A/N: Wow, so it's only taken me about a year to get over my writer's block and crank out some more chapters. Sorry I left you all hanging, and hopefully you're all still interested. I have gone back and revised some of the first chapter, so you might want to re-read it; if not, no big deal, they're not big changes. I hope that I'll crank out a chapter a week. So far, I have the next 2 written and a rough outline of a third. Now, with out further ado, on with the show…
Back at the hotel
Logan had been expecting to spend the day surfing with Dick, but since he was spending the day with Mac, he figured he would give them some space. After wandering around the hotel aimlessly for about an hour, he resigned himself to a day spent in his suite playing video games, at the pool, or some combination of the two. He was just about to head back upstairs when he ran into Wallace.
"Hey man, what are you up to today?" Wallace asked.
Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Dick and I were gonna surf, but he's playing teacher for Mac, so I opted out. It looks like a fun filled day of video games and lounging by the pool for me today."
Wallace shook hid head and laughed, "Talk about the odd couple…what is it the two of them have in common again?"
Logan laughed now too, "I have no idea, but you don't even know the half of it. I saw Mac leaving his room this morning, wearing his clothes and carrying hers."
If Wallace's eyebrows climbed any higher, they would no longer be on his face. "Please tell me I heard you wrong," he begged.
"Don't worry, I already asked Dick about it, he said they just fell asleep playing video games."
"And you believed him…"
Logan snorted, "Yeah, I think I do. He actually seems to like her. I've never seen him so quick to deny sleeping with any chick. In fact, I don't think he's ever denied it before."
Wallace laughed, but still looked skeptical.
"Trust me, if he's willing to incur the wrath of Ronnie, he must have it bad. He's pretty much been scared of her as long as I can remember; with good reason too," he chuckled.
After a minute went by in silence Wallace rolled his eyes, "Come on now, you can't just leave it like that, now I need to know why."
"You've been hanging around Ronnie to long," Logan laughed before starting his story. We were all hanging out at DK's house the summer before 7th grade. DK and Beaver were playing video games and the rest of us were playing foosball. It was Dick and I vs. Lily and Ronnie. The girls were trying to distract us any way they could because they were down by a point and we were about to win. Then he had to make one of his usual bonehead comments about how they would never be able to distract him, because there was nothing worth looking at. Of course Lily got pissed, and Veronica looked like she was about to cry. It was a good ploy; as soon as he let his guard down to say he was sorry, Veronica knocked the ball in our goal and proceeded to shove the pole she was holding onto right in his crotch. She told him that his name may be Dick, but he had just been served his balls for dinner."
Wallace was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe and his eyes were starting to water.
Logan was laughing too and had a smile on his face as he recalled the rest, "He ate his words a month later when Lily threw her back to school pool party; they were both wearing brand new bikinis and were definitely filling them out better than at the beginning of the summer. Dick was so distracted starring at them that he walked right off the side of the diving board. He scraped one leg on the cement wall of the pool and whacked his head on the board itself."
Wallace took a couple minutes to compose himself, then shook his head, "Man, even then V was mean. I thought she didn't get like that til after Lily died and you guys…" Suddenly realizing what he was saying, he shut his mouth and stared at his shoes before looking up again. "So anyway, V left me the car. I was gonna drive into Sydney and do that walk the sky bridge thing; you want to come?"
Logan thought for a minute Boring day by myself, or watch Wallace freak out when he realizes just how high the bridge actually is. An evil smirk spread across his face, "Sure, I'll come."
"I don't even want to know," Wallace mumbled shaking his head and walking across the lobby to the car park as Logan trailed behind, smirk still firmly in place.
That afternoon, Veronica and Duncan stopped at the mall on the way back to Duncan's hotel for Veronica to get a dress for their romantic dinner and some clothes for the next day. She called Mac on the way just to make sure that she was ok and tell her she wouldn't be back that night. They talked for a few minutes and agreed to have a girl's day the next day. When they entered the department store, Veronica sent Duncan to the Kids section with Lily so he wouldn't see her dress before dinner.
