A/N: Wow, seems like forever since I last posted. For those that didn't see the message on my profile page, my Grandad passed away on Christmas Day and so my life has been pretty much upside down for a while. I'm doing better now, and I want to get back to my writing, because it makes me happy. Here's hoping this update makes all of you happy too :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

Veronica wasn't sure who she was most eager to avoid as she arrived at Neptune High on Monday morning. Yesterday had been spent thinking over what had happened to her Saturday night at Shelley Pomroy's party, and trying to apportion blame where it was due for her apparent drugged state. Unfortunately, until she got here, amongst the people who she had attended the party with, Veronica knew the mystery would never be solved. This was why she was less than ready to see Mac or Logan or even Dick.

The thought had occurred that the drink that caused her lapse into coma land may have been the Coke her new friend had handed to her, since it seemed to be the last thing Veronica remembered clearly. That made Miss Mackenzie a suspect, but Veronica was having a hard time believing she was really behind all this. That led her onto Dick, who was completely capable of being idiot enough to take drugs, but as far as she was concerned, not really so thoughtless or disgusting to use them on anyone, especially not Mac.

Whomever had spiked the drink, it had led to Veronica waking up in the arms of one Logan Echolls, and the consequently awkward conversation as he explained what had happened and then drove her home still made Miss Kane wince. She was usually so confident and sure of herself. Having to be told how she had behaved and what she'd done by someone else, someone she hadn't exactly been treating in a friendly way up to now, it didn't sit at all well with Veronica.

To know she came onto Logan whilst under the influence bothered her in particular. She believed him when he said he hadn't and wouldn't ever take advantage of her; no, that wasn't what worried her. What was making Veronica particularly uncomfortable was the fact she'd wanted to get that close to him, and that even in the harsh light of day she couldn't let herself explain it away as just drug-induced insanity.

"Veronica!" a voice behind the blonde dragged her from her thoughts and she spun around just short of the doors into the school building, spotting Mac a few feet away, hurrying to catch up to her, "Hey, I'm so glad I found you. Are you okay?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine" Veronica nodded, managing a smile too and starting to wonder how this girl had ever come into her mind as a suspect where her drugging was concerned, "Though apparently you bore witness to my little un-fine moment on Saturday night"

"I am so sorry about that" Mac said quickly, making Veronica's mind pull a one-eighty and put the girl with the blue-streaked hair right back in the frame, "I just spent the whole of Sunday going over and over it in my head, and feeling so awful because it has to be my fault, right?"

"Mac, for the sanity of everybody in this conversation" Veronica said as if the whole thing were giving her a headache, "Did you put something in the drink you gave me?"

"No" Mac shook her head definitely, "Veronica, I wouldn't know where to get that stuff even if I wanted it, and I never would" she said firmly, "Drugs are for idiots and weirdoes"

Veronica smiled as she let out a small sigh of relief. She hadn't wanted to believe her newest friend capable of such a heinous crime, but until she heard the words from Mac herself, she couldn't quite let herself believe. Now she knew for sure Mac was in no way directly to blame for her condition at the party, however, the chance of her being indirectly linked was all too real.

"So, next big question" Veronica said as she and Mac headed on into the building, "Where did you get the Coke that you passed on to me?"

Mac looked pained as she looked up and down the hall and everywhere but at her friend. She could lie right now, and whilst she didn't want to she wasn't sure how else to do this without making something she was trying to deny all too real.

"I got it from Dick" she said, quickly adding, "but I don't believe he put anything in it, that would be crazy, right?"

"I'd like to think so" Veronica agreed, not wanting to think so badly of the boy either.

Sure, their friend Mr Casablancas could be a real ass and an idiot, but no matter which way they sliced it, neither of them could think of him as so very bad. Besides which, he was so wasted when the girls even arrived at the party, Veronica would be very surprised if he was even capable of aiming a pill or similar into a cup. She doubted he could even walk a straight line or tell who was standing in front of him! That part she was careful not to say aloud, after all, it would only hurt Mac to know her crush probably didn't even realise she was the very young woman he'd been all over two nights ago.

