A/N: Don't own, just for fun.
A/N2: I had really wanted this to be done in time for Christmas, but life got in the way. Sorry for the wait, and enjoy!
Previously: Canon through beginning of Credit Where Credit's Due. Logan drives Veronica to Gold Coast, and they solve his parents' credit fraud case together, leading to an uneasy truce. Veronica asks Logan to help with the murder investigation, and he agrees. Veronica finds out that Aaron beats Logan. Logan and Weevil get to know each other while in detention. Veronica learns that Logan has been keeping a lot of information from her, and during a long "immune" conversation, he reveals the truth about her mother, and his lack of an alibi for the day Lilly was murdered. Veronica and Logan kiss, and then she avoids him for a few days before they kiss again and get caught by Wallace. They go to visit Abel Koontz on death row, and Veronica learns that Jake Kane might be her real father. She sends for a DNA test, and wants Logan to do one too, telling him what she learned about his father, but he resists even when she won't continue their relationship without knowing if they're related. He gets a DNA test, but has his DNA tested against hers instead, which shows they aren't brother and sister. She learns that Keith Mars is her real father.
Chapter Ten: Play Your Hand
Sometimes, just when you think it's hopeless, something happens to make everything right. Well, not everything, but this? Still pretty good.
Veronica raced into her bedroom, stowed the DNA test results in her bag, and grabbed the bag and her jacket before returning to the living room. Logan was still sitting on the sofa, and he was staring at his hands.
"Hey," she said. He looked up, and she held out her hand. "Coming?"
He hesitated, and then stood. "I don't think so," he said, shaking his head.
Her hand dropped to her side. "Why not?"
"Duncan doesn't know I know about this whole 'I dated my sister' thing. I think it's better - for now - if I don't get involved."
"Oh. I guess...that makes sense," said Veronica. She frowned. "You okay? You look...kind of upset."
He smiled, and then bent down to kiss her. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm happy for you. Your dad is still a big bad gun-toting, criminal-hunting, boy-scaring teddy bear. How could I not be happy about that?"
He walked her out to the parking lot. When they reached his car, he leaned down to kiss her again, and there was a desperation present in the kiss that took her breath away. She pulled back and smiled.
"I'll call you later," she said. She ran a finger down his arm. "Or you could wait...hopefully this won't take too long, and I could come back, and we could pick things up where we left off."
He took her hand and squeezed it. "Call me when you're through."
She watched him drive away, shaking her head.
Was it so long ago that I said I'd never understand Logan Echolls? Score one for Veronica's vision of the future.
She pushed it aside and drove to the Kane estate. She couldn't help but giggle a little on her way over, because the sense of relief - at the fact that Keith Mars was her really real father, at the fact that she hadn't spent a year dating her brother - was overwhelming. But most of all, she giggled remembering the look on Logan's face when he had said, "Can I please kiss you now?" And what immediately followed.
A few minutes later she was ringing the Kane's doorbell and praying that Celeste didn't answer the door. Someone must have been listening, because it was Duncan himself who appeared. The look of surprise that crossed his face was immediately replaced by a grin.
"Veronica," he said. "What are you doing here? I mean, hi."
"Hi," she replied. "We need to talk. Somewhere private."
He looked over his shoulder. "Sure," he said. "My parents are home, though. Do you want to...go for a walk?"
"Yeah," she said. "That would be good."
He stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him, and they began to stroll down the drive towards the street. She waited until they had left the Kane estate before taking a deep breath.
"Duncan," she said, "I know why you broke up with me."
Silence. She glanced to her left, and saw that his face was getting red as he stared at the ground.
"I know that you think...somehow...that your dad is -" God, why is this so hard? "-is my dad too."
Duncan stopped walking and looked at her, his eyes wide and pained.
"How do you know?" he whispered.
"Doesn't matter. But that's why? That's why you dumped me without telling me you were dumping me? That's why you started avoiding me?"
Man up, Duncan. Tell me the truth, for once.
"Yeah," he said, looking away. "I tried...I tried to turn it off, what I felt for you, once I knew, but it wouldn't go away. I couldn't stop loving you, and so I had to just stay away from you. Even after I found out, that night...I just couldn't help it."
His face was crumbling before her eyes. She had to tell him the truth, relieve his misery.
"Duncan." She reached out, grabbed his sleeve. "It's okay. I'm not your sister."
He froze. "What?"
She dug into her bag and pulled out the DNA test, shoving it at him. "Keith Mars is my dad. We're not related."
He took the paper and stared at it, then at her. He nearly collapsed to the ground. She could practically see the relief coming off of him in waves.
"So...it's okay," she said. "We never did anything wrong."
Then his arms were around her, and he was holding her tight. Was he crying? She let him, and after a few minutes she gently stepped away.
"I just got the results," she said. "And I wanted you to know right away. I'm sorry you had to feel like this for a year."
"Thanks," he said. "God, you have no idea how much better this makes me feel."
Actually, I think I do. There were two people in that relationship, remember? But there's something else I need to know.
"Duncan, how did you find out we might be related? Who told you? Was it your dad?"
He shook his head. "My mom," he said. "She pulled me aside and said she didn't want things to go any further between us and told me."
"She didn't want things to go any further? We dated for a year. How could she not have said anything earlier?"
He shrugged. "Maybe she didn't know - or, maybe she didn't think that you were my sister until she told me. Maybe she had just found out about your mom and my dad."
A plausible explanation. And I wouldn't put it past Celeste Kane to just stir up trouble and use her newfound information to break us up.
Now Duncan was smiling. No, grinning.
"What?" she asked, rubbing at her nose. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No. But I was realizing that now we can hang out again without me thinking constantly what a terrible person I am."
"I'd like that," she said softly. She really had missed Duncan. And now that she and Logan were...whatever...she wanted the three of them to be able to be friends. Like it used to be. Before Lilly died. That had been what made Lilly's death even harder to bear...she had lost not only Lilly, but Duncan and Logan, too. To get them both back would make some of the pain feel...less painful.
"Yeah, me too."
They returned to her car, and she hugged him again before getting inside. He waved as she drove away, smiling. She had her phone out before she had turned back onto the street.
"Hey, you," she said, when Logan picked up.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"As well as can be expected. Actually, better than that. Duncan has had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders. You know, it was his bitch of a mother who told him."
