A/N – I was finally able to finish another chapter for this story. I'm still hoping to get an update for Wildest Dreams done on Wednesday, but if I'm a day or two late, I'm hoping having a new chapter here will earn me a little forgiveness (well at least for people reading both of these stories). I guess I was bound to run out of finished chapters and get a bit over extended on trying to work on all 4. I promise I'll keep going until I have an ending I like for all of them though. As jessO80 pointed out, I sure seem to like to put these two in sexy situations involving water. Maybe it's them growing up on the beach and imagining all the times they spent there that we didn't get to see.

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 52

They spent the next several days after their first night at the new house taking care of all the official homeowner business. Logan asked several times if there was any way they could convince Ratner that it was part of a case and just have him take care of everything for them, which would just earn him an eye roll or a less than amused laugh from Veronica. Even though Logan insisted on hiring a moving company to move all of Veronica's things from her apartment, she still wanted to take care of some of the packing and organizing herself. Luckily he didn't have too many things at the house in Malibu, so packing all of that was going to be easy. He wasn't in a big rush to worry about his things in Brazil since Weevil was there again and taking care of things for him. Archie had spent some time at the new house with them, as well as some more time with Keith since Bryn was still out of town.

Dick of course was less than thrilled to hear that Logan was moving down to San Diego after spending a lot of time with him when Veronica was in New Mexico. He complained about it being nearly three hours to drive down to visit him when Logan first told him about the move. Logan softened the blow a little by inviting him to spend the entire Thanksgiving weekend with them and mentioning that Mac would be there part of the time too. Mac said she'd need to spend a little time with her family, but was thankful for an excuse not to spend the entire weekend with them. She was also looking forward to actually seeing Veronica this time, so was planning to take most of the week off and come down early.

They couldn't get a moving company to move Veronica's things until Monday, so they spent several hours at her apartment on Saturday morning packing. On one of the trips to take boxes down to her SUV they ran into Ash coming back in from a morning run. He was just coming off the elevator on their floor as they were waiting for it to open. The disappointment was evident on his face when he noticed they were carrying moving boxes.

"Hi Lindsey. Looks like you're moving?" he asked in a discouraged tone. It's really strange to hear someone call her Lindsey again. With her being gone so long he'd stopped thinking about her alias and just thought of her as Veronica again.

"Yeah, I got a new job down in San Diego and we just bought a new house there," Veronica explained as she gave Logan a loving smile. "We found a fabulous place and are just picking up some of my things before the movers come on Monday for everything else."

"Well congratulations… I'll miss seeing you around here though."

Veronica gave him an understanding smile and nodded. "Yeah, it was great having you as a neighbor."

Logan tried not to smile too broadly, but he of course was more than thrilled that she wouldn't be living down the hall from him any longer.

"Do you need any help carrying things down?" he asked with a hopeful smile. Logan couldn't help but admire the guy's persistence even in the face of defeat. Well either it's persistence or just obliviousness.

"I think we're good, right?" Logan asked, hoping Veronica would agree since he really didn't want to spend more time watching Ash crush on her.

"Yeah… we've got it," Veronica said as she gave Logan a knowing smile. "But thanks for offering Ash."

They entered the elevator and said a quick goodbye to Ash. "Do you think you would have ever told him you're not really Lindsey?" Logan asked curiously as they rode down to the parking level. "It felt so strange to hear someone call you that again. I'm glad he said it or I may have accidentally called you Veronica in front of him."

Veronica laughed softly. "I nearly called you Logan in front of him too. Probably a good thing we're moving and can start over around new people. I'm going to miss Bryn though. At least she knows our secret and hopefully she'll come visit us from time to time in San Diego."

"Yeah, I'm sure she will. She seemed to really enjoy hanging out with you too," Logan said as he gave her an affectionate smile.

"I did text her about Thanksgiving and she said she'd love to come down and spend the day with us. She wasn't sure yet if Connor would fly down since they weren't breaking for long on the project he's working on."

