OK sorry it took so long. I was telling people a few days and it was a week so I'm sorry. I was really hoping to hit a 100 reviews with the last chapter and came up short by 1. The chapter is named perception for good reason. I want to thank everyone that did review. I do appreciate them. OK so the beginning of this chapter may be a little far-fetched but I had some fun with writing it. Read and review please!
The weather was partly cloudy, slightly windy, and 82 degrees. Perfect for visiting an old friend. She arrived at the Rosemont Cemetery at just after noon. She hadn't been here since Lilly was buried here almost 2 years ago. She hadn't forgotten where she was buried though.
Veronica quickly found the black granite headstone with Lillian Elizabeth Kane engraved in gold on it. She stood there for a moment then put the down bouquet of pink lilies. She slowly sank down onto the plush grass in front of the headstone.
"Hi Lilly." She whispered. "It's me. Sorry it took me so long to come see you." She gave a small smile. "Better late than never right?"
"Well, well. Veronica Mars."
Veronica nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Lilly's voice. She looked up and saw Lilly standing there. Her long straight blonde hair was now just past her shoulders and she had on a light pink blouse and a pink knee length skirt. "Long time, no see."
"I know." Veronica nodded and gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry about that."
"Forget about it." Lilly shrugged. "It's understandable with all of your man troubles." She grinned and Veronica blushed.
"You can see that?"
"Honey, I could see that even when I was still alive."
"But Logan and I weren't…"
"No, I know you weren't after Logan when I was alive but honestly he was after you."
Veronica's eyes grew wide. "Oh come on Lilly. That can't be true."
"It's very much true. We had quite a few arguments about his feelings for you. Of course you were so unbelievably in love" She air quoted love. "with my brother to notice though. He claims he wasn't flirting with you and that he only loved me but actions tend to speak louder than words."
Veronica groaned. "Boy, do they ever. I'm really ashamed how I hurt Duncan with this deal with Logan." She admitted.
"This deal you made with Logan." Lilly smirked. "That was a pretty ballsy move on your part, Veronica. I didn't know you had it in you."
"Ballsy and stupid." Veronica grumbled. "I should have never made it."
"So why did you?" Lilly asked.
"Because I wanted Logan to leave me alone." Veronica claimed.
"Veronica, I'm dead, not stupid. How about the truth?"
"That was the truth…at first. Now I don't know." She sighed. "That's why I'm here. I need your advice."
"Of course. What are dead best friends for?"
"Do you think I made the right choice telling Duncan to go back to Meg?"
"Yes I do. I think you were thinking of the baby and honestly I don't think you were really in love with him anyway."
"Yeah, I told him that."
"Yes, you did make the right choice when it came to Duncan…"
"Why do I feel there's a but coming on."
"But you didn't when it came to Logan. You should have stayed and listened."
"Why? So he can try and deny that he didn't sleep with that slut?"
"Didn't you even notice the fact that he was still fully clothed when he answered the door?" Lilly told her. "He didn't sleep with her Veronica."
"And you know this how?"
"Easy. I watched it."
Veronica stared at her skeptically.
Lilly raised an eyebrow. "Don't believe me? Why don't you see for yourself?"
******16 hours earlier-Neptune Grand*******
"I tell you you're beautiful and you think I'm drunk?"
Veronica's voice was coming through Logan's cell phone. "Well, I'm just curious what's up with that text message."
"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that."
"Well, thank you."
"Are you ever going to stop being so skeptical of me?"
"As soon as you stop giving me reasons to be skeptical of you."
"I am sorry, Veronica. I know; I do a lot of stupid things and how you're thinking that all I cared about was beating Duncan. That really wasn't my intention, I promise."
"That's good to know."
"So what are you doing?"
"Working on a case right now. What are you doing?"
"I'm talking to you wishing you were here."
"So cheesy you are."
"Maybe. Whatever it would take for you to come here tonight."
"Logan, I'm working on cases right now."
"Fine. Right now. Consider it for later."
"I'll see, OK? I have to finish this and then run an errand and then I'll see, OK?"
"OK."
"Bye." Logan quickly hung up. He was grinning. He knew her too well. He knew she would be coming. It was just a matter of when. Ten minutes later, when there was a knock on the door, Logan got up from the sofa and rushed to it.
