A/N – Thanks for all the feedback so far! Please be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 11
Veronica and Mac stayed away from discussing all the odd pairings for the rest of dinner. Veronica decided to mention her lunch date with Sebastian though to find out if Mac knew anything about him, thinking a non-cop's perspective might be good to have. "So do you know Sebastian too?" Veronica asked after giving her a quick summary of their lunch. A small smile crossed Mac's face and she nodded. "Of course you do," Veronica said with a little huff and shook her head with a sly smile on her face. Are there any bachelor's in Neptune she doesn't know?
"Our company has had to go to court over some patent infringements, and so I've actually worked with him several times on those," Mac explained.
"So he doesn't just defend the scum of Neptune?" Veronica asked, slightly surprised by that.
Mac looked a little caught off guard with her question and shook her head. "No his firm handles other things too. I suppose he might have had to take a few less desirable cases, but normally I think he avoids those. Although maybe when he started with the firm he didn't get as much choice in what cases he had to take on. I've only worked with him over the last year of course."
"You seem to know him quite well though," Veronica asked with an eyebrow quirked.
Mac shrugged. "Like I said, I've worked with him on several patent cases, so we've talked quite a bit."
Veronica chuckled. "And talked about more things than just patent cases?"
Mac blushed slightly before she answered. "Well he's extremely good looking, can you blame me?"
Veronica laughed and shook her head. "No, you're right. I was actually surprised that he seemed to come on so strong and then he didn't even ask for my phone number at lunch."
Mac chuckled. "Well he does know where you work, so I suppose it wouldn't be hard for him to reach you if he wanted to."
Veronica nodded. "Yeah, you're right." She paused a moment before continuing. "Logan certainly doesn't like him at all." Mac gave her a knowing look and nodded as well.
"I was still at Hearst when that happened, but I did hear a little about it. Not all the details though, just about Logan getting suspended. Actually I guess Sebastian was the one who told me about it. I was doing some work at the Sheriff's department when he came in and we started talking and Logan made some snide comment and so the two of us talked about it later." Mac gave Veronica a mischievous look. "So should we add another name to the quickly growing list of suitors who are chasing after you?"
Veronica laughed and shook her head. So many suitors, but not the one she had really hoped for when she came back to Neptune.
They finally finished up their dinners and drove over to the bowling alley. Mac was telling her about how her little brother Ryan was doing in middle school as they were walking up to the door. Veronica was paying more attention to Mac's story than where she was going and almost walked into someone who came around the corner from the other direction quickly.
"Sorry," they both said at the same time and then froze in their tracks for a moment.
"Hi. I um… I didn't think you were coming tonight," Logan finally said with a confused expression after just staring at her for a few seconds.
Veronica took in a sharp breath. "Well I could leave if that would make you happy," she snapped back quickly with an annoyed expression on her face.
"No… that's… that's not what I meant at all. I was just surprised to see you here." He quickly glanced at Mac. "Hey Mac." She nodded and gave him an awkward little wave.
He opened the door for them and gestured for them to go in. Veronica took a deep breath and walked past him with Mac trailing slightly behind her. Did he only come because he thought I wouldn't be here? Did Norris tell him that because he'd left before Leo talked to me and insisted that I stop by?
"They're usually down at that end," Logan said pointing toward the far end of the bowling alley. She gave him a curt nod and started walking in that direction.
"Hey speedy," he called after her. "Do you want me to grab you a pair of shoes? Size 6 right?"
Veronica stopped and took a quick breath before turning back toward him. "I'm not sure I'll bowl, but sure." She nodded. "And yeah, size 6." Come on Veronica, why are you so angry at him? What has he actually done wrong? And did he actually remember my shoe size or was that just a lucky guess?
He gave her a nervous smile and nodded back. "How about you Mac? Did you want to be an honorary deputy and bowl on our team?"
Mac shook her head. "I think I'll just stick to watching tonight, but thanks Logan."