Logan nodded before his expression became more serious. "How about Wallace? Is he joining us too?" He'd told her he'd try to forgive him, but part of him was still angry about how he'd acted when she'd been shot and he wasn't entirely sure he could just forget that.

She let out a small sigh. "I haven't been able to talk with him yet. I left him a message though, and I'm hoping he'll call back soon. I know he's been pretty busy with work."

Logan wondered if there was more going on there than what she'd actually shared with him based on little clues in her reaction. "Have you talked with him recently… I mean… does he know about us?"

He noticed she bit nervously on her lip for a second before she replied. "I talked to him right before I left for New Mexico… while you were in the hospital… so yeah…"

The elevator had opened on the parking level and they walked over to her car and set the boxes in the back as they were talking. Now that his hands were free he was able to pull her in closer, placing his hands on her hips and gave her a concerned look. "Did that conversation not go very well?"

She shrugged but didn't look very happy. "We didn't have much time, so didn't really talk very long. He was… surprised, to say the least."

Logan reached up and ran his hand along the side of her head. "I take it he wasn't very happy to hear about me being back in your life was he?"

She shrugged again and he couldn't help but notice the disappointment in her tone. "Well he certainly wasn't expecting to hear it. I said I'd talk more with him when I got back from New Mexico and haven't had a chance to yet."

Logan knew it was important to her to keep Wallace as a friend. He really hoped that the two of them could figure out a way to coexist for her sake. There were times during school when he thought they'd been able to see past their animosity and be civil to each other, especially if it concerned Veronica, so maybe they could get there again for her.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Well hopefully you'll hear back from him soon."

They walked down to Harley's for lunch when they were done packing. Logan thought back to when they first went there when they flew up from Sao Paulo. Things had certainly changed considerably since then for them.

"We're going to have to find you a new favorite brew pub by our new house," Logan said softly in her ear as he placed a kiss on her neck.

She had a sly grin on her face. "I'm sure we'll have lots of fun trying to find one."

"Yeah we will," Logan replied. He still couldn't quite believe how things were going for them now. Only a few months ago he never expected her to be in his life again and now they had just bought a house to live in together. She'd even changed jobs so she wouldn't have to leave him again. He couldn't actually believe how well things seemed to be going for them, and a small part of him worried something was bound to go wrong. His thoughts were interrupted by her hand settling on his leg before she started gently caressing his thigh. The waitress delivered their food a few minutes later and he couldn't help but smile as she stealthily tried to steal his fries when he wasn't looking once she'd eaten all of hers. He absolutely loved that even after all these years, her healthy appetite and habit of stealing his food had never changed.

After having lunch they headed back to La Jolla. Since the SUV was filled with Veronica's stuff, Keith had said he'd just keep Archie another night. They were planning to go to Malibu the next day to get the rest of Logan's things and return Archie to Bryn since she'd be back from Vancouver then. It took them quite awhile to carry in her boxes and get most of them unpacked. She'd packed up most of her kitchen things as well as a lot of her wardrobe. He helped her unpacking the boxes in the kitchen and they spent some time deciding exactly how to organize everything. He teased her a little about selecting the lower cabinets for things she'd frequently use and got a small eye roll when he suggested picking up a step stool for the pantry. He wasn't terribly surprised that she mostly just had very basic kitchen things since he doubted that she probably spent a lot of time preparing meals given her line of work. He stated working on a list of other things he wanted to buy to be sure he'd have the things he wanted to use when he started cooking there for them. She was moving on to start organizing her clothes in the walk in closet after they had finished in the kitchen, when Logan heard her stomach growl.

"Did you want to take a break and go out to eat, or should I run out and pick up something?" he asked as he watched her dig through the box of clothes she'd just opened up on the upholstered bench in the middle of their walk-in closet.

