Title: One Change
Rating: M
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Logan/Veronica
Warnings: sexual content
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.2

Summary: What if before Lilly died, before Veronica was raped, she actually gave her virginity to Logan? What might have changed? What might have stayed the same?

Note: And I'm back. I'm sorry it has been so long. I lacked serious motivation. I'm not promising it won't happen again, but I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't happen.

Chapter 14

Logan didn't know why he decided to go to Tijuana with Luke and Troy. Luke wasn't too bad, but he couldn't stand even the sight of Troy's. That was probably just because of his persistent interest in Veronica.

Still, Logan was one who liked to party. And besides, Veronica was busy, and Duncan was no longer talking to him, so he didn't have anything better to do.

He should have known something would make the trip less than pleasant.

That thing making it unpleasant was Troy talking about Veronica. "So, how long do you think you'll be together?"

Logan glared at him. "Wait all you want, but I'm not going anywhere. Veronica and I would have become a couple soon if I hadn't acted like an idiot after Lilly's death. And now that I have her, I'm not letting go of her."

Troy smirked. "Who says Veronica won't get bored with you?"

"With that comment, you've proved how little you know her. Veronica is a lot of things: stubborn, opinionated, beautiful, smart, and exceedingly loyal. I'm not that worried about losing her."

"Then you wouldn't mind me talking about her so much if you were so secure."

Logan continued glaring at him. "Doesn't mean I like other guys sniffing around her. Especially when they don't understand what her saying 'no' means. It just makes her cranky, and I'm the one who gets the pleasure of dealing with a cranky Veronica."

Luke watched the conversation, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. After all, he knew better than to badmouth Veronica after Logan almost punched him for an insult.

And the 'fun' didn't stop there. There was more fun to be had when Troy's car got stolen while they were eating in a diner.

Logan listened to Troy bitch and moan with half a ear as he took out his phone and called his personal knight in shining armor.

It was a long wait, and Logan was very close to punching Troy if he didn't stop complaining, when Veronica finally pulled up to the curb.

"Way to go, Jackass. Getting your car stolen like that," she sarcastically threw out.

Logan went to the passenger seat in the front. "My hero," he playfully swooned, leaning in for a kiss as he got into the car.

Veronica returned it. When they separated, she muttered, "If you hadn't been with them, I probably would have left them here to rot. You know that, right?"

"That's why you're my hero."

Troy tried to smile in a way that he thought charmed girls, but his girl was immovable. "Just get in the car."

The car ride was silent, if one could ignore Troy's continued complaints. Logan's hand rested on Veronica's thigh, and he massaged her tense leg muscles.

Logan listened to Troy's complaints get exceedingly loud, and he knew what was happening. Veronica's sleuthing skills were legendary around Neptune High, and he knew Troy was trying to get Veronica to agree to try to find the car.

Finally, Veronica bit the bullet. "If I agree to locate the car, will you shut up already?" she frustratingly yelled.

Troy smiled. "Of course."

Veronica looked quickly at Logan, as if to gauge his reaction to her spending any amount of time alone with Troy.

Logan simply caressed her cheek. It was time he stopped acting like a jealous jackass. She had made her feelings clear about both Troy and Duncan, and he needed to trust her.

It was hard because of how Lilly had been. Her infidelities had been numerous after all, but despite the fact the girls had been best friends—like sisters—Veronica wasn't Lilly, and she was much more loyal and honest.

He didn't have any reason to mistrust her, and until he did, he would force himself to have faith in her and their relationship.

Veronica smiled slightly, but he read the relief in her eyes that he wasn't going to cause any problems.

Troy, on the other hand, was frowning. He probably had hoped to get a reaction out of Logan because in his mind, if Logan was worried, it meant he had a reason to worry, that Troy had a chance with Veronica.

Even if Veronica wanted another guy, Veronica would never choose Troy. Her standards were much too high.

Veronica pulled up to Logan's mansion and forlornly said goodbye to her boyfriend. No matter how much she might want to spend some alone time with him, it wouldn't be happening. At least not right then.

Not only was Luke crashing there, but she needed to get some details about the car from Troy. Work now; fun later. That was Veronica's motto.

His very nice kiss before he left the car would have to hold her for a little while.

The next day, at Mars Investigations, Wallace and Veronica huddled near her computer.

"Shouldn't Troy be here?" Wallace asked with a grin.

"The less time I have to spend with him, the better."

"Still bugging you, huh?"

Veronica nodded. "He either enjoys being annoying, or he's just oblivious to how annoying he actually is."