He nodded again and Veronica turned and headed in the direction he'd pointed with Mac trailing right behind her again. She was trying not to be angry, but the shocked to see her and not in a good way look was hard to just ignore. The place was extremely crowded, and it took them a few minutes to spot the group. Leo was the first to see them and waved at them causing a few other heads to turn in their direction. One of which was Brandon who had a slightly uneasy smile on his face when he spotted her. Veronica knew she'd feel horrible seeing him again after her reaction the night before and seeing the look on his face definitely didn't make her feel any better. He really did seem like a nice guy who certainly didn't deserve to have her get mad about something that wasn't even really his fault. All of a sudden it hit her how similar he was to Piz. Nothing that went wrong between them was really Piz's fault either.
"Hey Veronica, I see you changed your mind," Norris said as she walked over by where they were all congregated.
"Yeah," she replied shooting a little glare at Leo. "Someone strongly suggested I stop by."
Norris smirked slightly and nodded in understanding.
"Hi Veronica," Brandon chimed in next. "Nice to see you decided to drop by."
Veronica nodded and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, you know the allure of bowling was just too great to pass up," she replied with a sarcastic smirk, drawing a soft chuckle from him. Jane was the next one to greet her.
"Veronica!" Jane said cheerfully as she stood up from her chair and gave her a big hug. "I couldn't believe it when Leo told me you wanted to come back and join the Sheriff's department. It's so good to see you again."
Veronica was a bit caught off guard by how excited and friendly she was but nodded and smiled in return.
"Hi Mac, so good to see you too," Jane said, moving on to hug Mac next. Mac gave Veronica a small smirk over Jane's shoulder.
Logan walked up behind them a moment later carrying two pairs of bowling shoes.
"Logan," Jane said with a warm smile. "I didn't expect to see you tonight." She went over and gave him a hug as well. Wow, when did Jane turn into such a hugger? Logan tried to awkwardly hug her back while he was still holding the shoes.
"Yeah, I ended up back in town earlier than I expected, so thought I'd come on over." Logan explained as Jane took a step back.
"Shoes?" Logan said with a humble smile as he held out the smaller pair for Veronica.
"Thanks," she said taking them from him and awkwardly holding them as she stood there not quite sure what she should do next. She couldn't help but notice a slight change in Brandon's expression. Did he think the two of us actually came together since he brought over the shoes for me? Would that really matter if we had? Or more to the point, do I really care? Ugh, why am I such a horrible person sometimes?
"Hey, you two should bowl in the next game. We're almost done with this one," Doug chimed in as he came back from throwing a strike and noticed they were both there and holding shoes.
"I don't know," Veronica said hesitantly. She wished she'd just told Logan not to get the shoes for her now. "I'm not really very good and it looks like you guys have been doing well and I'd hate to blow your winning streak."
"Don't be modest," Logan quickly chimed in. "You're a decent bowler Veronica. I've seen Leo bowl and I'm sure you can do better than he's been doing."
Leo chuckled and gave Logan a slight glare. "Yeah, well we can't all be natural athletes like you." Leo said looking at Logan, but then he turned back to Veronica with a warmer smile. "You and Logan can take the place of Jane and me in the next game. Or we can alternate frames if you decide you don't want to do all 10. We aren't super strict on rules around here."
"Sounds good," Logan said looking at Veronica with an optimistic expression.
Veronica let out a sigh and nodded. "Sure, but maybe just a few frames."
"Thanks!' Jane chimed in. "I could really use a break for a little while." She went back to her seat with Leo following her. He took the empty spot right next to her and leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek before wrapping his arm around her.
Veronica grabbed an open seat and started taking off her shoes to put on the bowling ones as Logan sat down right next to her to do the same. "I hope I'm not in too much trouble for pushing you into doing this?" he asked with a nervous smile on his face.
She let out a sigh and shook her head. "No, it's fine." She couldn't help but remember the last time they'd bowled together at Hearst. Back before all their horrible breakups and all the drama they went through that year. She swallowed a small lump in her throat and continued working on her shoes. When she was finished she noticed Mac and Norris were standing off to the side talking with shy giddy smiles on their faces. Even if she was having a less than ideal time, the two of them were certainly enjoying themselves.