She let out a huge sigh. "I feel too yucky to go out to eat…" She blew some strands of hair out her face. "Can you just run out and pick something up while I keep unpacking?" She gave him a head tilt and a sweet smile.

"The head tilt wasn't really necessary," he teased back. "I would have gone with a simple 'please'."

"Pleeeeease," she whined with a sly smile.

He walked over to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Sure, what is my sexy girlfriend in the mood for?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "I so don't feel sexy at the moment, but would love a pizza from the place we ate at on Thursday." He couldn't imagine ever thinking she wasn't sexy as he placed a trail of kisses up her neck. He'd behaved himself in the kitchen, but being this close to the bed, he was starting to have other ideas. Especially when he noticed some sexy lace thongs in the corner of the box she'd just opened. Of course this upholstered bench could work just as well. She moaned lightly against him, and then spun so she could face him. "Food?" she asked with a quirked brow.

"Mmm… right… Sammy's?" he asked and she nodded in reply. He gave her a quick kiss on the nose and then stepped away, pulling his phone out of his pocket. There will be plenty of time to ravish her later. "Did you want the BBQ chicken again?"

"I was thinking I'd like to try the Thai chicken this time if that's okay with you."

"As long as it doesn't have shellfish, I'm fine with anything," he said with a smile as he searched on his phone for the number to the restaurant. He gave them a quick call and placed their order then gave her a kiss goodbye and headed down to her car. They hadn't made it back out to Malibu yet to get his, and were planning to just pick it up when they took Archie back, so they'd just been sharing hers. He was half way down the stairs when he heard her cell phone ring and heard her say 'Hey, I'm so glad you called…' He assumed it was either her dad or Wallace based on the tone she took. He opened the door to the garage when he realized he'd left his wallet up in the bedroom. He turned around and headed back upstairs. He could tell by the time he got to the door to their room that the conversation didn't sound like it was going very well and he decided it definitely had to be Wallace. He froze outside the door not knowing what he should do. He ended up just standing their listening, not able to move once he heard more of the conversation.

He could sense how distraught Veronica was by her tone. "I know what I said then, but that was years ago Wallace… It wasn't his fault. He didn't even know about it… I know, but I was just so upset then, it was easier to blame someone who wasn't there…Look I should never have said that. It wasn't fair of me at all… I don't blame him for it now so I don't want you to either… Fine…" She let out a frustrated sigh. "Just think about it for me, please… Of course you know I do, but I love him Wallace and nothing is going to change that…" He heard another frustrated sigh. "I understand… well if you change your mind let me know… Bye."

He could feel a sense of anxiety course through him and felt his heart beat speed up. There was something else she hasn't told me that Wallace knows about. Something that she blamed me for. He finally took a step through the doorway. She was sitting on the bed staring into the closet with her back toward him. Her shoulders were slumped and she was staring at her phone that she had resting on her leg. "Hey," he whispered softly causing her to suck in a sharp breath and sit up a bit straighter.

"I thought you left…" she said in a shaky breath.

"I forgot my wallet," he said as he moved over and sat down next to her. She looked up at him with a forlorn expression on her face as he reached up and brushed some loose strands of hair out of her face. "What don't I know Veronica?" he asked quietly as he looked tenderly into her eyes. "Please tell me." There was no way to hide the concern in his plea.

"I'm sorry…" she said as she swallowed hard. "I should have told you… when we talked about Wallace… I just didn't want too… I hoped it wouldn't matter… that it wasn't the reason for how he acted… that I could just keep it buried."

"So there was more than him just hoping you'd get back together with Piz? Something else was behind how he was at the hospital?" he asked, hurt that she hadn't been completely honest with him when they first talked about it.

She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "I wasn't sure… I guess I should have known, but I wasn't really sure until I talked with him… right before I went to New Mexico."

"What happened Veronica?" he asked with growing anxiety in his tone. What the hell happened to her that could have been my fault that I don't even know about? And after how honest we were being with each other, how could she keep something this significant from me?

