Summary: Veronica and Logan start a relationship, but her past gets in the way.
Disclaimer: same...
A/N: This is where the alternate universe thing takes over, as u'll see. Please review and tell me what u think about it!
Somewhere Along the Way
CH 2: The Truth Will...
Duncan rolled onto his side and tried to close his eyes but it was useless. Logan's bombshell was not helping his sleeping habits. He sighed and rolled off the bed all together, giving up on the idea of sleep.
He walked over to the chair by his desk and grabbed the pair of sweatpants he had thrown there the night before, and pulled them on over the boxers he had been sleeping in. He grabbed the first t-shirt he saw out of a drawer in his dresser and picked up his tennis shoes by the door as he left his room.
Less than five minutes later, Duncan was running alongside the long and familiar highway than ran beside the beach. Everything was silent except the crashing of waves and the sound of his heavy breathing that matched the thumping of his tennis shoes on pavement.
Duncan didn't have a particular destination in mind. He just ran. Before he knew it he was turning another familiar corner and heading into a neighborhood of smaller homes built closer and closer together. He knew where his legs were heading and he forced his mind to go on auto pilot as he turned another corner.
It was the same place his late night running usually took him, a home he had watched often but never entered. He had long ago become unwelcome in her life.
Duncan came to a stop outside the entrance to the small apartment building and sat down on the small patch of dirt by the curb. His breathing eventually evened out as he watched the stillness of the streets around him. He leaned back and watched the silent community before him.
Sometimes he went in, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he could handle it, sometimes it made things worse. This time he didn't. He just stayed where he was, on the ground near the gate.
Duncan hated to admit it, but he probably thought about Veronica Mars far more than he needed to. She was a constant part of his thinking, something he tried to reason was normal, but deep down knew wasn't.
He used to follow her sometimes, once or twice a week maybe. He wasn't a stalker but knew her schedule. For a private eye, she wasn't that observant when someone followed her.
When he did, it was usually after school. She always went home right after, but rarely stayed more than ten minutes. If he waited twenty minutes and she was still inside, he left. If she came out, he would duck behind the same old tree and watch her leave. In the beginning, he would usually follow her to see where she was going, but he stopped. He didn't' follow her at all anymore. An incident had taught him that sometimes ignorance was bliss when it came to her.
Duncan moved his legs out in front of him and just stared at her apartment in the distance. He knew which room was hers, and the light was off. The whole place was dark.
His eyes wandered to the front step, and rested on the door.
He remembered the last day he followed her, it was etched in his brain. It wasn't something he would forget any day soon. Veronica had come out in a different outfit. Her skirt was exchanged for a pair of jeans, with boots and a different t-shirt. Her short blond hair had been pulled into a slick ponytail. Even though she had her bag with her, he could tell she wasn't working on a case. Her camera wasn't sticking out of the top like it always did.
Something in his gut told him to follow her that day. Every time he looked back on it he called himself stupid and wished he would have just left like always.
She got into her car and left, and he followed quickly behind her in his. He stayed back a little as she drove deeper and deeper into the bad part of town. She eventually stopped in a small neighborhood where the small one story houses were an arms length apart with small yards and gates. It was the furthest you could get from his own neighborhood and the nice part of town, without actually leaving Neptune.
Veronica parked at a corner a couple blocks away and locked her car, leaving her bag inside. The darkness hid him when he parked across the street a few houses down under some heavy trees. It was the perfect spot to watch without her seeing him.
The house she walked up to had a short metal gate around it and Duncan remembered how she unlocked it with ease like she had done it a million times before.
The yard was split in half by the front walk she used to get to the door. Half of the grass was littered with plastic toys and a small swing set around the back. The other side was covered in tires and auto parts. A polished motorcycle was propped up against the house, with a flashy helmet sitting on the seat.
He should have left right then. There were so many times he could have in the hour and a half he waited for her to come out. Something in Duncan that night worried him. He couldn't tear his eyes from the house he watched, and they stayed focused on the door long after it closed behind her.
If he had thought about it, he would have figured it out long before the evidence smacked him across the face. The bike. The bad part of the town. Mostly just he should have known that a girl like her wouldn't really be alone. Not every guy was as stupid as him.
Duncan knew he should have left, but he couldn't. His legs took on a mind of their own and led him out of the car to hide somewhere closer.
When she came out, she was putting her hair back into a ponytail and she didn't have her jacket on. She made it as far as the gate before a voice stopped her.
"Veronica!"Duncan knew the voice. He didn't know the person, but he knew of him. Everyone knew Weevil.
She turned around when he called, and waited for him to continue with her hand on the gate.
"You forgot your coat." He walked out of the shadows to meet her in the middle and Duncan's suspicions were confirmed. There he was. He smiled and handed her the jacket, his hands lingering on hers just a little too long to be innocent.
