Extra thanks to KMD0107 this week for doing her beta magic in VERY short order so I could stay on my Saturday schedule. I really appreciate her flexibility in the face of my busy week.
35 – At Long Last
Veronica made it three blocks away from the Kane estate before she had to pull over because she was crying too hard to continue to drive. She's been so angry at Lianne for leaving but then when she'd kept calling until Veronica tracked her down, she'd been hopeful that her mom would be able to come back and be with them again. Now she knew that was never going to happen. Truthfully, she wouldn't let it happen. Even if Lianne came back and convinced Keith that she wanted to stay together, Veronica didn't think she could allow it. Dad deserves so much better. She flashed on him laughing with Alicia Fennel a week earlier. He'd looked so happy. That's what he deserves.
Her phone beeped with the tone for a text from Logan. "Are you done with the smart folks meeting? Still feeling bad for Hamilton? Come over...I'll make you feel better." She grinned through her tears. He would make her feel better; she knew it. But she needed to talk to her dad more than she needed comforting so she texted him back. "Can't. Got to head home. Call you later. XO." She wiped her eyes with her sleeves and pulled back out, heading slowly for home so hopefully when she got there, she wouldn't look like she'd just been crying her eyes out.
She opened the apartment door quietly, hoping she could get into her room without her dad seeing her so she could pull herself together just a little more but he was sitting in the living room reading.
"Hey, sweetie. How'd the meeting go?"
"Not good. Hamilton agreed to not pursue the valedictorian title so the Fullers wouldn't prosecute his dad. I feel so bad for helping Sabrina. I made some money but Hamilton lost so much more." She dropped her bag and walked over to the chair, perching on the arm so she could lean against Keith, her arm around his shoulder and her head resting atop his.
"I understand how you feel, honey. Sometimes the client isn't the one you would have sided with if you knew the whole story from the beginning." He reached for her free hand and held it clasped in both of his.
"I never thought I'd envy Vinnie's cheerful lack of ethics. He would have had no trouble not telling Sabrina the truth."
"Yes, but he only would do that if Mr. Cho paid him to keep quiet. Even when you're contemplating unethical behavior, you're still operating at a higher level than Vinnie." Veronica sat up and looked down at her dad and at the same time, they shook their heads with matching rueful smiles.
"He's just terrible, isn't he?" she said.
"That he is. And yet somehow, he still manages to amuse me."
Veronica smiled at the memory of Vinnie's face as she pulled his fake mustache off his lip. "Clowns will do that."
"You've got that right. So, are you hungry? I made mac and cheese; your portion's still sitting on the stove."
"That sounds good; thanks, Dad." She stood up to go to the kitchen. "So are you free Saturday? Logan wants to go to the zoo."
"What?" Keith laughed. "Are you serious?" He stood and followed her to the kitchen, sitting at the bar.
"He suggested it after he spent hours figuring out who was on Aaron's tapes. He said he needed something wholesome in his life."
"That poor kid. I definitely think you kids should go to the zoo. You've had a rough week."
Rough couple of weeks, Dad, and you don't know the half of it.
"He specifically said he wanted you to come too, although if you've got a job and can't make it, we'll understand."
Keith grinned at her. "You guys want me to tag along? That's kinda nice."
"Yeah, you're invited. And I was thinking, maybe the Fennels can join us too. It looked like you and Mrs. Fennel were getting along pretty well the other day." She gave him a teasing smile. "Hmm? Or was I imagining something?"
The laughter fell away from Keith's face. "Veronica, I know that you're hoping..."
"I don't think you do know what I'm hoping, Dad," she interrupted. "I'm hoping you can find someone who makes you happy, who's a good person, and who cares about you. That's what you deserve and that's what I want you to have."
"But your mom..."
"My mom is gone and we don't need her back. But you need someone in your life. You can't spend all your time with me and Logan you know." She winked at him. "We'll take you to the zoo but you're not coming on all our dates."
"Really? I was hoping to tag along the next time that you two take the dog to the beach." Keith gave her a mischievous smile. "Would that be okay?"
"Urgh, this has taken an ugly turn. Anyway, you should call Mrs. Fennel and see if they can come. It'll be fun. And I think, if you're going to date, you should figure out how to get a divorce. I'm concerned that you're too honorable to really get involved with someone if you don't untie the knot with Lianne."