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second before she opened them and reached out and took his hand. "I had to testify against Mercer…"

Logan felt his stomach drop and a horrible pain spread through his chest as he took in a shaky breath. Fuck… Mercer was all my fucking fault… I'd been the one who made her clear him… so many things went wrong with us after that.

"Lamb had…" she paused and huffed out an angry laugh. "Even though he was dead he was still able to be an asshole… he'd written in the case file… since I was there when he came to interview Parker and then I exposed Claire's fake rape… he put in the case file that I wasn't an impartial witness because I'd reported being raped before without any evidence… not that the bastard even tried to check for evidence..." He watched as she clenched her jaw.

"Oh Veronica," Logan said as he started piecing things together.

She stopped and pursed her lips together tightly for a second before she took a deep breath and continued. "Mercer's defense attorney got a hold of that so he tried to discredit me on the witness stand… I'd never… I'd never told my dad about the rape…" Her voice broke slightly at the end and she took another deep breath.

"I'm so sorry Veronica." Even though I was gone I was still fucking up her life.

"It wasn't your fault… but I was just so upset…" She looked at him regretfully as she watched him cautiously.

"How can you say all of that wasn't my fault Veronica?" he asked distraughtly. "All of it… even back to high school… I'm the one who led the fucking charge against you that year… if I hadn't… that never… that never would have happened Veronica… there wouldn't have been anything for you to even tell your dad… let alone dealing with fucking Mercer."

"Logan, I never blamed you for what Cassidy did… even when I found out the truth… I never blamed you for that…" Her voice was starting to sound more unsteady. He could tell she was right on the verge of beginning to cry.

"Well I blamed myself… and for Mercer too… if I hadn't asked you to help him… fuck… I'm so sorry Veronica." He pulled his hand away from hers and covered his face as he leaned forward. The ache in his chest was worse and he fought to keep some small bit of control. He could feel his breath quicken as his blood was pounding quickly through him, making his head ache as well. He certainly didn't want to upset her more by exploding like he really wanted to. Suddenly that same feeling that had possessed him to get arrested and thrown in jail with Mercer and Moe so he could dole out his own brand of justice was coursing through him, but the only person to really blame now was himself.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled her face against the side of his head. "I don't blame you Logan… for any of it…" she said barely above a whisper. She took a deep breath before she continued. "You asked me to stop investigating the rapes because you were worried about me… I'm the one who put my self into that situation… not you." Her voice was starting to sound calmer and he could tell she was trying to keep herself composed to comfort him.

"No wonder Wallace hates me… I hated myself for so long because of things I was responsible for… and I didn't know… I had no idea that would happen to you… after I was gone." He felt absolutely sick thinking about it now. Knowing that she had to relive that again and that he was over 6000 miles away oblivious to the entire thing and not there to support her. "I don't see how you can say you don't blame me…"

"Hey, look at me okay…" she said in a softer calming voice. He lifted up his head to look at her. "That was in the past Logan. Yeah, it sucked when it happened and I was angry, but I moved past that. I actually did talk with someone about it after it came out during the trial, so something good came out of it in the end. I don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself either. I love you Logan… no matter what..."

"No matter what?" Logan asked in a frustrated disbelieving tone. "How can you not blame me for that? How can you not wonder when the next time I fuck up some part of your life will be? Obviously I've had a pretty shitty record… even worse than I thought."

"Hey, I'm sure life's not always going to be easy for us…" she gave him a nostalgic smile. "You know they don't write songs about the ones that come easy… I never really expected us to have a perfect happily ever after Logan, but I'm sure as hell that what we will have will be epic and there's no one in this world that I want to spend the rest of my life with besides you."

He took a deep breath and just looked at her for a minute. Even after everything, she was still looking at him as if there wasn't anything in the world that she cherished more. "Promise?" he finally said quietly as he kept staring into her eyes.