Duncan was close enough to hear her thanks, but Weevil's response was inaudible. Whatever it was made her laugh and she gave him a playful Veronica Mars patented look. Then Duncan felt his breath catch in his throat when he leaned down and she accepted his kiss gratefully.
He had wanted to turn away but he couldn't.
"Lunch in the gym?" He asked her, keeping his hand on her arm.
"Of course biker man, will your flunkies be joining us?" She said sarcastically.
"Nope, just me and you."
"Wow, I feel mighty special." Her voice took on that of a southern belle and she batted her eye lashes.
"You are." He responded seriously and her sarcastic smile slipped into a sincere one. Veronica leaned forward, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before backing up.
"I better go."
"I'll walk you to the car, a girl like you don't need to be in this neighborhood alone." He put an arm around her waist protectively and led her through the gate.
"A girl like me? Should I be insulted..." Her voice trailed off as they walked passed him and a loud motorcycle going by drowned them out.
Duncan snapped out of the flashback and shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his thumbs. He stood up regretfully and took one last look at the apartment in front of him before turning back to the road.
His tennis shoes made soft thumps as they rhythmically hit the hard pavement. Duncan forced himself to run faster and faster, until he didn't know if he could stop. His lungs burned from the quick intakes of cold air but he just kept going. He ran until his body ached with pain that could overpower the feelings that would always be there.
The day after he found out about her and Weevil, he went to the gym at lunch. They were there as promised. Duncan wouldn't have even noticed them if he hadn't been looking. They were crouched behind a set of bleachers in the back corner, oblivious to his stares from the doorway. Even from across the large gym he could hear her giggles and Weevil's coarse laugh.
He had long ago given up on trying to stop the pain he felt when he remembered or saw her with another guy.
His breath became even harder as he focused all of his energy on the sound of the waves crashing. He forced him to go faster and faster. The pain he felt from Veronica would never go away.
The only thing he could do was hope that another kind of pain would come along and make him forget, even for just a moment.
Veronica's hands tightened their grip on the wheel as she stared at Neptune High in front of her. Suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe, like she was gasping for breath but there was no air. She tried to exhale and take a deep breath and she felt the warm air slowly fill her lungs. She finally felt like she could breathe again, but that didn't help ease the tight feeling in her chest.
Had she wanted this? What had possessed her to be fine with this? She didn't fit in that crowd anymore, she couldn't do it. There was no way.
Veronica Mars was a person who usually prided herself with having the upper hand. She liked to be in control. Hardening herself was a defense mechanism, one that had worked all to well until he came along. Now she was putting herself out there again, open for all kinds of everything she always tried to avoid. Logan knew all this.
A tapping on her window startled her thoughts and she looked up abruptly to see Logan knocking on the glass, observing her. She had no idea how long he had been there. Without hesitation she opened the door but made no move to get out.
"You coming?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'll meet you inside."
"I'll wait." Logan knew exactly what she was doing. She was scared, though she'd never admit it. If he left her alone, she would never make it in the building. So he waited for her, knowing that she had far too much pride to admit her fear out loud to him.
She didn't say anything else, just reached across the seat and got her backpack from the floorboard and slowly stood up. She glanced around the car, as if looking for something else to busy herself with so she could stall. He knew this, yet didn't point it out.
He waited as she took longer than necessary locking her door and he almost made a crack about nobody wanting the piece of crap, if only to make her smile or relax, but he didn't. When she had realized she had everything and could no longer delay the inevitable, she turned to him and gave a stiff nod.
She started walking slowly towards the school, and he fell in step beside her, taking her hand in his. He didn't look at her when he did, just focused his eyes straight ahead. He could feel her gaze on him, but he didn't acknowledge it or the others coming from various classmates they passed.
When they got to the door, Logan stepped aside and opened the door, letting her go first but not letting her drop his hand. As brave as she usually was, he knew she'd become a coward today if he let her.
Veronica felt like they were moving in slow motion as she walked down the hall next to Logan. She knew it was silly, but she felt like all eyes were focused on her. Then she rolled her eyes at the thought, knowing it was true.
When she got to her locker, she cursed herself silently for having a locker across from Meg, who stood a mere five feet away, standing close with Duncan, holding hands. Their stares focused on Logan and then Veronica as the two passed and stopped across from them.
Logan dropped her hand so she could undo the lock, but he stayed close and leaned back on the locker beside her. He could see Duncan out of the corner of his eye, staring with a clenched jaw, but he refused to give his best friend the satisfaction in turning to look at him. He just watched and waited patiently for Veronica to get her books.
Before he knew it, Duncan was standing beside him, with Meg close behind. The girl was holding on to her boyfriend's arm tightly, a forced smile on her face. Meg knew there was resentment between the four, but she was still oblivious to the what was right in front her, the fact that she would always be a distant second to the only girl Duncan would ever fully love. She tried to help the situation by addressing Veronica with a friendly tone.
