A/N – So I finally had a chance to watch Jason's new Hallmark move, Portrait of Love, which I really enjoyed. I had this chapter mostly finished and loved a line of his from the movie, so snuck it in here since it fit perfectly with what I had already written. It will be fun to see who notices it, so if you do, let me know in a review.

There are more comments about this chapter at the end.

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 50

Logan started to slowly wake up and for a moment wondered if what had happened the prior night had just been a dream. He quickly realized there was a warm body snuggled up against his chest. He nuzzled his face into her hair and placed a tender kiss against her head. He heard her moan softly and then could tell she was asleep again. He sighed softly as he thought back to the night before. One good thing about being apart for 6 weeks was making up for all those nights they'd been apart. She'd initially been worried about hurting his shoulder, but he quickly showed her that he was healed well enough to handle more than she may have expected. They'd finally reached the point of total exhaustion and fallen asleep with her wrapped up in his arms. He remembered her stirring a few hours after they'd dozed off, but being as exhausted as they were, she quickly fell back asleep when he held her a little tighter, kissed her gently on her shoulder and whispered that she was okay a few times.

He slowly opened his eyes. It was the first time he'd actually really seen her since she'd been home. The prior night they hadn't actually gotten around to turning any lights on. He'd almost forgotten about the darker hair she'd left with and seeing that when he opened his eyes was a bit surprising. He started to gently caress her shoulder and placed light kisses along it, slowly moving from the edge of shoulder back toward her spine. He moved his lips back up toward her neck and brushed her auburn locks out of the way with his fingers so he could kiss her below her ear. He let out a low groan as he saw her neck for the first time in the light. She was lying on her side in front of him and he shifted back away from her so he could roll her onto her back.

Her eyes slowly opened and the smile that was initially on her lips quickly changed as she took in his expression. He lightly touched the skin on her neck. "Oh Veronica," he said sadly as he looked at the finger shaped bruises around her neck.

She reached up and took his hand into her own. "Hey, I'm okay," she replied giving him a reassuring look. He suddenly realized why she had been so eager to distract him the couple of times that he had almost reached for the light the night before. He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She reached up and gently stroked his cheek, pressing her lips to his. "I'm fine Logan," she reassured him again after the kiss. "Just a little bruised, nothing broken."

He let out a deep sigh and opened his eyes and nodded. "Okay," he said softly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, I just want to enjoy being in your arms again." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so she could kiss him again. "I missed you so much," she said between kisses.

"I missed you too," he replied as he rolled over and pulled her on top of him. She propped herself up slightly and looked at the scar that was still very visible on the front of his chest below his right shoulder. She gently traced over it with her fingers, and then placed the softest of kisses there.

"Let's just stay in bed all day," she said with a coy smile on her face as she leaned in and kissed him on the mouth again.

"Mmm… sounds good," he replied after their lips parted and then Archie barked. Logan let out a deep sigh. "Right… well staying in bed all day might have some logistical issues."

Veronica laughed softly and rested her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and then scooted her off of him. "You can stay in bed, but I'd better let him out before we have an accident to clean up."

"Hm… 'we'?" she asked with a playful smile.

He laughed and shook his head at her. He sat up and looked around for the shorts that he'd gone to sleep in. After a few minutes of walking around the bed and not locating them, he went to his dresser and grabbed another pair. He smirked at her when he realized she was watching him walking around naked looking for his shorts. "You didn't hide my shorts so I'd put on that little show for you, did you?" he asked suspiciously as he pulled on another pair of shorts. She shrugged and gave him an innocent look. He moved back over toward the bed and then leaned in so he could kiss her again. "Stay," he said to her with an authoritative tone to his voice after the kiss. She laughed and nodded. "Good girl," he teased back as he placed one more kiss on her lips and then headed down the hall with Archie.

He opened the back door for Archie to go out and went into the kitchen to make them some coffee and see what was in the fridge to make her for breakfast. Bryn had been doing some shopping for him while he was unable to drive and he hadn't gone on his own yet. He decided simple scrambled eggs and toast would do. Archie was ready to come back in at about the same time he was finished cooking. He reached into a bag of chew treats that he had on top of the fridge and gave one to Archie before heading back up to the bedroom with the coffee and food on a tray.

"I come bearing nourishment," he said with a smile as he walked back into the bedroom.

She smiled and sat up, adjusting the sheet around her waist. Seeing her sitting topless in front of him with a welcoming smile, stirred a very specific feeling in him. "Maybe I should grab you a t-shirt so your eggs won't get cold," he said as he gave her a lascivious grin.