"Well, Celeste will stop at nothing to get what she wants."
"Don't I know it. Where are you?"
"Home. I forgot that I was hosting a poker game tonight. I could cancel it, come back over..."
Veronica considered. She did want to spend time with Logan, but she also wanted to spend time with her father, now that she knew that was exactly what he was.
"No, do your thing. Just don't bet the ranch."
"I have a ranch? Yeehaw."
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After Logan hung up from his conversation with Veronica, his phone rang again. He answered it without looking at the display.
"Miss me already?"
"I always miss you, Moneybags," drawled the voice on the other end.
"Weevil. To what do I owe the extreme displeasure?"
"I hear you're having a poker game. I want in."
Logan laughed. Weevil wanted to play poker with him and a bunch of 09ers? Did he have a death wish?
"I'm sure you do, but I can't," he said.
"I got the money, so what's the problem?" asked Weevil.
"Look, my only concern is property values going down if anyone sees you in my house without a leaf blower or a skimmer."
After their week in detention, Logan kind of liked Weevil. A little. But he wasn't sure how well it would go over with the rest of the guys.
"You're concerned? I'm the one who's gotta go up into the hills, all by myself. What if I run into a pack of you white boys, huh, on some clean, well-lit street? I could be bored to death."
Logan chuckled. "Fine," he said. "It's a thousand dollars in ten crisp one hundred dollar bills. And Weevs, we don't take food stamps."
"Jackass," said Weevil with a chuckle of his own, and hung up.
So I've been told, Logan thought.
A couple of hours later, the first guest arrived. Duncan entered the poolhouse with a grin and a spring in his step that made Logan grit his teeth. Then he pulled a full handle of Jack out of his coat and set it onto the table with a bang.
"Planning to go for the alcohol poisoning trophy tonight?" asked Logan, raising his eyebrow at the bottle.
"I'm celebrating," said Duncan.
"And what, exactly, are you celebrating?"
"Getting my life back."
Duncan didn't say more, just whistled while he hung up his coat and set to work helping Logan open bags of nuts and pretzels. Logan knew why Duncan was practically giddy, of course. Veronica had just told him that she wasn't his sister, opening the door to the revival of the one relationship that had meant something to Duncan.
At the thought of Duncan making a move on Veronica, whether she would be receptive or not, Logan pulled on a bag too hard and sent nuts flying all over the room.
"Dude," said Duncan, laughing. "Watch it. It's like you don't know your own strength."
Logan flashed a grin at Duncan - one that he had to force - and cleaned up the mess in silence.
A half hour later, the rest of the guests had arrived: Sean Freiderich, who was a pompous ass but usually good for a poker game; Weevil, whose appearance got a raised eyebrow from Duncan; and Connor Larkin, a teenage movie star who was doing another crappy movie with Logan's father.
The game started. Duncan got drunk and started singing along with a Christmas special that was playing on television. Duncan and Weevil got in Logan's face about the insufficient size of the tip he was trying to give the pizza delivery guy. They took a break when the others noticed Logan's mother taking a nighttime swim in a bikini.
Finally, it was down to Logan and Weevil, and Logan was feeling pretty damned good about his chances. There were only two cards in the deck that wouldn't help him win. Unfortunately, one of those turned up, and Weevil beat him on an all-in final hand with a fucking pair of twos.
Whoever said I was lucky anyhow? Last I checked, "lucky" wasn't something you could buy.
With a grumble, Logan reached for the box where he had stored the money. When he opened it, however, it was empty. No fat roll of one hundred dollar bills amounting to the five grand pot. He shifted the trays in the box around, and then looked up at the others around the table. Weevil was glaring at him.
Shit.
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The next day, Sunday, Veronica accompanied her father to the office to catch up on some filing and billing. They had been there about an hour when the door opened.
Mac poked her head into the office. "Veronica?" she called.
"Hey," said Veronica. "Ooh, you changed the blue to green." She indicated the colored streak in Mac's hair.
"Christmas," said Mac in explanation.
"Have a seat," said Veronica, gesturing to the visitors' chairs. "What brings you to Mars Investigations this fine December afternoon?"
Mac sat, and took a breath. "Well, I wanted to talk to you about the-" she glanced around. The door to Keith's office was closed, and the rest of the room was empty. Veronica waited patiently. "-the hacking job I did for you. The California vital statistics database?"
"Oh. Oh, Mac, I should have called you off of that. It turns out I don't need the information after all." Veronica shrugged apologetically. "The case solved itself."
Mac waved it away. "Don't worry about it. Now I know how to do it, so if you ever do want any info from that sucker, I'm your girl. But I actually wanted to talk to you about something I found while poking around there."
Veronica tensed and leaned forward. "What?"
"Well...I used my own birth certificate as a test case. I mean, I've always wondered if I was adopted. My parents are kind of...they're great, but they just don't get me. They're nachos and NASCAR, and I'm..."
"Falafels and fellini?"
"Exactly. Anyway, as a semi-joke, I looked to see if I had any previously issued birth certificates."
Mac shifted in her seat, and Veronica reached across the desk. "Mac," she said. "What did you find?"
"There were two."
"Two birth certificates?"
"No, two previously issued. Three in total."
Veronica sat back in her chair. "I don't get it."
"Neither do I," said Mac. "And that's hopefully where you come in."
She reached into her bag and pulled out three pieces of paper, pushing them across the desk.
"This one is the latest one," she said. "It lists my parents as Natalie and Sam Mackenzie." She flipped to the next page. "This is the earliest one."
"It says the same thing," said Veronica, confused. She scanned the two birth certificates but couldn't see any difference.
"Right. But the one in the middle..." Mac flipped the final page, and Veronica gasped.
"It says your parents are Paul and Josephine Sinclair."
"Yeah," whispered Mac. "Madison Sinclair's parents."
Veronica shook her head. "And you want me to figure out why their names show up on a buried birth certificate?"
"Well...I think I might know. Because then I looked up Madison Sinclair's birth certificate - did you know she was born the day after me? - and she's got the same weirdness happening, except that her middle birth certificate lists my parents."
Veronica let this sink in. If the first certificate was wrong, and the second was corrected, and then the third was changed... "You think you were switched at birth with Madison Sinclair?"
"Yeah. You got anything to drink around here, 'cause I'm about four steps past where you are into going crazy."