"Veronica, she's still your mom..."
"Yeah, I don't have the luxury of divorcing her like you do but it's okay. I'm good with this, Dad. If you're happy, I'm happy. That really is the truth." She paused and looked at her dad's concerned face. "We're better like this. We're stronger without her. She wasn't cut out to be a Mars. Not everyone is."
He smiled at her. "It is a heavy burden. Okay, I'll go call Alicia." He stood up and turned toward his room.
"Hey Dad, I've always wondered. Did you guys ever think about making more little Marses? Or did you just figure that you couldn't come close to living up to the standard you'd set with the first kid—" she grinned and jerked a thumb towards herself "—and decided I'd have to be an only child?"
Keith had turned back toward her as she asked the question and now he walked back to her with a frown. "That's an odd question, Veronica, especially right now. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing nefarious. I've just always wondered why I'm an only child." She shrugged and gave him an innocent look. "I'm sorry if it's too private of a question. Never mind."
"No, no, it's not. It's just never come up before. We did want more kids. We tried for years. Your mom actually had a miscarriage, not long after you started school...first or second grade. She hadn't even realized that she was pregnant before it was over. She had to have a procedure to remove...anyway, she tried to keep that from me so I wouldn't be disappointed too but she ended up in bed for a few days after and she had to tell me what had happened. We kept trying for a few more years but it never worked out. Maybe that's one of the reasons she started to drink so much more. I don't know. I guess it's good in the long run. You give me enough of a run for my money. Could you imagine if you outnumbered me?" He chuckled and came around the island to hug her. "I love you, Veronica. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You're never going to have to find out," she answered. As he walked away again, she called after him. "Remember to call Cliff too. Let him start the paperwork for you."
"We'll see," he said and disappeared back to his room. She watched him go with hatred for her mother swelling in her again. She'd kept him thinking they were in love and hoping for more children for years while she carried on with her high school sweetheart. She'd made him mourn the loss of a baby who'd never existed to cover up that she'd had her tubes tied to avoid having another child who wasn't Jake's. Veronica was having a hard time not screaming out her infuriation.
"Hey Dad," she called to his room.
"Yeah, Veronica?" He appeared in front of her again, his cell phone in hand.
"I think Backup needs a quick run. We'll be back shortly. Make sure you tell Mrs. Fennel we're getting an early start on Saturday. There's a lot to see at the zoo."
Mid-terms had ended Thursday so there was no school Friday and Logan took the opportunity to sleep in. When Veronica called him to say goodnight the night before, she'd suggested that they invite their friends over for another barbeque/pool party to celebrate the day off of school. She sounded a little down, which she attributed to the messed up situation between Sabrina and Hamilton, so he was eager to agree to her suggestion. It was Mrs. Navarro's first day back on the job so that was something to celebrate also. Veronica just didn't know that part yet. Logan planned to break that news to her with cookies.
He was still lying in bed imagining cookie surprises and how she might thank him when he was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on his door followed by Veronica popping her head into the room. "Are ya decent?"
"Does it really matter?" he asked, sitting up and scooting towards the middle of the bed so she had a place to sit next to him.
"Yeah, probably not much. I guess the better question would be if I was interrupting anything potentially embarrassing but it seems not." She crossed the room and climbed up next to him. "You're just lying in bed? Why not get up?"
"I just woke up a few minutes ago, Miss Pushy. And I was thinking about what we're going to do today. If I'd known you were on your way over at the crack of dawn, I would have gotten up and gotten ready to greet you."
"It's nearly 10:00 AM, Logan. Hardly the crack of dawn. Mrs. Navarro had breakfast ready for you an hour ago." She smacked her lips and smiled. "It was good."
"Oh dang it, I wanted to surprise you with cookies." He banged his head back against the headboard. "Now you already know she's back."
"Oh, I've already had cookies. She's hitting the ground running. You'd know these things if you bothered to get up. You know, I remember when you used to be up bright and early to surf. Do you even do that anymore?"
He twisted his mouth in disappointment. "Not in a while. It was always me and Duncan. Now...it's just that my mom didn't like me going out alone."