"Nah, warm eggs are so over rated," she said with a sly smile as she pushed the sheet down and started to crawl toward him on the bed.

"At least I had good intentions," he said breathlessly as he set the tray on a dresser and quickly met her at the edge of the bed.

As they kissed, she gently pulled him down on the bed with her. He was more careful around her neck than he had been the night before, not realizing she'd been hurt. He wished she'd told him about it when she first arrived, but wasn't terribly surprised that she hadn't. He wondered if she would eventually open up and tell him what had actually happened.

After she successfully ravished him on the bed, they decided to move on to the shower. "God I've missed this shower," she said with a coy smile as they moved under the luxurious stream of hot water. He cocked an eyebrow at her with a questioning look. She laughed and shook her head. "I missed you in the shower too of course."

"Better," he said playfully as he pressed her wet body against the tiles. "I've missed showering with you too."

With her hair wet and pushed back more, he could see the bruises on her neck even better and cringed again looking at them. She put her hand under his chin and redirected his gaze to her eyes, away from her neck. "It was just a little altercation," she said with a grim smile. "It really wasn't as bad as it probably looks."

"It looks like someone tried to strangle you," he said with a somber tone.

"Well… yeah, but they didn't, so it's okay. My backup was there before anything really bad happened."

He'd been carefully inspecting the rest of her in the shower where the lighting was better than the bedroom with the curtains still closed. He noticed a few more bruises on her arms but they were much smaller than the ones around her neck.

"So did you get the guy?" Logan asked as he ran his hands over her wet curves, watching her expression carefully as she answered.

"We got the girl, yes." Veronica said with a small smile and a nod. "The profilers down there were really off base with the case. Which was why it took longer than it probably should have."

"Let me guess," Logan said with a knowing smile. "You figured out they were off base and found the real culprit?"

She smiled broadly and nodded. "Yeah. They thought it was one of the guys that owned the club that was abducting and killing the women, but it was actually one of the bartenders who was obsessed with the guy and getting rid of anyone he seemed to be interested in."

Logan swallowed a lump in his throat. That means we he must have been interested in Veronica if the woman went after her. "Oh."

She must have caught his reaction and went in for a deeper kiss. "So show me just how much you missed showering with me," she whispered in his ear as she spun them and pressed him up against the tiles instead. He tried to push the jealous thoughts out of his head and focus on her instead. It was just her job and nothing probably happened between the two of them. Unfortunately, even with her wet and naked in the shower it wasn't enough to make him stop obsessing about it.

"So…" he said, taking a step away from her. "Did she go after you because the guy was interested in you?"

Veronica let out a deep sigh. "It's not what you're thinking Logan." She shook her head and looked at him with an irritated expression. "And I know what you're thinking because I know you, so don't try to tell me I'm wrong. I shouldn't have said anything at all."

He immediately recognized her frustration. Damn it, she hasn't even been back for twelve hours and we're already getting into an argument about her job and me not trusting her. "I'm sorry Veronica," he said as he stepped toward her again and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I love you so much, but this is all new for me, and I still need to figure out how to deal with it."

She reached up and tangled her fingers into his hair. "I know. I love you too." She leaned back so she could look into his eyes. "I really do, and I need you to trust me."

"I do trust you," he replied with a tender smile. "Can you be a little patient with me?"

She gave him a loving smile back and nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Good," he said as he leaned in to kiss her again and then went on to show her just how much he did actually miss showering with her.

They were toweling off after the shower when they heard Archie bark from outside the bathroom door. He'd thought ahead enough when they'd gone in to shower, to close that door at least. "So, did you finally just dognap him from Bryn?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Logan laughed and shook his head. "No, she's actually in Vancouver until Sunday, and he's staying with me… with us… until she gets back."

"Well it sounds like you're being paged again." She narrowed her eyes at him with a faux scowl. "I really didn't expect to have to share you with anyone when I came home."

"Well I promise I'll give you just as much attention," he replied lovingly as he brushed some hair off her face and kissed her forehead.

"You'd better," she said as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair as well.

"I think he wants his breakfast. Do you want to try that again too?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She nodded and smiled up at him. "Yeah, I think I'd like some food now too. Thanks for bringing me something earlier, even though I chose to devour you instead."

"You can devour me anytime you like," he replied before Archie barked again and she playfully pushed on his chest.

