A/N: Many, many thanks to my Beta who may have worked harder than me on this chapter. Mxsteck, you remain fantastic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars.

Chapter 11: Understanding

Keith set the cordless phone back in its cradle and sat down on an armchair with a sigh. "So I just spoke to Lynn," he told Veronica and Logan. It had been three days since Logan's rescue. The pair was sitting on the couch opposite him, their bodies leaning forward, waiting for what was to come. "She convinced Aaron to let Logan go on a road trip with Dick and Cassidy for a couple of weeks. Logan will have to call and check in every so often, just for show."

Veronica looked at Logan and then at her father. "What comes after that? He can't go back there," she said. Her tone left no room for discussion.

"Veronica," Logan sighed, "If I can stay away until school starts, everything will be fine. He's starting some new film so he won't be around much. Besides, he's always careful if he knows someone might see something."

"Careful!" Veronica exclaimed, panic seeping into her voice as jumped to her feet, pulling her hand from Logan's. "Yeah, really your dad is so considerate to be careful enough not to nearly kill you. Oh, wait…"

"Veronica, I don't want to go home, but I have to," Logan said softly.

"Am I suddenly in the Twilight Zone? Is there some hidden reality in this that I'm not aware of?" Veronica exclaimed. "If you don't want to, then don't!"

"It's never been about what I want," he said while shaking his head mournfully.

"So do something," Veronica insisted as she beseechingly glanced between the two. "Why don't you just do something?"

"Veronica, you know if there was something we could do, we would do it," Keith sighed softly.

"Veronica, it really won't be that bad," Logan continued for Keith, but the tiny blond wasn't having any of it.

"You said it yourself—and I'm paraphrasing because there's a plethora of bad about Aaron Echolls—your father is an angry, violent man," she said as her incredulity escalated. "He could kill you, Logan. Why don't you see that?"

"Sweetheart," Keith implored as he stood up and reached out for his daughter, "please, don't do this."

"No!" she shouted as she pulled away and stomped off to the kitchen. She didn't care if she was throwing a temper tantrum. She would do whatever she had to in order to keep Logan away from his father. "No. No! Don't sweetheart me. I know, okay? I see those case files at the office. I saw your face when you came home from a particularly gruesome day at the police station. Don't tell me not to fight this!" she pressed.

"No one is saying everything is going to be just fine," Keith tried again. "Some things are just unavoidable. You need to stop making this worse and accept what's happening."

"A bad grade after ditching class every day is unavoidable," Veronica replied. They just didn't make any sense. Why couldn't they understand what was really happening here? Why couldn't they see that they were the ones making this worse, not her? "Sending someone back to a place that will kill him is not."

"It won't kill me," Logan insisted.

"You don't know that," Veronica answered, her voice deepening under the weight of her words. "You just don't know that."

"Yes, I do," he replied emphatically. "I promise—everything will be okay."

"Well that sounds familiar. My mom promised she would always be there for me. Where the hell is she now?" Veronica answered bitterly, almost accusingly. "Lilly said she would be my maid of honor at my wedding, no matter what, but now she's gone too!"

"Lilly didn't want to leave you, Veronica," Keith assured. "She didn't have a choice in the matter."

"And Logan doesn't?" Veronica asked in disbelief. "I've already seen Lilly's dead body, don't put me through that again."

At the mention of Lilly's body, the image of her dead best friend materialized in front of her. She was on the floor of the living room. She was drowning in a pool of her own blood. And with a blink of an eye, the image shifted. Now it was Logan. He was just lying on the floor. His skull was split open and his eyes stared emptily at the wall behind her. From one best friend to the other: she felt faint.

Veronica closed her eyes to block out the sight and took a deep breath as her fingers took hold of the kitchen counter to steady her. "I just can't do this again."

"Veronica," Keith sighed.

The blonde shook her head miserably, her hair gently fanning out around her. "No," she gasped as the tone of her father's voice knocked whatever footing she had managed to sink her toes into. She promised herself she wouldn't cry until she was sure it was safe to do so but she didn't think she could hold out much longer. "Please," she appealed. "Please, don't do this. It's not right. It isn't fair."

"Veronica." It was Logan's turn to sigh. His sigh, however, was one of exasperation. "When has anything ever been right or fair?"

"It could be if you would just stay. Please stay," she said dejectedly, her blue eyes begging her father and Logan to answer one of life's biggest questions for her.

"I'm not walking the plank, Veronica," Logan said, shaking his head.

"No, you're being pushed off the edge," she pressed.