After a few quick introductions of Veronica to the other firefighters that she hadn't met yet, they started the next game. Brandon talked with her a few times in between frames and congratulated her when she got a strike. It still felt like there was a bit of animosity between the two of them, but as the game went on, it seemed like that was disappearing slowly. If he had been apprehensive because it looked like she had arrived with Logan, the way Logan was keeping his distance from her must have helped Brandon feel more at ease. Is Logan doing that on purpose because he noticed Brandon's reaction too?
Between frames Logan would go and sit by Jane and Leo and the three of them seemed to be engaged in quite a lively discussion as they had to keep interrupting him when it was his turn to bowl. She tried not to just watch them, but found herself feeling like a bit of an outsider with the way Jane and Logan seemed to have such a friendly connection. She noticed that Leo had gone over to talk with someone at one of the other lanes and Logan and Jane had continued talking just as they had when Leo was still there. Will Logan and I ever get back to being that comfortable just being friends and talking? She briefly thought back to before Lilly had died, when they were really close as friends and would hang out sometimes when the Kane siblings weren't around. After Lilly had died, they'd become enemies, then they dived into being together which was the beginning of their on and off again string of relationships and she couldn't really remember another time when they'd just gotten back to being close friends outside of being in a relationship together.
Besides talking a little with Brandon, Doug also talked with her quite a bit and turned out to be quite the cheerleader for their team. He also gave her advice on the best place to aim when it was her turn to go, especially when she was taking her second shot of a frame. He wasn't shy about getting right up behind her and pointing in front of her toward where she should aim. Mac and Norris sat next to each other and were also quite engaged in their own discussion when Norris wasn't up taking his turn. As the game went on though, Veronica started to feel even more out of place for some reason and she started to slowly move back farther away from the group each time after her turn was over, although she tried not to make it too obvious. She couldn't quite forget her earlier conversation with Mac, and how so many things were completely different than what she'd expected when she decided to come home.
She had just taken a turn and moved back to the spot in the back when she caught Logan looking at her with a concerned expression on his face. He leaned in and said something to Jane, who smiled and nodded and then he walked over toward her.
"I see you've got you're 'I'd rather be strapped down on an ant hill' expression on," he said with a slight smile. "What's up Mars?"
She shook her head and smiled briefly at the reminder. "Nothing." Nothing I really want to discuss with you, since you're one of the issues I have at the moment. "And this is clearly my 'I'd rather be spelunking' expression," she added as pointed to her face.
He smiled for a moment and then quirked an eyebrow at her, evidently not buying it. "Hey, I still owe you a birthday drink, don't I?" She shrugged, but smiled a bit more. He gestured with his head toward the bar in the back of the bowling alley. "Wanna go get one now?"
"Sure," she said with a small nod.
"Hey Leo," Logan said turning back toward the other couple. "Can you and Jane fill in for us? We're going to go back and get a quick drink."
Leo and Jane both nodded and smiled at them. Logan turned back to Veronica and waved his hand in front of him, indicating that she should lead the way.
The bar was fairly crowded, but they were able to find two seats at the far end of the bar. The bartender came over and took their order a few minutes after they'd sat down and handed them each a beer.
"So, what's going through that enigmatic mind of yours?" Logan asked with a curious expression.
Veronica laughed softly and shook her head. "I don't know. It's just… it's been sort of a strange day."
"Hm… strange like seeing flying saucers strange or talking animals strange?" Logan asked with a smirk.
Veronica laughed softly at first, but then her expression became more solemn. "No, it's just… I don't know…" she let out a deep sigh. "I just didn't expect to feel so out of place coming back."
Logan gave her a warm smile. "Well Neptune didn't exactly just stand still in the absence of the great Veronica Mars." She let out a sigh and nodded. Yeah but absolutely nothing really seems to have stayed the same. "Hey, I heard you and Norris got a new case today."