"Go deal with your pushy little pal. I'll be down as soon as I get dressed."

He winked and headed out to grab some clothes to slip into before he headed down to the kitchen with Archie. He grabbed the tray with the now cold coffee and eggs and took it back down with him as well. He couldn't help but wonder how long she'd be able to stay this time. It was Monday, and he wondered if she'd have to go in for any meetings. He wasn't sure if it would be better to ask, or just wait for her to tell him. Of course if he didn't know then he was worried he'd start stressing while he was waiting to find out. He got some dog food out of the pantry for Archie and poured it into his food bowl while he debated whether to ask or not. At least if he knew, then he could start to deal with it. He started a new pot of coffee and was starting to throw the ruined food in the garbage when she came into the kitchen.

"How about I cook for you this time," she said with a warm smile. He gave her a questioning look for a moment and could tell she really wanted to so nodded and waved his hand in front of himself in a 'be my guest' gesture.

"Omelets?" she asked as she gave him a sentimental look.

"Our first meal together when you came to my house in Brazil…" he said a bit wistfully as well with a nod.

"Yeah, I thought it was fitting for my coming home now too."

He nodded in reply. "Want some help?"

She shook her head and pointed to the stools on the other side of the counter. "Nope. I didn't get to take care of you when you got out of the hospital, so I want to cook for you now. Sit and tell me about everything that happened around here while I was away."

He gave her a quick kiss and then did as he was told. "Let's see… oh yeah… Mac made me eat vegan food," he started out with a shudder. Veronica laughed as she cut up some vegetables for their omelets. "She at least let me have some normal food too, but every other day or so she'd make me try a different vegan dish with her. She even made me eat a gluten free, dairy free grilled cheese sandwich one day for lunch." He made a slight gagging sound while Veronica laughed again.

"So should I put the eggs and cheese back and just fry up the veggies for you?" Veronica asked with a smirk.

Logan shook his head vigorously. "Nope!" he said, popping the P very loudly. "Some of the dishes weren't that bad I guess, but I'm not ready to give up my carnivorous ways yet." He continued on telling her about Mac stealing Dick's entire video game collection and how the two of them hung out with him pretty much every day until Mac had to go back to Seattle. He even told her about Dick's brilliant idea to play strip poker and how the two of them got smoked by Mac. He wasn't sure how Veronica would feel about that, but definitely didn't want her to hear about it later and was relieved that her only comment was that Dick really should know better than to think he could beat Mac at anything.

He'd pretty much covered most of what had happened while she was away by the time she'd finished the omelets and put them on the counter to eat. "Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing…" Logan said with a smile as she walked around the counter. When she was close enough for him to reach her, he pulled her so she was standing in front of him, right between his knees. "I missed you terribly," he said before he leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. He could feel her smiling against his mouth even before they ended the kiss.

When their lips parted, she took a deep breath and caressed his cheek. Her expression became more serious after a moment as she looked intently at him. "I'm sorry I couldn't call you other than the one time." She looked away for a moment, and then turned back to him. "Mostly it was because I couldn't due to where we were with the case… but…" She paused and took another deep breath and stared longingly into his eyes. "The other reason was because I missed you so much… and if I talked to you again… well I wasn't sure I wouldn't have just bailed on the case."

It was his turn to smile and he pulled her in for another deep kiss. She laughed softly as their lips parted. "Let's not waste more eggs…" she said with a sly grin on her face. "We don't want angry chickens protesting outside our house." He laughed while he nodded and let go of her so she could take a seat on the stool next to him.

They were sitting facing each other, and her legs were resting in between his at the base of his stool. It felt so amazing to have her back, and to hear how much she missed him as well. He kept one hand on her thigh, while he used the other one to eat his breakfast. He finally decided to ask the question that he had been debating about when he came down to feed Archie. "So, when do you have to go back to LA?"

She gave him a grim smile before she replied. "Tomorrow. I have a meeting to check in with my boss tomorrow."

He nodded and took another bite of his omelet, turning and putting his other hand on the counter as well. She put down her fork, and put both hands on his knees. He looked back at her and quirked an eyebrow, wondering what she was going to do next. She had a nervous smile on her face and she took a deep breath before she spoke. "How would you like to go house hunting again?"

That wasn't what he expected her to say at all. He looked at her curiously. "Do you already have another new case?" At least this time maybe I get to go with her? That thought helped slightly ease the anxiety that was already starting to hit him. Of course with the evidence of how dangerous her last case ended up very visible on her neck, he still didn't feel good about her taking another case when he'd just gotten her back.