"Mac, let's not jump to any conclusions. I'll dig around, see if I can find anything to confirm or deny all of this."
She got up from her chair and moved around to where Mac was also rising. She wrapped her arms around the other girl and squeezed tightly.
"We'll get to the bottom of it and then figure out where to go from there," she said.
"Thanks," said Mac. She smiled sheepishly. "Hey, if I'm a Sinclair, I'm probably loaded, so college fund? No longer a problem, right?"
"Right," agreed Veronica. She watched Mac leave, and sank down into the chair Mac had just vacated.
She knew how Mac was feeling. At least some of it. She had been there just last week, wondering who her real family was. She'd have to figure this out for Mac, and then help her deal with it, whatever the answers were.
In school on Monday, Veronica was hurrying down the hall in the direction of her locker before lunch when she heard someone call out her name.
"Hey, Veronica, wait up."
Veronica turned to see Meg trotting down the hall, waving. She smiled and waved back.
"What's the what, Meg?" she asked.
Meg got a mischievous smile on her face. "Well, my parents booked a condo in Aspen for break the week after Christmas, and they said I could invite a friend. I'm inviting you." She poked Veronica for emphasis.
Veronica blinked in surprise. "Really? I mean, thanks, Meg, but...I don't know. I don't even ski."
Meg slipped her arm through Veronica's and they continued down the hall. "So, you'll take a lesson, I have stuff you can borrow. Just think about it...hearty breakfast, then shoosh-shoosh-shoosh on the slopes, then hanging out in the lodge in our cute ski outfits and flirting with all the ski instructors..."
Veronica laughed. "Well, when you put it that way..."
"So you'll come?"
"Meg, I just...Madison is also hosting a to-do in Aspen that week. The slopes will be full of people who hate me. I'm not sure I'm excited about the idea of being spit on while I fall on my face."
Meg rolled her eyes. "Please, Veronica, everyone is over that. No one hates you anymore. If you'd hang out with us from time to time you'd see that. And yes, I know about the Sinclair condo. My parents would never let me go, so I'm not even telling them about it. But since we'll be there anyway, we can be part of the fun and still have a nice, non-beer-smelling bed to sleep in at the end of the night."
Veronica tilted her head to the side and looked at Meg curiously.
"What?" asked Meg.
"Why me?"
"Simple. Because you're the one I want to ask."
"And everyone else is staying at Madison's."
"True. But I would love company when I arrive and leave Casa de Party. And I'm trying to find a way to convince you to slip back into the crowd."
Veronica shook her head. "Ah, honesty. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with going, but I'll think about it."
"Awesome." Meg gave Veronica a hug and then bounced off.
Well, this was an interesting development. Veronica wondered if Logan had ever made up his mind about going to Aspen or if he had definitely told Madison no. As she was considering this, she heard a commotion behind her and jumped out of the way of Duncan, who was rushing at Weevil, who had appeared from a classroom.
"I want my laptop back," Duncan growled, shoving Weevil.
Weevil shook him off. "How does it feel to want?" he asked in a snide tone.
"I am not screwing around," Duncan said, shoving Weevil again. He was grabbed by a couple of the bikers Weevil hung out with, and he yanked at his arms, trying to get free. "I didn't take the money."
Weevil shrugged. "Someone did. Let him go," he ordered the bikers. They obeyed, and followed Weevil down the hall. Duncan watched them go, his hands clenched into fists.
"Hey," said Veronica, stepping up beside Duncan. "What's going on? He took your laptop?"
Duncan glanced at her. "There was this poker game at Logan's Saturday night. Weevil won five grand and someone stole the money. This is his way of collecting."
"Weevil was at the poker game?" asked Veronica, wrinkling her brow.
"I didn't invite him," said Duncan. "You know, this kind of concerns you."
"I don't see how," she said.
"Well...I keep a journal on my laptop for the past, I dunno, three years. There was a time when you were kind of a feature." He grinned. "I was prolific."
Veronica stared at him.
Oh God. Just what I need, Duncan waxing poetic about how he has forbidden feelings for his half-sister. There are plenty of things that could be in that journal that I would rather never saw the light of day.
"Okay, I see how it concerns me," she said. "I'll help you get it back. Any idea who stole the money?"
Duncan slung an arm around her shoulders, and she stiffened momentarily. "Well," he said, "I don't really know, but...when Weevil got there, I was sort of surprised to see him. Logan leaned over and said something like, 'Don't worry. There's no way in hell I'm letting Weevil walk out of here with our money.'"
"You're suggesting Logan invited Weevil to steal from him?"
"No, maybe he didn't invite him there for that purpose, but..." Duncan shrugged. "You know Logan."
Yeah, I do. And I don't believe it. He and Weevil seemed almost chummy a couple of weeks ago.
She shook his arm off. "I'm on it. I'll see you later."
"I ordered Italian for lunch," he said with a grin. "I know how much you love lasagna from Luigi's."
"Yeah. Thanks," she said. She gave him a brief smile and hurried away. Duncan was acting...well, he had said he wanted to hang out more. She brushed off the thoughts she had been having about him coming on a little strong, and went in search of Weevil.
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Logan watched Veronica smile at Duncan and swallowed. Well, that hadn't taken long at all, he thought. He had come around the corner just as Duncan put his arm around Veronica's shoulders, and the sight had brought him up short. The thing is, it was so...familiar. Watching them together brought him back to a year and a half ago, before Lilly died and everything went to hell, when seeing Duncan with his arm around Veronica was a regular occurrence.
What did it mean?
He shook off the question and waited for Veronica to disappear through a classroom door before catching up to his best friend.
"What was that about?" he asked Duncan, jerking his head in Veronica's direction.
"She's going to figure out who stole the poker money," he said. "So I can get my laptop back."
"Oh, goodie," said Logan with an eye roll.
"If you took the money, you should just confess. She'll figure it out."
He looked sharply at Duncan. "If I took the money? What the hell, dude. You know I didn't take it."
"I know no one left with it, and it's your house."
Logan stared at Duncan, who stared right back. Finally, Logan stepped back, his palms raised. "Whatever. Believe what you want. It's not like you ever actually try to get to the bottom of suspicions, anyhow."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing at all," spat Logan, and then he turned and walked away.