"Hey gor…" He opened it and the words got lost in his mouth. "What the hell are you doing here?" There was Kendall wearing a very slinky black dress.
"Hi baby." She tried to kiss him on the lips but he turned in time and she got his cheek.
"I repeat Kendall what the hell are you doing here?" He said again, this time a little colder.
She moved past him into the hotel room. "Well, I heard that you and your little plaything you had this week split up so I figured that…" She let the dress pool around at her feet. "I come and comfort you."
"Comfort me?" Logan stared at her skeptically. "Look I don't know who told you that because I'm sure it wasn't Dick but my little 'play thing' and I didn't split up. And she's not a plaything. She's my girlfriend thank you very much."
"Oh really? Well, where is she?"
"She's on her way which is why it's time for you to get the hell out of here."
"Oh come on…you know she can't please you near as well as I can." Kendall tried to kiss him again and he pushed her away.
"You would be surprised, OK?" He told her bluntly. "I'm in love with her. I've been waiting all summer for the chance to get her back and now I have it. I have no intention of letting her go and blowing this."
Veronica watched this interaction and her eyes started to well up. He loved her?
"Well, maybe we should just do it once last time?"
"Wow, I didn't realize you were that desperate to keep your cougar complex, Kendall. Go find a new boy toy. I'm not interested anymore."
There was a knock on the door then. Logan jumped when he heard it. He knew it was Veronica. He started to internally panic then.
"Get in the bedroom."
"I knew you'd come around."
He threw her dress into the bedroom as he grabbed her hand and pulled her in. "Get dressed." He told her as he shut the door.
He quickly opened it and saw Veronica there. "Veronica!" He exclaimed.
"Hey." She gave him a quick kiss.
She noticed his body language and how he wasn't moving.
Veronica frowned. "Logan, what's going on? Why won't you let me in?" She asked.
"Hey baby." Kendall said from behind him. "Are you coming?"
Veronica's eyes darkened. She pushed past him and saw Kendall standing there in just a navy bra and panties.
"Who are you?" Kendall asked snottily.
"I'm Logan's girlfriend." She fired back at her. "Or should I say ex-girlfriend?" Veronica spun around on her heels and rushed down the hallway. The tears were streaming down her face.
"Veronica! Wait! I promise it's not what it looks like!" He raced down the hall to her.
"I'm never going to believe a damn word out of your mouth again." She told him as she wiped away the tears.
Veronica!"
*****Present*****
"He didn't sleep with her, Veronica. Seriously the last time he slept with her was Sunday night. He was trying to get her to leave."
"How did she even know about us? Somebody had to tell her."
Lilly sighed. "You're really not going to like this…"
"What?"
******Flashback, Neptune High Parking Lot******
Duncan glared at Logan and Veronica as he passed them. He then caught up to Dick Casablancas.
"I could not be happier that this day is over."
"No shit." Dick replied.
"I can't believe Veronica slept with Logan." Duncan spat.
"I can't believe Logan nailed my stepmom."
"What?" Duncan stopped in his tracks. "He did?"
"Yeah I guess." Dick shrugged. "Ronnie told me that."
"Veronica caught them?"
"Didn't ask for specifics dude. I don't want 'em." They arrived at Dick's car. "Later." He told Duncan as he climbed in.
"Yeah, later." Duncan told him.
******Casablancas Mansion******
An hour later, Duncan was ringing the doorbell at the Casablancas house. He actually had to ring it a couple times before Kendall appeared at the door dressed in a silky purple negligee and purple silk robe*.
"Can I help you?" She asked annoyed.
Duncan's mouth nearly hit the floor when he saw her. At least he could now see what the appeal was about her. "Hi Mrs. Casablancas…uh Kendall…I'm Duncan Kane, I'm a friend of Dick's."
"Dick's not here." She told him flatly.
"Uh, that's OK. Actually, I was hoping to talk to you."
"Really? About what?"
"Well, I know that you're sleeping with Logan Echolls."
"How the hell do you know that?" She frowned.
"Actually, the whole school knows. I believe my ex-girlfriend which is now Logan's girlfriend told Dick."