"Sort of," she replied a bit uncertainly.

"It's not going to be the middle of Idaho is it?" he asked with a teasing smile. She laughed and shook her head. "Well even if it was, I'd still go if I could be with you."

She raised her eyebrows in a questioning gesture. "San Diego?"

"Oh." He was surprised by it just being a case in San Diego with the way she was acting so he wondered what else she hadn't told him yet.

"I know theoretically if you wanted to stay here so you'd be close to Dick, we could still figure out how to make it work, but I really hoped you'd maybe choose moving there... with me."

Of course I'd always choose you. Logan gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "Of course I'd come with you if that's an option. I really wasn't looking forward to another separation like what we just went through. As long as it won't blow your cover or anything."

She leaned in and kissed him quickly, then leaned back and smiled happily. "Actually…" she took another deep breath. "I wouldn't have a cover to be blown."

"What does that mean?" Logan asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Well you know how I told you the profilers in Albuquerque totally screwed up the case?" He nodded before she continued on. "Well they had to bring in a high-level profiler from San Diego to try to salvage the investigation and I was working closely with her to sort through the mess and she was really impressed. She offered me a spot on her team in San Diego if I was interested."

Logan could hardly find the words to respond. "So… no more under cover?" She smiled and nodded. After thinking about it for a minute, his expression changed to one of concern. "Are you sure that's what you really want though? I thought you really wanted to be a field agent?" He didn't want her to give up on what she wanted to do and then regret it later.

She nodded again and gently caressed his cheek, then placed her hand softly over his injury. "Yes, this is what I really want. I realized when I was gone that I really didn't want to pretend to be someone else anymore." She let out a deep breath and gave him a tender look. "When I first started as an agent, the thought of not being Veronica anymore sounded so good to me. It felt like a way to escape all the mistakes I'd made and all the things I'd lost in my life." She gently caressed his cheek with her other hand. "It was like a chance for a new life as Lindsey, but I don't want that life any more Logan. I just want to be Veronica again. I want to be able to be with you, every day, not just between cases."

He took a shaky breath and pulled her closer so he could kiss her deeply again. "So is that a yes?" she asked with a soft laugh as their lips separated for a moment.

"Yes," he replied and pressed his lips to hers again. "Absolutely, yes."

"I do have a few requirements," she said with a playful tone when they stopped kissing again.

Logan laughed at her repeating what he'd said before he'd agreed to come back to LA with her. "Okay, let's hear them," he replied with a smirk.

"The new place can't be as expensive as this one. If we're both going to live there and stay there hopefully a long time, I'm not going to let you be irresponsible with your money."

Logan laughed and shook his head. "But my prior requirement of beach adjacency still applies."

She sighed and gave him a skeptical look. "Beach adjacency in San Diego isn't going to be cheap though."

"Well if I actually buy a property, then it's an investment, versus renting like here." He gave her a little wink. "But we can try to find something more modest than here. Next requirement?"

Veronica glanced down at Archie who had moved over to sit near Logan's stool. "That we get a dog."

Logan wasn't expecting that either, but couldn't help the way his face lit up at her request. "Really?" he asked, sounding almost like a gleeful little kid.

"Yeah, I'm worried about what sort of withdrawals you may go through when I take you away from Archie," She replied playfully. "But first a house okay?"

He nodded and pulled her in for another kiss. When they separated again she looked at him more seriously. "Are you sure you're really okay with this? With making a more permanent move to San Diego? Racing there?"

"With you?" He chuckled softly "Of course I'm okay with this. I'll check out Barona when I'm ready to start racing again. It's still going to be a while before I'm cleared for that anyway."

A distressed expression crossed her face. "I'm so sorry Logan. That's all my fault."

"Hey, we talked about this at the hospital." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "I'm the one who made the decision to tackle him. I'm the one who acted rashly instead of waiting for you to get there. You can't blame yourself okay?"

She sighed and nodded a bit reluctantly. They finished up eating and took their coffee out to the patio and curled up together on one of the large lounge chairs. Logan had grabbed a tennis ball for Archie and they took turns throwing it out toward the beach for him.

"So how long will you have off before starting the new job?" Logan asked as he basked in the euphoria of having her back with him on a more permanent basis. Even if she had to start tomorrow, I'd still be happy that she's not going to leave to go under cover again.