Ten minutes later, he collected his Thai delivery and headed for Veronica's table. She was sitting there with Wallace...and Duncan. She had an open container of something italian in front of her, and she was laughing. He was trying to decide if he should go over or leave her alone when she looked up and spotted him. She smiled and waved him over.
When he got to the table, she scooted to the side and patted the seat next to her. He sat down and plunked his takeout containers on the table.
"Looks like I'm late to the party," he said. "But if you want crispy pad thai, it's in that one right there."
"Ooh." Veronica immediately reached for the container and opened it, taking a deep breath to inhale the tantalizing smell.
"You already have lasagna," Duncan pointed out.
"So? I can't have both?" She dipped her fork into the pad thai and took a huge bite. "Thank you," she said to Logan, her mouth full of noodles.
He couldn't help but grin at her. Then he turned to Duncan. "If I had known you were ordering, I wouldn't have bothered."
Duncan just scowled down at the table.
Wallace, who was sitting across from Logan, looked back and forth between the boys, and then shrugged. He grabbed a Thai container and began alternating bites between yellow curry and spaghetti and meatballs, looking perfectly contented.
"You guys should fail to communicate more often," he said with a grin. "It works out well for us of the lower income bracket."
"So," Logan said, turning to Veronica. "Duncan tells me you're going all super sleuth about this poker game. Is he right? Should I expect the money to turn up soon?"
"You heard right," she replied. "I talked to Weevil, and he said he'd return all your stuff as soon as the money turns up. He told me a little about the game, but I think I'll have to get each one of you alone-" she jabbed his side with her elbow, "-and put the screws to you."
"Screw with me anytime you want," he muttered in her ear. She laughed, and some of the tenseness in his stomach released.
On the other side of the table, Duncan got to his feet and walked away.
"What's with him?" asked Veronica, frowning.
He's still in love with you, Logan thought. If Duncan hadn't told her yet, Logan certainly wasn't going to be the one to plant that seed.
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That afternoon, Veronica stowed her bag at the reception desk at the office and then leaned on the doorjamb of her father's office. He was peering at papers spread out in front of him. After a minute, he looked up, sensing her presence.
"What are you hovering around for?" he asked, smiling.
"I have a question to ask you. And I'd like it if you set aside concern and worry for your daughter's fragile emotional state and answered it honestly."
"Oh?" Keith sat back and his chair and regarded her.
"It's about the Lilly Kane case," she said, moving to sit in one of the visitors' chairs.
"Oh." Keith sighed. "You know I'd rather you not have to think about that. It was good work, noticing the shoe discrepancy, but it would be a really wonderful Christmas gift if you decided to forget about it and go on with your life. Let your old dad worry about it."
Veronica shook her head. "You know I can't do that. I can promise you that I'm not doing anything stupid, but there are a couple of things I don't understand, and if you could explain them, maybe it would be easier for me to back off."
She had been thinking about the fact that the Kanes appeared to be behind sending her mother the gunsight photos, and it made her wonder about their involvement in Lilly's death, and what her father hadn't told her.
"Well, ask your question," said Keith, "but I reserve the right to refuse to answer it."
"Why did you fixate on Jake Kane? What made you suspect him?"
Keith frowned, and appeared to be thinking. She let him, and waited patiently until he leaned his elbows on the desk.
"The night of the murder, I was the first one on the scene. I was questioning Jake and Celeste about what had happened - when they got home, what they found, what they did next. They were telling me that they had been home only a few minutes when Jake went to look for Duncan and Lilly out by the pool, and found her. They said that Duncan had gotten home first, but he was in the shower and hadn't gone out back. Then, I heard the buzzer from a laundry machine go off. The Kanes had two full-time housekeepers. My guess, they hadn't done their own laundry in a very long time...so give me one good reason why they would start a load of laundry the night they found their daughter bludgeoned to death."
Veronica's stomach flipped. She knew her dad must have had a good reason to suspect the Kanes, but...it was sounding like he had a really good reason.
"Honey," continued Keith softly, "it was a soccer uniform in the dryer."
She sat back, feeling as if she had been slapped. A soccer uniform? That meant that, for whatever reason, Duncan was doing laundry and showering, the same afternoon his sister bled out all over the pool deck. She swallowed hard, and nodded.
"Thanks for telling me," she said. "And I'm okay. Do you think...that Duncan did it?"
Keith shrugged. "I really don't know," he said. "It's possible it could be totally innocent that he was washing his uniform, but..."
"Right," said Veronica. She got to her feet, but Keith stopped her.
"Do you have time to run over to the Echolls'?" he asked. "I have some paperwork that I need Logan's mother to sign." He held out a manila envelope.
"Sure," she said. That would give her an excuse to go see Logan. Not that she needed one, but...it made her feel better to have one. "What's this about?"
"Lynn hired me to find one of her husband's stalkers."
Veronica raised an eyebrow. "Fun."
"Now, don't you think about getting involved with this one. Whoever the stalker is, he or she is dangerous. A pumpkin carved to look like Aaron's head with a cleaver in it was delivered to their house today."
Veronica couldn't help but giggle, which made Keith look at her sternly. "Sorry," she said. "The image just...took me by surprise. Anyway, I have a case of my own to keep me busy this week."
"Should I ask what it's about?"
"I'm trying to find a card not-so-sharp," she said, taking the envelope and walking out the door.
Twenty minutes later, she was handing the envelope to Lynn Echolls.
"Thank you, Veronica. It was so nice to see your father again, and it is so nice to see you. Logan's happy you two are spending time together again," she said with a gracious smile.
"Thanks, Mrs. Echolls."
"Call me Lynn, dear." Lynn turned and pointed to a spot on the tree that was undergoing decoration. "Carlita, I told you an hour ago, there's a bald patch over there."
"Is Logan around?" asked Veronica, drawing the elegant woman's attention back to her.
"Check out back. With all this activity, I think he retreated to the relative peace of the poolhouse. I don't blame him," she said with a wink.
Veronica made her way through the house and out the back door. Sure enough, when she reached the poolhouse, she found Logan immersed in some kind of video game. She smiled, and then took in the scene surrounding him. It looked like the place had been ransacked: furniture tipped over, drawers open with their contents spilled on the floor, empty bottles and plates shoved to the side.
"What happened in here?" she asked.
Logan looked up, and then back at the screen. He swore, and then pressed a few buttons and tossed the controller aside, getting to his feet in a smooth move.
