Logan received the call from his father that dinner was ready while Veronica lay nestled beside him with her head against his shoulder. Keith Mars was in Vega's tonight and Logan really didn't want to leave Veronica alone… not if Dick was still angry and he hadn't been around to calm him down earlier.
"Dad's invited you over for dinner" Logan told her softly.
"Okay" she agreed happily before she cupped his face and kissed him gently. Even after she had found out about her night with Duncan.. she was still giving him a chance. He kissed her back passionately. Logan had never felt more protective of anything in his life, had never wanted anything more in his life than her love in return and he wanted her to trust him. He wanted to stay there in her apartment, he wanted to keep it just the two of them, he didn't want anything to take her away from him again, but when his phone chirped insistently for the second time they left the couch and got into his car.
"He will probably try and make us eat by candle light" Logan mused, his father was theatrical and a bit of a show off, he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't served on a silver platter and they were attended by waitresses and butlers.
"Okay.. showtime" he joked as he pulled her against him and kissed her for as long as possible until they got to the front door.. just one last taste of her before he had to spend the rest of his evening looking at her tempting lips from across the table. He used his elbow to open the door and walked backwards inside, he couldn't take his mouth away from his explorations when she was moaning happily like that…
"SURPRISE!"
Veronica gasped and Logan turned to see almost every face he knew standing in his foyer staring at them in shock. There were balloons and tables sitting around… was this a birthday party? He followed her gaze and saw her glancing directly at Duncan…. Oh no… their secret was out now.
"Welcome home son" Aaron smiled as he walked towards them.
"Is this party 9 months early or 3 months late?" Logan asked awkwardly and stepped inside.
"Got a lot of lost years to make up for… I'm just getting started" He smiled.
"Good idea" Logan retorted sarcastically and stepped beside Veronica who was still looking at the scene in front of them in shock. He reached his hand out for hers.
Please don't run….
Shyly she gripped tightly onto his and he walked them inside the room.
"What the hell man? Please tell me this is some kind of reality show called my Skank" Dick asked angrily as Veronica bit her lip embarrassed.
"Goodbye Dick.." Logan said coldly. Nothing was coming between them this time.. no one would… he thought as he cast a brief glance at Duncan.
"What?" he asked incredulously.
"Get out of my house. You heard me, if you have a problem with Veronica.. you leave. In fact if you have a problem with Veronica you are pretty much dead to me" Logan said firmly.
"Come on man.."
"So I don't know.. Just evaporate or something?" Logan replied. "That's kind of a general invitation… if you don't like my girlfriend then head for the big rectangle with the knob" he declared loudly as he felt her stiffen beside him and she looked directly at Duncan.
Had he just made a big mistake? They hadn't exactly spoken about this yet…
He followed her gaze and saw Duncan let go of Meg's hand he walked straight out the door.
"Listen Duncan.. wait…I wanted to…" he pleaded but he didn't stop.
I wanted to tell you… but how could I? We both love her….
He felt relieved when Veronica didn't chase Duncan outside, she ventured into the lions den and went to talk to Meg for a moment while Logan stared helplessly after his friend. Could he really blame him for this?
"Thank's dad" he said as he walked into the kitchen. He would appease him, if only because he wanted to make sure he didn't end up getting grounded after this. He said hello to a few people and waited until the coast was clear so he could sneak Veronica unnoticed out of the main house and into the guest room beside the pool.
Veronica… his girlfriend.
"Now see? Why can't it just be like this?" he mused as he kissed her. "Why do there have to be all those other people in this world?" he said as he pulled her closer to the bed.
"What are you doing?" she giggled.
"You are too short.. I need to level the playing field…" he told her between kisses as he sat back onto the bed.
Now he was at her complete mercy.
"Is this where you take all your conquests?" she teased as he took off her jacket. Her skin was so soft… truthfully, he never came in here. This was his dad's 'entertaining' room. He brought his agents and reporters in here to chat business over dirty martini's. It was just far enough away from the main house that no one would come looking for them.
She was straddling his hips and every cell in his body felt like it was on fire, he lay back and folded his hands above his head so he couldn't undress her like he wanted to.