"I'm a strong swimmer. I'll manage," he shrugged.

"Yeah, until the sharks come," she muttered dolefully, clinging to his analogy.

"Look, I know it sounds seems wrong, but maybe if it's the wrong thing for the right reason, it's okay," Logan suggested when the analogy failed him.

"Veronica, I'm sorry," Keith said, taking over for Logan. "There's no good answer. If there was one, I would give it to you and I would make everything better, but that's just not how things are."

Veronica looked at the two of them, disbelief welling up inside of her. When she told Logan everything would be okay if he came home, this wasn't what she meant. She thought her father could fix it. She thought Logan would want to be safe. But more importantly she couldn't understand how the two most important men could fail her so miserably.

"No," she protested softly under her breath. "No!" she repeated, this time much louder than before as she instinctively bolted to her room and slammed the door behind her. Her fingers fumbled with the lock. "No, no, no," she cried as she stumbled backwards, unconsciously moving toward her open closet door. It was only when she was encased in the confines of her shallow closet, her back pressed up against the back wall that she allowed herself to slide down to the floor. "Don't go," she choked out at her sobs began in earnest. She just wasn't sure if she was talking about Lilly or Logan.

"That could have gone better," Keith said. The sound of Veronica's door slamming against its doorframe still rang in their ears.

"She has every right to be scared," Logan admitted as he dropped his head into his hands. "Fuck, I'm scared. She's right, none of this is fair."

"Watch your mouth," Keith warned. "But you're allowed to be scared."

"I know," Logan replied as he looked up at the man he had come to see as an ally over the last few days. "I know. I just… she's right. I just wish there was a way I could escape him."

"Maybe there is," Keith suggested.

"No one would ever believe movie star Aaron Echolls would ever give reason for his son to deserve emancipation," Logan spat bitterly, cutting off Keith's false hope. "He makes Ryan O'Neal look like the parent of the millennia."

"The poor may have built this town, but the rich rule it and we have to live with it," Keith commented unwillingly.

Logan closed his eyes. "I have to go back. It's for my mother. For everything to be okay."

"You're doing the right thing," Keith said. "Veronica will understand," he added as a comforting afterthought.

"No, she won't. But the lie is appreciated," Logan's shoulders slumped. He couldn't believe he ever let himself think that he was free. He would never be free. His father would always own him, even after he turned 18. "I better go talk to her," the tired teen said as pushed himself to his feet.

"Logan," Keith called. Logan turned to face Veronica's father. "You're always welcome here. Just remember, I have a gun."

Logan nodded and allowed a small smile. "Stick a 'Safe Haven' sticker on the window, will you?"

"I only need one degenerate hanging around the apartment," Keith shot back.

"Good thing I hang out here then." Keith smiled at his wit. "Hey, you got a key for Veronica's room? I thought I heard a click and I'm pretty sure she won't open the door of her own free will."

"My daughter puts a lock on her door and you think I don't have the key?" Keith asked skeptically as he stood up and pulled a ring of small metal keys from his pocket.

"It looks like you have a key to everyone's daughter's rooms," Logan noted as he eyed the extensive collection. He was surprised the man didn't jingle as he walked.

"I only have the keys for the doors I need to open," Keith replied cryptically. "I'm going to go for a walk. Shout if you need a fairy godfather."

"Yes sir," Logan said as Keith vacated the apartment. He stood there for a minute, thinking about what he could possibly say to Veronica to make this better, but when he came up with nothing he realized he would just have to improvise.

Veronica heard him enter the room. Through her tears she registered him turn on the light. She tried to stop crying as the floorboard creaked under her, an indication of his impending intrusion on her private moment. She couldn't stop him from finding her, but she could control what he saw when he got to her.

"Marco?" Logan asked as his outline reached up and pulled the string to illuminate the small space.

"Go away," she protested weakly as she tried to hide her face from him. It was stupid and pointless. She knew he knew she was crying, but she was the strong one. She supported him, not the other way around. He'd already done enough for her.

"Okay," Logan shrugged. There was a brief pause before she heard him chuckle. "Right, like you're gonna get rid of me that easily."

She sat and waited for him to leave. When she realized he really wasn't going anywhere but needed permission, she quietly uttered, "Polo." She didn't notice him sit down in front of her but she couldn't stop the squeak she emitted as he pulled her into his lap.

"Logan," she whined loudly into his shirt as she quickly adapted to the new setting she found herself in. She wanted to be the strong one, the brave one, but she couldn't deny the comfort his warm embrace provided helped ease the terror she felt at the thought of him going home.