"I'm redecorating. Going for urban crack den chic. What do you think, is it over the top?"
He crossed the room in three strides and was kissing her before she could respond. She giggled when he lifted her off the ground and sat her on the table, but then forgot about the giggling when his mouth met hers again. She grabbed his shoulders so she didn't tip over backwards, and gasped when the hands around her waist slid up and inside her jacket.
After several minutes, he let himself get two inches away from her, and smiled. "Hi," he said.
"Hi." She brushed hair back from his forehead, and grinned. "My dad needed me to drop off some paperwork for your mom. Seems she wants Mars Investigations to track down one of your dad's stalkers."
"Only one?" Logan helped Veronica off the table and looked around the room. "Hmm. I'd offer you a more regular seat, but..."
"That's okay," she said. "I can't really stay. But while I'm here, tell me more about this poker game."
Logan began to move around the room, righting chairs and replacing drawers. "I don't know what you want to know. Me, Duncan, Weevil, Sean, and Connor. A thousand buy-in. I took everyone's cash, rolled it up in a big wad, and put it in the empty chip box, which I closed."
"And where did you put the box?"
"It was right on the table. In plain sight. We played for a few hours, Weevil won, and when I went to get the money, it was gone."
"Duncan seems to think no one left here with the money."
Logan straightened, looked her in the eye. "Yeah. He mentioned that to me, too. Implying that I'm the one who stole it. Is that what you think?"
She shook her head. "Petty theft isn't your style."
"Maybe making sure the likes of Weevil didn't go home with the money is." He folded his arms across his chest, challenging her with both his stance and gaze.
She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "I might have thought that a couple of months ago, but now I know you have a soft spot for your partner in crime. You play fair with people you respect, even if you don't like them."
Something passed through his eyes then...relief? Wonder? Veronica had begun to realize that Logan didn't see his better qualities as much as he focused on his faults, and no one in his life had ever done anything but fixate on his faults. She wondered if she could change that.
"Anyway," she smirked, "even if I didn't have faith in your honor among thieves, seeing this place would have convinced me."
Logan's brows drew together. "Come again?"
"It looks like it's been ransacked. Weevil told me that he didn't search this place like he wanted to, and so...you must have. Why would you do that if you were the one who took the cash? The question remains, who did?"
Logan frowned. "Hell if I know. Although...you might want to talk to Connor."
"Connor? As in Connor Larkin? The movie star?" Veronica couldn't help but feel a little starstruck by the name.
"He's a mortal, believe me," said Logan dryly. "They just draw his abs on."
Veronica smirked. She strolled forward, placed her hands an inch away from his stomach.
"What about yours? Are they drawn on, or are they real?"
"What kind of a detective are you?" he murmured, his eyes fixed on her hands. "Isn't there some way you can find out?"
She inched forwards until her palms rested on his stomach. She could feel his muscles contracting under his shirt. She tipped her head back, caught his eyes.
"They feel pretty real to me," she whispered, and stretched up to meet his lips.
Half an hour later - later than she had intended on staying, but Logan really had a way of making her forget that time was passing - she was on her way to Connor Larkin's movie set. Logan had called ahead and gotten her a walk-on pass. He had offered to join her, but she thought she would get more out of Connor without Logan there.
As she strode across the set in the direction of Connor's trailer, she realized that she hadn't talked to Logan about what she had learned from her father, about Duncan. She'd have to remember to do that later. She also still had to get to the library and see what else she could find out about Mac's parents. And she didn't have Christmas gifts yet for her dad, or Wallace. The only gift she had bought was for Back-up, for god's sake. And...shoot, was she supposed to get something for Logan? If so, what?
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Logan leaned against the lockers, waiting for Dick to finish doing whatever he was doing in his.
"Dude, seriously. Just agree to come. You know you're going to in the end, anyway," Dick said, slamming his locker shut.
Dick was still trying to convince Logan to come to Madison's Aspen condo over the break. The thing was, Logan wanted to spend the break with Veronica more than he wanted to spend it getting drunk and hanging around the rest of his friends. He couldn't tell Dick that, because they were still keeping things quiet, and telling Dick would be like wearing a neon sign.
"I'm still thinking about it," he said. "My parents are going to be in town for once, and my dad has been implying I should plan to stick around, too." Though that itself was reason enough to leave town, Logan wasn't about to say that, either.
"Okay, but if you miss out on calling the better bedrooms, that's your deal. Don't come crying to Dick that you're stuck in the room with two sets of bunk beds."
"Who's stuck with the bunk beds?" Duncan greeted them. Logan noticed that Duncan didn't quite meet his eyes.
"This guy will be if he doesn't decide soon that he's in for Aspen," said Dick, punching Logan's shoulder.
"Ow," Logan said. "Cut it out." He punched Dick back. Dick just rolled his eyes.
"You're not going?" asked Duncan. "I thought everyone was."
"I don't know yet," Logan said. "I haven't made up my mind."
"Meg's even going to be there," said Duncan.
"Meg? Really?" Dick leered. "Maybe there's some truth to that purity test after all."
"Jackass," said Duncan, rolling his eyes. "She's going up with her family, but they'll be there the same time. She told me she's trying to convince Veronica to go with them."
Logan, whose thoughts had started to wander, immediately tuned back into the conversation. "What was that?" he asked.
"He said Ronnie might go to Aspen. Now that would be entertaining," said Dick, rubbing his hands together. "Considering what happened at the last party she went to, you never know what she'll do."
Logan frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Shelley's party, last year, remember? Dude, the body shots were priceless. And-"
"Dick, would you shut up?" Duncan interrupted, giving Dick a shove.
"I'm just reminiscing. Pretty little Ronnie in her white dress, all soft and willing-"
"I said shut up." Duncan shoved Dick again, harder, so that he stumbled backwards and into a set of lockers. Then he looked around, saw that a crowd was gathering, and took off down the hall. Dick and Logan watched him go.
"What the hell is up his butt?" asked Dick, pushing himself upright.
"I don't know," said Logan. "Oh, but Dick...you even think about treating Veronica the way we did at Shelley's party last year, and I'll kill you."
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Dick, rolling his eyes. "We all got the message. Veronica's a golden child again. You're like a broken record, dude. Might want to think about playing a new tune. See ya."