"Restrain your surprise when you hear this, but...what about Dick and Beaver? You love to surf. I hate that you've been missing out on something you enjoy so much." She tilted her head onto his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Well, you could come with me too, you know."
"I'm not a surfer. I tried a couple times back in the day but I never got the hang of it."
"Even if you're just on the beach, if I get clunked on the head by my board, at least you can call for help." He reached up and tugged on a lock of her hair, then twisted it around his finger.
"Logan, that's not good enough, you could be dead before anyone shows up. You need someone in the water with you. Call Dick. Make plans. Maybe for Sunday since we're doing the zoo tomorrow."
"Maybe I'll invite them over today. They can come hang out with us and Wallace and Mac and Carrie. Maybe you should invite Meg too. She's your friend and it's not like she's preoccupied with Duncan these days. Whaddaya think?"
Veronica looked at him with her nose crinkled up. "When are we going to get any time for ourselves? The more people are here, the less chance to sneak off to be alone."
He ran a finger down her forehead and her nose, trying to smooth the wrinkle. "Can't keep your hands off me for a whole afternoon?"
"Hands, mouth...no, I don't want to." She twisted toward him and kissed behind his ear, then deliberately bit his earlobe, while sliding her hand up over his bare chest. "You're saying you do?"
"Oh, God no," he laughed. "But, the truth is, I wasn't planning to. We're in the pool, you're climbing me like a monkey. We're sitting out on the deck, you're in my lap. We go in to watch a movie, I throw a blanket over us and I can get most of your clothes undone if I'm so inclined. If we're only wearing our suits, the biggest issue is going to be keeping you quiet so everyone doesn't know what we're doing. Having people around isn't going to keep me from touching you."
"And tomorrow? With my dad and Mrs. Fennel with us?"
"Mrs. Fennel? What are you talking about?" He looked down at her in confusion.
"Oh, I forgot, yeah, I had Dad invite the Fennels to come along with us. I hope that's okay."
"Sure, but...that's a pretty big switch from last week when you didn't want them dating. Now you're setting them up?" She sighed and leaned back against the headboard and he sat forward to look at her more closely. "Veronica?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot that we didn't really talk about this last night. Umm, so the meeting, it was at the Kane's."
"Uh huh, you told me that and I know you weren't crazy about that idea but Mr. Clemmons wanted you there since you'd found the connection between the harassment and Mr. Cho. It went okay, didn't it? You didn't say anything last night..."
"It went fine but at the end, I was the last one to leave and Jake stopped me to talk."
Logan twisted to face her, grabbing her hands. "What? Why? What did he say? He didn't threaten you about Duncan, did he? He didn't...hurt you?" He held her arms out in front of him, searching for bruising. She sighed again and he pulled her hands against his chest. "Veronica, you need to talk to me."
"He was very pleasant. He didn't threaten me or hurt me. Well, he hurt me some, but it wasn't physical and I really don't think he planned how the conversation went. I think some of what he said he thought I knew already. He started out trying to apologize." She scooted closer to him and he settled back so he could pull her tightly under his arm.
"Apologize for what exactly?"
"What Duncan did to me. Truthfully, although he said apologize, it was more about trying to make sure I understood there really wasn't anything to apologize for. He wanted to make sure I understood that Duncan had no idea I was completely out of it that night. If that was the case, then we were both there, just like Duncan said, and Duncan's excuse is valid. If that's true, then they're right, he didn't actually do anything wrong. I'm sure Jake just wanted me to understand that version of the story in case I got any ideas about reporting anything." She scoffed. "Like I'd try that a..." She shook her head quickly and stiffened a little. "Why would I want anyone else to know what happened? That's crazy."
Logan furrowed his brow. It sounded like she'd started to say 'again', like she'd reported what had happened to her previously. It was clear though, that she hadn't meant to say anything and right now, he was willing to go along with that. He kissed the top of her head and twisted his free hand in a 'go on' gesture. "What did you tell him?"
"I reminded him of that pesky incest issue and he said that he didn't know Duncan thought that back then because Jake already knew it wasn't true."
"What?"
"Yeah, I know. Apparently when I started hanging around with Lilly, he got suspicious and did a paternity test himself. He's known for years that he wasn't my dad. Like he said, there was no way he would have gone along with us dating if he'd thought there was a chance that we were brother and sister."