"I promise," she replied and leaned in to kiss him. She gave him a crooked smile as she pulled away after the kiss. "You're still going to feed me right?" she asked with a tender smile as she ran her fingers gently over his cheek.

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah… of course." He leaned in to kiss her again on the lips, then pulled back and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back in just a few minutes." He stared intently into her eyes for another minute without moving. "I love you so much Veronica. I never want to cause you as much pain as I did before."

She nodded. "I know… and I know you won't."

He nodded in reply and stood up, leaning toward her to place another kiss on top of her head before he walked over to grab his wallet. I sure as hell hope she's right. I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt her like that again. He gave her a grim smile before he turned and headed back down to the garage. He still felt like a horrible asshole for her having to go through that. He was glad she was able to forgive him, but just finding out about it, he was having a hard time letting himself off that easily. That wasn't something you just forgot about on your way to pick up dinner. As he drove over to pick up the pizza he started to wonder how much of the story Wallace knew. Did Wallace know he had some of the GHB at Shelly's party and that he didn't do anything to protect her when she was obviously so wasted? No wonder Wallace thinks I'm not good enough for her and that he should have kept me away. Fuck, how much does Keith know as well? Whatever small bit of comfort Veronica had given him at the house was slowly dissipating every second that he drove away from the house.

He somehow made it to the restaurant and picked up their pizza, though he felt as if he was in some sort of fog the entire time. After leaving the restaurant he felt his anxiety getting worse every second that went by. He was so distracted by it all that he actually drove past the driveway for the house and had to turn around and go back. When he walked into the house, Veronica was waiting for him in the kitchen with some plates and two bottles of beer. She gave him a concerned smile as he walked in and placed the box on the counter.

"Did you want to eat out on the patio?" she asked as she watched him carefully. He nodded and picked the pizza box back up. She sat the plates on top of the box and then grabbed some napkins and the two bottles of beer. He let her lead the way and followed her out to the patio. She took a seat on one of the lounge chairs and he sat the pizza box down on a small table next to it. He was about to sit down in the chair on the other side of the table when she reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Sit with me?" she asked with a tender expression on her face. He nodded and walked over and sat on the other side of the lounge chair she was on. She took out a slice of pizza and started to hand the plate to him.

He shook his head as she held it out toward him. "Maybe later," he said softly. "You can have that one."

She gave him a concerned look, but nodded and pulled the plate back, setting it on the table again. "Beer?" she said picking up one of the bottles and holding it out for him. He nodded and took it from her. She picked the plate back up as he stared down at the beer bottle. He saw her take a bite of the pizza out of the corner of his eye and heard her let out a small 'Mm' sound. "It's really good. Are you sure you don't want a piece?"

He shook his head and fidgeted with the label on his beer bottle. She took another bite of the pizza and then a drink of her beer. "Do you want to talk?" she finally asked with a concerned tone.

He shrugged. He pretty much already knew what she was going to say… the same thing she'd said upstairs... that it wasn't his fault and that he shouldn't feel so bad about it. But that didn't really make him feel any better about what had happened. If he'd never asked her to prove that Mercer was innocent, he would have stayed in jail and maybe the police would have been able to prove he did it since he actually was guilty. If Mercer hadn't been out of jail that night of the party, Veronica wouldn't have ended up alone in a dorm room with him and wouldn't have had to testify against him. She wouldn't have had to have her rape brought up again. So it really was all his fucking fault that she had to go through all of that. Not to mention his involvement in what happened to her at Shelly's party. If he hadn't ostracized her, there would have been people looking out for her and she never would have gotten into the position she ended up in that night.

She set her plate and bottle on the table and then took his bottle out of his hands and sat it down too. She took his hands into hers and gently stroked the backs of them with her thumbs. "Please talk to me… I want to help, Logan."

He let out a frustrated sigh and stared down at their hands. "Did your dad hate me as much as Wallace when he found out?" he asked in a defeated tone.

