt by her close proximity. Only after he'd finished his meal and was halfway through his next class, did Logan realize that Veronica had totally distracted him from her lack of food by using the bad parent card. Hmm...

--

After school ended and he'd dropped off his passengers, Logan drove home. He spotted both his parents cars in the driveway and hoped they were too busy to deal with his arrival. He felt tired and he knew he needed a good night's sleep so he could successfully help out Veronica the next day.

He opened the door to the house and walked into the hall. Logan sighed in the silence and ran a hand through his hair. He winced when the movement caused his barely healed injuries to announce their presence again. I'm gonna take a few pills and then it's straight to bed, Logan decided. A small unacknowledged part of him hoped that his pillow still smelled like Veronica.

"Hello Logan," the deep voice immediately made Logan's body freeze. This day started out so well, he briefly thought before the voice spoke again – instantly recognizing the dark tone in the hated voice, "As you know, I was away today working very hard to keep our lifestyle the way it is. Then I got a call from your principal – imagine my surprise when I found out that my son has been fighting in school and didn't even tell me…Would you care to elaborate on that?"

Aaron's voice sounded closer and his face materialized out from the dark shadows in the unlit hallway. Logan fought back the urge to flee. Deep down he knew if he stopped being so afraid of his father, they would be more than equals in a fight, but there was just something about that deep menacing voice that caused his insides to twist together and his heart rate automatically increased when his father was near him. And there's the little fact that I'm not totally recovered from our last "conversation", Logan thought bitterly.

The silence grew and Logan knew his father expected some kind of apology. He clenched his jaw and slowly said, "I can explain that, Sir, I…" Aaron's voice interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, "I don't care what childish reason you've got for fighting in school – publically no less. I will not have it!"

Logan didn't get another chance to speak, because Aaron backhanded him so hard that his entire body tumbled to the side. Logan reached out and grabbed the wall to keep himself upright. Apparently that didn't suit his father because a moment later Logan felt another hard hit in his side and this time he did fall down. The pain flared to life – the stroke was in the exact same place as the day before and Logan knew his father did it on purpose.

"I'm not pleased Logan!" Aaron informed him and swiftly kicked his son in the stomach. Logan couldn't keep a pained groan from escaping his lips and he cursed his weakness. I should be used to this by now, he thought, just as he heard his mother emerge on the stairs. "Aaron! No!!" she screamed, but Aaron simply roared, "Don't interfere Lynne – he's been humiliating this family and I won't have it!"

Logan swallowed down his disappointment when he saw his mother's figure disappear again - albeit hesitantly. Probably on route to the nearest alcohol cabinet, he thought. Then Aaron's voice sounded again and Logan's temper began to grow, "And what do you think those two friend's of yours think of all your fighting? It's not a nice thing to do!" Each word was followed by a hard kick and Logan felt blood in his mouth and realized he'd bitten his tongue to keep himself from making a sound.

"Those girls shouldn't be allowed around you when you act like this! It's undignified." Aaron's lecture continued, but finally – and for the first time in a long while – Logan had had enough. He knew that if he just kept quiet then Aaron would stop in a matter of minutes, but his temper and his pride wouldn't allow it.

Logan rolled away from the next kick and jumped to his feet – full of adrenaline as he sneered, "I'm not the one acting undignified here Dad." Logan wiped the blood from his bleeding nose and continued, "I don't hit people, who doesn't deserve it and especially people who can't fight back." He gestured mockingly at his own trembling form and smirked despite his agony.

Aaron's eyes darkened in rage and a second later he flew at him. Logan managed one good punch, before Aaron's longer arms grabbed him and full on punched him in the stomach. Logan went down hard – gasping for air that wouldn't come. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father crouch down and heard him mutter, "I wish you didn't force me to do this, son." Logan gasped out a response without looking at his attacker, "Veronica was being threatened –that's why I fought…"

The words sounded abnormally loud in the hall and Logan knew that his explanation had finally been heard. "Oh," Aaron's soft exclamation almost sounded embarrassed. If Logan had had any breath left, he'd have laughed at the insanity of it all. He'd been beaten by his abusive wife beating father for fighting in school, but as soon as Aaron found out that his son had played the knight in shining armor, the beating stopped.

Logan spat out some of the blood in his mouth and tried to focus on breathing instead of the pain. Aaron's voice – now soft and gentle – reached him a moment later, "Your mother and I are going to a premiere tonight, so…" Logan smirked inwardly when he heard his father sigh and then felt him place some money in his clenched hand. At least I don't have to worry about another round this month, he thought mockingly. It had been a long time since Aaron's guilt had been severe enough for him to pay Logan off. But whenever it did happen, Logan knew his father wouldn't touch him for a while after that. Blessing in disguise I guess, he thought – still concentration hard on getting enough air into his lungs.