"So hold on; did Celeste lie to Duncan just to break you guys up?" He thumped his head back against the headboard again. This kept getting weirder.
"No, she knew there was the possibility and she told him to keep anything from happening. Getting rid of me was an added bonus. Anyway, apparently my mom had always insisted to Jake that Dad is my dad and he was fine with that assumption until he started seeing me and Lilly so close and decided that would be a dream family for him. But the DNA in my hair told a different story." She reached up and flicked at the rough edges of her hair. "Good old Mars hair. Hopefully that won't mean I'm bald before I'm forty."
Logan snorted a laugh. "Yeah, hopefully. Okay, so Jake tried to do some damage control but I'm still not seeing where you decided to hook up your dad with Wallace's mom."
"Well, as part of the conversation, I got the short version of the Jake/Lianne saga and...let's just say, my dad deserves so much better than her. Jake and Lianne were together before she got pregnant with me and then they took some time off until about the time I went to kindergarten. They started up again then and they'd been carrying on ever since. And—get this—they both decided they didn't want the other one having more kids with their respective spouses, so they each took care of that little problem but never told the people they were actually married to. Talking to my dad last night, I'm pretty sure that when she...did that...she convinced my poor dad that she'd actually lost a baby he thought they were trying to have. And he thought they were trying for another couple of years. Long after she'd made sure that she couldn't get pregnant. Real nice, huh?" Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she relayed her story in an angry voice. Logan pulled the top of the sheet up to wipe her face.
"I'm so sorry you had to hear all that."
"I'm not. I've been wanting them to get back together. Now, I wouldn't let her back in the house if a zombie was chasing her. And Dad looked like he was having fun with Wallace's mom. If she makes him happy, that's what I want." She looked up at Logan. "I told him to start working on getting a divorce. The sooner Lianne's legally out of our lives, the better." She frowned at him. "You look worried. I won't be like her. I promise."
"Oh my God, Veronica, that never even crossed my mind. I'm just worried about you. I want you to be okay and as tough as you're trying to be about this, I know it's got to hurt. She's still your mom. Just like my mom, even though what she's done has been terrible, she's still my mom. I think I can understand how you're feeling better than most people, how much this hurts you, even when you wish it didn't." He kissed the top of her head again. "We both deserve better moms than we got; I deserve a better dad. At least you've got Keith. And who knows, maybe you'll get Wallace's mom out of this too. Or maybe not, it's too soon to know yet but I think it's good that you're ready to let him start finding out what's out there for him."
"I think so too." She gave him a squeeze and then pushed off the bed, standing beside it and looking down at him. "I'm going back downstairs to get started on this party. You get cleaned up and come down to get some breakfast. You've got a couple of people to call now too."
Logan stood just beyond the front doorway of his house, watching Veronica laughing with Meg and Mac as she walked the two of them to Mac's car to head for home. They'd all had a great day, lots of time in the pool and tons of food courtesy of Mrs. Navarro. Dick had agreed to meet for surfing on Sunday morning but had declined Logan's invitation to their little 'no school' gathering once he realized that Logan's instruction of absolutely no alcohol was real. Surprisingly, Beaver had shown up mid-afternoon and ended up swimming with them for a few hours. He'd been the first to leave, probably not wanting to have to explain his whereabouts to Dick due to staying too long and Meg had to be home before 9:00 PM so Mac had offered to drive her.
Logan watched the girls chatting on the passenger side of Mac's car, then saw Mac glance over her shoulder at him. He tipped his head, uncertain why she looked almost guilty, and took a step toward them but she threw her hands up and called, "No! You stay right there." The other two looked up quickly and Meg laughed but Veronica shook her head at him.
"I'll be right in, you can go back and police Wallace's choice of the next movie."
"Good advice," he called back. "G'night ladies."
"Night, Logan. Thanks for a great party," Meg said, giving him a quick wave and climbing into the passenger seat.
"Yeah, thanks. It was fun," Mac echoed and Logan watched Veronica link arms with her to walk around to the driver's side. Logan turned away then and stepped back into the house.
"No bad sports movies," he yelled and he heard Carrie laugh from the screening room.
"Too late," she yelled back.