Veronica swallowed a drink of her beer and nodded. How very not surprising that he already knew that. She wondered if he had always kept such close tabs on what was going on at the station, or if it was different because she was there now. "So you heard I had lunch with Sebastian too then?"
Logan shook his head and looked a bit surprised. "No, just heard about the case." He paused a moment and let out a little huff of air before he finally continued. "It sounds like the case fits nicely with the work you did in San Francisco."
Veronica let out a sigh and nodded. Fuck, why did I have to mention Sebastian? Why do I seem to make things worse than they really should be with Logan? Well if he's going to hopefully ignore it so will I. "Yeah, I worked on several cases like that when I was up in the Bay Area, so it's nice to have something familiar to work on here already."
Logan nodded and took another drink of his beer. "How'd you like living up there? I spent several months in San Francisco with my mom when she was working on a movie there. I think I was probably 10 or so. It was a few years before we moved to Neptune at least. I really liked it there though." He chuckled bitterly. "Of course Aaron was working on a movie in Europe at the time, so I suppose I just liked anywhere that he wasn't. And an added bonus was that Trina had gone with him to Europe too."
Veronica gave him an understanding smile and nodded. "I liked it there, though I did really miss my dad… and my friends." She couldn't help the regretful expression that crossed her face.
He gave her a compassionate smile before he continued talking. "Did you do much touristy stuff? You know… visit Alcatraz or ride the cable cars? I talked my mom into taking me to Alcatraz one afternoon when she wasn't shooting. Visiting that when I was only 9 or 10 probably wasn't a great idea. I had nightmares about it for a few days and she wasn't very happy about it." He chuckled softly and shook his head as he shared that with her.
Veronica gave him a fond smile and nodded. "Yeah, I did a few things like that. I had a roommate at the dorm my first year there that was from Seattle and she was big on experiencing all the local sites, so she'd drag me out places whether I wanted to go or not."
"Did you two stay friends after your first year?" Logan asked watching her with a soft expression on his face. God I've missed this so much. Just talking to him about everyday, normal little things.
"Yeah, actually we did. Her name's Stephanie. She moved back to Seattle after graduating though. We ended up renting an apartment for the last two years we were there. She was an engineering major, so we didn't have classes together, but actually got along really well. We've kept in touch through email and phone calls since graduation."
"Well I'd love to meet someone who survived living with you for three years," he said with a teasing expression on his face. "She must be the most patient and understanding person on the planet."
She chuckled and shook her head at him. "Hey, I'm not that difficult to be around!" He shrugged and looked down at the bar before looking back up at her with a broader smile. "She actually mentioned wanting to come visit me here in Neptune when she gets a break from the job she accepted after graduation. Then I'll have living proof that I'm a joy to live with."
He laughed and looked at her skeptically. "But how will I know she's actually who you say she is, and not someone you just paid off or blackmailed to pretend to be your friend?" he asked skeptically with a smirk.
She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "I'll be sure to bring some photographic proof of our adventures together over the years we lived together."
He sighed and shook his head. "Right… like Veronica Mars couldn't easily photo-shop something together like that." He tapped his finger on his chin for a second with a wicked grin. "I'm thinking… polygraph."
Veronica laughed again. "Oh, that will go over well… Hey Steph… you don't mind being hooked up to this lie detector to prove to my asinine friend here that we actually enjoyed living together during college."
He laughed and gave her a mischievous grin as he leaned a bit closer to her. "Well I suppose asinine friend is an improvement over just being called an ass."
She let out small huff of air. "You know I didn't mean that yesterday right? I was just frustrated with you."
Logan shrugged but kept the grin. "Well I was being an ass, so I deserved it. You don't have to apologize for that."
She nodded and narrowed her eyes at him. "So tell me… how did you come to be one of the owners of Luigi's?"
