Veronica woke with a start. Where was she? Did someone just call her name? Why did she smell like smoke and beer? And why on earth was something sharp poking her hand?

"You vampire loving geek! Wake the hell up!" A voice screamed to her from somewhere far away.

"Samuel! Watch your language! Why don't you take your lazy butt upstairs and wake her up yourself!?" A man's voice screamed back. It was Max's voice.

Suddenly everything made sense. She was in the guest bedroom in Sam's house, Sam was calling for her to wake up, last night she was at a concert-which explained why she smelt like a bar-, and she still held Greg's pick in her hand. The bedroom door swung open and Sam stormed in with a smirk on his face.

"It's one in the afternoon, and your mother's already called here three times asking how last night went."

"I haven't been asleep for that long…" She looked at him with a confused face.

"Uh, yeah you have. You fell asleep in the car, didn't even twitch when Michael carried you inside, and you didn't make a single sound as he flopped you on the bed. Star was the one who tucked you in. I have to compliment you on how heavy a sleeper you are. Did you have a little bit too much Greg?"

"Thanks, but I could never have too much of him," she grinned.

"Well, my mom just finished lunch if you want some. She made BLT's and you can raid the pantry for chips."

"Is Max home? He sounded like he was in a bad mood." She asked as she got out of bed and followed Sam downstairs.

"Yeah, but he's asleep; that's why he sounded so irritated. Never wake the dead, unless you want to get chewed out," Sam laughed.

Veronica scrunched her nose in confusion, "He's still asleep?"

"He works the nightshift at his video store. That's when most of the business comes in so it's just easier than hiring someone else. Plus, he's not much of a morning person unless there's a reason for him to be up."

"Good morning, or should I say afternoon?" Lucy cooed as Veronica walked in with her clothes crinkled, her hair a mess, and a bad case of morning breath attacking her mouth. Lucy grimaced when she smelt the smoke coming off of Veronica. "When you're done eating you can take a shower. I'll go get some soap and a towel set out for you." She said as she scuttled out of the kitchen.

"My mom's not too keen on smoking. She hates the smell of it." Sam explained.

"Mine too! It makes a guy look so cool though," Veronica mused.

Sam snorted, "Yeah, lung cancer and hacking up blood is quite attractive." He pulled out a bag of chips from the pantry and sat down at the small kitchen table next to Veronica.

Sam continued, "Sometimes David will come over and smoke in the house right in front of her. Irritates her, but she won't say anything. David scares the piss out of her."

"She's afraid of David?"

Sam just looked at her and changed the subject. "Tomorrow afternoon the Frog Brothers and I are going to go raid the Boardwalk. Did you want to come with us?"

"Sure! Hey, what ever happened with the comics?" She remembered the crude and risqué comics the brothers gave to Sam, and how her and Sam paid them back.

"I don't know, they never mentioned anything and I didn't want to bring it up. I haven't really talked to them much since then though…"

"They're probably plotting your death," she casually thought as she bit into her sandwich with a crunch.

"Maybe we should cancel tomorrow," he whispered, staring out of the window with a worried look on his face.

After lunch and a shower, Veronica ended up going home to tell her mom about her late-night adventure and see if she could spend another night. Luckily Kirby wasn't there so it wasn't hard to get permission. But, her mom didn't believe that Greg would go out of his way to hand her his pick (Veronica conveniently left out the kiss part). She showed her mom the proof, and that did the trick. Her mom wished she would have gone just to see her daughter's face when the event took place.

Veronica stayed for dinner, and after a slightly burnt meal of pork chops, her mom took her back over to Max's home. This time she decided to come in with Veronica.

"Mom, do you really have to?" Veronica whined.

"Yes, I want to thank Max for putting up with you and try to get to know Lucy a little better."

Veronica moaned a whatever and slunk her way into the house. To her surprise, Marko was there talking to Michael on the living room couch.

"Hey there Miss V, I was wondering when you were coming back," Michael grinned to her. Veronica froze, wondering what the heck Marko was doing there.