Logan peeked back out the door and saw Veronica walking toward him. Mac's car was pulling out onto the street. He walked back toward Veronica, picking her up and spinning them in through the front door and to the first solid wall which he pressed her against before leaning in for a kiss. After a few minutes, she broke away and tipped her head up, drawing in deep breaths, and he re-focused his attention from her mouth to her neck.
"Logan," she said breathlessly. "We're spending the day with my dad tomorrow. Please don't leave any marks on me."
"Don't worry," he answered. "I won't get us in trouble. I'm not prepared to have you put into solitary confinement." He straightened up and Veronica slid back onto her feet. "So, Carrie said he picked a bad movie while we were outside. I don't know what it is. Do we risk checking out the movie or do you want to go up to my room?"
She looked up at him with a smirk. "That doesn't seem like a very good thing for the host to do, abandoning your guests like that."
"Uggghh, they won't care. Wallace is going to enjoy his bad movie and Carrie is going to have fun doing the sports movie version of MST3K. They probably won't even notice we're not there."
"Yes, they will. Now come on. We've got plenty of time. Let's go help Carrie heckle Wallace." She caught his hand and pulled him after her to the screening room. As they stepped in the room, Wallace looked up from his squishy chair and whooped.
"Told'ja," he crowed and held his hand out to Carrie, who rolled around in her chair until she could dig in her pocket, pulling out a crumpled wad of money and slapping a five dollar bill into his outstretched hand.
"And what bet did we just win for Wallace?" Logan asked.
"I bet her that Veronica would make you come back in here," Wallace grinned.
"And I bet that you had more game, Echolls, and you'd convince her that you should go somewhere more private." Carrie looked at Wallace and shook her head. "Clearly I overestimated his appeal."
"Oh, that's just cold," Logan said. "Like I didn't already feel bad enough that she dragged me back down here, now you're making fun of me too."
"You cost me five bucks. I don't really care if you feel bad." Carrie curled back up in her chair. "But I lied about the movie. He put in 'Dodgeball'. That's not terrible."
"Oh yeah, modern classic, that one is," Veronica teased, then walked to one of the chairs toward the back of the room. She flopped onto the chair and pulled Logan down in front of her. "Okay, someone push start. We've got to get up early so I need to be home by a decent time."
"Oh yes, the Fennel-Mars-Echolls family zoo trip," Carrie said. "That sounds like loads of fun."
"It does sound fun," Logan said defensively. "You're just jealous that you don't get to go."
"Uh-huh, that's right." She paused and shook her head. "Actually, I might be jealous. Instead of the zoo, I get to go to Susan's first Lamaze class tomorrow."
"Oh," Veronica said with a grimace. "I definitely think the zoo sounds better."
"Yeah, actually, I think I'm taking back everything I said. At least this is only the first class. In a few weeks, we get to watch a video of an actual birth. With gross close-ups and blood and everything. I actually think they should show that video in Sex Ed. That and get some of those computer chip babies that you have to haul around and keep alive. If those things don't give a person incentive to not get knocked up, I don't know what will." She reached for the remote and the movie start menu popped up.
"The school ordered those last year but they've never taken them out of the boxes," Wallace chimed in. "Some parent complained and the school board's fighting it out. In the meantime, there are all these boxes of creepy plastic babies stacked up in a supply closet in the front office. I hate that room." He gave a full body shudder and the other three laughed.
"Okay, enough creepy baby talk," Carrie said, pointing the remote at the DVD player. "I'm watching a movie."
"Why did Keith and Mom get the first gondola and we all got stuck in this one?" Darrel asked as Wallace stepped into the car and sat down next to him. Logan was sitting directly across from the little boy and Veronica crossed her leg over Logan's so she could poke Darrel gently in the knee with her foot.
"Mainly so I could torture you without the parents telling me no," Veronica said slyly and Darrel swung his foot over to poke at her, but accidentally kicked Wallace instead.
"No way, you two. You guys misbehave and I'm the one who ends up with the bruises," Wallace complained.
Veronica pouted her lower lip out at him mockingly. "Ah, you poor baby," Veronica teased. "Darrel, you've got to stop kicking Wallace. He's delicate." Wallace rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"That's not what I said. Stop corrupting my little brother, V. He's hard enough to control as it is."