"She what? Who is this psychobitch?"
"Veronica Mars. Listen Logan's deluded if he thinks she's going to stay with him. She dumped his ass once for me, she'll do it again."
"And just what are you expecting me to do about it?"
"I have a very good feeling they're splitting up tonight so you may want to pay him a visit. Room 1250. He'll need some consoling."
Kendall grinned. "I just may do that."
Duncan returned the grin. "Good."
******Present******
"What?" Veronica screamed. "He did what?!"
Lilly sighed. "Yeah, 'fraid so. Duncan becomes another person entirely when he gets jealous."
"I thought Logan was bad with his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. I want to kill your brother." Veronica admitted cryptically.
"That wouldn't do any good you know." Lilly admitted. "The best thing you could do is show up to school Monday morning with Logan, hands being held, proving that he couldn't split you guys up. That requires you to talk to Logan."
Veronica looked down and nodded.
"He's waiting for you." Lilly revealed. "He's been trying to call you since last night. Have you checked your phone?"
"I turned the ringer off."
"Maybe you should check."
Veronica reached in her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone: 11 missed calls from Logan and 4 messages. "Wow!" Veronica exclaimed.
"See? Why don't you listen to them?"
Veronica called her voicemail and the first message was left at 11:12 the night before.
"Veronica, it's me. Look, you're probably screening calls and you don't want to talk to me. There's nothing going on between me and Kendall. I promise. Can you call me back? Bye."
The next message was left at 1:29 that morning. "Veronica, please pick up the phone. I realize that it's late but I really want to talk to you. Please call me back."
The third message was at 7:17 that morning. "OK, so I didn't sleep last night with the hope that you would be calling me back. It's you I want, Veronica. Only you. You know that, right? I really want to talk to you, Veronica. Call, please."
The last message was just received at 11:21. "So I just talked to your dad and he told me you said you were going for a drive to clear your head. I hope you're coming to see me but something tells me you're not. Veronica, I love you, OK? I wanted to tell you that in person but since you won't see me and you're not taking my calls, I decided it's time to lay it on the line. I love you. I've only loved two people, Veronica and one of them is dead."
Veronica glanced over at Lilly who gave her a knowing smile.
"Please call me Veronica. Or stop by the hotel. I'm in the same room I was in last night. I have the room reserved for the whole weekend." He reminded her. "Please just talk to me. Bye."
Veronica hung up and stared at her phone. "Wow!" She exclaimed.
Lilly nodded.
"The boy's really desperate to talk to me."
"You should go to him."
Veronica looked over at her.
"Come on, Veronica. You owe him that."
"I do?"
"You do."
"Lilly, you're acting like you want me and Logan together."
"Well, duh Veronica, I do."
"You do?"
Lilly nodded.
"Why?"
"Because you two belong together."
"But you…"
"Veronica…I'm dead!" Lilly stressed. "You're both alive. Logan had the right idea last spring; it's time to move on. You're good together. I couldn't imagine him with anyone but you."
Veronica cracked a small smile.
"Oh also? Quit trying to hide your heart, Veronica Mars. You need to tell him that you love him."
Veronica sighed. "Lilly…"
"Come on Veronica. You love him and he loves you. You heard him say it twice now. It's time to be honest with him and yourself."
"OK, you're right."
"Of course I'm right. You should always listen to your elders."
"Elders?" Veronica giggled. "You're only a few months older than me."
"And I've gained so much wisdom in those few months." Lilly winked at her. "Now go on. True love awaits."
Veronica slowly rose. "I love you Lilly."
"Love you too Veronica Mars." Lilly grinned. "Now go tell Logan how you feel."
The drive to the hotel was long. It took her almost 40 minutes to get there. It was nearly 2 o'clock by the time Veronica arrived at Logan's room. She quietly knocked and not even 2 seconds later, the door swung open. "Veronica!" Logan sighed in relief as he pulled her into a bear hug. "Oh my god! Where the hell have you been? I've been calling since last night."
"I know." She mumbled into his shirt. "I had my ringer off. I didn't get the messages until a little bit ago."
"Where have you been?"
"I…went to Rosemont." She told him casually as she sat down on the couch.
