thanks for all the reviews!

500+ reviews! hell yeah!

i definitely felt the love for the last chapter and well for this entire fic! thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement!

Authors note: so far everyone seems to like the Lamb/Lynn pairing. which is good. I felt they were ready for a little happiness.

FYI...the bus crash is very similar to what happens in the show...but as always there are differences...

I don't own VM

Can't Live Without You

Veronica

"Miss Dumbass?"

I knew I shouldn't but I couldn't help but laugh a little. Logan, Mac, Meg and I just sat there witnessing the exchange between our new teacher and Dick from the back of the bus.

"Its Doo-mas, Dick."

"Well my name's pronounced "Re-shard" and it stinks back here. I think someone died."

"You're free to sit closer to the front."

Dick stood up in his seat, surveyed the people at the front of the bus and then looked back at us.

"That's ok, I don't think that's gonna help. Thanks anyways." He sat back down and put his arm around Mac who, like everyone else, was still trying not to laugh.

I was the only one that said anything. "Why do you always have to be such a dick, Dick?"

Logan finally couldn't not laugh and Dick turned around to me smiling evilly. "Hey, some people can sing, some people can play sports. My talent is jackassery."

We all started laughing. "Well that's for sure."

Cassidy leaned up in his seat then and got Dick's attention. "Hey, who's the new girl?"

I sat up a little and leaned on Logan so I could see. I hadn't seen her before and I looked at Logan and he shook his head.

Dick smiled at Cassidy. "Just some lovely young flower blossoming into womanhood." Cassidy blushed a little. "What Beav, do you wanna pluck her?"

Cassidy didn't say anything, he just sat back down and then Logan interjected. "Nah Dick, I don't think she's his type. If anybody we know needs to pluck her it should be Wallace."

Meg looked over the top of her seat at me and smiled as I heard Mac chuckle.

I leaned back against the window of the bus, moved my legs into Logan's lap and he laid down slightly resting his head on my chest with his arms around me. "Always trying to get your friends laid, huh Logan?"

He looked up at me mischievously, looked around to see if anyone could see and slipped his hand below my shirt and up to my breast. I took in a sharp breath as he replied. "Well it is the thing to do these days, or so I hear."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. "Yet you aren't?"

He smiled again. "Yeah, but you see, there's a difference between me and everyone else."

"And that difference is?"

He nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck and started to nibble on my skin. "They don't have you and I know for a fact that you will be more than worth the wait."

I took in another sharp breath and pulled him back up to me, his hand still massaging my breast. "Thank you."

He kissed me lightly. "No need to thank me baby we've been over this before, I'll wait forever if that's what it takes. There's no rush. There are plenty of other things we can do until then." And then he pulled up and kissed me forcefully.

He was right there were plenty of other things we could do. And last night, for the first time since Aaron attacked me…we did some of those things.

I had been working towards it for so long and last night I decided I was ready to move forward again.

So when he took off my shirt, I moved his hand down and helped him unbutton and unzip my jeans.

He had looked so surprised and I think he asked me about 10 times if I was sure, but every time I said yes. I finally ended up grabbing his hand and moving it inside my jeans myself. And when I did, he gave me one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen.

He was extremely gentle the entire time and then much to his surprise after he made me cum, I climbed on top of him and helped to return the favor.

When I woke up this morning I felt better than I had in months. We aren't exactly where we had been on graduation, but we are close.

"Seriously guys, we are in public." Said Meg successfully pulling me from my focus on Logan's hand and mouth.

We looked up to see Meg, Mac, Dick and Beaver all staring at us in amusement. Logan's hand immediately left my shirt and I started blushing, but Logan just smiled, never the one to be embarrassed.

After a few seconds he laid back down with his head on my chest and then he laughed.

"What?"

"It really does stink back here."

He was right, it really did.

Logan

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been surprised by how far Ronnie had taken things last night. But then I'd also be lying if I said I hadn't been thrilled. She felt even better than I remembered and I almost came the second my finger entered her.

I love her and just being with her is enough for me. But being with her like that is something I just can't get enough of. She truly lets go of her inhibitions and lets herself just be in the moment and free. Something she rarely does otherwise, well except sometimes with me.