"Probably only until Monday. When I flew out yesterday Felicia said she'd start things moving on her side as soon as she heard from me. I told her I wanted to talk to you first and then I'd let my current boss know. If you're positive you're onboard, I can let her know to start things now."

Logan smiled and nodded. He was actually surprised that she'd told her she wanted to check with him before she made her final decision. "So when do we get to start house hunting?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

"Why am I suddenly very afraid?" she asked with an exaggerated frightened look on her face.

"I could make it very easy on you," he replied with a devious grin. "Leave it entirely up to me and you won't have to worry about a thing."

Veronica playfully waved her arms around her. "And end up with another of these? I don't think so mister."

"You know you love it here though," he pointed out as he placed a kiss below her ear.

"Maybe it's just the company," she replied with a coy grin as she leaned into him more and let out a contented sigh.

"So you didn't answer my question yet."

"Well I was thinking..." He gave her a slightly worried look and she chuckled before continuing. "Since you're so eager to get started... What if you come to LA with me in the morning while I wrap things up there and then we can drop Archie off with my dad and spend the next few days house hunting. We could have a late lunch with Dad and then head down to San Diego after we eat and meet with an agent in the morning."

Logan felt an old familiar feeling of dread course through him. "Your dad, huh? Maybe Dick could just watch Archie for us."

Veronica laughed and shook her head. "You're not actually afraid to see my dad are you?"

"He still has a gun right?" He paused for a minute for her to reply. "Somehow asking him to dog sit so I can run off to house hunt with his only daughter sounds like something he may not be too happy about."

"Come on. We're adults now. If we want to formally move in together, there's nothing he can do about it."

Logan looked more seriously at her and gently stroked her cheek. "And this is what you really want? Us formally living together? No cover requiring it. Just us, because that's what you want?"

She gave him a tender smile and nodded. "Yes. That's what I want."

He reached down and picked up her left hand and stared at it for a moment before lifting it up to his lips and kissing the back of it. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. "You know..." he said a bit nervously with his head tipped down, looking up at her through his lashes. "I had a plan before for getting his approval to let you live with me."

Veronica's eyes opened a bit wider and she took a deep breath. "Logan…"

It was easy to tell from her tone and expression that she really wasn't ready for that yet. "Hey, it was just a thought… you know… since I have the ring… but it's fine." He tried to sound nonchalant about it and gave her the most reassuring smile he could, of course inside it still stung. "Did you want to go inside and start looking at houses online?" He asked after a moment, trying to sound as normal as he could manage.

"Sure. I should probably call my Dad and Felicia though too. Why don't I meet you in there in a few minutes?"

Logan nodded and gave her a quick kiss before he stood up and headed inside to grab his tablet. He plopped down on the couch and let his head fall back against the cushions. Focus on the positives Logan. She's giving up under cover work and we're moving to San Diego together. He blew out a frustrated breath and sat back up and grabbed his tablet. He pulled up a reality site and started looking at houses in San Diego. Of course most of the options were not even close to the beach. Coronado. That might be tough.

It didn't take long for Veronica to come back inside. She gave him a warm smile and walked over and sat next to him, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Everything's set up for tomorrow. So whadya find?" she asked glancing toward the tablet.

"Um…" Logan hadn't actually focused enough to really find anything yet. "I wasn't sure where your office would be and if you'd want to find something close to it."

"It's up on Sorrento Parkway, near Torrey Pines."

Logan scrolled around the map to get them close to that area. He smirked at her. "La Jolla Farms Road. If you're across the street from the ocean the houses are more like $5 million instead of $20 million for the ocean side. I think I could live with across the street adjacency for a quarter of the price."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't think so."

He laughed and nodded. "How far south would you want to go? Point Loma?"

"That would be a bit of a commute, but probably easier to find something there than La Jolla, excluding the 8 figure homes." She let out a frustrated sigh. "How close do you actually consider beach adjacent? Wouldn't something in the mid 6 figures be fine?"

He could tell she was getting completely stressed looking at the prices on the screen. He flipped the power off and set the tablet back down, drawing a pointed look from her. "What?" she protested as she looked at him.

He took a deep breath and reached up and pushed a few of her darker locks out of her face. "I want this to be fun and not turn into a big debate over money." She scrunched up her brows and gave him a bothered look. "Wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere that doesn't take a huge chunk of your day to drive back and forth? I know that time with you would be worth way more than money could buy to me." She let out a soft sigh and nodded. "And you like being at the beach too right? Or do you actually prefer your apartment to being here?" She let out another huff of air and shrugged.