Logan looked at her curiously. "To see Lilly?"
Veronica nodded. "It's the first time I've been there since she was buried there." She paused for a moment. "Have you been there?"
Logan nodded. "Yeah, I've went there on her birthday with Duncan and also on our anniversary."
Veronica cracked a smile. It was sweet that he visited her. "She never mentioned that."
Logan cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
Veronica caught herself then. "Never mind. You'll think I'm crazy."
"No, I don't. You think she was talking to you?"
"I know she was." She insisted. "If she wasn't showing me what really happened…"
"Wait, she showed you?"
"Yeah, I know it's weird but it was like an alternate universe. I got to watch what happened."
"You did?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I did. I know you didn't sleep with Kendall."
"I tried to tell you."
"I know. I'm sorry for not believing you."
"I honestly don't have a clue how she even knew I was here."
"Oh I know that too, actually."
Logan's eyes grew wide. "You do? She showed you?"
"She did. It was Duncan."
"Duncan?"
"Yeah, he must have heard the room number when he passed us before we kissed and stuff."
"I can't believe that…"
"Logan, let's not worry about him now. Quite frankly, he's insignificant." She pulled him to her. "All that matters is you and me."
He leaned over and kissed her. "I love you, Veronica."
Veronica stared at him. She could hear Lilly's voice in her head saying. Come on, Veronica. Tell him how you feel. You can do this. "I…I love you too, Logan."
Logan's face beamed as he leaned forward and kissed her. "Do you have any idea how happy I am to hear you say that?"
She smiled in response.
"So…just to clarify…we are back together, aren't we?"
"Well, I'm not sure…." Veronica teased.
"Veronica!"
"OK but I want you to agree to something first."
"What's that?"
"I can not take dating two different versions of you, OK? If we're going to be together, I won't tolerate you acting like a jackass. That needs to cease to exist."
"Veronica…"
"I'm not expecting you to be romantic all the time but you need to stop…."
She was cut off when Logan leaned over and kissed her.
"Logan…" She pulled away.
"I get it, Veronica. You're right. There won't be any intentional jackass moves made on my part."
Veronica smiled. "Thank you." She gave him a kiss and this time, it was Logan that pulled away.
"OK now it's my turn."
"What are you talking about?"
"To tell you what I want."
"O…kay." She frowned.
"You need to stop running away when things get tough."
"I don't…"
"Would you like me to starting naming off instances?" He raised an eyebrow.
Veronica stared at him so he started to name them off.
"Let's see. There was the time I was stranded by myself on my dad's boat…"
"Logan…" She groaned.
"The time that I went to get drinks at my fake birthday party to return to an empty pool house…"
"Seriously?" She sighed.
"Or how you ignored me for two weeks when you thought I would actually have killed Lilly."
"What did you want to do?"
"Say, 'Can I have your real alibi, Logan? Something that I can prove so I don't have to avoid you for two weeks for no apparent reason?'"
"OK, yes I could have done that."
"The thing that got to me the most though was last night."
Veronica just looked at him sadly.
"I was trying to tell you nothing happened but it didn't matter. You did what you always do."
"I ran away." Veronica sighed.
"So…I want you to agree that you're not going to do that anymore. If you're worried about something, we need to talk it out."
"OK." She quietly nodded.
"OK. Good." He leaned over and kissed her then. "So we're back together then?"
She laughed. "Yes, Logan, I think we are." She brought his head down and kissed him again.
"So what do we do now?" He asked.
"What do you want?"
"You…me preferably naked in that bed."
Veronica smirked. "One track mind, Logan Echolls."
"Actually I figured maybe we'd eat something first."
"Sounds good. I haven't ate anything since last night."
"Then you should definitely get some food in you."
Veronica smiled. They ordered room service and it was delivered 20 minutes later. Veronica was quiet while she ate. That did not go unnoticed by Logan.
"What's on your mind, Mars?"
She took a bite of her burger. "Just thinking of a really good way to get Duncan back."
"Veronica Mars is in a plotting mood?" Logan teased.
"Well, he can't actually think he's going to get away with this." She paused for a second while she ate one of her French fries. "I really never thought that he would sink this low."
"Just goes to show you that people will do crazy things when they're desperate."