He headed down the hall in the opposite direction from Duncan. He hadn't thought about that party in a while...willfully ignored it, in fact. Veronica hadn't said anything to him about it, but a heavy brick of guilt began to form in his stomach. That had been shortly after Lilly died, after Keith Mars was ousted from the Sheriff's department, after they had all turned on Veronica. He remembered wondering why she had shown her face there, and being so angry...
Remembering what he had done that night, with the tequila shots and a very drunk Veronica, made him sick. She was giving him her forgiveness and trust now, but he wondered if she even remembered that night. He wondered how she would react if she found out what he had done. The thought of telling her, to get everything out in the open, scared him.
But he had to tell her, confront it head on. If Duncan decided to use that to convince Veronica she should be with him instead of Logan, would it work? Logan had a sinking feeling that it might.
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Veronica wandered into the courtyard at lunch on Friday, thinking about what she had discovered. Connor hadn't had a lot of helpful information, but she had found a few morsels in his tales of Duncan getting pissed about the tip for the pizza delivery guy, and watching him drink his sun tea.
But the real discovery was Sean Freiderich, the butler's son. Funny how he had been able to keep that a secret, pretending to be one of the richest 09ers, getting dropped off in a limo every day, letting his attitude of snobbery bolster his appearances. She noticed Logan sitting with Duncan and Sean at an 09er table, and Weevil standing with some of the bikers off to one side of the courtyard. She started towards Weevil when someone grabbed her arm.
"Hey, Veronica," said Mac. "I'm sort of afraid to ask, but..."
"Hey, Mac." Veronica smiled. "The answer is yes. I did look into it, and...why don't we sit down?"
She led Mac to her table and they sat. Mac looked at her apprehensively, and Veronica sighed.
"Okay," she said. "So I looked up your parents and the Sinclairs, and found out they both got a million dollar payout from a lawsuit settlement with Neptune Memorial Hospital in 1992. Thanks to the newspaper archives at the Neptune Public Library, I think I know what happened. In 1992, the same time as the payout, there was a report of two families settling with the hospital in a suit alleging that the hospital had accidentally switched two baby girls, born a day apart, in 1987."
"So...I was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair?" Mac whispered. She swallowed, her eyes wide. "I didn't...I guess I didn't actually believe it was true."
"It looks like it," Veronica said, laying her hand on Mac's arm. "But, hey...your parents are nice, right? You've had a good life."
"Why didn't they switch us back? When they found out?"
"Well...maybe they had gotten attached. You're kind of a cool person, Mac."
Mac smiled at that. "It's just...I'm not sure what to-"
"Veronica!"
Mac was interrupted when Meg slid into the bench across the table. "Hi," she said. "Sorry...did I interrupt something?" She glanced back and forth between Mac and Veronica.
"It's fine, Meg. What's up?" asked Veronica. Mac needed a minute to digest the information, anyway, she figured.
"I was just wondering if you'd considered my offer and realized how amazing it is." Meg giggled. "My parents want to know if they should book you a ticket to fly out with us, or if you wanted to come at a different time."
"Oh," said Veronica. "Meg, I'm just not-"
"No. Do not say you're not comfortable." She turned to Mac. "Don't you think she should come to Aspen with my family next week? Some controlled partying at the Sinclair condo and a nice place to stay when we're done?"
Mac blinked, and then looked at Veronica. "I would go, if I were you," she said. "You could get a chance to see how the Sinclairs live."
"That's just what I've always dreamed of, getting an inside look at the life of Madison Sinc-" Veronica stopped, and then looked at Mac. She smiled. "You know what? I think I would be more comfortable if I had one more friend there," she said.
"What do you mean?" asked Meg.
"Do you think your parents would let you invite two people? The other one being Mac? Oh, Mac, this is Meg. Meg, Mac." She gestured between the two of them.
Meg grinned at Mac. "Hi, Mac. Cool hair." She turned to Veronica. "Yes, they would be fine with it, I'm sure. It's settled then. The three of us will be skiing and apres-skiing this time next week." She clapped her hands. "Mac, just email me your info and we'll get all the plane tickets. This is going to be a blast!"
She pushed up from the table and waved, trotting off. Mac peered at Veronica.
"What just happened?" she asked.
Veronica smiled. "You and I just got invited to spend a week living like the other half in Aspen. If your parents have any questions, just have them call my dad." She saw Weevil moving across the courtyard towards Logan's table, and got to her feet. "Sorry, Mac, I have to run. We'll talk later."
Okay, boys. Time for me to set up the big whodunit reveal. And maybe make some cash for Christmas presents while I'm at it.
She approached Logan's table on Weevil's heels. When she got there, the guys all looked up.
"So, good news, bad new," she said, lifting a piece of pizza out of the box in the middle of the table. "The good news is, I know who stole the money. The bad news is, I know who stole the money."
Logan smirked, and she grinned back.
"Here's my brilliant idea. Filled with holiday spirit, Logan will host another game."
"Will I?" asked Logan.
"I'm thinking tonight," she said around a bite of pizza. She slid onto the seat beside Logan, and ignored the tingling in her stomach at just being next to him.
"No, my mother's Christmas party is tonight," he said, shrugging. He nudged his knee against hers under the table, and she tamped down a shiver that threatened to work its way up her spine.
"So? Here's how it will go down. I'll tell you who did it and you'll buy me into the game. I'll just take the place of whoever stole the money. Unless you still might think you want him around? And if you think about it, anyone who doesn't see this as a great offer is obviously the thief. Kind of a no-brainer."
The guys glanced at each other, and then at her, and she knew she had them.
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That night, Weevil elbowed Logan in the side, and Logan glared at him.
"What the hell, dude?" he asked.
"Looks like you've got competition for V's affections," said the biker, jerking his chin towards the poolhouse bathroom, where Duncan was checking out his reflection.
"As usual, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You should try speaking English sometime." Logan shrugged, careful to keep his expression bland, even though he knew Weevil was right about Duncan.
"For what it's worth, my money's on you. Kane isn't interesting enough for V. Not these days, anyway."
Weevil walked away, and Logan stared after him. He had known for couple of weeks that Weevil was onto him and Veronica, and for some reason, Weevil seemed to be in support of their clandestine relationship. Well, he'd take all the support he could get, because it did look like Duncan was primping for their lone female guest, due to arrive any moment.
When Duncan emerged from the bathroom, Logan approached him. Duncan folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall, not meeting Logan's eyes.