Finally he was able to breathe long breaths and then all the other injuries from the beating announced themselves. Throbbing and burning pain was all he could think about and Logan sighed – trying to go outside himself so he could go to his room. He felt like crying, but he'd be damned if he'd shed a tear around Aaron Echolls. The bastard's had enough pleasures for today, Logan thought and then excruciatingly slow, he got to his feet.

Suddenly the world swirled around him and he almost fell down again. It's not safe to be alone tonight, Logan realized and before he even understood it, his feet moved and he was inside his car and on his way to the one person, whose presence always soothed him.

Before he exited his car, Logan took a look in the rearview mirror and cringed. Half dried blood was all over his face and he could already detect the swelling in his face from the punches. I'm afraid to look anywhere else, he thought and finally got out of the car.

He'd only knocked once before Lianne Mars opened the door. She was wobbly and absolutely drunk. Her eyes barely looked at him before she turned around and walked back to the living room, nursing a bottle of cheap vodka in her arms. "Veronica, Logan's here!" was all she of the politeness, she managed to dig up from her intoxicated state.

A second later – or so it seemed like for Logan – Veronica stood before him with cool fingers on his burning face and all he could think was, now I'm safe. And then all the adrenaline in his body vanished and Logan felt his legs crumble under him and he sank to the floor. "I'm so tired of this," he croaked out and began to cry – hating himself for the weakness, but unable to stop. "He hasn't made me cry in years," he muttered and coughed. He could taste the coppery taste of blood and he felt it trickle out of his mouth. Logan felt his sight blur and all he could see was Veronica's pale, scared-looking face. "Don't be afraid…"he muttered and leaned into her embrace.

"Logan!" Veronica's voice brought him back and he blinked a few times. The pain intensified and he moaned. "Logan, I've called Lily – she's on her way with some painkillers, but I need you to get up and go with me to my room. Come on…"

Logan blinked and forced himself to move. His mind was blank and he knew he passed out several times – because the next thing he heard was Lily's voice. "Echolls, you need to take these…" He felt her warm hand press a couple of pills in his mouth and instinctively Logan dry swallowed them. "'m 'kay," he mumbled. "Sure you are," Veronica's whisper reached him loud and clear. Logan wanted to smile, but the pain made it impossible - just as darkness claimed him again, he settled for saying, "At least the day began on a good note…"

--

When he came back into to awareness Logan groaned. The pain hadn't lessened one bit, but he quickly saw that it was still dark out and that he wasn't needed for school just yet. I'll take whatever blessings I can, he thought grimly.

"Hey," Veronica's voice distracted him from his pain and he could just make out her shape next to him on the queen-sized bed, "Lily went to your home to get some clothes. She'll be back soon. Are you feeling any better?"

Logan didn't nod – from experience he knew that wouldn't exactly help his headache, but he smiled a half smile instead and answered, "I'm fine. You know how resilient I am." Veronica's sigh was loud and she leaned closer. "Are you gonna tell me why this happened so I can help you?" Logan looked away from her caring expression and asked, "Are you gonna tell me what happened with your dad, so I can help you?"

Veronica flinched and Logan sighed. "I didn't think so…" A moment later he felt her cool hands on his own and let out a relieved sigh. At least she didn't get mad, he thought. "Go back to sleep Logan," Veronica said after a few minutes of silence, "I'm gonna be right here all night." Logan licked his cracked lip and glanced over at the woman he loved. It wasn't the first time he'd come to her in this state, and over the last few times, he'd discovered that he only truly relaxed when she was the one by his side. I didn't know she knew though, he thought with a twitch of embarrassment.

Then he felt her hands tighten around his in reassurance and with a tired sight Logan closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pains in his body. Just as he'd almost fallen asleep, Logan heard Lily enter the room. "How is he?" she whispered and he heard Veronica's sigh, "He won't let me help him with Aaron…He's too stubborn to see that it might kill him someday." Lily's voice sounded closer when she replied, "Yeah – he's stubborn all right. But at least he's not the only one who won't see how close death is around here." This time Veronica's sigh was aggravated and Logan frowned as she spoke, "Could we not do this now Lily?"

Logan didn't hear the Kane girl answer, his body gave out and he finally passed out, hoping he'd remember to ask what was going on the next day.


A/N First off, I hope I didn't scare you off- The whole Logan against Aaron scene was rewritten and censored a few times, so I hope it will be accepted ;) Secondly I can't tell you when the next update is gonna be posted, I've gotten some extra shifts at work due to lack of funds…sigh…but I'll try to post one more chapter this week…I hope…

Next time we'll finally end the Wallace versus the PCH'ers versus Don Lamb case.

Thanks a bundle for reading and reviewing!

And thanks to Ash K and Laure for leaving great reviews as well, I wish I could reply to you, but you haven't left an e-mail adress, so I'll settle for a heartfelt thank you!

Ditte Mai