A/N: Here's Chapter 50! Thank you so much for your support, I never expected this to be this long but all the lovely reviews have kept me going strong. Now to answer some FAQ: in regards to who Logan winds up with...it's a surprise, ie: No idea yet. Can't be Hannah now since the Thumper situation is solved, and the only other girl is Parker and she's not there yet. I'm open to suggestions, oh and I refuse for it to be Mac, I've already got plans for her. Also, as for how long this story will be? I still have at least a season and a half to re-write. :) Thanks again guys.

Life for Eli was…weird the past couple of days. His abuela was home and Echolls had done everything he had promised already. They had a lease written up, the Navarro's would pay a low rent until the house was paid off, and as per Angel's request the lease said Echolls couldn't evict them. Also a woman came every day to help Letty with the housework and spend time with her, while Eli went to school and worked, and a doctor was scheduled to come by weekly. The Navarro's never saw a bill, but they did see a lot more of Logan Echolls.

He had visited Letty almost every day since she came home. Eli would go to the shop for a couple hours, and when he returned to his house, the caretakers van would be gone and Echolls' obnoxious yellow vehicle would be in its place. At first it had irritated him, but today he walked in and heard his abuela laughing harder than he had heard her in a long while. When he wandered into the kitchen he saw his abuela at the table laughing and saying the names of ingredients in Spanish as Logan attempted to decipher and make what looked to be chili. And by the smell, his abuelo's old recipe.

"What's going on?" He asked cautiously, dropping a kiss on her cheek and nodding in her direction.

"He's trying to learn how to cook and speak Spanish." She mused, "At the same time."

"Yeah and how's that going for you?" He asked Echolls, taking a seat and dropping his backpack in the chair next to him.

"Better than expected." Echolls said mildly, "What's next?"

"Cebolla." She nodded at the onion, which was chopped already in a small dish. Logan dumped it in, stirring around the chili.

Eli pulled out his sketch pad, which lately had been within arm's reach every waking moment. He went to work, listening to his abuela call out the ingredients and he drew. It wasn't until Echolls spoke that he realized what he was drawing, "Damn you actually are good." He looked down at the picture of Veronica's smiling face peering up at him. It was a close up of just her face, her eyes wide and bright, and smirk on her lips. "Can you look at a picture and draw it? Like a portrait?"

Eli shrugged, "Yeah." Turning the pages until he opened up to the picture of Ophelia and Julio smiling brightly, the photograph he copied paper clipped to the corner. Logan nodded in appreciation, spooning three bowls of chili out.

"You know the moms in my neighborhood would pay a lot for this kind of stuff?"

"Yeah, if they don't see the guy behind the drawing." He laughed, not many people looked at him and though professional artist. More professional criminal.

"Well maybe they don't have to." Logan responded, digging into the chili, "Hey this isn't bad!" He told Letty who was smiling proudly.

"You did a good job, mijo." She told him, which Eli had to admit digging into his own bowl he had. Eli tried to continue to dislike Echolls, but he was making it difficult lately. After everything he had done, he really seemed to actually care for his abuela. He even stopped calling him Paco. Which kind of weirded Eli out, but he figured it was more out of respect of Letty than Eli.

"So what are you and Ronnie doing for New Years?"

"Depends on if she ever gets out of jury duty," Eli shrugged, honestly they hadn't talked about it. He had been busy dealing with his deals with Logan and her working Anissa's case, they really hadn't seen each other.

"I'm throwing a party, if you all want to come." Eli raised a questioning eyebrow, "She's been all mopey since Wallace and your one friend left. I thought maybe she'd want to mingle."

"She might, if you invite Mac and that's it," Eli snorted, "She hates your friends dude, hell I hate your friends." Logan didn't argue the statement, "And your friends hate us."

"They don't—" At Eli's piercing stare, Logan dropped the subject. Eli wasn't about to throw Veronica's business out in front of his abuela, but Logan should have been a little smarter.

"It was nice of you to offer, Logan." His abuela said, shooting Eli a pointed look.

"Yeah." Eli shrugged, "Thanks for the invite." Before anymore was said on the matter Logan's phone rang. Whoever it was Logan wasn't happy to answer.

"Yeah?" He answered, "Now?" Logan got up, his bowl in hand as he went to the kitchen and rinsed it out in the sink. "Fine." He hung up and cast Letty an apologetic look, "I've got to go, apparently Neptune's finest has some questions for me."

Eli shot him a surprised glance, "You want me to call V?"