"I don't think he actually connected all those dots… not like Wallace had. When I finally talked with him about what happened, your name didn't really come up at all. And of course I didn't tell him all the details about what happened between me and you regarding Mercer," she answered honestly if not a bit reluctantly. "And it wasn't fair of me to let Wallace think the worst of you either. I know that now. I'm the one who owes you an apology for that."

Logan let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "Veronica… how can you even say that? I deserve what ever shit you told him about me. I'm the reason Mercer didn't stay in jail. You never would have had to take the stand if I'd never asked you to get him out. And god… Shelly's party…" he felt the rage starting to build inside of him again.

"Logan," she said soothingly as she squeezed his hands a little tighter, "I don't blame you for any of those things and you shouldn't blame yourself either."

He finally turned to look at her. "But you did… you did when you talked to Wallace… or he would never have thought that Veronica…"

He could tell she was trying to keep her emotions under control, but she seemed to be struggling with it as well. He was sure that pointing out that she had blamed him when she talked to Wallace all those years ago had been difficult for her to hear. He caught a slight flinch when he said it, but then a moment later a reassuring look returned. It was likely all her FBI training coming in to play, keeping her from showing her true emotions to keep the situation under control. He knew she was trying to stay composed to try to calm him down or make him feel better, but it wasn't really helping him feel any better.

"How many times have you been there for me... even risked your life for me Logan?" she asked after a moment, still looking at him with as much adoration as she ever had. "No matter what mistakes you may have made along the way, all the times you were there for me more than made up for that. I made mistakes too Logan. I had you arrested for Lilly's murder. I caused my dad to lose the Sheriff's election. Neither one of us is perfect and I don't think we ever will be, but that doesn't make me love you any less and because of that love, I don't blame you for any of that now." She took a deep breath before she continued. "I have no doubt that if you'd known you would have been there for me. I'm the one who told you to leave. I don't know what would have happened if you'd stayed or come back sooner, but this is where we are now and I don't want to look back at the past. I don't want to worry about 'what-ifs'. I just want to build our life together now and look forward Logan."

She released his hands and brushed her fingers gently across his cheek. She was still looking at him with such a loving expression that it made him feel even worse as he thought about what she had to go through when he wasn't there for her.

"I'm so sorry Veronica," he said softly and buried his head against her shoulder, taking in a deep breath. She moved her hands up to gently stroke his hair with one and wrapped the other one tighter around his shoulders. He in turn wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "I wish I'd known… I wish I'd been there…"

"I know," she whispered against his cheek. "But what matters is that you're here now. That we're together now and nothing is going to change that. Remember when I said water under the bridge, I meant that for everything Logan. We both agreed to a fresh start."

He sat up so he could look into her eyes and nodded slowly. "I know… I thought I'd come to terms with all the fucked up things I'd put you through… I had no idea it continued even after I left though."

"Water under the bridge," she said again as she reached up and stroked his cheek. "You need to forgive yourself for it too though. I wish I could do that for you, but I can't. You're the one who's going to have to do that."

He took a deep breath and nodded then leaned in to kiss her. Feeling her lips on his and the loving way she kissed him back helped ease some of the anger he was still feeling towards himself. "You'd better eat more of your dinner," he said with a partial smile after they broke apart from the kiss.

She smiled back and nodded. "Are you sure you don't want a slice?" He shook his head again and repositioned himself on the chair so he could keep his arm wrapped around her waist. She grabbed her plate and put another piece of pizza on it. "Did you want your beer back." He shook his head and she gave him a concerned look, but didn't push him more. She leaned against him and started eating her slice of pizza again.

I guess I should be relieved that she's forgiven me, why can't I do the same? She finished the slice she was eating and reached over to grab another slice. "One bite? Please, for me?" she asked with an urging expression. She held the slice up to his mouth and then smiled coyly before she tilted her head slightly at him. "Please?" she asked again.