"Hey, I'm the oldest here so I'm in charge. And, I've got an enforcer if you cross me." Veronica looked at Logan imperiously. "Logan, make Wallace stop telling me what to do."
"What? Leave me out of this. I am NOT your enforcer. At least not against Wallace." He leaned his arms on his legs to get closer to Darrel's height. "What's the best animal you've seen today?"
"I liked the snake house," Darrel said and Wallace shook his head in distaste. "And the Tasmanian devils were cool looking but I wanted them to spin around like on Bugs Bunny."
"Yeah, that was highly disappointing when I first realized they don't do that," Veronica said in a serious voice and Logan snickered.
"I liked the koalas," Wallace said.
"They didn't really do anything," Darrel complained. "The lemurs were better." He looked directly at Logan. "You're taking me to 'Madagascar' when it comes out, right?"
"I said I would," Logan answered. "As long as it's okay with your mom."
"Me too, me too!" Veronica chimed in.
"As long as it's okay with your dad," he teased. "Wallace? You coming too?"
Wallace put his hands up and sneered. "No way. If you guys will take him, that gets me out of it."
Veronica poked Darrel with her foot again. "He'll be sorry. We'll have an amazing time and he'll be so sorry that he missed out." She stuck her tongue out at Wallace. "We'll get slurpies that turn our tongues blue and a ton of candy and a gigantic popcorn. And then Amy's after the movie's over."
"And then you'll bring him home and I'll have to deal with the sugar high and the stomach ache," Wallace said. "I'll have to get Mom to put some limits on what snacks you guys can get him."
"Party pooper," Logan said, as Darrel peeked over the edge of the gondola.
"We're really high. Can you see Mom and Keith?" the little boy asked. Logan twisted to look behind him to the car ahead of them.
"Yeah, they haven't fallen out. They're still riding in their car."
Darrel stretched, trying to see over the front edge of the gondola. "Are they kissing?"
The other three responded with astonishment. "What?!"
"I saw them last week. When they came back from lunch."
"Oh no, no, no," Wallace moaned. "As if the two of you aren't bad enough."
"Ooh," Darrel looked at Logan and Veronica with interest. "You guys kiss?"
"Occasionally," Veronica said suspiciously. "Why? Are ya gonna narc us out to the kissing police?"
"Nah," the little boy replied. "It's cool. I've kissed three girls at my school this year." Wallace threw up his hands again and groaned. Darrel ignored him and looked again at Logan. "Have you kissed three girls at your school this year?"
Wallace's moan turned to giggles and Veronica shifted sideways, looking at Logan with interest.
"Well, Darrel," he began, "in general, I've found that if you want to keep kissing a particular girl, it's better to not talk about kissing other girls in front of her."
Wallace continued to laugh but Veronica's smile suggested his answer had been a good one. Darrel tipped his head with an inquisitive look.
"So you want to keep kissing Veronica?"
"Yes, definitely." Logan leaned toward her and kissed her forehead. "For as long as she'll let me." Veronica's face lit up and he was pretty sure they'd be doing more than kissing if they were alone.
"Huh," Darrel said thoughtfully. "Only Veronica?"
"Only Veronica." He pressed his forehead to hers. Forever.
"I dunno. I think I'm gonna need to play the field for a while longer," Darrel said and the others all burst into laughter.
Logan watched from his car as Veronica unlocked the Fennel's front door to let Wallace, carrying a sleeping Darrel, into the house. They disappeared inside for a minute, then Veronica appeared in the doorway again, stepping out and quietly closing the door. She hurried back down the walk, smiling at Logan as she came.
"That is one tired little boy," she said as she climbed in and buckled her seatbelt.
"Yeah. Darrel looked pretty beat too," he joked and she laughed with him.
"Poor Wallace. Imagine finding out that your seven year old brother's gotten more action in the last year than you'd gotten," she said.
"Yeah, he looked a little shell shocked." Logan pulled up to a four-way stop and glanced at Veronica. "Where to, milady? Home? The beach? Somewhere with more food?"
"Ugh, no, I'm actually full. Dad and Alicia will probably be out for a while yet. They were gonna get dinner and then I wouldn't be surprised if there was some romantic walking on the beach or some other place like that." She grabbed his hand. "Come home with me and we'll snuggle on the couch and you can remind me how you only want to kiss me."