"I'm not letting go, Sugarpuss, so you better get comfortable," Logan replied. Veronica closed her eyes as she pressed her cheek against his chest. The vibrations of his voice combined with the steady beat of his heart were enough to stem the flow of her already slowed tears. But her body still ached from the sobs that wracked her torso only minutes earlier.

"Sugarpuss?" she asked absently as she picked at imaginary lint on her jeans. If she acted as if there was no problem he wouldn't bring up her weakness. Or, if she was really lucky and really ignorant, he wouldn't have to go home at all. That could be the thing her earlier rant altered. That would make this right and fair.

"How about Muffincake?" Logan asked as he rested his chin on top of Veronica's head.

"Ick," Veronica said as she nose crinkled in distaste. "Definitely Sugarpuss."

"It does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Logan said with a twang of satisfaction in his tone as he readjusted his hold on Veronica.

"Don't tell the other kids, they might get jealous," she suggested.

Logan chuckled. "I slept with you last night and the night before, the other kids are already jealous," he noted.

Veronica frowned. She still couldn't believe her father, the shotgun wielding PI willing let them share a room, but she was grateful since both nights Logan needed her to fall asleep. Sheer exhaustion allowed him a nap in the afternoon, but neon light syndrome kept him up at night—when the neon lights were up so was he. Or maybe there was something about the darkness that suffocated the room at night that kept him from sleep. Veronica considered buying a nightlight, but she was afraid it would upset him. Logan was definitely at his most vulnerable point, allowing her to hear and see a lot of things that would he wouldn't normally let her hear or see. However, she didn't think he would let her buy him an aid for a fear she knew he would see as something only a small child suffered from.

"I always knew your relationship with Dick was a little weird," Veronica commented.

"The term we prefer is bromance," Logan corrected.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," she shot back. Only once the words were out of her mouth was she unsure if mentioning Logan's sleeping habits was taboo or not. She couldn't help but internally curse her tactlessness and pray he wasn't offended.

"We're going to have to talk about me going home sometime, Veronica," he said, removing any need for feelings of insensitivity.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't go home," she said simply, voicing her mantra: if you ignore it, it doesn't exist. He's her best friend. She couldn't let him walk into what she was sure would lead to his death, no matter how dramatic it sounded.

"Sugarpuss," Logan said. Veronica tensed as she noted a tone of condescension in his voice.

"Don't Sugarpuss me," she hissed as she yanked her body out of Logan's arms and out of the closet. "I'm not some child who needs to be pacified."

"Well you're sure as hell acting like one!" Logan shouted as he crawled out of the closet after her. "I hate to break it to you, Veronica, but throwing a hissy fit when things don't go your way is the definition of childish. Get it through your thick skull: this isn't about you. This little shop of horrors is my life and if I say I have to go home, I have to go home, got it?"

"Why don't you understand?" she said sharply as she spun to face him. "He doesn't care about you and I know, I know, it will only get worse. He'll kill you, Logan. I don't know how many times I have to repeat it before you get it!"

"You know? What the fuck do you know, Veronica?" Logan exploded, keeping his distance to check his anger. "I've been going through this since I was a kid. This is happening to me, not you, get it? I get to make the decisions and you get to live with them because I know that not going back puts you in danger and I can't fucking have that. I'd rather die than have him hurting you on my conscience."

"So you're a martyr now," Veronica said bitterly, as she laced her arms across her chest. She glared at him as she made her way from one end of the room to the other. "What gives you the right to make those kinds of decisions for me?"

Logan blew out an irritated breath. "I'm not making any fucking decisions for you. I'm doing what I need to do in order to fucking live with myself. I need to be able to fucking live with myself and I'm not going to drown myself in alcohol again to get there, do you understand that?"

Veronica's eyes went wide as the gravity of his words hit her. "Y-you wouldn't."

"Why the fuck wouldn't I?" he snapped. "Don't you understand how fucking important you are to me? You're all I fucking have and if I lose you because of something I could have stopped… I just can't," he shrugged uselessly. "I'm no Superman, Veronica."

"And you don't think I feel the same way?" Veronica asked softly, abandoning her strong façade for the broken truth. "Logan, I've already lost Duncan and Lilly, I can't lose you too."

"Veronica, I have no intentions of getting myself killed. I'm an experienced abuse victim, perfectly qualified for the position. But you can be sure that if that bastard gets to me, I'll find a way to come back to haunt him." He gave an impish grin. "Then I'll go all Casper the Friendly Ghost on your ass."

