-1Veronica sat in her bed trying her best to concentrate on her homework unsuccessfully. Logan had been pretty upset ever since his fight with Duncan a week earlier. He, of course, put on a happy face for her and everyone else, but she knew him too well to fall for that act. So, she decided that the only way Logan was going to feel better was if she could somehow get him and Duncan on speaking terms again. Grabbing her phone, she flipped it open and pressed number 4 on her speed dial. "Hey Lil. It's Veronica."

"Duh." Lilly giggled on the other end of the line. "So how've you been stranger?"

"I know. I'm sorry. Things have been crazy lately."

"I'd say…between movie premieres and hallway brawls I don't know where you find the time"

"Yeah." She trailed off.

"I have to say I'm kind of jealous; Logan never took me down the red carpet. I'm beginning to think he likes you better." She told her light heartedly. "And on top of that you get two guys fighting over you."

"Well, that's kind of what I'm calling about." She explained. "He'd never admit it, but Logan is really upset about how things are with Duncan and him. So, I was thinking that maybe we could get them together somehow."

"What were you thinking? Bar fight? Wrestling match?"

Veronica chuckled, she loved how Lilly never seemed to take anything too seriously. "As good as those choices sound, I was thinking that maybe you could find him a date and get yourself a date and we'll all go out tonight." She suggested hopefully.

"Go on a date with my best friend and her boyfriend, who also happens to be my ex." Lilly summarized.

"If it's too weird…"

"No. I think it'll be good for Duncan." Lilly interrupted. "I'll set it up and give you a call back. I may have to do a bit of lying and omitting though."

"Whatever you have to do." She agreed. "Give me a call."

"Alight. Bye babe."

That night, Lilly and Veronica had arranged it so that they would conveniently run into each other at a local pizza place. The girls had decided that it would be best if Duncan and Logan had no idea what they were in store for; that way they'd have no chance of backing out.

"Thanks for taking me out for pizza honey. I've had a crazy craving for it all day." Veronica smiled over at her boyfriend in the drivers seat.

"Honey?" He questioned.

"Yeah. I'm testing out nicknames for you. What do you think of Snicker doodle?" She wondered trying her best to look serious.

"Good one, Pookie." He shot back, as they pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of the car.

Veronica grabbed his hand and pulled him into the pizza place, she was anxious to get this part over with. As they walked in the door, she spotted Lilly sitting in a booth next to her date. Duncan and his date were on the other side of the table with their backs to the door. "Sugar muffin, remember how much you love me?" Veronica questioned hopefully, gesturing to the table.

"I'm beginning to forget." He sighed, as she grabbed his upper arm with both hands and pulled him towards Lilly and Duncan. "Hey guys!"

"Oh my gosh. It's Veronica and Logan! What a coincidence." Lilly smiled, severely over acting. Duncan looked up at the couple awkwardly, he didn't look happy.

"I know. Right?" Veronica played along. "Well, we just saw you guys and we thought…wow what a coincidence. Let's go say Hello."

"You guys should join us." Lilly offered.

"Oh no. We don't want to interrupt." She refused.

"Wouldn't want to do that." Logan shook his head, knowing exactly what was going on.

"Nope." Duncan agreed

"I insist." Lilly retorted, glaring at her brother.

"Well, if you insist." Veronica accepted quickly, pulling over the empty table beside them. She grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him to sit down beside her on the booth. "So…how is everyone."

"Well, I'm thinking about changing your pet name to Manipulator." Logan informed her.

"Nice." Veronica grinned, turning her attention to the others at the table. "Hi. I'm Veronica." She introduced herself to the boy sitting beside her and the girl sitting across from her. "This is Logan."

"Mike." The boy smiled, he seemed kind of quiet and shy.

"Yes this is my date Mike. And Lindsay is Duncan's date." Lilly explained.

"Oh. Wow that's great." Veronica smiled, receiving an eye roll from Duncan. The table fell into an awkward silence. "So…" She struggled. "Duncan, how are your college applications coming? Get accepted anywhere yet?"

Duncan tapped his fingers on the table unenthusiastically. "Yeah. A few places. I'm leaning towards UC San Diego."

"Really? Logan didn't you apply there." She questioned, trying to bring him into the conversation.

"Nope." He shook his head.

Veronica looked confused. "I thought that you said you were applying there."