"I don't want it to feel like I'm taking advantage of your wealth though Logan. You know I've never felt comfortable about that," she replied softly.

He gave her a knowing look and nodded. "I know… and you're not. We both know that you're not. But I'd like us to live someplace we both feel comfortable and really love. So can we just look at places and not worry about the price tag? Just look for something that we both really like? Someplace we can be happy living together at?"

She bit on her lip for a moment. "As long as you stay away from the 8 figures at least." Logan laughed and nodded. She took a deep breath before she responded again. "Okay."

He flipped back on the tablet and they started looking again. "Can we stay away from apartments?" He asked as they started looking through the options, quickly noticing anything even close to the ocean under 7 figures were units in multi-tenant buildings.

"Yeah, you're too much of a screamer for that," she replied with a playful smirk as she nudged him with her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm the screamer," he laughed under his breath.

They spent over an hour looking at different listings. Logan couldn't help pointing out that one street they were looking at was Sunset Cliffs Boulevard near Point Loma. "At least it would be easy for you to remember what street you lived on after living several years at Sunset Cliff Apartments." Of course the house Logan loved on that street was over $3 million and not even remotely close to her prior Sunset Cliff dwelling. While it was only about 15 miles from where she'd be working, he was worried that might just be too far of a commute with the traffic there. They also laughed when they spotted Neptune Place in La Jolla. They had agreed to try to narrow it down to 10 properties to start with and they each would get to pick 5 for the list. Of course Logan's were on the higher end of the price range and closer to the ocean, but he didn't complain about the ones she selected that were a couple blocks from the ocean and quite a bit cheaper. After starting on the list, there were a couple that they both liked and instead of arguing over whose list they would go on, they decided to create a third list for a few of those. He tried to at least find ones near the ocean that weren't too large and expensive, hoping he'd have a better chance of convincing her to go with one of them, since he didn't want to waste his 5 options on something he knew she'd never agree to. They had a pretty good list and were going back through them a second time when Veronica's stomach rumbled loudly.

Logan laughed and leaned over so he could kiss her belly. "I've even missed that sound while you were gone." She rolled her eyes and pushed on him gently to get him off of her.

They decided they'd go out for lunch and ended up at the same place that they'd originally met Maggie the realtor at before they rented the house. Logan tried not to think about what they had done that day right before meeting Maggie. Of course that was just a fake proposal, but he still didn't want to think about the fact that she wasn't ready for a real one yet either.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just enjoying their time together again. They took Archie for a walk on the beach when they returned from lunch and then later decided to order Italian food for dinner. When they finally fell asleep later that night, he was still blissfully happy to have her back with him.

The next morning, he felt that small feeling of dread return at the prospect of seeing her dad again. He wasn't really sure why he was so worried about it. He'd seen her dad at the Sheriff's station when Veronica had been arrested, but not really at all after that. They certainly weren't at odds then, but he also wasn't dating Veronica at that point either. She kept assuring him that everything would be fine and to stop worrying so much about it.

She needed to stop at her apartment for more clothes to take along with them to San Diego before her meeting at her office. She grabbed a scarf when she was there to wrap around her neck, looking fashionable, but also completely hiding the bruises. After their quick stop at her place, they drove to her office. He decided to take Archie for a walk while she was in talking with her boss and then after that they started the drive to Neptune. As they headed down the highway, his nervousness returned and after a while he started tapping on the ledge at the base of the car window absentmindedly as she drove.

"Stop already!" she finally demanded after he'd probably been doing it for at least 10 minutes. "It really is going to be okay Logan. He's not going to shoot you or anything." She cringed immediately after saying it as she glanced at his shoulder.

"I sure hope not. I don't think my health insurance covers two gunshot wounds in such a short span of time," he replied with a smirk hoping to lighten the mood and not go down the path of her feeling guilty again.

She gave him a small smile and nodded. Less than thirty minutes later they were pulling up in front of a small bungalow in Neptune. She'd told him on the way down that her dad had finally bought a small house and moved out of their old apartment a few years before. Her dad actually arrived a minute after they parked at the curb, parking his own car in the small drive way. Veronica had texted him when they left LA so he could meet them when they got into town since he had a meeting with a client that morning too.

Veronica squeezed Logan's hand one more time and told him it was going to be fine, before jumping out and running over to hug her dad. Logan climbed out of her car as well and started putting Archie's leash back on. He was just getting Archie out of the car as Veronica started back toward him with Keith walking with his arm around her.