"Either you actually think I took the money, or you're pissed at me about something else," said Logan. "Did we break up or something? Should I give you your best friend charm back?"
Duncan shot him a look. "Seems if you took the money, you'd be smart enough to just give it back. Veronica would expose you. And since you're not completely stupid..."
He gave Logan a smile and nudged Logan's shoulder with her own. "I'm sorry I..."
"Whatever," said Logan, but he couldn't help but smile back. "So. We're good?"
"Yeah. We're good. Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Logan shifted so that he was leaning against the wall facing his once-again best friend.
"Has Veronica...said anything to you? About me? I mean, I know you guys hang out."
Logan looked at the floor. "Like what?" Was Duncan asking him whether he knew about the DNA test?
"Well...I was kind of thinking of getting back together with her. And she seems like she might be into that."
Logan stiffened. "What makes you think so?"
"You don't think so? Why? What has she said?"
"Nothing," said Logan, trying not to clench his teeth. "She hasn't said anything. But I thought you guys were...long over."
"We were," Duncan said, running a hand through his hair. "But...some things have changed recently. I thought...I thought maybe tonight I might say something. Since she's going to be in Aspen next week and everything, this might be a perfect time to...reintroduce ourselves to Neptune High as a couple."
"Right. Could be." Unable to listen to Duncan any longer, Logan crossed to the table and began to dole the poker chips out of the chip box.
The door to the poolhouse opened then, and Veronica swept inside. Duncan was beside her in a moment, taking her jacket and her bag. She smiled at him in thanks, and said something that Logan couldn't hear. Duncan chuckled. Logan bristled.
Veronica turned to the rest of them. "Hi, boys," she said, tilting her head to one side. "Are you excited to see me?"
"I've never known such excitement," said Logan with a smirk. He caught her eye, and her grin widened. "Shall we get started?" he asked. "I, for one, am anxious to get my name cleared and move on to the winning-your-money portion of the evening."
The boys settled around the table, naturally choosing the same seats as they had for the previous game. Veronica wandered slowly around the outside, her finger to her lips as if thinking hard. Logan sat back in his chair and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He loved watching her toy with people.
After two revolutions, Weevil spoke up. "So, V, you here to make us dizzy, or you going to share your findings so I can get my money?"
"Patience, dear Eli," said Veronica. She stopped behind Duncan. "I'll reveal all. But first...a little refreshment."
She reached over Duncan's shoulder and snagged his handle of Jack Daniels, tipped it back and chugged. The guys all made impressed murmurs, all except for Duncan, who sighed and thunked his head on the table. She brought the bottle back down.
"Hmm," she said. "Iced tea. How very musical theater of you." She ruffled Duncan's hair, and he rolled his eyes. "Duncan played drunk that night to win your money, not steal it...apparently, it didn't work."
She strolled around the table until she stood behind Connor. "Connor isn't a drug addict, by the way," she said.
Connor looked up from his cup of tea, glanced around the table. "A what?"
"His frequent bathroom breaks were because of the sun tea he's drinking to drop some weight...not to snort a line."
Connor set the tea down. "Did you guys really think I-"
"No time, Connor." Veronica patted his head, and he slumped back in his chair.
"So that brings us to bachelor number three." She circled the table to stand behind Logan, and put her hands on his shoulders. He made himself sit very still. "Sure, he looks like an evildoer." She leaned in and sniffed his hair, and he pressed his palm into the table. "Smells like an evildoer. But, surprisingly, not so much. You see, Weevil said he hadn't searched the poolhouse as much as he would have liked, but when I saw the place a couple of days later it looked like it had been ransacked. Why would Logan look for the money if he had taken it himself?" She squeezed his shoulders then, and he knew why. She was reassuring him that she believed him even without the "proof."
With one last pat, Veronica stepped away from Logan and walked around to stand between Weevil and Sean. Logan looked between them. Neither made any sense as the thief. Weevil had won the money, and didn't really strike him as a cheat anyway. Sean had no need for the money...a grand to him was like pocket change.
"Ah, two left," said Veronica with a sly smile. "The boy from the wrong side of the tracks and the boy who lives in the most expensive house in the 09er zip. So, you want to know how Sean did it?"
Sean slumped down in his chair. Weevil turned and gave him a glare. Logan crossed his arms across his chest and smirked as she explained how Sean had slipped the money into one of his "ghetto aesthetic" beer bottles, waited for the recycling to get taken out, and collected the bottle from the trash. The big reveal, however, was that Sean was not, in fact, uber-rich, but rather the son of a butler.
As Weevil grabbed a stammering Sean by the collar and dragged him outside to discuss repayment, Veronica slid into Sean's vacated seat next to Logan. She reached over and grabbed the deck of cards. She tapped her foot against Logan's under the table and glanced at him before grinning at the others.
"Mind if I deal first?" she asked innocently.
Duncan leaned forward. "Want me to-" he stopped as the cards began to flip between her hands rapidly. He sat back, a look of surprise on his face.
Logan just watched her and tried not to think about how much he enjoyed watching her.
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A couple of hours later, Connor sat back in his chair.
"She wins again," he said with a rueful smile. "I'm getting kind of hungry. Any chance we can take a snack break and crash the grown-up party?"
"I could eat," said Weevil, neatening his small pile of chips.
They all stood, Veronica taking an extra moment to put her last winnings into her pile. When she turned, she saw that the boys had all headed towards the main house except for Logan, who was waiting for her. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the others were far enough away, and then turned back.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.
"Of course," she said. "Are you sure it's called 'talking,' though? I could have sworn-"
"And she's a comedian too, ladies and gentlemen. Seriously, I have a question for you."
She was silent then, waiting for him to ask whatever it was that was making him anxious. She could tell by the way he was pacing in and out of the bedroom.
Finally, he stopped in the doorway. "I heard you're going to Aspen next week," he said.
"I am," she said, surprised. "I was going mention it. Meg practically begged me to be her companion for the week. It really just got finalized today, and my dad is still pretending to think about whether or not to let me go. How did you hear about it?"
He watched her for a moment. "Duncan," he said.
"Oh." She leaned a hip against the table. "I didn't realize Duncan was going."
"If he wasn't before, he definitely is now," said Logan, still watching her carefully.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Maybe nothing. He hasn't...talked to you? About getting back together?"