"Doesn't this make you mad?"
"Of course it does but then again, it didn't surprise me one damn bit that he did this either."
They came up with a plan and when they finished eating, Logan swept Veronica off her feet and carried her over to the bed.
"What are you doing?" She giggled.
He set her down on top of it. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
Veronica gazed at him as he climbed on top of her. Her legs automatically went around his waist. She pulled him down and kissed him soundly on the mouth.
"Veronica…" He whispered against her mouth.
Her eyes opened then. "Hmm?"
"We're going to do this slow."
She grinned. "To torture me?"
He gave her a knowing smile. "Because you know this isn't just sex anymore." He kissed her gently. "I want to make love to you, Veronica." He kissed her neck, inhaling the jasmine scent she was wearing. It wasn't perfume; just the soap from her shower earlier. "God you smell amazing."
"Thank you." She murmured as her hands ran over his back. He still had his shirt on but it was quickly discarded along with hers. They took their time though; kissing, nibbling, licking, sucking and touching.
Logan took protection and he slid into her and then was going to turn over so that Veronica was on top but she stopped him.
"Wait." She told him as her hands rested on his hips.
"What?"
"I want to try it with you on top again."
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I think it's time we try this again."
Logan smiled down at her right before he kissed her. "I want you to tell me if you're having any pain at all because we can always change positions, OK?"
"I know."
They took things slower and gradually worked their way up. Logan didn't want to tell her but he was worried about hurting her. He knew she would tell him if it was causing her pain, though.
By the time they were done, it was after 4 o'clock. Veronica yawned which caused Logan to yawn too. Neither one of them had really slept the night before so taking a nap seemed like a great idea.
When they woke up it was just after 5:30. Veronica looked up at Logan and saw he was still sleeping. She laid against his chest and just smiled. This felt so nice. She was finally happy. She hadn't really been happy in a long time. Being with Duncan was OK but it never held a candle to what she had with Logan. What she had with Duncan was tame, bland, and tepid and Logan was…wild, hot and exciting. He was the guy who always kept her on her toes.
She felt his hand glide up and down her back so she looked up and saw Logan's chocolate brown eyes watching her curiously.
"What are you thinking about?" He kissed her forehead.
"Just how much I love you."
Logan beamed. "I love you too." He leaned down and kissed her.
******Monday morning******
Logan decided to surprise Veronica and drive her to school. She didn't put up a fight about it either. They were a couple now and they weren't shy about letting everybody know it either. They held hands from the second that they had gotten out of Logan's X-Terra. Sure they got looks from everyone on their way in…especially Duncan whose mouth dropped open but quickly recovered. They were just going to walk on by him but Veronica made Logan stop.
She didn't say a word to him. She just stared at him and then smacked him as hard as she could. Logan's eyes grew wide in surprise and everyone did a little gasp.
"Ow! Veronica what the hell was that for?"
"You know exactly what that was for. You may have thought that you could split Logan and I up since I know it was you that decided to sic that gold digging whore on us but I got news for you, Duncan. It didn't work. You're not going to split us up. So grow up!" She told him as she stormed off towards school with Logan smirking in Duncan's general direction then following her.
"That was hilarious." Logan commented as they arrived at her locker.
Veronica cracked a smile at him.
"You're such a badass."
"And proud of it." She grinned as she kissed him.
Not really sure if that move was truly badass but I had a hard time figuring out how I wanted to end it. The * around Kendall's lingerie was meant to be simliar to the one she wore in No one puts baby in a corner(if I remember right; it was when she opened the door and Dick and Cassidy's mom was there). Like I said, the scene with Lilly in the cemetery was a little far fetched. I got the idea though from watching One Tree Hill and in the 4th season Lucas collapsed due to having a heart attack and he hung in the balance between life and death. He got a visit from his uncle Keith and was shown what life would be like if he wasn't him. Kind of like an alternate universe. I had wrote this cemetery scene before I wrote the one in the Infinity story so there are some similarities between them but I still tried to make them different. Anyway, please please review. I love to read them. Next chapter may be an epilogue or it may just be another chapter; haven't decided yet. Let me know what you think. I'll give you what I'm going to write about though: homecoming :D