AN: Another update :) Thanks to the loyal readers who have reviewed.
This story is moving towards a close, and I plan to have it finished before the delight that is the Veronica Mars movie is released. My VM will be over, and we can see what was really intended for Veronica! (It will be a LoVe story. Right? Right?)
"Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read. I would read them together with you, as many as I can, before I die–" – Will Herondale
Chapter 27
On Saturday evening, Aubrey floated down the stairs from her bedroom.
Violet trailed after her, slightly envious of the picture her sister made in an embroidered tulle Marchesa gown. Instead she chose to focus on the invitation she held in her hand.
"What's this?" Violet asked, waving the piece of paper.
At the base of the stairs, Aubrey turned to look.
"It's an invite to Ellie Faulkner's Christmas Party," Aubrey replied airily. "Now, you're sure everything matches?"
Violet ignored Aubrey's question regarding her outfit and said instead, "The theme is Naughty or Nice. I'm sure Mom and Dad are going to love that."
"Yes, I'm sure they know it's just an excuse to wear tiny, little, revealing outfits," Aubrey said dryly. "However, I'm sure they also know that I won't be leaving this house wearing anything too inappropriate. Now, can we get back to the current matter of fashion?"
Violet looked critically at Aubrey.
Her long hair was pulled back into a stylish up-do, with a few loose curly tendrils, and intricate braids woven in. The afore mentioned Marchesa dress was an elegant, soft, silvery, ethereal creation. It was floor length, with the bodice being close fitting lace, covered with embroidered sparking beads and sequins, complemented by an elegant off the shoulder sleeve made of the same lace, that stopped at elbow length. The dress flowed out, into a loose, tulle skirt that started at about the top of her thighs. Delicate silver heels were on her feet, and she held a plum purple clutch.
"You look darling, except, I'm not sure about those earrings," Violet told her honestly.
"I know, with my hair up, I thought they might take too much attention away from the neckline," Aubrey agreed.
"So change your earrings," Logan suggested, coming into where the girls were standing near the foot of the stairs. "In fact, wear these."
Logan pulled a velvet case out of pocket, and handed it to Aubrey.
"They still say 'I'm fabulous', but they're dainty and won't distract from the dress. Or so I'm told," he said with a grin.
"Why Daddy, they're beautiful," Aubrey said sincerely, quickly putting the earrings on.
Aubrey knew, just from looking at the earrings, that they were white gold, probably 18 karat, and the tiny diamonds that lined the wing like earrings were at least 1 carat.
"Perfect," Violet declared. "Fancy enough, but also understated to not cause a fuss. I'd even wear them on any old normal day."
"That is the beauty of them, they can be worn for any occasion," Logan added.
"Big, but not too big, and so pretty," Violet continued.
"I love them Daddy, they're definitely my new favourites," Aubrey said happily. "Now, where's Mom? Dan should be here any minute."
"I'm in the family room!" Veronica called. "Come in here, you three."
Father and daughters trooped in, to where Veronica was sitting with some case files and her laptop. Even though it was Saturday, she was working, working on trying to get a break in the case of Aubrey's attacks. She had not told Logan or any of the children, but some photos had come to her in the mail, of Aubrey, at close range. They had been taken in the Neptune Mall. The FBI had analysed them, as had Veronica, and they could not find anything that lead them closer to the attacker.
Veronica had gone over every inch of her old cases' profile, and there were definitely people she'd been able to definitely rule out, but there was no one that stood out, and there were just no definitive leads. Veronica was irrationally beginning to hope that if she just looked hard enough, for long enough, that something would come to her.
Their family security was still very tight, and Aubrey still had an FBI agent on her. Logan and Veronica were trying not to let the danger their children were in stop them from enjoying life. So Aubrey was off to the Winter Formal, security detail in tow. Additionally, Veronica and Logan felt that the Neptune Grand's own security was a bonus, as was the fact that Aubrey would be with a lot of people.
"Darling, you look beautiful," Veronica told her. "Logan, those earrings are lovely."
Both of them grinned, pleased with themselves.
"Do you have a jacket? It's quite cool outside," Veronica remarked.
"I'm just going to wear that lightweight, purple coat, it matches quite well," Aubrey answered. "It's in the coat closet, under the stairs. I'd better grab it now."
As she did, the doorbell rang.
It was Dan, who greeted all the Echolls, then he and Aubrey left for the Winter Formal, in his Audi.
"You look stunning," an 09er classmate said to Aubrey, as she and Dan entered the ballroom.
"Thanks, Belle, Caroline is a master at planning an outfit," Aubrey said graciously.