She grimaced. Duncan had been a little friendly since finding out they weren't related after all. She hadn't minded - a part of her wanted things to go back to the way they were before Lilly died. Different, of course, but the thought of the three of them hanging out again made her feel sort of warm from the inside.
That didn't mean she wanted Duncan getting any ideas about extending the boundaries of their newly reformed friendship. She regarded Logan, who was still watching her steadily.
From the looks of it, Logan doesn't want him getting those ideas either. And there it is, Veronica, you've become just like every other girl: a little pleased that your man is exhibiting some jealousy.
Just as she was about to reassure him that Duncan hadn't made any move, and that she wouldn't be receptive to anything like that, Logan pushed away from the doorway and strode into the bedroom.
"Never mind," he muttered, as he walked away.
She followed him. "He hasn't talked to me, Logan," she said. He had stopped at the foot of the bed, facing away from her, his arms folded. "And if he did..."
"Do you want me to fight for you?" he asked softly.
"No! Logan, you throwing punches at Duncan is not going to resolve this."
He spun around, rolled his eyes skyward. "No, I didn't mean - I meant do you want me to carry your books, open doors for you, buy you teddy bears that say 'I Wuv You Beary Much.'"
She grinned at the last image. "I prefer my bears won through a demonstration of ring-tossing ability, thank you."
He threaded his hands through his hair and sank down onto the bed. "Show me the carnival. I'll toss the hell out of those rings."
"Seriously, Logan, this is ridiculous." She sat beside him. "Listen to me very carefully. I am not interested in Duncan. I do not have feelings for Duncan. Not anymore."
"Duncan is still in love with you," he mumbled towards the ground. "He told me so. He wants to get back together with you."
"And I could care less. I don't want to be with him. I want you. Do you believe me?"
He looked up at her, and she saw that he didn't, not really.
Is it so hard for him to believe someone would choose him? What has his father done to him? What has Lilly done to him?
She took his face in her hands, leaned in, and kissed him. She kissed him with everything she was feeling: affection, trust, desire, friendship...and something more that she wasn't willing to think about just yet. She poured herself into the kiss, hoping that he could feel it too.
When she pulled back, he was looking at her seriously, his eyes dark.
"Do you believe me now?" she whispered.
A slow smile spread across his face. "I don't know," he said. "I might need a little more convincing."
With a laugh, she pushed him back on the bed and threw her leg over his waist, descending on his mouth again. As she settled against his chest, he let out a sigh of relief and pulled her more tightly against him before rolling them over so he was on top of her.
After a moment, he pulled back slightly, looking at her seriously.
"What?" she asked.
"Are you sure?"
As an answer, she leaned up and kissed him again. He responded, but once again pulled back.
"So, what? You're like, my girlfriend now?"
She bit her lip and nodded. "If you want me to be."
He grinned. "I want."
He lowered himself back to her mouth and she let herself enjoy him. His hands toyed with the edges of her sweater, his fingertips slipping underneath to skim over the skin at her waste, making her shiver. At her response, his hands moved higher up her back, and circled around to her front. She pulled away from his mouth so that he could work her sweater up and over her head, and then descended once more.
With a grin, he rolled them over so he was holding himself above her, and then began placing soft kisses on her cheeks, her neck, and her shoulders. The feel of him on her bare skin was somehow both thrilling and comforting, and she wanted to touch him as well. She pushed him up and yanked at his shirt, and understanding, he flipped it off and tossed it over his shoulder in one fluid motion. Then he assaulted her mouth, and everything went grey.
Somewhere on the edges of all of that, she heard a door open, and a voice call out, "Logan?" Footsteps approached the room.
"What the hell?"
She had the briefest of moments to register that the voice was Duncan's before Logan was yanked off of her. She scrambled to her feet as Duncan began to punch Logan, who simply raised his hands to defend himself.
"Duncan! Duncan, stop!" She ran over and grabbed at Duncan, but he threw her off and closed his hands around Logan's neck, shoving him up against the wall.
Without thinking things through, she jumped on Duncan's back and pulled until he stumbled backwards, sending them both to the floor. She struggled for a moment until she realized that Duncan wasn't moving.
"Veronica." Logan pushed off the wall and ran to where she was lying on her back, rolling Duncan off of her. "Are you okay?" he asked, gathering her into his arms.
She nodded, but pulled free, turning to Duncan. "What's wrong with him?" she asked. "Duncan? Can you hear me?"
Logan helped her roll Duncan onto his back. His eyes were closed, his face slack, but he seemed to be breathing normally.
"I think he fainted," said Logan.
"Why would he faint?" Veronica stood up, found their shirts, and tossed Logan's to him. "What do you mean?" she asked, pulling her sweater over her head. She returned to crouching on the floor next to Duncan.
Logan frowned. "I don't know. Duncan?" He patted Duncan's cheek. "Duncan?"
Duncan's eyelids fluttered, and then opened. He looked up at Veronica and Logan, and shook his head as if to clear it.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"You...fainted, I think," said Veronica.
Duncan smiled sheepishly, and sat up slowly. "That's so weird. I feel okay," he said, rolling his shoulders.
"What happened?" asked Veronica. "I mean, you came in here and-"
"And just boom, on the ground," said Logan. Veronica shot him a surprised glance, and he shook his head slightly. She got the message, but didn't understand why.
Duncan stood up, and Veronica and Logan hurried to their feet in case he needed them.
"I don't know," he said. "But hey, Logan, your Dad is looking for you. Something about the Mayor."
"Then I guess we should make an appearance," said Logan. "Daddy beckons, so we much oblige." He started for the door, and turned to Veronica. "Coming?" he asked.
She nodded, and followed the boys out of the poolhouse. She let them get a little ahead of her, lingering by the pool, so she could think.
She didn't know what had just happened with Duncan, but he obviously didn't remember walking in on her and Logan, or trying to strangle Logan. For some reason, Logan was letting that stay under wraps. Until she had a chance to talk to him, she'd just have to go along. If Duncan had a problem with her dating Logan, did that mean Logan would back off to make Duncan happy?
The thought made her stomach turn, but she didn't have any answers. For now, she'd have to wait and see. She made her way into the house in time to see her father rushing across a brightly lit room to tackle a waitress, and Aaron Echolls stumbling backwards, his hand to his bloody stomach.
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A/N3: Well, there you have it! Next up, a week in Aspen with the gang...