"Well…" he glanced down at the bar for a few seconds with what almost looked like an embarrassed expression before looking back at her. "You know… obviously we'd eaten there several times…" She nodded in agreement. Yeah, more than just a few. "Well I guess a little over a year ago I was picking up dinner there and got to talking with the owner who happened to be working the counter because they were short staffed that night. They'd been having a tough time with business since a new Italian food chain restaurant had opened and he was lamenting maybe closing since he wasn't dong very well trying to compete with them. Being a small family owned restaurant, he didn't really have the capital to advertise the way they needed to, so I don't know…" He shrugged before he continued again. "I thought it was as good as an investment as some of the other shit I'd actually lost money on, so I offered to invest and help him out. I actually hired McDade Marketing to work for us too." Veronica gave him a knowing look and nodded. "Todd owed me a favor and he got his dad to agree to let him manage the account and he gave us a good rate on the work he did for us. The chain didn't really turn out all that great once the newness wore off and in no time at all Luigi's was back to being popular, thanks to Todd's work too of course. I'm not making huge returns on my investment, but I'm still glad that I did it. And getting free lasagna a few times a month isn't so bad either."
"That's really great Logan," she replied with a genuinely appreciative expression. "It's always tough when smaller family owned businesses get demolished by inferior chain versions. See, I told you that you weren't really an ass."
He nodded and looked down at his drink again before looking back up at her. For a moment she thought she saw an expression that was more intense than he'd had when he was telling her about Luigi's, but then it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "So did you make much progress on the McDade case today?" Okay, and we're back to shop talk again. I guess that's as personal as he's going to get for now.
"Not yet. But I do enjoy following the money you know."
Logan nodded and glanced down at the bar again. "Yeah, I remember," he replied. His voice sounded a bit forlorn while he was still looking down and not at her.
Veronica took a deep breath. Friends should be able to ask personal questions every once in a while and not worry about it being awkward. "Were you ever able to get him to talk to you... you know… Charlie?"
Logan looked back up at her with a slightly grimmer expression than before as he nodded slowly. "Yeah… a couple times at least. He um… saw an article about me being a deputy and I guess… you know… I wasn't just the embarrassing 19 year old fuck up anymore… so he reached out and we talked a few times. No big family reunion or weekend BBQ's, but at least it's a start I guess."
Veronica reached over and squeezed his hand that was sitting on the bar near his beer. "I'm really glad to hear that. Maybe with time, you guys can get closer."
Logan nodded and looked nervously down at the bar and their hands. "Yeah, maybe…" He set his other hand on top of hers and looked up into her eyes. There was a much softer expression on his face than she'd seen since she'd been back. "Hey, about what you said earlier… You've only been back less than a week. I'm sure it will get easier after you give it a little more time. I'm sure all your friends are glad you're back."
She nodded and looked at him a bit wistfully. "Thanks Logan."
"Sure… We should probably get back out there," he replied as he gestured with his head toward the lanes.
She nodded and slowly pulled her hand away. "Thanks for the drink too," she said fondly.
"Yeah… of course," he replied with almost a nervous expression on his face. He gestured for her to walk in front of him again, so she led the way back to the rest of the group.
"Hey, there you are," Mac said as they walked back over. "I wondered where you got off to."
"Logan and I just grabbed a quick beer at the bar," Veronica replied as she looked up at the scoreboard to see what frame they were on. She glanced at Mac and saw a teasing smile on her face. Veronica shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes.
Logan walked back over and took his spot by Jane again. He gestured with his head for Veronica to come over by them when she glanced in their direction. He scooted over slightly so she could sit between him and Jane. "Jane wanted to hear what it was like living in San Francisco," he said as she gave him a small smile and sat down. She spent the next fifteen minutes or so telling them about things she liked about living up there and some of the places she'd visited. She tried not to notice how comfortable it felt to be squeezed up against Logan as they sat there and talked. There wasn't a lot of room on the bench they were using, and he'd had his arm across the back of it so she could feel his bicep against her shoulder as well. The earlier feeling of being an outsider seemed to melt away as she sat and talked with Jane. Logan interjected a few times with questions or comments as well. She'd gotten so wrapped up in their discussion that she practically forgot about the others that were there. The game they'd been playing was almost over when they'd returned, and since there weren't enough people interested in starting an entire new game of Sheriffs versus Firefighters, a few of the guys were just practicing and not actually worrying about the score anymore.