She opened the Prying Eyez Dotcom website and teased Wallace about what she could find out about him.

When her dad came in, they joked about his birthday, but she kept quiet about Troy's car. There was no reason to alert him about the case.

Later that day, when she was home, the phone rang, and she heard the message for her dad and found out it was Rebecca James from the Counseling Office at Neptune High. Her breath caught in her throat at the implications, and she knew she had to get out of there.

She grabbed her things and left. She only had one destination in mind. She got to the Echolls mansion and hurried to the door. She rang the ornate bell and smiled at Mrs. Narvarro when she answered. "Is Logan home?"

"In his room."

Veronica nodded. She didn't knock on his bedroom door, just barged in. "I think my dad is dating Miss James."

Logan looked up from his magazine and raised his eyebrows. "Miss James? Should I know who that is?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "The guidance counselor! I can't believe my dad is dating her. I can't believe he's dating anyone! What about Mom?"

Logan sat up, and his eyes softened. "Okay, I can understand why you're upset, but your mom left. You don't know where she is. And don't you want your dad to find a least a little bit of happiness? Don't you think he deserves it?"

"He can be happy with my mom," she weakly argued.

"Maybe, maybe not, but she's not here. And you know things weren't great when she was here. Or did you forget about how you used to call me and Lilly crying because of their fighting and her drinking?"

Veronica threw herself into his arms and sniffled. "I know. It's just..."

"It's just, like a lot of kids, you want your parents to get back together and be a happy family again. That's not always possible, though, and I think you should cut your dad some slack. Even if he's dating Miss James, it doesn't mean they'll be together for long. You might be getting upset for no reason at all."

"I know, but I hate the thought of him with anyone but Mom."

Logan held her tighter. "I know."

She closed her eyes and basked in the comfort his arms provided. It was just what she needed.

She stayed there with Logan as long as she could, but she knew she had to go home eventually. She did so when she knew her dad wasn't home; she wasn't ready to face him yet.

She was already in bed by the time he did come home, so their talk would have to wait until the next day.

The next morning, she tried to keep her cool and casually brought up his relationship with Miss James while he was putting her mom's things in storage.

She didn't know how well she did, but she tried her best to not show her anger.

When he left, she went over the box and picked up the picture of her dad, mom, and her. They had looked so happy then. It was weird how much things had changed since then.

Veronica dug through the box and found a small, red jewelry box. And inside, there was a small envelope. Veronica opened that and found a safety deposit box key.

She frowned as she grabbed it. "What was Mom doing with a safety deposit box key? And does Dad know about it?"

The next day, Luke rushed into her journalism class as class finished, just as she shut off her computer that had shown Lianne Mars' death certificate. "You're helping Troy find his dad's car, right?"

Veronica stared at him. "Unfortunately. Why?"

"There was kind of more to this car thing than the car. There was a piñata full of steroids in the back seat. I-I did a run for Hank Zigman. He owns the Zig Zag Sports Club. I wanted to get pumped for Varsity baseball. I was…pretty much down for whatever."

Veronica shot him a look of disgust. "Including shrunken testicles and acne scars. Well, speaking for the women of American – good plan! Wait a minute. Did Logan know about this?"

'He better not have,' she thought dangerously.

Luke shook his head.

Veronica glared at him.

Luke gave in. "Okay, he knew, but he wasn't in on it. He doesn't want anything to do with drugs. At least not since Shelley's party."

Veronica believed him. She knew Logan still felt guilty about what almost happened in that bedroom due to her being drugged. And she knew he blamed himself because he provided the drugs, even though what happened had never been his intention. She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I don't help dealers find their lost products." She smiled in an almost sweet manner, but there was a sarcastic tinge to it. "Try going to the police. Maybe they'll help you. At least before they arrest you."

"You'd be saving my life, though. The guy will kill me if I don't have it. Or at the very least, he'll break an arm or leg."

"If I were to help you, you would have to return the steroids and get your money back and then return the cash, not the drugs."

"I'll do whatever," Luke desperately said.

"Fine, I'll figure something out. For now, lay low."

Later that day, after school, Veronica got in to the safety deposit box. And she pulled out files and photographs.

The pictures were all candid shots of Veronica. On each of them, the crosshairs of a target were drawn over her face.

'Maybe my mom had no choice but to leave, in order to protect me,' she thought hopefully. If that was true, there could still be hope for her parents to get back together.

When she was at Mars Investigations later that day, she was going through the pictures when Miss James came in. And that was one awkward conversation.

The next night, Veronica basked in Logan's embrace as they laid together. His hands gently rubbed her naked back as her head was pillowed by his chest.