I think I asked her a million times if she was sure and then she actually had to move my hand for me because I was afraid I might hurt her. I went as slow as possible, the last time she had been touched like that it hadn't been out of love or wanting to give her pleasure, it was out of evil, and I was painfully aware of that. I wanted her to remember, to feel again what it could be like, what it had been like for her before and I definitely succeeded in that. When she came it was long and hard and she was breathless and I just moved up, rolled her over onto my chest and held her as she came down from her high.

And then she really surprised me. She sat up, straddled me and started rocking her body against me. I considered stopping her, but I didn't, could you really blame me, I needed it and so did she. I found my release and I made her cum for the second time that night.

And then as usual she fell asleep in my arms.

We aren't exactly where we were, but we are close.

Casey

I got out of my truck, walked up to the door of the Casablancas estate and knocked, waiting impatiently for the door to open.

I waited for a very painful 2 minutes before Kendall opened the door, she was wearing nothing but a red silk robe and looked sexy as hell. I smiled at her. "Can Dick and Beaver come out to play?"

She just smiled at me and then turned away quickly. "Let's go see if we can find them."

I watched as she dropped her robe, revealing her naked body to me and turned around again. "Coming?"

"We've got to stop meeting like this." I hurried after her.

I know, I know I'm a terrible person, not only is she married…but she's married to one of my best friends dad's.

But I honestly can't help myself. I need a release, someone to help me get over Veronica and Kendall is nothing if not a good distraction. She is the exact opposite of Veronica, so she is exactly what I need right now.

She has rebound written all over her. But boy is she ever a fun rebound.

Meg

Ok, so I really was not in the mood to listen to Woody Goodman give us a freaking political agenda speech. But Gia seems nice, not that we we'll be inducting her into our group, but still nice. And I was pretty impressed that Dick didn't even flirt with her, Mac has been a good influence I guess. But Cassidy on the other hand…I think he's trying to fill in Dick's shoes…and he's not succeeding. He tried, and failed, to flirt with her, it was actually a little sad.

After Woody was done talking, they served us lunch, which was great since Veronica and I were starving. Ok, so we are always starving, but seriously, we needed food.

V and I both grabbed huge platefuls and then joined our friends at one of the tables. She looked over at Logan's almost equally large plate. "Babe, I'm afraid you might get love handles if you eat all that."

He smiled and then kissed her. "I have an excellent metabolism." And then he pointed at her plate. "Besides, you have no room to talk. Damn you and your hollow legs."

She laughed and leaned in closer to him. "You love my hollow legs."

He kissed her again and perused her body with his eyes. "I love everything about you."

I really thought I might puke and then Dick saved us all. "Dude seriously, I'm eating here."

They both just smiled and without taking their eyes off of each other they replied in unison. "Sorry."

I really am happy for them. It's obvious that Veronica's finally started coming to grips with what happened to her. It's something that really needed to happen. It was hard to see her the way she was after the attack, but Mac and I didn't run away, we couldn't, she needed us too much and that's what friends are for.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Dick's voice. "Hey, isn't that Terence Cook?"

Woody brought him over to group from the field trip and introduced him. When Woody walked away, Dick got up to go talk to our teacher and Logan grabbed V's hand and pulled her over to Mr. Cook. She actually looked a little startstruck. Mac and I both listened in, very interested in the conversation at hand.

"Excuse me Mr. Cook?"

He turned to her and smiled. "Yes ma'am?"

"I just wanted to say...you're my brother's favorite baseball player ever." She was talking about Lamb. Ever since Aaron attacked her she has started to refer to him that way, I don't think Lamb could be any happier than he is about it. "He keeps your rookie card vacuum-sealed inside a safe."

He laughed a little and smiled. "Well, that is an honor. You tell him thanks for me." And then he shook her hand and she blushed.

"When he finds out about this, he's not gonna let me wash this hand ever again."

"Well, who is your favorite player?"

She didn't answer him at first and Logan started laughing a little. "Tell him. Be honest."

And then Mr. Cook spoke again. "Its Johnny Damon isn't it?"

V smiled. "He's so pretty."