"Hey, we're going to take off," Norris said as he and Mac walked over with Brandon standing a bit behind them. "Mac and I were talking about stopping over at the diner on First Street for pie. Did you want to join us?" Norris asked as Mac gave her a small hopeful smile.
"I've never known Veronica to pass up dessert," Logan chimed in with a teasing tone.
"Um…" Veronica was so torn. She was really enjoying talking with Jane and Logan, but didn't want Mac to feel like she couldn't go since she was her ride there.
"Hey, if you need to head home, I can drop you off," Logan interjected, apparently sensing Veronica's hesitation and perhaps Mac's eagerness.
"I really should get home and make sure Backup's been fed and walked. I think my dad had a late stake out tonight," Veronica replied with an apologetic smile on her face.
"Are you sure?" Mac asked looking back and forth between Logan and Veronica.
"Yeah, no problem," Logan replied with a smile. "You guys enjoy your pie."
Veronica said a quick goodbye to the three of them, and of course couldn't help but notice a small look of disappointment on Brandon's face, although he did tell her to have a good night and that he hoped to see her again soon. The obvious disappointment still made her feel a little guilty though. Maybe it's better this way though, rather than giving him hope of something that in all likelihood isn't going to happen.
She started changing out of her shoes as Logan did the same. They said good night to the rest of the group that still remained and then headed out to his car. He was still driving the same Range Rover that he'd had when he first started at Hearst. She was a little surprised that he hadn't bought something new in the last 4 years. She'd actually gone with him car shopping before they'd started school that year and remembered how much he'd really loved it, although he'd pretended to be upset that they didn't have one in an obnoxious yellow color. She remembered accidentally putting a small dent in the dash with a heel one night. She gently ran her fingers over the dent when she saw as she was climbing in.
"Thanks for offering to drive me home," she said as she fastened her seat belt.
"Yeah, no problem." He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "Hey, I'm sorry I tried to push you into going out with Brandon. I just thought…" he stopped again and let out a deep sigh. "I don't know… I'm sorry though if things are uncomfortable for you now with him."
"That's not why I didn't want to go with them… and it's not… I just…" It was Veronica's turn for pauses and awkward sighs. "I didn't come back wanting to jump immediately into some new relationship. I wanted to come back to be near my dad and my friends again… my friends… including you…" She saw his mouth quirk up into a small half smile.
"So is there someone in San Francisco hoping you're still coming back?" he asked in what almost sounded like a nervous tone as he started to drive back toward her dad's house.
She shook her head. "No nothing like that. I just… I wasn't really happy with my life there and thought coming home sounded like a better idea."
He nodded in understanding and then they drove the rest of the short way in silence. When they pulled up to her dad's house it was easy to tell from the outside that her dad was still gone. "Were you really going to take Backup for a walk?" he asked as he turned off the SUV.
"Yeah, I think so. We both sleep better if we get a little fresh air before bed. Did you um… did you want to join us?" Veronica bit on her lip a bit nervously as she waited for his answer.
"Actually, yeah… if you don't mind the company."
She shook her head and smiled. "No I don't mind at all." They climbed out of the SUV and walked up to the front door. He stood a bit awkwardly inside the door petting Backup while she went to change into some different shoes and pants since she had nicer slacks on from going out to dinner. When she came back out, she put Backup on his leash and they headed out the door.
"I bet you missed him too while you were away." Logan commented as they started walking through the quiet neighborhood.
"Yeah I did," Veronica answered as she reached down and scratched Backup's head.
"So…" Logan said almost hesitantly. "You mentioned earlier having a hard time getting acclimated again. What's been bothering you the most about things being different?"