He let out a deep sigh and shook his head slightly at her. He shouldn't have been surprised that she'd try to get him to eat something given her normal persistence. He opened his mouth so she could slide the pizza in and took a bite. "Good right?" she asked with a sly smile. He chewed up the bite he'd taken and nodded as he swallowed it. She took a bite of it then held it back up toward his mouth. He relented and opened his mouth again for her to feed him a second bite. She set the slice down as he was chewing and gave him an alluring smile. "You got some sauce…" she trailed off as she kissed the side of his mouth where apparently there was some sauce, although he wasn't sure if she was just trying to move his thoughts away from his anger and back to the present with her. She moved her mouth after kissing the side of his mouth to kiss him fully on the lips.

"Better than a napkin?" she asked coyly as she pulled slightly away from him after the kiss.

He took a deep breath and reached up to gently stroke the side of her head. "Yeah…" he said a bit breathlessly. He wasn't sure how he got lucky enough to have her in his life again, especially with the all too raw reminder of all the bad things that had happened in their life in the past.

"You know…" she said in a playful seductive voice. "I was trying to get you to eat to be sure you'd have enough energy for later." She gave him a suggestive wink and a lascivious smile. He couldn't help but smile back at her. She picked the plate up again and held the pizza out to him. He shook his head slightly and then took another bite. "Good boy," she said with a flirtatious smile.

She took another bite and then grabbed both their beers and handed his back to him. He finally took a drink of it after swallowing the bite of pizza. He dipped his head down and stared at his lap for a moment before turning back to look up at her with a remorseful expression. "I'm sorry that Wallace won't be coming for Thanksgiving," He knew she was really looking forward to having all their friends there, and hated that on top of everything else it was his fault that it wouldn't be quite what she had wanted.

She shrugged and shook her head slightly. "You certainly don't need to apologize for that Logan."

"Well I know how excited you were to have all your friends and your dad here," he said as he continued looking at her.

She tilted her head and gave him an affectionate smile. "The most important thing to me is that we'll be together. Here…" she waved her hands around. "…in our beautiful new home. Don't worry about Wallace… I'll talk to him again…" Her expression became a bit thoughtful.

"Do you want…" he hesitated and gave her an uncertain expression. "Do you want me to try to talk to him for you? Just because he's still upset with me, doesn't mean he shouldn't spend time with you."

Veronica looked a bit surprised but then shook her head. "While I appreciate you offering, I don't know that it would go over too well. But thank you for suggesting it."

Logan nodded and looked down at his bottle again. A minute later, Veronica was pushing a plate of pizza in front of him again. "Nurishment…" she said in a sing-song tone. He relented and took the plate and ate the piece of pizza.

When they were finished eating, Veronica insisted that they spend some time in the hot tub. Her argument was that after all the packing, moving and unpacking, that soaking in the hot water would help sooth her tired muscles.

"Admit it, you just want to ogle me being all wet and half naked," Logan couldn't help but tease as they headed upstairs to change clothes, although it didn't come out quite as exultantly as it normally would have. She was walking in front of him, and looked back over her shoulder with a salacious grin and a little wink.

They hadn't had a chance to use the hot tub yet, even though they had used the pool the first night. Veronica told him to head out and get it ready and she'd be out in a few minutes to join him. He took the cover off and figured out how to operate the controls as he waited for her. She appeared a few minutes later with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He gave her a questioning look as she walked over to join him.

"I thought we should celebrate christening the hot tub," she said with a sly smile.

He laughed and took the champagne bottle and glasses from her and set them down so he could pull her into his arms. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. "I love you," he said after their lips separated.

"I love you too," she looked at him with a sentimental expression. "Warts and all…"

He let out a soft laugh and leaned in to kiss her again. When their lips parted she gave him a loving smile, and then started to take off the cover-up she'd put on upstairs. He expected to see the black bikini that she'd put in when they went up to the bedroom, but instead she was completely naked.

