Chapter 10: Confessions are Good for the Soul Part I

After school, Wallace comes up to Veronica at her car.

"Superfly, what did the two of you do to Caitlin Ford's scooter-thingy? She drove that thing out of the parking lot and was back her twenty minutes later crying that it wouldn't work. Maintenance went to go get it, but the stupid thing started right up for them!"

Veronica put on her innocent face and began babbling. "Oh my God! It wouldn't work? How awful for her! How did she get back, was it a long walk? I wonder what's wrong with her Vespa!"

Wallace simply looked at the blonde, who quickly changed demeanors. "OK, we just put a ping-pong ball in her gas tank. As she uses gas, the siphon will pull the ball to clog the hole. When she stops, it floats back to the top. Also, there are some creative words written in glow-in-the-dark paint."

……………………………………………..

Weevil came up next to the pair. "What she's not telling you is that I gave her the idea. I'm still mad at that girl for framing my abeula."

Veronica observed Logan, Casey and Dick coming through the parking lot. "Yeah, thanks Weevil. Hey- can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure V. What's up?" the biker asked, walking over to his bike.

"You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you, but could you keep it down when you get mad? There are people around who aren't going to be pleased with the news if they hear about it from me."

Weevil removed his sunglasses. "Alright. What is this thing that's supposed to make me so mad?"

Veronica took a deep breath. "I'm sort-of seeing your last favorite person in the world."

"You're dating the sheriff? Does your dad know?" Weevil asked confusedly.

Rolling her eyes, Veronica took a breath before spitting out the news. "Ew. No, I'm dating Logan."

Weevil's eyebrows immediately lowered into a glare. "I'm sorry, what was that? Did you fall, hit your head and suddenly not remember everything he's done to you? V, he beat up your car!"

"No- he beat up my car. I knew he wasn't going to touch me. And he paid for the damages. Weevil, he also saved me from a rogue ATF agent! Weigh it out: car… life? I didn't expect you to take this well, but you need to hear this. He gets me." Weevil looked at her skeptically. "He understands why I do half of the blank stares, we both went through it. We both lost her. And you did too, which is why I hope that you understand this."

"V, I'm not happy about this at all. Did you ever wonder why Lilly came to me? Why she cheated on him so many times?"

"Lilly did that because she was Lilly and could get away with it." Veronica said coldly, glaring at the biker. "She was my best friend, and even I told her she treated him like crap. It has nothing to do with Logan, except that he got jealous after the first few times.

"I'm not going to cheat on him, Weevil. And I hope you appreciate the fact that I told you all this, instead of you finding out one day when we walked down the hall together."

Sighing, the biker pulled out his keys. "Nice to know that the second you get to have your old life back you sprint towards it." He turned to get on his bike, but Veronica grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around.

"Hello, do you not remember Troy? My previous, and I hesitate to use this word, boyfriend? He's an 09er- or was until this latest escapade. Did I stop talking to you? Start sitting back at that table full of people who still hate me? Stop doing what I do to go hang out at a yacht party? No. So don't even try to say that I'm running back to that life. I don't want it anymore."

Snorting, Weevil spoke, "You don't want it anymore, but you want him. Their leader. You think you can go back so easy? Just stroll up to the castle and be accepted?"

"No, and I don't want to!" Veronica was exhausted by this conversation. "Weevil, I told you this as a friend. I haven't even brought up all the times I've helped you, especially when it meant hurting him. There's a past- Logan and I are going to be complicated, we both know that."

"I don't like this, V. Echolls is nothing but trouble, he'll only end up hurting you."

Scoffing, Veronica's eyes held his. "Weevil, when's the last time I let someone hurt me? I already went over the Veronica Mars ground rules with him. He knows what's OK and what's not."

Getting on the motorcycle, Weevil said his parting words: "If he breaks your heart, you can't stop me from hurting him."

Smiling a little as he gunned the engine, she answered him as she stepped back. "I would be offended if you didn't."

Across the parking lot, Logan and Casey were inviting Dick over to Logan's to 'play video games' that evening. In reality, Veronica was going to be there instead of Casey. The three had decided that it would be best for the two of them to inform Dick outside of school grounds.

Veronica was at Mars Investigations. She walked into her dad's office and sat in front of him at the desk.

"Dad, Troy and I broke up."

Keith looked at is daughter and noted the absence of tears. Remembering how Veronica hadn't seemed to be in love with the boy, he assumed that parting ways was her decision. "Honey, I never liked him. Why did you break up with him?"

Taking a deep breath, Veronica decided to give her dad the truth. "He cheated on me. With Logan's flavor-of-the-month."

Fire in his eyes, Keith Mars reached for the phone. Veronica clapped her hand on top of his, stopping him from making the call to a felon who owed her dad a favor.

"Dad, don't call Tom. I'm taking care of it. He just has to slip up. I need to talk to you about something else."

"Veronica, I wasn't going to call Tom." The balding man smiled. "I was going to call the sheriff's department and give an anonymous tip that Troy had killed a man in Reno just to watch him die. What's the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"I'm seeing Logan now." Veronica said quickly. "Daddy, honest- he and I have been getting closer since his mom jumped, and the whole Ben thing. We're not sure if it's serious, but I wanted you to know."

Keith sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Veronica, Logan Echolls is not the kind of boy any father dreams of his daughter dating."

She kept eye contact with him. "He's been through what I've been through. We've known each other for years. Logan has, as of late- been a support system for me, and I've been one for him. How is that not what a father wants for his daughter?"

"You should also know that Wallace, Casey and Weevil have all threatened to kill him if he hurts me. There's a waiting list, but I think that fathers are allowed cut to the front of that line. Especially if they have guns." She smiled.

Looking at his daughter, Keith realized that she was acting responsible when it came to this. While he supposed the good argument came out of the three previous ones she mentioned, the points hit home.

"Alright. But you're going to tell me if anything goes wrong right?"

"What happened to self-reliance?" Veronica asked wickedly, getting up from her chair.

He looked at her thoughtfully. "I know that you like to care of things yourself. But can you at least give me a heads-up if the two of you commit a felony?"

"I'll call you while we do it. And on this 'self-reliance' note, Logan's outside. We're going together to tell Duncan." She walked out of the office, glad the encounter had gone well.

Logan and Veronica had decided to show up together at the Kane house, partially to show a united front; but really because neither was sure if Veronica would be let on the grounds by herself. If Celeste had been home, the answer would definitely have been negative.

Parking in front of the mansion, the two looked at each other before ringing the doorbell.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Let's get this over with." Veronica sighed, pressing the doorbell.