"I decided not to." He shrugged, playing with a napkin. "Actually, I decided not to apply anywhere."

"What?" She questioned, totally taken by surprise.

"So what are you gonna do?" Lindsay questioned, seeming a little too interested in Logan.

Logan shrugged, "I've been thinking about doing some movie auditions. My dad's agent is looking for some stuff for me."

"Since when?" Veronica wondered, she was a little hurt that she was finding out about such a big decision with everyone else.

"That's so cool. I'm sure you'll do great." Lindsay smiled widely. "You're Aaron Echoll's son right? I saw you in 'US' magazine this week at the premiere of 'Man Down'. My friends and I were talking about how cute you looked in your tux and now here you are sitting in front of me. Isn't that funny?"

"Yeah it's real kick?" Veronica piped up, not liking the way that this girl was looking at her boyfriend. This was not how the plan was supposed to be going. Lindsay was supposed to be taking Duncan's mind off of why he hates Logan, not reminding him. "You know, I was in that picture too." Veronica interjected, a hint of jealously playing in her voice. "Yeah I was the one he's gazing at lovingly. That's me…right here." She trailed off, pointing to herself lamely.

"Anyway." Lilly cleared her throat.

Logan looked down at Veronica with an amused smirk on his face, he moved his hand under the table, running his fingers over her forearm, before locking them in hers. Across the table, Duncan watched their exchange, before shooting his sisters a death stare. "So, remember the good old days when Logan and Duncan got along?" Lilly asked.

"Way to be subtle Lil." Veronica shook her head, smiling with amusement at her friend.

"Well, we were getting no where fast so I figured I'd speed it along." She reasoned. "And on that note, Veronica and I would like to know when this feuding is going to come to an end."

"Ummm I'd go with never." Duncan replied.

"What feud?" Lindsay wondered. "Fill me in."

"He's a back stabbing asshole who thinks he can do whatever he wants without any consequences." Duncan informed her, taking a sip of his soda.

"Stop. You'll make me blush." Logan retorted, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Are smart ass comments as far as your intelligence takes you?"

"Okay guys. You already had this out can you just move on now?" Veronica questioned.

"I haven't even started having it out." Duncan shot back.

"Why don't you just get over it already? She doesn't want to be with you and she's never going to be with you again. Move on. It's starting to getting really pathetic."

"Logan." Veronica warned. "This is not what this night was for." Veronica sighed, rubbing her forehead with exasperation.

Duncan shook his head at her, obviously annoyed "And just what was it for Veronica? What do you think that I'm just going to forgive him for being with you when he's was supposed to be my best friend? I love you and he knew it. So if you think that I will ever forgive him for that then you're a idiot."

"Hey. Don't talk to her like that." Logan ordered, getting protective. "At least she's trying. At least she cares enough to try and fix things."

"It's not fixable Logan."

"That's fine with me. Go ahead and live the rest of your life pinning over someone you'll never have. Cause at the end of the day I have her and that's all that matters."

"Yeah well, you've always been selfish. I don't know why I expected any different from you."

"I need to leave before I do something that I regret." Logan announced, standing up and heading for the door.

Veronica watched helplessly as he stormed out, she had never seen him so upset. "I'm sorry guys." She apologized, getting up to go after him.

"You don't have to follow him ya know." Duncan reminded her.

"I know. I want to." She told him, looking him straight in the eyes. "Duncan, I've tried really hard to make this civil because I do care about you, but maybe you should take Logan's advice and move on." With that, she pick up her purse and walked out.

Outside, she found Logan hunched over with his arms folded on the hood of his SUV. Veronica approached him slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You should have just left it alone." He mumbled, shaking his head. He refused to look at her.

"I know. I'm sorry." She replied quietly, removing her hand from his shoulder. "I just couldn't watch you hurt like this without at least trying."

"I thought I was handling it just fine." He told her, straightening up and turning to face her.

"That's what you wanted everyone to think." She corrected. "I know you Logan. You're feelings go way deeper then you ever let on."

For once, Logan didn't have an answer. She was right and they both knew it. "Ready to go?" She asked and he nodded, bowing head and kicking a rock dejectedly. Placing her hand on the back on his neck, she rubbed his skin lightly prompting him to lift his head just enough so that she could give him a soft kiss on the cheek. She was still disturbed that he hadn't even mentions acting or not applying to school to her, but that discussion would be left to another time.