"Nope.. just the short ones" he laughed as she began to nibble at his ear.
Marshmallows and promises… she smelled so good…
He didn't deserve to touch her until he confessed, he thought guiltily.
"I have to tell you something…" he admitted.
"Nope… we are into full make out… no more confessional portion of this evening" she disagreed as she kissed him hungrily. He could feel himself begin to grow larger as the heat of her body aroused him.
"Stop.. " he pleaded as he dodge her kisses. "I gotta… I have to tell you something about Shellys party…" he confessed.
"I know about the salt like… I'm going to choose to think of it as one of those not real things" she said softly. If only that's the worst of what he had done that night…
"There's more…" Logan told her nervously and Veronica felt anxious.. did she really want to hear this? "I slipped some liquid x into Duncan's drink after he stopped us… I just wanted him to have some fun" he told her. I never wanted to hurt you… "He'd barely even smiled since Lilly…" he confessed.
"You didn't know what would happen" she said forgivingly.
"I'm the one that's responsible… and I can't take that I hurt you like that… I can't take that you got hurt when all I wanna do is protect you…" he told her passionately. I love you Veronica.
She responded by cupping his face and kissing him.
She doesn't blame me…
"I want you to trust me" he whispered. I want you to love me..
"I do" she told him earnestly and he reached his arms around her and they kissed, she was kind of grinding against him, her legs straddling his waist. She's so close…
His body was fighting him for control now, he had dreamed of her being with him like this… had imagined that tight warmth sheathed around him so many times. He needed a little distance to regain his composure.. he didn't want to rush her into anything.
"I don't know about you but I could use a refreshment about now" he sighed and she nodded in agreement but lay down happily on the bed, waiting expectantly.
Whew… were they really going to do this? He gasped as he stood up and got the small screwdriver to the air vent he had stashed in the bedside drawer.
"You learned that from Lilly" she smiled.
"No.. Lilly learned that from me" he corrected her. How else would you be able to keep a journal with a man like Aaron Echolls around? He thought as he inserted the key into the lock, it was stuck.
"It's kind of endearing I need a key to the liquor cabinet huh?" he said as he tried to give it a little twist.
What the hell? Oh no… it had broken off in the lock. He would have to ask Angelo the handy man guy to replace it in the morning. He was really nervous. Lilly had been a year older than him and he had loved her completely but she been in a hurry to experience everything as fast as possible; she had used him as an experimental sex plaything for almost all of the two years they had been together. He knew he was skilled at what he was doing and there had been countless girls since her death… but this is the first time it was really going to mean something since Lilly. Veronica hadn't been with anyone but Duncan.. and she didn't even remember it.
"Swell huh?" Logan mused, embarrassed. "I'll be right back" he promised as he turned and gave her a quick kiss. "Two minutes" he said laying her back down onto the bed and going to get them a drink.
Christ his heart was racing. He grabbed a bottle of champagne and snuck some snacks into his pocket encase she was hungry. Don't say something stupid… it's too soon to tell her you love her…
Getting back to her would have happened a lot faster had Luke and Natasha not cornered him on the way out again to tell him about Duncan smashing up his car. He had gone outside briefly to check on it, the car was still there but Todd and Lizzie had already driven Meg and Duncan home.
Logan would have to deal with this tomorrow… but right now he was finally getting exactly what he had wanted for the last few weeks. Some alone time with Veronica. He carried the glasses back across the garden to the bedroom where his girlfriend was waiting.
His girlfriend. God those words made him ridiculously happy.
"They said these are sugar free but I don't know" he said as he tried not to trip over the little step on the way into the door. "Veronica?" he asked nervously as he went and checked the en-suite bathroom.
Had she went into the house to look for him?
Logan raced across into the party again and went to check his bedroom.
"Have you seen Veronica?" he asked Trina who was busy flirting with Dennis, a footballer jock from his Economics class.
"Lose your girlfriend already?" Dick slurred drunkenly.
"Maybe she headed to that big rectangle with the knob after Duncan?" Madison suggested.
Had she heard about Duncan smashing up his car?
His heart sank when he realised that she wasn't there, or in the garden and she hadn't went back to the guest room.
She was gone.