Logan started laughing and then the rest of us joined in.

A few seconds later Dick came back to the table and told us that Miss Dumas had ok'd it for us to take a limo back. I'd been looking for a chance to talk to V alone all day and this was my shot so I got her attention.

I whispered to her. "Hey V?"

She smiled and leaned in, she obviously got the hint that I didn't want to be overheard. "Yeah?"

"Would you be willing to ride back on the bus with me? I need to talk to you."

She smiled again. "Of course, I was wondering when you'd get up the nerve to talk to me."

I blushed a little, I hadn't realized she was aware that something was going on, but then I realized that Logan had probably told her about what he had seen that night before. "Thanks V."

"No problem."

I sat there and listened as she told Logan what we were going to do and then we all headed out to the parking lot.

The limo wasn't there yet so they had to wait, but V and I went to get on the bus. We gave everybody hugs and as I went to climb on Logan got my attention. "I'm leaving her in your hands Meg. You better return her to me in one piece."

I smiled. "As always Logan."

Veronica

Logan wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a kiss. I went to climb up onto the bus but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. "Hey, I'm gonna miss you."

I reached up and kissed him again. "I'll miss you more." And then I joined Meg on the bus.

We took the two seats all the way at the back and before I even sat down she was spilling her guts.

"I'm breaking up with Leo. Tonight."

She totally caught me off guard. "Huh?"

"I said…I'm breaking up with…."

I stopped her. "Yeah I got that. But what made you decide to do it? I thought things were good with him."

She looked at me sheepishly. "They are….but its just that…I don't think he's the one for me."

I smiled. "Ok, so do you know who is?" I knew, but I wasn't sure if she knew, or if it even had anything to do with her decision to break up with Leo.

"Yeah."

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?"

She smiled. "Oh please V, like you don't already know."

I laughed. "So when did you realize that you love Luke just as much as he loves you?"

She smiled again. "Well its been happening for awhile actually. Leo is a great guy don't get me wrong. But when we're together I don't feel the connection I have with Luke. It's like Luke makes me feel free and wanted. And sure, Leo tries to be like that, but I don't always feel like I can be myself around him. And that's important. Isn't it?"

"Yes it is." I could really relate to her. I could always be myself around Casey, but I was never able to just let go and be in the moment with him. Some people are just better meant to be friends.

"Well anyways….With everything that happened to you last year…." I cringed a little and she apologized before moving on. "I did a lot of thinking and I came to a conclusion."

"And that conclusion is?"

"That life is short and I don't want to waste anymore time. And that even if it doesn't work out with Luke, I owe it to him and myself to at least try."

I smiled at her. "I'm proud of you Meg. It's hard to take a leap of faith like that with one of your best friends but hopefully you'll have the same success Mac and I have had. Have you told Luke yet?"

"No. I'm going to end it with Leo tonight, he's picking me up at the school and then I'm going to head over to Casey's to see Luke."

"Wow, not wasting any time huh?"

She laughed a little. "Nope, I'm done wasting time Veronica. I'm ready to live my life."

"Well then maybe you should move out of you parents house. You know, since they seem so hell bent on you not living your own life."

She laughed again. "Are you sure you aren't psychic?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because that was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about."

And once again I was confused. "Huh?"

"I'll be 18 in three weeks and I want to move out of my house, I can't take it anymore. So I was wondering if…"

Oh I get it. "You want to move into the Echolls' house with me and Logan."

"Yes, that would be correct."

I leaned over and gave her a hug. "Well its fine with me, but its really Logan and Lynn you need to ask. But honestly….I don't think they are going to say no. They love you, and they'd be more than happy to take you in."

She gave me a big smile. "Thanks. Um and if it isn't to much to ask...can I have a room that's not close to you and Logan?"

I laughed out loud at her response. "Yes, but just so you know. Our walls are a lot thicker than Mexico."

We continued to talk about what she was going to say to Luke and to Leo and when the bus stopped for gas we both got off and went into the store to get a drink.

We were on our way back out when I heard something.

Something that I shouldn't have heard: Lilly's voice.

And when I turned my head, I swear I saw her, so I ran towards her, Meg following me and found myself face to face with Weevil.