"Hello! You must be Michael?" Her mom lightly pushed Veronica out of the way and went over to him. He stood up and they shook hands.

"That would be me," he grinned. "This is Marko, he's a friend." He nodded towards the curly haired man.

"Well it's very nice to meet you. Is Lucy and Max around?"

"Max's at work right now, but Lucy's in the kitchen with Sam. He's cleaning up after dinner since he decided to be a butt and make a mess." Michael flopped back down on the couch and Marko let out a chuckle.

Veronica sighed, "What did he do?"

"Threw all of Mom's garlic at Marko." Michael bit back a laugh.

Marko snickered, "The only thing that managed to do was make me smell like some Italian dish."

Michael turned serious and looked at him with his head cocked a little and his brows slightly scrunched together, "You're Italian, aren't you?"

"Yeah, a little," Marko nodded. "Hey Little V! Did you want me to turn your pick into a necklace for you? I stole a piece of leather off of David; I'm sure he won't mind."

"I got a drill you could use in the garage." Michael added. They were both looking at Veronica for her answer.

Instead, her mom intervened, "That sounds wonderful! You still have it on you, right dear?"

"Yes Mom," she groaned. "I'll drop you off in the kitchen first."

After handing her mother off to Lucy, Veronica snuck out to the garage with Marko. So as not to raise suspicion with Sam, she told him Michael was coming with them, though that was not the truth since Michael left to go visit Star at work.

Once in the garage, Marko went to a workbench to hunt out the hand drill and Veronica stood in a corner awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "So Little V, how'd you enjoy the concert?" Marko queried once he had successfully found the drill and a stool to sit on.

Veronica shrugged, "Well one of my life goals has been completed so…"

"So it was pretty amazing?" He looked up to her with a smile then went back to work. He flipped his hair over his shoulder before drilling. In a second it was done and he strung the small strand of leather through the hole.

"How's it look?" He held up the necklace to Veronica. She nodded her approval and he walked over and tied it around her neck. Once that was done, he walked her back to the kitchen door, but didn't come in.

"I'll see you around little Sammy Wammy!" He cooed before heading to his bike in the driveway. This made Veronica giggle while Sam scowled at the man. She showed off her new jewelry to her mom and Lucy before sliding on over to Sam.

"He's just teasing you."

"Yeah, well he gets on my nerves. He needs to go fly off with his pigeons."

"What?" Veronica stared a Sam like he had just lost his mind.

"He has pet pigeons because he's a total freak." Sam pouted as he put away the last plate.

"Now Sam, be nice," Lucy scolded, overhearing the conversation. "There's nothing wrong with having pets."

"Yeah, but why does he have to have pets that poop all the time?" He whined back.

"Everybody poops," Veronica giggled at Sam's little hissy fit.

"True, but at least most animals don't take a dump in my hair." This brought on a fit of laughter from not only Veronica, but also her mother and Lucy. Sam tried to bite back his laugh, but he gave a defeated sigh and joined them.

()()()()()

"Hey Alexis," Michael nodded to the older cashier as he walked into the twenty-four hour drug store. "How's that new hip replacement doing?"

"I feel like a new lady!" She responded with a grin that was missing a few teeth. "It's so much easier to catch them younger, better looking boys now that I can move faster."

Michael chuckled, "I bet it is. Is Star in the back room?"

His question brought a confused look on her face. "No? Why would she be?"

"Heh, cause she works here Alexis. Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh boy," Alexis whispered as she shook her head. "I have a feeling you two haven't been communicating as well as a couple ought to be. She quit her job a lil' over a week ago; I'm surprised she didn't tell you. No worries though, I've got my grandson Randy coming to work for me next month."

"What? I…then where has she been for the past week?"

"Beats me, but if I were you, I'd check out that new strip club that got built not too long ago. I heard the owner was a scum bucket that tells pretty girls he'll pay 'em double whatever they're currently making, then turn around and pay them even less! Maybe she got sucked into his little web. Could explain why she didn't tell you," she shrugged. A customer came up to the counter, so Michael nodded to Alexis and left.


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