Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars.

Chapter 19: Gossip

"Did you see her hair?"

"What about her clothing?"

"Who does she think she is?"

"I heard she's sleeping with Logan."

"I heard she's sleeping with Dick."

"I heard she's sleeping with Dick, Logan and Cassidy."

"Well how else could she get them to hang out with her?"

Veronica closed her eyes. She'd run from the parking lot after cutting the new kid down. She'd gone to homeroom, narrowly avoiding what would have been an awkward conversation with Logan. She'd even managed to slip past him on her way out of class, using a bathroom stall as a hiding place. She was a hypocrite. She pushed Logan to deal with everything and yet she was hiding. This had to be her punishment.

Okay, I get it, I'll never avoid Logan again.

"Hmph, well, I don't care who she's doing. She just better keep her hands off John."

"I don't know how Madison stands it."

There was a collective commiserative sigh, a brief pause of silence, and a chorus of heels clicking against the linoleum floor, signaling safety.

After waiting a beat to make sure they weren't going to double back, Veronica stepped out of her stall and set her palms on the sink's ledge. She kept her eyes on her hands and watched her knuckles turn white.

"Hey Veronica."

Veronica picked her head up, her eyes meeting Meg's in the mirror. She hadn't even heard her enter the bathroom.

"Hey Meg," she replied.

Meg approached the counter. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Veronica blurted out. She pushed herself off the ledge and idly tugged at the hem of her shirt—anything to keep her hands, eyes, and mind busy.

"You know, you shouldn't listen to them," Meg said. She reached forward, turned on the faucet, and absently ran her hands under it.

"I'm not." Veronica blurted out. "I don't."

Meg smiled tightly and turned off the faucet. She then pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket and began untwisting the cap.

Veronica looked over at Meg as she pressed the wand to her lips. "You wouldn't be talking to me if they were still in here, would you?"

Meg recapped her gloss and lowered her face so her long hair would hide the flush of shame that adorned her cheeks. "I, um—"

"It doesn't matter," Veronica cut in, brushing aside her momentary burst of confidence and confrontation upon realizing she had no real reason to attack one of the few people in school who would still talk to her.

"Right." Meg pursed her lips and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I… if you need anything…"

Veronica nodded. Meg nodded back and left the bathroom with her lip gloss clutched tightly in her hand.

Once she was sure Meg was gone, Veronica closed her eyes and pushed back tears. She knew she had no real reason to attack her, but Meg was going to go out there, meet up with her boyfriend and rejoin the very group of 09ers who were still gossiping about her. It was the best Meg could do, but it just wasn't enough.

But Veronica knew that wasn't why her heart suddenly found itself lodged in her throat. They were gossiping about her. Still. She shouldn't care. Logan was right—knowing what they were saying, who said what, or even who did what wouldn't change anything. There wasn't anything she could do or say to stop the half-hidden faces, the whispers, and the manicured fingers indiscreetly pointing in her direction.

Only, nothing anyone said could stop the gossip from hurting her.

Logan was leaning against Veronica's locker when he saw the very girl he was looking for emerge from the bathroom out of the corner of his eye. The bell rang minutes ago but he knew she was in there. He'd run into Meg in the hallway and she'd told him as much.

"Veronica!" Logan pushed himself off her locker when he realized she wasn't heading towards him. "Veronica!" She hadn't even slowed to wait for him. "Hey, slow down there Road Runner!" Thankfully he was faster than she was.

"Not now," she mumbled, keeping her face hidden from him.

"Ronica?" Logan's brow furrowed with mounting worry as he reached out and grabbed Veronica's hand, pulling her to a stop.

"I have to go to class, Logan," she insisted softly, her eyes still averted.

"Ronnie, look at me."

"No." Veronica pulled away from Logan and hurried down the hall. But he didn't need to see her face to know what the tremor in her voice meant.

Logan stood there, staring at her even after she'd turned the corner. It wasn't until a hand clapped down on his shoulder that he moved.

"You're late for class, dude" Dick said, strolling past without pausing.

Logan silently followed.