He smiled hesitantly. "Hey V. This is a strange coincidence, I need to talk to you."

I looked over at Meg. "Do you mind if I ride the rest of the way back with Weevil?"

She smiled. "Nope not a problem. I'll let Logan know where you are when we get to the school in case you aren't right behind us."

I gave her a hug. "Thanks Meg." She ran back over to the bus just as it was about to take off, got on and when it pulled onto the street I saw the limo come up right behind it.

I followed Weevil over to his bike and he handed me his helmet. "So what's the juicy gossip Weevs?"

I hadn't seen him in weeks, when the gun shot had gone through Casey's back window he had stayed away. I think he felt guilty. When Casey was arrested for Felix's murder, Weevil found himself torn. He wasn't sure he believed that Casey had done it. But then the alternative wasn't much better, it meant that one of his boys had done it. When I told him that I didn't think he was in charge anymore he refused to talk about it. But I knew he was looking in to it so I let it go. I'd spoken to him just days before the shooting and he was still digging but refused my help. The only thing I know for sure is that he had nothing to with it.

"I need to apologize to you V."

"For what?"

"I didn't know what they were planning. I think you're right, I don't think I'm in charge anymore."

Logan

We were halfway home when it happened.

Gia, Enbom and some of the other 09er's had joined us in the limo and we were all just having fun. Dick had rolled down all of the windows and was hanging out the sunroof when we heard and saw the crash.

The limo slammed on its breaks and I watched in horror as the bus went over the cliff.

My heart stopped and my brain started screaming at me.

I pushed Mac out of the way to run out of the limo. I could hear everyone behind me, but it was like they weren't really there.

I just kept yelling for Veronica as I dropped to the ground on the edge of the road.

She was gone.

I could feel Mac's arms around my shoulders and I knew Dick was there too, but it didn't matter. The only thing, the only one that had ever mattered was gone.

And I realized that it wasn't just a figure of speech.

I really couldn't live without her.

Mac

He just fell to the ground, I didn't know what to do.

I put my arms around him and Dick stood by us and we all just stared over the cliff.

Two more friends gone. Two more from our family ripped away from us.

Logan wasn't coherent at all, he just kept yelling for V. I think his heart had actually stopped beating.

For the first time in my life I had no idea what to do or how to fix things.

Because this was something I couldn't fix.

Veronica

We saw the smoke first and when we saw the limo on the side of the road Weevil slowed down and I jumped off the back of his bike.

I didn't understand what was going on so I ran closer and saw everybody from the limo just staring over the side.

Gia grabbed me. "It just went straight off the cliff. It didn't even slow down. They're all dead."

And then I saw Logan.

He was on the ground Mac and Dick were trying to comfort him. They all looked devastated and I realized that he thought I was on the bus, he thought I was dead.

My hear started racing and I started to run towards him as I yelled for him. "Logan!"

His head shot in my direction and Mac and Dick looked over at me, relief in their eyes.

He jumped up from the ground, ran towards me and when we met he pulled me into his arms and wrapped my legs around him as he fell to his knees and cried into my chest. "I thought you were gone. I thought I'd lost you."

I ran my fingers through his hair and tried to soothe him. "No baby, I'm right here. I'm so sorry I scared you, I should have called you to tell you I got off the bus."

He looked up at me. "Who were you with?" I turned to point at Weevil but he was already gone.

"We ran into Weevil."

He pulled my face to his and started kissing me and then Mac and Dick interrupted us. "Was Meg with you too?"

I had completely forgotten about Meg.

"No. She stayed on the bus."

so what did you think? review please, pretty please, with sugar and whipped cream on top...

Authors note: so yes casey has completely taken over logan role from season 2. also...in my fic mac has joined the broadcast journalism class to help out meg..that is why she was on the field trip.

um lets see what else...so obviously even though the bus crash itself was similar the circumstances were different. meg and v weren't fighting and neither were weevil and v. if you have any questions about anything that happened in this chapter please ask! I will answer everything I can without giving away anything from the plot!

coming attractions: a conversation between luke and v, and a lot of LoVe, with a little smut.