"Here, I'll take him around back and introduce him to Backup," Veronica said with a smile as she took the leash from Logan's hand. She leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before she headed toward a gate that led into the back yard. Logan cringed slightly to himself that she'd left him alone with her dad.

"Logan," Keith said as he reached out his hand. "It's been a long time."

"Mr. Mars," Logan said in reply with a grim smile as he shook the older man's hand.

Keith took a deep breath. "You can just call me Keith now if you'd like." Logan was taken by surprise but nodded in reply.

"How's the shoulder doing?" Keith asked as they dropped their hands, still standing there a bit awkwardly.

"It's getting better. Still not cleared to drive on the track yet though and of course surfing is out still too for a while longer."

Keith nodded and glanced toward the back yard where Veronica had vanished into. Logan took a deep breath, expecting some warning or stern words from Keith at that point given he seemed to be making sure she was still gone. Keith took a deep breath and looked back at Logan. "You know I'd almost forgotten what she looked like when she was really truly happy. It's been a long time since I've seen that."

Logan certainly wasn't expecting that. He gave Keith a lopsided grin and nodded.

"Welcome back," Keith added giving him a soft squeeze on his good shoulder. "We'd better go see what sort of trouble my daughter has gotten into now." Keith turned and headed in the direction Veronica had gone. Logan stood there in a bit of a daze for a moment before Keith's words really completely sank in and he smiled a bit more and followed him through the gate as well.

When they made it around back, Veronica was sitting on a lounge chair watching the two dogs, who seemed to be getting along well. She gave Logan an affectionate smile and scooted over slightly so there would be room for him to sit down next to her. He walked over and sat by her and she immediately took his hand in hers as she gave him a quick kiss again.

"So Pops?" she said playfully to Keith. "What's the plan for lunch? I'm famished."

Keith chuckled and if he was surprised by her being affectionate with Logan in front of him, he didn't seem to show it. "Mama Leone's?" Keith asked with raised eyebrows.

"Perfect," Veronica replied back. "Is that okay with you?" she asked turning to Logan. He smiled and nodded. He would have agreed to anything they suggested. Well perhaps not an all you can eat crab or oyster feed. "Did you want me to drive?" she asked Keith next. Keith agreed to that and the three of them headed back out front to her car. She kept holding Logan's hand all the way back to the front. He wasn't sure if she was doing it to make him feel more secure, or if she just wanted to do it for no reason other than to be able to have a physical connection to him since they'd been apart so long.

"You can have the front seat," Logan told Keith as they neared the curb. Keith looked at the car for a moment then back at Logan and gave him a small smile.

"I know it's not a compact car, but I'm pretty sure your legs are quite a bit longer than mine. I really don't mind the back." Keith said with a warm smile.

Logan chuckled and shook his head. "It's fine, Mr. Mars, I don't mind."

Keith shook his head and reached for the back door since he was a little closer than Logan. "This way I can pretend she's my chauffer." Logan laughed softly and shrugged, dropping Veronica's hand so he could climb in the front.

Since it was after the normal time for lunch, they were quickly seated at a booth when they arrived at the restaurant. Veronica reached down and rested her hand on Logan's leg as soon as they were seated. He rested his hand on top of hers and gently squeezed it. Maybe this won't be too bad.

Keith looked between the two of them with an amused expression. "Gee, I forgot to get my list of questions vetted ahead of time again."

Veronica laughed softly and shook her head. "Wait, I think I have a pre-approved list of questions in my purse," she said sarcastically as she opened her purse and pretended to pull out an invisible piece of paper and hand it to her dad. "Stick to this and everything will be fine," she said with a devious grin.

Keith laughed at her and shook his head. "All right, then I guess I'll grill you instead," he replied, looking at her with his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Hold up," she responded with a smirk. "Let's not be too hasty. I'm sure there are topics I could approve even at this late juncture."

Logan looked at her and shook his head, "Thanks babe," he said softly with a teasing smirk on his face.

"She's pretty quick to throw you to the wolves isn't she?" Keith said with a broad grin. "So tell me about the new job, daughter of mine."

Veronica told them a bit about the team she'd be joining in San Diego and how she'd be doing more profile and analysis type work rather than going under cover out in the field. She'd still go out to investigate crime scenes and help with cases, but would be more behind the scenes on undercover operations helping run the op rather than being the one to actually go undercover. Logan noticed Keith seemed pleased with what she'd be doing and didn't voice any concerns about it. He momentarily wondered how much it had worried him to have her going undercover so often before. She also told them more about Felicia and it was easy to see how strong of a connection Veronica had already formed with her in their short time working together.

