"What do you want for dinner?" Veronica asked when Logan walked in the door of their new house. They'd been in it nearly a year and there were still boxes stacked in almost every room.

"Chinese?" he suggested even though he really wanted pizza. They never ate it anymore unless they were out of town. It made Veronica feel incredibly guilty and Logan feel incredibly uncomfortable because she felt guilty, so it was best just ignored all together.

"Seriously? Chinese?"

Logan bent down to pet Pony before she jumped up on his uniform. Every single black hair showed on the white fabric. "Or sandwiches? That grilled sub place is good," he added. They didn't deliver though, and it was after eight and he was tired.

"You want grilled subs for your birthday?" Veronica demanded.

"Wait. Who said anything about my birthday?"

"I asked you what you wanted for dinner."

"You never said anything about my birthday. I assumed you meant what I wanted tonight."

Veronica pursed her lips. "Let's start over. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?"

"Sushi," he answered automatically. "So, Chinese okay for tonight?"

"I made mac and cheese," she rolled her eyes. "Tonight's taken care of. You want sushi for your birthday?"

"Yes," he rifled through the mail and set it back on the pile of boxes closest to the door. Logan thought they really should buy a cabinet or something to put there.

"But….." she came out of the kitchen area into the living room where he was taking off his jacket. "I don't think I can make sushi. Do you actually make sushi, since it's raw?"

"You don't have to make dinner for my birthday," Logan rested his hands on her shoulders, ran them up and down her arms to relax her. She was always on edge now, understandably, considering what had gone on a year ago. "We can go out, or better yet, let's order in and spend the entire day in bed."

"I thought you were taking the week of your birthday off."

"That's right, I am. We'll spend the entire week in bed."

Veronica wriggled out of his arms and knelt down to scratch Pony behind her ears. "Horndog," she muttered.

They compromised. The night before Logan's birthday, they went out for sushi. On his actual birthday, Veronica made stuffed shells, salad and garlic bread, a meal he picked because he knew she loved it as much as he did. She'd also managed to bake him a three-layer chocolate cake that looked incredible.

"Can we take my cake in bed?" Logan asked when they were finished eating.

"We spent all morning and all afternoon in bed," Veronica said. "I'm sure Pony is still finding bits and pieces of bacon and English muffin between the sheets."

"Can I help it if I got distracted and rolled over the tray?" he grinned at her.

"I wanna give you your gifts before we eat cake," Veronica stood up and disappeared down the hall. Their place was a ranch, and not what either of them would've ideally wanted, but it was a good place for them to recover, reconnect, after everything that had gone on a year ago.

"I thought I told you no gifts," he called after her. All he wanted was her, safe and sound.

"When did I ever listen to you?" she reappeared with a card and a small box in her hands. She moved to hand them to him, then pulled back.

"Wait," she sat down and held the items away from him. "I have to say something first."

"Veronica-"

"Just let me get this out, okay?"

She looked so anxious that he figured it was best to just let her spill whatever it was.

"Okay, tell me."

Veronica took a deep breath. "Logan, I am so sorry for last year. I was horrible to you, and you didn't deserve it."

"Veronica, we've been over this. It's fine. We're fine."

"I know, but I still feel guilty, and….this brings me to one of your gifts. I've been seeing a therapist."

He already knew that. Weeks before, Logan had accidentally heard a voice mail her therapist had left on the LAN line he insisted they have. And before that, he'd noticed a change in Veronica's personality and had assumed she was seeing someone. He'd just been waiting for her to tell him herself.

"I'm glad," was all he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"How long have you known?"

"Does that matter?"

"Not really," she admitted. "Her name is Kara and she's an identical twin." Veronica wrung her hands. "The first time I went to see her, she warned me never to unload on her in public because people always dump all their shit on her sister and she's just a sous chef."

Logan just nodded. He knew the mundane stuff was how Veronica worked her way to the hard shit.

"I carry last spring break with me. Every day. What happened, what…..almost happened…..Kara says that I have to admit my guilt to your face to put it behind me, so that was me admitting that I made a lot of mistakes and they almost cost us everything, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," he moved to kiss her, but she pulled away.

"I have two more things to tell you, and if I kiss you, there isn't going to be anymore talking."

Logan grinned. "That sounds like a plan to me."

"Logan," she whined.

"Hey, it's my birthday, isn't it?"

She completely ignored him and handed him his card and gift. "Open the box first."

Logan tore the paper off and pulled out a gorgeous pair of vintage cufflinks with wings on them.

"They're from the 50s," Veronica told him. "I just thought they looked like you."

"I love them, thank you." he leaned towards her again. Can I kiss you now?"

"There's something else in that box. You get your kiss after you read it."

Logan picked up the certificate and his eyes widened. "You passed the bar?! You took the bar?!"

"I can't tell if you're surprised I passed or that I took it." she teased.

"That you took it! Veronica, you know I've always thought you would've been a fabulous lawyer if that's what you wanted."

"I still don't want to be a lawyer." she said firmly. "But after….everything that happened last year, I knew I needed a break from being a PI. And I know I had to get better and everything, but I was going stir crazy in this house with Pony all day, and all of a sudden, I found myself looking up when the exams were and downloading the study guides."

"I'm so proud of you," he finally got to kiss her, not even noticing until they separated that she'd wound up in his lap.

"You didn't ask me what I'm going to do if I'm not going to be a lawyer," Veronica said.

"I wanted to, but I wanted to kiss you more."

"I got a job as an investigator for a law firm."

"That's amazing, congratulations."

"It's a pro bono firm, so the pay is practically nothing, but I think this is gonna be good for me."

Logan could've reminded her that they didn't need money, she didn't even need to work, but he didn't want to start a fight on his birthday.

"Congratulations," he told her honestly.

"Thank you," she hopped up. "I'll go cut the cake."

"I still wanna take it to bed," he told her.

"You sure? Changing the sheets twice in one day isn't my idea of a good time."

Logan arched an eyebrow. "Trust me. It'll be worth it."

Veronica held up the plate containing a large piece of cake for them to share. "Race you to the bedroom."