"I'm sorry, what?" Veronica asked incredulously.

"Don't you remember that movie with Christina Ricci back when she was young and good at her job? It's the one where her mom dies and Casper's dead and he starts following her around and they become friends and fall in love. It's really kinda creepy, actually," Logan commented.

"There are so many things I could say right now and I really don't even know where to start," Veronica finally said. "I mean, first have me pity dating ghosts and then you're hitting on Christina Ricci, who is way out of your league. Not to mention the thought of you, as a ghost, following me around all the time is hands down the creepiest thing you have ever suggested. And yet, somehow the most fuck up part of all this is that you're making plans for your afterlife at age 16."

"When your life is fucked up, you make fucked up plans," Logan replied.

"Thanks Plato, that was deep," she grouched.

"I like to think of myself as the teacher, not the student."

Veronica laughed at the idea. "God help the fool who lets you teach him anything."

"Please, Veronica, we both know you'd be my best student." Veronica made a face as she was forced to imagine the gross fantasy the glint in his eyes assured her he was dreaming up.

"I will never, ever be the slutty school girl to your lecherous teacher fantasy," Veronica replied adamantly.

"Whoever said anything about lechery?" Logan asked innocently. Veronica simply rolled her eyes in response. "Fine. But remember: a little lechery goes a long way."

"You'd really make a terrible philosopher," Veronica noted softly as her arms dropped to her sides.

"Clown school for me then," he shrugged as if it didn't matter. Veronica wondered if he ever thought about what he would do after high school, if he even thought he would have an after high school. Then again, how can you prepare for a future when you don't know whether or not you'll live until tomorrow?

"Make me proud," Veronica insisted lightly.

"I aim to please," he offered.

"You're my best friend, you know that, right?" She really needed him to know that.

"Will you curl my hair and paint my nails? Oh, I know! We can make matching BFF bracelets. It'll be just perf!" he exclaimed as he slowly closed the distance between them and wrapped her body in a hug.

"Jerk." Her voice was muffled as she spoke into his shoulder.

"Just try not to miss sleeping with me every night, okay?" Logan teased before ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Only if you try not to miss waking up to my face every morning," she shot back as she shifted her head so that her ear was resting against his heart yet again. She wasn't feeling very hysterical anymore, but the sound continued to make her believe everything would be okay.

"Never gonna happen," Logan chuckled. "But that sleep-talking, I can't say I'll miss that."

"You're projecting again," Veronica rolled her eyes as a small smile twitched onto her face. She still didn't love the idea of Logan going home to his father, but she understood now that he had to. She tried her best to take comfort in the fact that at least Logan had a safe place to go to if something bad happened. Maybe that would be enough to help her get through the anxiety that was sure to consume her the minute he went back to his parents.

"That's a big word, I'm surprised you know it," Logan teased.

"Since when am I the stupid one?" Veronica asked.

"Let's watch a movie, shall we?" Logan suggested, releasing Veronica from his hold as he changed the subject. "Whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" she asked mischievously.

Logan groaned as he realized his fatal mistake. "Yes," he replied as he hung his head in defeat.

"You really are the stupid one," Veronica clucked. "Spice World it is!"

"God save me," Logan muttered. Veronica bounded into the living room, purposely singing 'Wannabe' as off-key as she possibly could. "Put the teeny bopper back in its cage, please!" he exclaimed while following her into the next room.

"I'm still short enough to be one, right?" she checked, throwing his words in his face. In response, he made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Me and my big mouth," Logan grumbled. Veronica was already digging up the DVD she had bought on a spontaneous shopping trip with Lilly a few years early.

"You keep that in mind," Veronica reminded. She hit play and skipped over to the couch where she quickly cuddled up next to him. She smiled as he accommodated her presence by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She knew he probably hated her movie choice but as long as he would sit through it with her, it was enough.

A/N: Good God this chapter was stressful. I hope you all like it.

Thanks, as always, to my many readers and reviews. You are all so amazing, it's almost too much to bear. But I would like to note that if anyone in particular has an issue with this story (technical, plot-wise or other), please let me know and please do it in a way so I can contact you and we can talk about it. Any creative criticism helps but nothing good comes from vicious attacks. The reason I love my Beta so much is that she's clearly helping me become a better writer with each and every draft we send back and forth. You guys can be apart of that process too, if you'd like. It would sure as hell put me over the moon with joy.

Love and Luck,

Gaby

PS-Oh, and thanks for getting me to 100 reviews in only 10 chapters. ^_^