"Are you really okay?" Mac checked again as they stopped at the bank of lockers, "I mean, I wasn't sure if we should leave you with Logan but my parents would've gone crazy if I stayed out all night and…"

"Mac, it's fine, honestly. I'm fine, everything's fine" Veronica assured her as she unlocked the padlock on her locker door and exchanged some books from her bag, "Logan was a complete gentleman, as weird as that may sound, and all is good. Except for one thing" she said suddenly as she slammed her locker door shut and turned into the hall as she spotted Dick coming her way.

"Hey, Ronnie" he said, giving her look, "Y'know if you don't quit frowning like that you're gonna get lines and then maybe Logan won't lurve you anymore" he teased, though Veronica continued to look unamused.

"Hey Dick" Mac smiled shyly, offering up half a wave.

"Uh, hi" he said awkwardly, looking blankly at the geek chick as if she were only vaguely familiar to him.

Immediately Veronica knew this conversation was going to go from bad to worse. Dick clearly didn't remember anything about spending the evening with Mac and she was going to be so embarrassed when she realised that in front of half the school that suddenly seemed to be in the halls.

"Okay, here's how we're gonna do this" Veronica said suddenly, checking around them that no-one was paying too much attention before bundling Dick into the nearest empty classroom and slamming the door shut behind herself.

"Woah" Dick exclaimed, a little stunned as he turned to face her, "Seriously, Ronnie, you've got some issues lately" he told her pushing a hand back through his hair, "Though I gotta say, I'm not so much going to mind helping you through them if you want" he winked, much to Veronica's disgust.

"Get over yourself, Casablancas" she told him with appropriate eye-roll, "This is serious. What do you remember about Shelley's party Saturday night?" she asked him, the intensity of her glare telling him that for at least a few minutes he had to be straight with her.

Veronica wasn't exactly known for being scary, but lately she was more distant from the gang, a little colder. Rumours were starting to circulate about her that Dick never assisted in spreading, but he heard them all the same. She just wasn't the same fun girl she used to be as far as he could tell. That was perhaps why he was so confused by Logan's apparent interest in her, since the Echolls' boy had only met the new and weird Veronica Kane.

"I remember a party and a good time" he shrugged, "I don't know, mostly I was wasted on free booze" he admitted, and Veronica knew that was at least true.

"Do you remember being all over Mac?" she asked next, guessing he didn't and feeling bad for her new friend, even as she knew she ought to be concentrating on her own issue here.

"Mac?" Dick echoed, and though the blank look on his face wasn't wholly new or different, Veronica wasn't buying this time, "Who's Mac?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Smooth, Dick, real smooth" she said sarcastically with a wry smile on her lips, "Let's forget for a moment that you're the asshole that is now going to deny all memory of time spent with my new friend, the non-09er, and remember that you and me at least used to be some kind of friends"

"Hey, dude, we're still friends" he said, looking almost affronted that she would suggest otherwise, "You're just... weird lately"

"Whatever" Veronica waved away his comments, "Dick, c'mon, please. I need to know where you got the drink you gave to Mac and what was in it"

To his credit the young man before her did look as if he were making every effort to dredge up some sense from the murky mixed up memories of Saturday night. At least Veronica had reaffirmed what a crappy liar Dick was earlier in the conversation, that would help her when he did give an answer on this far more important question.

"Madison" he said eventually, clicking his fingers in some kind of Eureka moment, "Yeah, she was being totally non-bitch, which was weird cos we totally broke up"

"You broke up?" Veronica checked, thinking it strange that she hadn't heard.

"Oh, yeah" Dick rolled his eyes, "It was boring, y'know? She never wanted to... well, y'know" he explained, knowing Ronnie would understand what he meant, "and everything I did was like 'Dick, you're such an idiot'" he said, as he affected a girlish tone, "So we ended it, I started the party a little early, and then I saw her at Shelley's with some college dude" he shook his head.

Veronica knew they were getting off topic and none of this was helping her, plus the bell was going to ring at any moment and she could do without a detention to add to her already bad day.