Dick took a break from staring at the new Journalism teacher to glance over at the Logan. He frowned, trying to figure out why the image of his friend slumped over in his chair seemed strange to him.

"Hey, Logan," Dick hissed, part of his attention still on the ass of the teacher writing on the whiteboard. She might not flaunt it, but she definitely had something to look at. "Dude."

"What?" Logan grumbled.

"Why aren't you staring at teacher? She's not a 10, but it's better than listening," Dick asked.

When Logan didn't roll his eyes or smirk, Dick knew something was wrong.

"It's about Ronnie, isn't it," Dick said. "Dude, did you tell her you want to bone her? She totally turned you down, didn't she?"

"What?" Logan asked, snapping to attention. "No. Dick. What?"

"Ronnie's hot, dude," Dick continued.

"Let me stop you before you make a bigger ass out of yourself," Logan insisted flatly.

Dick shrugged. "What is it then?"

Logan glanced over at Dick and then down at his lap.

"It is about Ronnie, right?" Dick insisted.

Logan nodded slowly, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. "I guess."

"So what? She doesn't want to play with you after school? Mac told you she doesn't like you? Gossip can be brutal, man."

Logan looked up sharply. "Gossip?" His eyes darted across the room to Caitlin's smirking face. Pam was giggling at something she'd said. Neither girl had the decency to look away when he caught their gaze.

Dick watched as Logan's eyes narrowed and his body tensed. Even after everything, from Lilly's death to all that stuff with his dad, Dick has never seen Logan get as angry as he does when it comes to Veronica. Ronnie was like Logan's kryptonite. Even when he was dead set on hating her, the name Veronica Mars could always evoke the strongest of emotions. It was almost scary how intense he was.

"Dude." Dick kicked Logan's chair. Logan jerked in response, his hands reaching out to grab the sides of his chair to keep himself seated. "What's going on?"

Logan absently ran a hand through his hair. "She must have heard the gossip," he mumbled.

"So?" Dick asked.

"It's not the same for girls."

Dick didn't get it. He'd lived his life based on the idea that there's no such thing as bad publicity. As long as he was talked about, as long as he was still relevant, it didn't matter. He could laugh off what he didn't like and embrace the rest.

"I don't get it," he said, voicing his thoughts. "Why does it matter? She has us."

Logan shook his head. "It's just different."

Dick pondered this. Veronica was upset. If Veronica's upset, Logan's upset. If Logan and Veronica were upset, Mac and Cassidy would be worried. If Logan and Veronica were upset and Mac and Cassidy were worried, Dick would end up bored, annoyed, or both.

"I got this," Dick said, once it became clear that upset and worry for his friends meant bad things for him as well.

"What?"

"I got this," he repeated as he tossed his hair off his face with a shake of his head, his usual disinterested affect present in every way.

"Are you sure?"

"I. Got. This." Dick couldn't understand why Logan didn't understand. He was supposed to be the stupid one. "Got it?"

Logan nodded.

"What was that Mister…?" the teacher trailed off, finally calling Dick out for talking so loudly in class, even though she didn't know his name yet.

"Casablancas," Dick said with a know-it-all smile on his face. "My buddy and I were just talking about how very much we love Journalism." Giggles and kiss-ass coughs rang through the room. There was no way she'd send him to the office. Teachers that green just pray to make it through the day.

"And did you see her at Shelley's party?"

"Sean said she was just asking for it."

"Cole said she was all over him."

"Gross!"

"She has to be screwing both of them. How else could she get them to be friends with her again?"

Dick smirked. He wasn't surprised to find the four girls sitting around during their gym period, ignoring the teacher and making things up for entertainment. Besides, it made finding them a hell of a lot easier.

"Really ladies? Logan's my boy, but a threesome with a dude will never happen," Dick said before turning to his ex. "Maddy, you totally know better." In front of him sat Shelley, Pam, Caitlin and Madison. They were perched on the bleachers, in plain sight of everyone, enjoying the fact that no one would ever dare make them participate if they didn't want to.