"And at planning a dance, apparently!" Belle replied enthusiastically.
The Winter Formal was Caroline's pet, she had planned nearly all of it.
Aubrey gave a little wave, as she and Dan moved off to find their table.
"Care!" Aubrey exclaimed, spotting her best friend, standing near their table, curled into the side of Josh, chatting animatedly with some people.
Caroline broke away, and moved towards Aubrey as fast as her stilettos would allow.
"You look amazing!" she squealed. "I have such a good eye for fashion. Oh, nice earrings, where did you get those?"
"Yes, you're a genius, and they are lovely, aren't they? They're from Dad," Aubrey answered.
"Babe, I'm going to say hi to the guys, back in a minute," Dan said, kissing her cheek. He knew their girlish chat would go on for at least the time he was gone.
"Uncle Logan has almost as good taste as me," Caroline giggled. "I doubt he could've picked as brilliant a dress as I chose though."
"Your dress is gorgeous," Aubrey agreed.
"I meant your dress, but thank you," Caroline said, pleased with herself.
She had every right to be pleased with herself. She was wearing a form fitting, sleek and sultry, black lace, Dolce and Gabbana gown. Her hair was pulled back in a chignon, and she had vintage 1920s jewellery on. She did look stunning.
"Uncle Logan should take us to a red carpet event, we'd so fit in," Caroline said enthusiastically.
Aubrey just smiled in agreement.
Justin arrived shortly after with Emma, and the evening soon went into full swing.
They had their dinner, there was dancing, to new and old music, to fast and slow paces.
Aubrey was dancing, with her head rested on Dan's shoulder, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed Justin looking at her, with unveiled longing.
Their eyes connected briefly, and Justin dropped his immediately.
He'd been caught off-guard, he'd hardly realised he'd been looking at her that way.
But he had, and as he watched Aubrey disentangle herself from Dan's arms and whisper something in his ear, he knew he was in trouble.
Aubrey all but stalked off the dance floor, she wasn't angry, but she walked with purpose.
That day in the shooting range, it had dawned upon her that Justin may have feelings for her, feelings that extended further than friendship. She had surreptitiously observed his behaviour since then, as only Veronica's daughter could do, and had seen confirmation of her thoughts.
She had not decided what to do about it, if anything, but when she'd seen the longing look Justin had given her, she made a snap decision.
Aubrey reached Justin's chair, where he was sitting alone at his table, no one, let alone his date, Emma, was to be seen. If Aubrey hadn't been so perturbed, she would have chuckled inwardly at the parallels that could be drawn to the scene in Harry Potter of Ron Weasley at the Yule Ball.
"I think we should talk," she said in an oddly calm tone. She felt anything but calm.
Justin simply nodded.
"I think a breath of fresh air would be good too," Aubrey continued. "Let's head out the front. Let me get my coat."
They walked out the front in silence, Aubrey's skirts swishing around her legs, her heels making no sound on the carpeted foyer of the Neptune Grand.
"What do you want to talk about?" Justin asked, as they stood out the front of the Grand, away from the doors, in a quiet but fairly well lit area.
"Justin, I know," Aubrey said gently, taking the kindest approach possible. He was one of her oldest friends, she wanted to do as little damage as possible to their relationship.
"Know what?" Justin said uneasily.
"Do you want to do this the hard way?" Aubrey asked tensely.
"I'd rather not do it at all," Justin said, trying to joke.
"Well, I'm sorry, but that's not an option anymore," Aubrey retorted. "When you let your feelings show, especially in public, and more than once, it's game over."
"Well, when you put it like that," Justin said flatly.
"Yes, I do put it like that," Aubrey said softly. "How did this happen, Justin?"
"It all makes perfect sense to me, really," Justin said, a little obstinately. "Well, except for the part where you somehow found out."
"I'm Veronica Mars' daughter, and you didn't exactly hide your feelings that well, so I think it makes perfect sense that I found out," Aubrey retorted.
"Okay, okay, so I'm stupid!" Justin exclaimed. "I was stupid to fall for you, I was stupid to not get over you, I was stupid to let you see my feelings, I am stupid. Except, I'm not stupid, as if I could help loving you? You're beautiful, and funny, and smart, and kind, and completely unavailable. I am stupid."
"I'm inclined to agree, largely because you're contradicting yourself," Aubrey pointed out pertly. "You want to know why you really are stupid?"
"Not really," Justin said slowly, looking at her warily.
"Because you didn't tell me. You're one of my closest friends. We could've avoided all this if you'd just told me," Aubrey told him.
"Um, actually, either way you look at it, we have a very awkward situation, the end result being that I am thoroughly and officially in the friend zone," Justin contradicted her.