"Okay, so you two were broken up, but later she gave the girl you were hanging all over a Coke?" she shook her head, not understanding that at all, "Why would Madison want to drug Mac?" she checked.

Sure, Ms Sinclair was bitch enough to want to see harm to come to anyone else her ex showed an interest in, but it still didn't make sense that the drug-laced cola drink came from her. She'd never have access to that kind of stuff as far as Veronica could see, and she'd gain little or nothing from using it on Mac. All that would likely have happened is Dick and Mac would've got it on, and that thought just made Veronica's stomach flip over, in no kind of good way.

"I don't know what to tell you, Ronnie" he shrugged, looking as honest as she'd ever seen him lately, "Mad was passing out drinks, she got me a beer, she got your friend Mac a Coke and that's like one of the last things I remember" he told her, as the bell rang and he walked by her headed off to class.

"Yeah, me too" Veronica said to herself as she turned and watched him go.

It had seemed unlikely from the beginning that Dick was the culprit, but to land the blame on Madison? That didn't add up either. Still, knowing as she did that being late for class definitely wasn't going to help her situation one bit, Veronica hurried from the empty room off towards her first period class. She honestly didn't see who was in front of her until she'd ploughed right into him, and then it was too late to avoid a conversation.

"I'm sorry, I... Logan" she half-smiled when she realised who it was, knowing deep down she was kind of pleased to see him and yet also feeling awkward as hell after the events of Saturday night and Sunday morning.

"Hey, Veronica" he smiled back at her, "Er, how're you feeling today?"

"I'm fine, thanks, but I... I have to get to class" she said quickly, hurrying on by and getting into her classroom, leaving Logan staring behind her, his mouth hanging open where he'd planned to speak and not really been given a chance.

She had a habit of doing that lately, running off when he had something to say. Not that he knew what he really did want to say to her, and it would be nothing profound if he did, he was sure, but that wasn't the point. Still, later he would catch up to her, maybe at lunch or whatever. She had to talk to him eventually, if only to explain why she didn't seem to want to.

I should be paying attention to Ms Dent, I know that, but right now this is more important. It seems that whilst I've half-solved one problem, I have also gained another. The path of those drugs I accidentally swallowed at Shelley's party has led me back as far as Madison, and though I can't say I'm thrilled at the prospect of having any kind of conversation with her, serious or otherwise, it should be a pretty easy case to crack amongst the gang that I've been around for so many years.

Unfortunately, my questioning of Dick led to his making it very clear that he was embarrassed about spending time with Mac at the party. Presumably his 09er-ness makes it impossible for him to view the so-called 'lower classes' of Neptune High as anything but dirt under his feet. Of course, I can't make him like her, but if he treats her with anything other than respect and I get to hear about it, there will be consequences. If nothing else, I'll make sure he doesn't sit comfortably for a week...

That aside, I still have to deal with this issue I'm having with Logan. God, when did he start being a factor in my life? When he first arrived, I was convinced it was Lilly that would be all over him and he would probably appreciate her attention, and that would be that. Another pair of rich and pretty people making a couple that would last on its own shining fakeness as so many had done before them. It had never once occurred to me that Logan would rather focus his attention on me, or that I would start to realise I kind of liked him too.

I don't deal too well with guys, not anymore. I'm fine when I'm cutting them off at the knees or questioning them over some crime, like before with Dick. I still manage pretty decent conversations with my brother, despite the fact that Duncan and I have a lot less stuff in common these days. Unfortunately, I'm having similar issues facing Logan that I once had with Troy...

Ah, Troy, my infamous first love. He was sweet and cute and he made me laugh, we got along really well until I found he was also a liar and a cheat, with a serious addiction to floating high above the world in a cloud of psychedelic wonder.

I'd like to say it didn't hurt that much, that love was never a factor. I can try to fool myself, but he did break my heart and I guess that has made me more wary of liking any guy so much again. As nice as Logan may seem, I'm not diving into another relationship with him or with anyone. In the end, we all get our hearts broken - me, Mac, maybe even Madison if it can be proven she had a heart to break. No good-looking guy, gentleman or not, can be worth that, can they?

To Be Continued...