"Ugh, ew," Madison said, her features twisting in distaste. Dick flinched inwardly, hardly believing he'd ever dated her, even if she did put out.

"What does it matter? It's all true," Caitlin shrugged.

"You should know," Shelley said with a glint in her eye.

"Besides, it's not like you didn't gossip about Veronica too," Madison added.

Dick's eyes narrowed. "I do a lot of stupid things. Are you saying you would also stick your ass out a window driving down the PCH?"

Madison's face turned red. The other three girls turned to their leader for guidance.

"Anyway, I thought I'd stop by and tell you to shut up about Ronnie," Dick commanded.

"Yeah? And why should we listen to you?" Pam asked defiantly.

"Who died and made you king?" Shelley added.

"I'm not king," Dick shrugged. "But I spent a lot of time listening to Maddy gossip about all of you. So if you want to spread rumors, I think I will too, especially since we always do all the same things."

"You wouldn't," Madison warned.

"Pam didn't have a deviated septum, Shelley cheated on Casey, and I'm pretty sure I saw Caitlin hooking up with some PCHer this morning on my way into school," Dick listed, each girl's face dropping as her secret was revealed. "And let's not forget, Madison, we made a sex tape."

"You what?" Shelley shouted, poking an accusing finger into Caitlin's chest.

"Please, you can't judge me," Caitlin retorted

"Oh my God, you wouldn't tell about my nose, would you?" Pam exclaimed.

Madison, however, kept her eyes trained on Dick. Once upon a time he'd been terrified of her anger, but now he couldn't care less. "Fine. We'll leave her alone."

"Great!" he cheered just as the bell rang. "Lovely doing business with you, ladies." With that, Dick walked away from the group of girls, hoping he'd never have to have another conversation with his ex or her friends ever again.

"Hey Dick!" Mac called as he approached her, Logan, and Cassidy. "You're late!"

Dick smirked.

Mac set her hands on her hips authoritatively. "Well? Hurry up! We're hungry and Veronica's waiting for us," she insisted impatiently.

Dick dropped his head to hide the frown on his face while quickening his pace. He really loved Ronnie, but he wasn't sure he was ready for his whole life to revolve around her.

"Don't get your panties all tied up in knots," Dick grumbled upon reaching his friends.

"I'm not sure that's how that phrase goes, Dick," Cassidy noted.

Dick's frown deepened.

"So what are we ordering for lunch?" Mac interjected, stopping an argument between the brothers before it could start.

"Pizza?" Logan offered.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Cassidy seconded.

"So pizza?" Mac turned to Dick for his opinion.

"No more Italian food," Dick insisted, knowing it was Veronica's favorite. It wasn't much of a rebellion but it made him feel a little better.

"So…" Mac trailed off. "Chinese?"

Cassidy nodded in agreement.

"Dick?" Logan asked.

"Sounds good." Dick reached for his phone, suddenly feeling a little guilty about nixing the pizza idea to spite Veronica. "I'll order."

"Works for me," Mac chirped.

"Real deep pockets there, Daddy Warbucks," Logan teased.

"Daddy who?" Dick asked, confusion washing away any other emotion as he dialed his favorite Chinese place.

Mac laughed. "We're gonna have to have a movie education night."

"More like movie education year," Cassidy mumbled just loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Dick would have pouted if his attention wasn't diverted by a voice asking him how they could help him. He could think of a lot of things he needed help with, but for now he would stick with the take out.

A/N: And this is my first update in three months. Sorry about that. College is stressful, life sucks, yada yada yada. A more detailed apology as well as an idea of my plan for this story can be found on my profile, along with all of the other stories I've managed to complete over the years.

Also, sorry this chapter is kind of filler. The next one's a little more exciting, I think. It's pretty much done, so I'll have it up soon (no more of this 3 month wait BS).

So to all my lovely readers, I thank you. And to my reviewers, thank you x10000 for taking a two minute break from your life to share some love. Wouldn't you liked to be thanked x10000 for reviewing? I know I would. So review. Kay thanks!

Love and Luck,

Gaby