"Please tell me you're almost done with Troy and his stupid car," he begged.

"I wish. It's been a lot of brick walls. I want to be done with it as much as you want me to be done with it, believe me."

Logan stared down at her. "I do." He held her impossibly closer as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You should have told me about the steroids," she suddenly threw out, deciding it was time to mention it.

"I know. I didn't intentionally keep it from you. Honestly, it didn't even occur to me. I was more focused about you working with Troy."

Veronica laughed. "That's okay. You'll just have to make it up to me."

"Really? How?" he asked as he stared down at her.

She raised her head to lock eyes with him. "You will be taking me to Luigi's so I can get some tasty manicotti."

"So, I have to watch you eat?" He playfully shuddered.

She twisted his exposed nipple. "Watch it, Buddy. Otherwise, you won't be getting laid again for quite a while, and your new best friend will become your hand."

He chastely kissed her nose. "Don't worry. I love watching you eat, even if it is a bit scary."

The next day, when Miss James showed up for an impromptu dinner, in order to bond with Veronica, the blonde knew she had to get out of there. She couldn't pretend to play happy families with her dad and Miss James.

She went to Breakers yard and got Weevil's help to hopefully find the missing piñata. It was a dead end, though. She was getting really sick of all the dead ends.

If she wasn't so stubborn and hated admitting defeat, she would have already given up on the stupid case. It was not like she enjoyed spending time with Troy, and the more time she spent on the case, the less time she got with Logan or Wallace.

It wasn't any fun.

She was stubborn, though, and she was determined that no case would ever beat her!

The next day, she pulled Luke into the girl's bathroom that had quickly become her office and told him he'd have to buy Ziggy off because he was out of luck.

He complained, but Veronica wasn't in the mood to hold his hand. "Figure it out," she ordered before she angrily stormed out of the bathroom.

That night, she was in her bedroom when she heard her dad come home. She walked out of her room and towards her dad slowly. She couldn't help but sarcastically comment, "One more hour, and this might actually constitute a walk of shame."

Her dad was going to go to bed, but Veronica admitted she needed some help finding Troy's car.

The next day, he went to Beacon Corporation, and he got them to turn the alarm system on with some fancy lying.

Meanwhile, Veronica convinced Luke to auction off his Barry Bond's ball to get the money.

Later that day, after journalism and after she gets a gentle chiding from Miss Mallory, Veronica got an idea thanks to what her journalism teacher said.

She looked up Miss James and found some information her dad needed to know. And when she got to Mars Investigations after school, she showed her dad the file. He wasn't amused.

He gave her the code and left angrily. She thought about going to see Logan; he was always able to make her feel better, but she decided she would rather just find the car and be done with Troy.

Once Troy had his car back, she could go over to Logan's mansion. And then maybe she'd spend the whole night with him. That would teach her dad.

It turned out to be another dead end because the signal was coming from a dog!

The next day, her dad left her a file on Troy.

When she got to school, she pulled Logan into the girl's bathroom. "I think Troy might have had something to do with the missing car. It turns out he had got busted in his previous two schools for drug possession and trafficking, along with his girlfriend, Shauna. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he and Shauna cooked up this little plan together if he knew Luke was planning to get the steroids."

"If he's still with this girl, why try so hard to get you?"

Veronica shrugged. "For fun? A challenge? To beat you? All of the above? Who knows and who cares."

Logan whistled. "Wow, now what are you going to do?"

Veronica smirked. "Troy thinks he has me fooled. He's going to get a rude awakening."

Logan returned her smirk. "I'm definitely glad I'm not him right now."

Later that day after school, she took care of Luke's problem at Zig Zag's club.

During her dad's birthday celebration, she found out he ended things with Miss James. She felt guilty, but she also felt just a tiny bit happy. She knew that was petty and mean, but she just didn't want to see her dad dating another woman, especially when there was a chance that her mom left for a good reason and would be able to come back once everything was sorted out.

The next day, Logan took her to Luigi's for lunch. Over a plate of baked ziti for Logan and manicotti for Veronica, she told him what she did to Troy.

She told him about how she found the stashed steroids in the diner's bathroom. And how his plan was completely ruined because they were now somewhere between her toilet and the Pacific Ocean.

Logan grinned. "My evil little girlfriend. I'm so proud of you."

"At least there's no more Troy to deal with," she grinned.

"Thank god for that," Logan adamantly agreed.

While she enjoyed a nice meal with Logan, she missed a call from her mother on one of the small phones she had, and it was something she would kick herself about when she realized it.