That's a bit of a loaded question isn't it? "I don't know… I think it's just a combination of several things…" she let out a frustrated sigh. "And the feeling that people are trying to keep things from me… intentionally."
"Like what?" he asked in what sounded like a genuinely innocent tone. Really Logan?
"Well, besides you not wanting to talk to me about your argument with Leo," she replied with a quirked brow. He let out a huff of air as she said it. "Weevil's engaged to Wanda Varner and hadn't even told me that the two of them were dating… and Wallace also seems to want to keep his love life a total secret from me too."
"Well… you can be a bit judgmental… and scary you know." Now it was her turn to let out a huff of air. He chuckled at her reaction. "But we all adore you and wouldn't want you to change."
Now it was her turn to chuckle. "Right… stay prickly Veronica… we all love you that way."
She heard him take a deep breath and glanced over at him. "About the thing with Leo…" he started to say with a nervous look on his face before she interrupted him.
"Logan," she cut in with a sigh. "You don't owe me any explanations. I know I haven't been a part of your life for a very long time." She let out another sigh. "Unfortunately, I haven't changed much at all and still try to stick my nose where it really doesn't belong."
"Yeah… but I could tell you were just concerned though, and I probably could have reacted differently." He glanced over at her with a warm smile. "I do appreciate that you care. I guess I'm just not used to having someone around that actually cares about things like that." He chuckled again. "Norris is a great friend, but he's certainly not as nosy as a certain blonde pixy spy that I know."
"Hm… you know another nosy blonde pixy spy? You'll have to introduce me. I'd love to meet her. Maybe we can trade notes." Veronica replied in a teasing tone, earning a laugh from him.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Logan spoke again. "So Wanda and Weevil? Really?" His tone reflected the very same disbelief that she'd also felt.
Veronica laughed. "Yeah, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that seemed a bit bizarre. I take it the two of you haven't become best buds while I was gone?"
Logan laughed and shook his head. "Um… no… I guess we sort of peacefully co-exist, although I did notice that usually your dad comes down to the station to take care of bail jumper business rather than sending Weevil. But we've crossed paths on a few occasions. We usually keep it to a few insults tossed back and forth, but at least no fisticuffs."
"How very civilized of you," Veronica teased back.
"Yeah, that's me… the poster boy for civilized…"
She noticed he got very quiet all of a sudden after that comment. Up to that point during their walk, there actually hadn't been any long lulls in the conversation. He finally took a deep breath. "Look… I know it's really none of my business… but…" he paused and took a deep breath again, this one sounded even more frustrated than the first one.
"What?" she asked hesitantly after a few seconds of him not continuing.
"Just… be careful with Sebastian…"
She waited to see if he was going to elaborate, but he was silent again. Should I ask why, or just let it go? If there was something actually dangerous I'm sure he would have said what it was. It's more likely that he's just saying it because of his obvious dislike of him. She finally decided to just acknowledge his warning. "Okay," she said softly.
They'd circled the block and made it back to her dad's house a few minutes after that, walking the rest of the way in silence again. "Well I should be going. I'll see you tomorrow at the station though. Just a heads up, sometimes Friday nights can get a bit chaotic for us. We normally have a few more deputies on duty than other nights to help with calls. And Saturday's too of course."
"Thanks for the heads up," she said as she turned and gave him a warm smile. "And thanks for talking tonight. It really meant a lot. It was nice to have a friend to talk to."
He nodded and gave her a fond smile. "Yeah… hey look at us… finally figuring out how to do the friend thing." She nodded in agreement. "Good night Veronica." He gave her a little wave and turned to walk back to his SUV that was parked on he curb.
Yeah… friends… well I guess that's a start. Not exactly what I was hoping for when I left San Francisco, but I think it's better than where things were when I left for Virginia and then Stanford. She watched him climb in to his SUV and gave him another small wave before she walked up the porch and opened the door to go in. She noticed that he didn't pull away from the curb until she was safely in the house. Always the protector… my protector. She felt a small tinge of nostalgia pass through her as she took off Backup's leash and locked the front door.