Logan twined his fingers through hers. "I really meant that, you know."
"I believed you. Doesn't mean I don't want to hear it again." She smiled at him and he turned the car toward the Mars' apartment building.
"Okay then, home it is."
It was nearly 11:00 PM when Logan reluctantly untangled himself from Veronica and stood up from the couch, pulling her with him out the front door.
"Nice of your dad to text you his ETA so we can make sure everyone's hands are on the correct side of everyone else's clothes," he said with a smirk. "Maybe you should start doing the same before you come home at night." He grabbed her around the waist and set her up on the porch railing, then pressed in between her knees.
She laughed and wrapped her legs around the back of his, pulling him closer. "Positive reinforcement. Good idea." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've had such a great day. Great day yesterday too. I think we've successfully made up for the other bad Saturdays."
"Weekend's not done," Logan said, ducking down to kiss behind her ear. "Surfing in the morning and then whatever we want to do for the rest of the day." He kissed across her throat to behind her other ear. "I've got a big, empty house at our disposal tomorrow."
"As long as you don't invite Dick back with us," she teased.
"Nope, he had his chance Friday." Logan said before sucking lightly on her pulse point. Her head fell back and she sighed out his name, shifting her legs to wrap around his hips and pull him more tightly against her. He pulled back and stood looking at her, her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her face. After a moment, she seemed to register that he wasn't kissing her any longer and her eyes fluttered open. He could see the apprehension in her eyes when she realized that he was just looking down at her and her brow furrowed.
"Is something wrong?" Her cheeks blushed pink and he felt the pressure from her legs around him lessen.
"No, no, nothing's wrong." He pressed harder against her. "I just needed to look at you."
The worry in her face vanished and her gaze turned coy, with head tilted and full mischievous smile. "Oh. Well, that's okay, I guess. Do I look all right? No leftover cotton candy in my hair or anything like that?"
"How would I know? Every bit of you tastes sweet to me."
She laughed loudly. "Oh wow. Now that's some line." She clutched her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Do not share that one with Darrel."
"Sorry, it just came out. It actually is true, though." He straightened out of her grasp again so he could look at her again, smoothing her hair behind her ear. "I've been fighting this off for a while now...afraid I was going to scare you off. But I can't anymore...I love you, Veronica."
She sucked in a loud breath, and didn't seem to exhale. The playful look on her face slid away and she just stared at him. As the seconds passed with no response, he felt his heart plunging to his toes and he tried to take a step back. "I'm gonna go. Do you still want to go to the beach in the..." His embarrassed words were interrupted when she lunged forward and pressed her parted lips urgently against his. He took back the step he'd moved away and pushed in more tightly against her as they continued to kiss frantically. He finally had to break away but he laid his hand against her cheek and pressed his forehead to hers, eyes locked, not wanting to break the connection between them. "So, I guess I didn't scare you off," he said in the coolest voice he could muster and she gave a tiny, breathless laugh.
"No, not scared. Maybe a little surprised but...I've been thinking about that too. I almost told you last week but...it just didn't seem like the right time. But when you said that you only wanted to kiss me, I realized, that's how I feel too. And if I consider not getting to kiss you, or touch you, or talk to you again...it makes me feel...I guess hollow is the best description. Like something's missing from inside of me. I love you too, Logan. I don't want to find out for sure what I would feel without you." She kissed him gently, then pulled away and smiled. "Dad just drove up. I hear his car. I think we're gonna have to find out what it feels like to have to go separate places right now but it won't be for long."
He smiled and nodded. "Am I picking you up here at 6:30 AM?"
"Not if you don't want a bloody nose at 6:31 AM. And that seems like a bad idea when you're purposely going to swim in the ocean. You know, where the sharks live."
"Okay, no violence needed. No dawn wake-up calls for you." He kissed her once more then backed away again and lifted her down from the railing. "So you can either join us on the beach or if I don't see you, I'll pick you up before I head for home. Okay?" She nodded and they walked hand-in-hand out to the parking lot.
Partway down the path, they met Keith, who was grinning broadly. "Hey kids, great day, huh?"
Logan looked from Keith to Veronica, then back again. "Yep. It's been a pretty great day."