"Okay, so maybe that's right, but at least I wouldn't have been stressing over what to do about your crush on me," Aubrey suggested. "Wait, that's selfish."
"No, no, you're right. You do have enough going on without having to think about how to tell me we're never going to happen," Justin said graciously.
"Well, I hadn't yet told you we're never going to happen, but I'm glad you said it, because it's true. You're like my brother, I love you, but only in a platonic, brotherly way. I really care about Dan, and you deserve to have someone care about youthat way," Aubrey explained. "And on that note, you really aren't being fair to Emma."
"Oh good, a sisterly scolding, just to nail all this home," Justin said dully.
"Justin, she cares about you, you've been dating her. You should care about her feelings, even if she isn't who you want to be with now. She deserves more than that," Aubrey admonished. "She's your date tonight, you should go in, and dance with her, and have a good time, regardless of how you feel about me. End things with her if you need to, but after tonight."
"Anything else?" Justin asked a little sullenly.
"Yes," Aubrey continued. "I'm sorry I've hurt you tonight, I didn't want to, but we were just going to both keep on suffering if we didn't talk about this. You're very important to me, and I hope, once we get past this, things can be normal between us again."
"I hope so too," Justin replied. "Man, I love high school."
Aubrey gave a little laugh, pleased their chat seemed to be over.
"You ready to go in now?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Aubrey answered.
They walked inside together, and on the threshold of the ballroom, she paused, touched Justin's sleeve and said, "I'm just going to use the bathroom. If you see Dan, let him know."
"Somehow, I'd rather not see your boyfriend right now, Aub," Justin said awkwardly.
"Fine, just tell Caroline," Aubrey replied, and headed off to the bathroom.
Out the front, in a dark corner of the parking lot, Curtis, who was on Aubrey's private security detail, lay bleeding profusely from a chest wound. He was out cold, and losing blood fast.
Around the side of the ground floor of the Neptune Grand, a figure, all dressed in black, pulled the trigger on her gun. Her bullet hit her mark, right in the middle of Agent Fitzwalter's head.
He dropped to the ground, his blood pooling around him quickly.
She had meant to kill the other guy in the parking lot, but her aim had not been quite so good, she had been distracted by Aubrey heading back inside. Still, she'd got him well enough to put him down, and a sound hit on the head with the butt of her gun had ensured he was unconscious.
After moving her first victim, she had looking into the Grand just in time to see Aubrey split from Justin, probably in the direction of the bathroom.
She had silently raced around to the other side of the building to dispose of the FBI agent.
From weeks of observing, she was sure she had removed all of the Echolls girl's protection detail.
She'd made a thorough study of the Grand too, upon deciding that it would be there that she would capture Aubrey, from the Winter Formal.
She broke into the bathroom from the outside of the building, just in time to clunk the unsuspecting Aubrey on the back of the head, as she stood washing her hands.
Aubrey lay in a crumpled heap, and her captor looked around, luckily finding no one else in the bathroom. She locked the door, to make sure no one could enter as she left through the outside door with her prize.
A few minutes later a non-descript black car raced out of the parking lot and into the night.
Ten minutes later, a disgruntled Caroline was looking for her best friend.
"Has she fallen in or something?" Caroline asked plaintively.
"I'd rather not imagine that, Care," Dan said with a grimace. "But you are right, she's been a while. Let's go check on her."
They made their way to the bathroom attached to the ballroom, and Dan stood to the side as Caroline prepared to breeze in.
She was stopped by the locked door.
"Dan, I can't get in!" she exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked curiously.
"Well, the door won't open," Caroline said in a frustrated tone.
"Let me try," Dan said tiredly.
After pushing on it with no success he said, "Okay, it's definitely not budging."
"I don't have a very good feeling," Caroline said.
"Me either," Dan said grimly. "I'm going to find Curtis. You go get someone from the hotel to open the bathroom."
Ten hectic minutes later, Curtis had not been located yet, and Caroline, Dan, and Principal Adams burst into the just forced open bathroom door.
"She's gone!" Caroline exclaimed, dismayed.
"Are you sure she was ever here?" Dan asked, clearly not hopeful.
"That's her clutch," Caroline said, pointing out the plum purple accessory on the floor near the sink.
"I'm going to call the Sheriff, and Mrs Echolls," Principal Adams declared. "Don't either of you go anywhere, or call anyone. You need to let me handle this."
Caroline dove quickly into Dan's arms and started to cry.
There was no way either them wanted to make the call to Veronica anyway.
AN: Well, there we are. Lots of action in that chapter!