His mouth fell open slightly and she let out a soft laugh. "Well are you coming?" she asked as she climbed into the hot tub. He let out a low chuckle and was about to reflexively give her an inappropriate reply, when she shot him an admonishing look. "Pour the champagne… please," she said with a quirked brow. Even though he was still struggling with what happened earlier, seeing her like this was slowly starting to put him in a much better mood.

He nodded and popped open the bottle and then filled the two glasses. He handed one to her before climbing into the hot tub himself. "I feel a bit over dressed," he said as his mind was continuing to push thoughts of everything other than this immediate moment with her out of his head.

"Well we can't have that, now can we?" she asked mischievously. He hadn't quite sat down yet, and she stood up, holding her glass up for him to take. He gave her a questioning look, but took the glass from her. She placed her hands on his chest, then glided them down his front to his abs and then around to his lower back. He looked at her with a mesmerized expression as he felt her fingers slip under the band of his swim trunks as her wet naked breasts brushed against his chest. She slowly slid her hands toward his hips and then down his outer thighs, pulling his shorts down along with them. She placed a few kisses on his chest, going lower as she bent down to get the shorts even lower until they were almost down to his knees. It took all his power to stand there, and not spill the glasses of champagne that he was still awkwardly holding up in the air. She straightened back up, splaying her hands across his chest again, as he felt her foot graze his inner leg and pull the shorts the rest of the way down. "Better?" she asked innocently. She gave him a little wink and then took her champagne flute back from him.

"Much," he said as he smiled down at her with a look of amazement on this face. She smiled and then sat pack down into the hot water, pulling him down with her.

She held her glass up in front of her and he copied her. "Here's to the first of many memorable nights in our spectacular hot tub," she said with a smile as she held her glass a little higher. He nodded and they clinked their glasses together before taking a drink.

"The view really is spectacular," Veronica said after taking a drink as she looked out at the moonlit shoreline.

"Yes it is," Logan said, although he was still only looking at her. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off her since she came outside to join him. She turned and noticed what he was doing and gave him a loving smile in return. She took another big drink of her champagne, and then set the glass down on the ledge next to the hot tub. He quirked an eyebrow at her in a questioning glance right before she moved one of her legs across his lap and shifted so she was straddling him.

Logan carefully set his glass down on the ledge as well so he could use both of his hands to enjoy touching her body. He started with his hands on her sides, but slowly moved them down, caressing her hips before moving on to her lower back and then down to her ass so he could pull her up against him. He had started getting aroused the moment she dropped her cover-up revealing that she was naked, and by this point, he was having an extremely difficult time maintaining any control over himself.

She put her hands on his shoulders and then slowly moved them up the back of his neck, massaging his tense muscles as she went. There was nothing but love and desire in the look she gave him. He was still completely amazed that even with the fresh reminder of all the horrible things he'd done in the past that she could look at him that way. "I have no idea what I did to deserve you in my life again," he said a bit breathlessly. "But I am beyond thankful that we found our way back to each other again."

"Me too," she said softly as she leaned in to kiss him deeply. They moaned together as she raised up and then repositioned herself on him while their mouths were still locked together. "I love you so much Logan," she said reverently as she leaned back slightly to stare into his eyes again. She gave him a coy smile before starting to move her hips and then started pressing kisses along his neck. He took a deep breath and looked up at the star filled sky for a moment, thanking whatever supernatural power might be responsible for bringing her back to him, before he got lost completely in her.

A/N – Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this one. After reading a few comments after the last chapter, I just didn't feel as though I liked how things were resolved with Wallace and didn't really see it being as easy as them all just being friends now with how much he had hated Logan at the hospital. We're definitely getting closer to the end now, but there are a few things I still wanted to include. I hope no one is saying 'please just let this end already!' – I would guess if there were, they wouldn't actually be reading anymore anyway. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with it and an extra special thanks to those who leave comments. I really do appreciate them all! I of course appreciate readers who don't leave comments too, it's just harder for me to know you're there!