"And the New Mexico case?" Keith asked with raised eyebrows. "How'd that go?" Logan glanced over at her neck without even thinking. He quickly shifted his gaze back to Keith, but it was a little too late and Keith unfortunately noticed it and quirked his eyebrows at both of them.

Veronica had a slightly bothered expression on her face as she replied. "It was fine. Wrapped up with a nice tidy bow." Logan stared down at his plate instead of looking up because he knew his poker face rarely ever worked against Keith.

"Well I'm glad you're back in one piece." Keith said after a moment of silent awkwardness. "So Veronica, what would you allow me to ask Logan now?"

"Hmmm… whether he liked his lunch?" she replied in a teasing tone.

"Delicious," Logan replied with a small grin.

"Racing?" Keith asked curiously.

"Sure," Veronica replied as she squeezed Logan's leg gently again.

Logan spent the rest of their lunch talking about racing in Brazil, spending a fair amount of time talking about some of the other racers that he'd known while he was there, as well as a few celebrities he'd crossed paths with there. He stayed away from talking about Marcos or Demétrio, as well as his accident. Keith asked if he planned to race again in San Diego, to which Logan replied that he did. He hadn't actually given much thought to what he'd do if he gave up racing. Theoretically though, he figured he should probably think about something else to do because he couldn't just race forever.

After lunch they headed back to Keith's to check on the dogs again. Seeing that they were still doing well together, Veronica and Logan said their farewells to Keith and Archie, before heading south again towards San Diego. Logan had booked them a suite at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. He thought given most of the houses they were going to look at were centered around La Jolla with a few down toward Point Loma, that having their hotel there made the most sense. The hotel was across the street from Scripps Park, so after they checked in they decided to take a stroll through the park to watch the ocean. There was actually a house that Logan had on his list just a few blocks from the hotel, so they ended up walking that direction to check it out from the street at least since they couldn't actually get in to see it until the next day with the realtor. The house was close to a path for the Coast Walk Trail, so they spent some time meandering along it as well, enjoying the ocean view. On their way back toward their hotel he heard Veronica's stomach growl and suggested they stop at the Brockton Villa Restaurant, where they were seated at a table on the patio looking out over the ocean.

"So what did you think of that house? At least from the outside?" Logan asked as they sipped on their drinks and waited for their food to be delivered. "Obviously there are restaurants and galleries close by and it's not too far from where you'll be working."

She gave him a sly smile. "It's your favorite of your five isn't it?"

He shrugged and gave her a coy smile in return. "Maybe." He may have spent a bit more time when they were looking at places the day before on that particular house, but hadn't realized she'd noticed.

"There's not really much beach here, and you said 'beach adjacency'." She pointed out with an eyebrow cocked at him.

"Technicalities Mars," he said with a smirk. "I really just meant 'ocean' adjacency."

She laughed at him and gave him a playful look back. "I know… It did look pretty amazing from the outside..." She made a fake gasp. "But what if there are hideously ugly neighbors who walk around naked."

He laughed and shook his head at her. "It was one of the smaller houses on that block too, so it's not like it's completely over the top." He watched her consider that and nod her head.

After dinner they enjoyed watching the sunset as they slowly strolled back to their hotel. "So today with my dad wasn't so bad right?" Veronica asked as she watched him carefully.

He chuckled and gave her a skeptical look. "Sure…" She elbowed him slightly in the side. "Okay, you're right. He didn't threaten me with any bodily harm for shacking up with his only daughter, so yeah, it wasn't so bad." He grinned a bit more thinking about Keith's comment about finally seeing Veronica happy again. He leaned toward her and placed a kiss on her forehead as they continued to walk. "Hey, have I told you I love you today?" She seriously thought about it and then smiled and shook her head. "Well I do. I love you very much Veronica Mars."

A/N – I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know there were several people upset she'd left, but that helped her realize how much she really didn't want to be apart from him again and that he was more important than under cover work was to her. After all the terrible things I've put him through in this story, I wanted to give him a happy ending, so it may take a little bit longer to get everything else I wanted to cover wrapped up. There will definitely be at least one more chapter, and depending on how that goes, maybe a second after that or an epilogue.

As always, thanks for all the support! Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!