Logan smiled at the suggestion, but shook his head no, "Nah, I've got this." He told them, before heading out the door. Eli didn't expect to see him until at least the next day.

Eli was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud tapping on his window. Jumping up, he saw Logan's face peering up at him. Confused and half asleep, Eli walked over and opened it, letting the other teen crawl inside. "What the fuck are you doing, man?" Eli yawned, he could smell the booze wafting off Logan's body.

"Someone stole the tapes."

"What are you talking about." The tapes?

"My dad's tapes." Suddenly Eli was very awake.

"You mean the evidence tapes?" The ones of his dead lover…Echolls' dead girlfriend…screwing Echolls' dad. Logan nodded and Eli didn't know what else to say.

"I've got a list of all the staff at the station and their emails." Logan said, pulling a packet of papers from his back pocket. Eli nodded dumbly, unsure of why Echolls' was here telling him this. "I've emailed all of them asking to buy the tapes for 50,000."

"Holy shit, man." Eli said, sitting down. It still amazed him how this kid could fling around money like that.

"Somebody responded." That got Eli's attention, "I'm about to go pick them up."

"So why are you here?" Eli asked, more confused than ever.

Logan shifted, and then rubbed the top of his head, "Because if I go get them, I'm going to watch them and destroy them." He said honestly, and Eli noticed the unshed tears in Logan's eyes, "You know about my dad, what he did to me. I can't let him do this too. I can't let the world see him with her, but if I destroy them he might get away with..."

"What do you want me to do, man?" Eli asked softly. Logan handed him a piece of paper, an address scrawled on it.

"Go get them. Give them to Ronnie to give to her dad." Eli just nodded rubbing the sleep from his eyes, grabbing his jeans off the floor and pulled them on before stepping into his boots.

"Stay here." Eli told him he could smell the booze the moment he had opened the window, no way was Logan driving across town, "You can crash on…that bed." He nodded to Chardo's old bed, stopping himself from saying his cousin's name. Last thing Logan needed was a reminder of another girl who fucked a Navarro. "Just move the shit."

Logan nodded, obviously exhausted, and handed him another piece of paper. It was a check for 50,000 dollars. "Give this to Deputy Leo."

"He stole them?" At Logan's shrug, "You know I can get them without paying right?"

"Yeah, you see Ronnie just stopped hating me," Logan laughed drunkenly, "I'd rather not piss her off again by getting our favorite PCHer arrested." Eli just nodded unsure of what else to say, grabbing his jacket and pocketing the check before heading towards the door.

Deputy Leo was surprised to see Eli there waiting with Logan's check, but handed him the videos just the same. Sheriff Mars was even more surprised when he knocked on the door. "Veronica's not here, Eli. She's still in jury duty." Well this was great, how did he explain to the former Sheriff he had stolen evidence. Evidence that was in his hands, in plain sight, "Is that…?"

"Uh yeah, I didn't…" He handed them to the sheriff quickly, "I found them." He said lamely, and earned himself a suspicious stare. "Somebody I know bought them…"

"Logan." The Sheriff said simply, and at the look of surprise Sheriff Mars continued, "Not many people in Neptune can afford these tapes. So why do you have them?"

"Because I was the most likely not to destroy them." Eli shrugged, "Everyone else wants to protect Lily's reputation."

"And you don't?" Sheriff Mars said skeptically, "If I recall you were one of the one's in love with her back in the day."

"Yeah." Eli laughed, surprising himself and the Sheriff, "I'm also the only one who knew."

"Knew what?"

"The only thing Lily Kane loved was the kind of attention that tape will bring her." Eli told him, "Lily would have released that to TMZ herself without a thought. Logan doesn't need to be protecting Lily from anyone."

"Sounds like you're protecting Logan from her." Eli didn't respond, just shrugged before heading away from the door.

He made it home, quietly sneaking into the house. His room was dark, but the obnoxious yellow vehicle in the driveway, and the lump in Chardo's bed, told him Logan had stayed. He crawled into his bed, suddenly realizing how tired he still was.

"Thanks, dude." Came the soft whisper from the lump formally known as Echolls.

Eli yawned, nodding sleepily, "Yeah, anytime, man." The Sheriff's statement playing on loop in his would he be protecting Echolls from anything? Images of him pulling a gun on Liam and finding his abuela on the floor. He owed Echolls. That was why right? The more Eli thought about it, the more Eli didn't like the truth behind his actions. Eli and that mother fucker were turning into friends.