She picked out a gorgeous, red cocktail dress with crisscrossing shoulder straps and an empire waist skirt that flowed to just above her knees. After picking out a pair of peep-toe red heels and a lacy, red bra and panty set to match; she breezed through the casual section and grabbed a cute pair of cuffed white shorts and a halter-top to wear the next day. After paying, Veronica collected her bags and went to find Duncan. She found him on the 2nd floor in the little girls section with Lily on one arm and a pile of clothes on the other. He looked almost helpless, as the sales girl appeared to run around and add one of everything to the pile. He was relieved when he spotted her and she immediately came to the rescue putting back all but the 3 cutest outfits, 2 cute bathing suits, a pair of sneakers, and a pair of sandals.
Veronica put her bags down and took Lily from his arms while he paid. Duncan jumped almost a foot off the ground when she reached her hand into his pocket and took the keys. She and Lily laughed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just getting the keys so I could get Lily strapped into the car."
Duncan blushed, "Don't worry about it; it just startled me, that's all. Go ahead, I'll grab the bags and be there in a couple minutes." Veronica kissed him on the cheek and left with a still giggling Lily on her hip.
When they reached Duncan's hotel, Veronica took Lily out of her car seat, while Duncan grabbed their bags from the back.
Astrid met them inside and took Lily to get her fed and give her a bath. "Victor said to let you two know he would have dinner ready in about 30 minutes," she said before walking out of the room.
Duncan thanked her and put his arms around Veronica, drawing her closer to him, "Alone at last," he breathed.
Veronica laughed as she leaned up and placed her arms around his neck, bringing his head down to hers for a passion filled kiss. They only broke apart when air became a necessity and leaned their foreheads together.
"I guess I better go put my dress on," Veronica breathed.
"Why bother, I'll just have to get you out of it," he teased with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Her mouth fell open. She had never heard anything like that come from the old Duncan. "Wow, um, that's something I never expected to hear from your mouth. You've definitely been spending too much time with Logan."
He laughed, "I guess not getting any for the last 18 months has made me a little bolder."
She gaped at him, awe struck, "You mean you never, I-I mean you haven't…" she stuttered and trailed off.
"Wow, a tongue tied Veronica Mars, there's something I never thought I'd see; and no, I haven't, not since the last time we were together."
She just continued to stare at him, mouth hanging open.
Duncan laughed, "First tongue tied, and now speechless; don't worry about it. I know you and Logan were together, it's ok."
Veronica looked slightly embarrassed and stared at her shoes.
"Look, I'm sorry Ronica, I didn't mean to upset or embarrass you. Go get dressed and I'll meet you in the dining room in a few minutes." He kissed her on the forehead and gave hear a reassuring squeeze. "I'm serious Veronica, don't worry about it. Now, you're already beautiful, so go put your dress on and I'm sure you'll be drop dead gorgeous."
Veronica gave him a small smile, "Anything for you."
Duncan smiled back, "There's my girl."
She gave him one last smile before grabbing her bags and heading down the hall.
When she stepped into the dining room, she could see Duncan had gone all out. There was a beautiful table set for two, candles glowing, and champagne chilling. She ran her fingers over the table taking everything in.
Duncan watched her from the doorway, she looked stunning. He wasn't sure whether to call her his own personal angel, or a smoldering temptress. He walked towards her, a single pink rose in hand. He stopped just behind her, and kissed her shoulder. "Lily always did say red should be your color," he said bringing the arm with the rose in front of her.
Veronica smiled, taking the rose and turning around. I'd forgotten how well he cleans up, she thought to herself. He was now dressed in a black Armani suit, with a white, button-up dress shirt, but had forgone the tie and left the top button undone. His face was newly shaved, and she found her fingers reaching to caress its smoothness of their own accord. He grasped her fingers and brought them to his lips, kissing each one.
"Let's eat before all this food gets cold and goes to waste," Duncan said, pulling out her chair. "I had Victor make your favorite." He pulled the lid off her dish and she smiled. There was a large plate of manicotti accompanied by garlic knots and a sprig of parsley.
Veronica's eyes were sparkling with unshed tears when she looked up. "You remembered."
"How could I possibly forget?" She smiled and they stared at one another for a moment before Duncan broke eye contact. "Now let's hurry up and eat dinner so we can get to dessert."
She couldn't tell which dessert he meant, and as she dug into her dinner, realized she didn't really care as long as they were together.