"Hey Veronica, what's up?" She asked, forcing happy conversation. Logan and Duncan didn't look at either girl, keeping their eyes on each other. Logan could feel Veronica look at him out of the corner of her eye before she turned fully to address her friend, shutting her locker.
"Nothing, you?" Veronica asked, her voice slightly stiff. She could tell Meg was slightly confused to the situation, but knew the girl probably thought there was just some awkwardness, nothing important.
"Not much, me and Duncan were just talking about the big dance."
"Oh yeah, the prom..." She trailed off and there was an uncomfortable silence that nobody but Meg cared to fill.
"Yep, are you two going?" She asked with a smile, unaware that she had probably made the situation worse. Veronica felt her mouth go dry and paused. Logan answered for her.
"If she'll have me." He broke Duncan's eye contact and put an arm around Veronica, looking down at her. "Got everything?" He asked quietly. She nodded and he looked back at the other couple. "We'll see you guys later." It was more of a statement than a question.
He urged Veronica to the side, and they walked off before anything else could be said. She sighed and put an arm around his waist.
"Well, that wasn't awkward at all." She said, a hint of her old sarcasm coming out. He couldn't help but smile. He didn't say anything else as they walked to her class. "You knew where my class was."
Logan rolled his eyes, knowing what she was getting at. Veronica smiled the smile that always made him weak at the knees. He changed the topic before she could proceed in teasing him.
"Yeah so, I'll meet you before lunch at your locker?" He asked, playing with her hands as she moved to stand in front of him. She gave him a quick nod.
It felt weird having him like this at school. Sure, it was like this when they were alone at the beach, or at her apartment, or the rare times at his house, but here... it was different. They were at school and she felt like she had when she had first started dating Duncan. It was like she was on display, and everyone was just watching, wondering what she had done to deserve a guy like him. She was Veronica Mars, never known for herself.
Back in the old days she was Lily's best friend, Duncan's girlfriend, the Sheriff's daughter. She had always been identified by those around her, never for herself. After everything changed, she wasn't even worthy of those names, four letter words took their place. Slut was a personal favorite, or the real over achievers choose the ones with five letters, whore or bitch.
Now she was the girl who solved cases. The weird one who hung out with the new basketball star Wallace, or Meg the cheerleader, or the bikers and guys like Weevil. She wasn't really any body's anybody anymore. They couldn't label her like they used to, so they just stuck to the four and five letter words.
When Logan looked at her in the hallway she could feel the walls she had worked so hard to build up start to fall. It was like she was struggling to keep her head above the surface, and her legs were growing tired of treading water for so long.
She could feel herself slipping back into her old world as the girlfriend of a '09er.
Deep down, she knew it was different but it felt the same. In the beginning, the old foursome wasn't as close as they had become before Lily died. Their friendship was a little forced, and they stuck to the pairs they fit in. Eventually it had just become easier and they all fell into the group they were before it all fell apart.
Veronica knew that it couldn't happen again, but she couldn't help but worry it would. She didn't want that life anymore, she couldn't do it again. She couldn't build it up and wait for it to crumble.
Logan had told her about the space that had grown between him and Duncan. The depressants had numbed him into someone barely recognizable. He was just a shadow of who he had once been. Honestly, she knew that the two boys would never be as close as they once were. Logan denied it if she brought it up, but she knew one of the big reasons was her.
As much as all the signs pointed in the other direction, Veronica couldn't help but worry. Her and Meg were friends, had been close to being best friends before Duncan and Logan came along. The four of them... it was too much.
"I better go." She lowered her eyes to discreetly miss his and went to turn around, but he caught her hand.
"You okay?" He asked, she could hear the concern in his voice.
"Yeah, of course." She turned and he let her go even though everything inside him was telling him not to. He had seen the look in her eyes as they glazed over. He knew she had been in deep thought, and whatever she was processing was worrying her. Logan could tell.
He waited another second before turning around and heading towards his first class. He decided he might as well stop by his locker for his books so he could at least pretend to pay attention in class.
Logan hadn't been looking around before, but he suddenly noticed people watching him out of the corner of their eyes. Whispers silenced when he waked by. He just rolled his eyes and turned the corner to the hall with his locker.
He stopped when he saw who was standing in front it. Logan just shook his head as he approached.
Duncan stood there with the look that Logan recognized. It was the one that he had been threatened with all too often.
Every time a word about Veronica was uttered, every time Logan used to go too far in his tormenting, it would come out. The one that looked like he would punch the offender if they finished that thought.
It was the same look that always told Logan everything he needed to know, that no matter what he said, Duncan was still in love with Veronica Mars.
A/N: Thanks to all the people who encouraged me to write another chapter and my beta Stacey. It helped a lot, so please continue reviewing, as every writer on the site tells you, it really DOES help.
Do I really have to beg this much for some reviews!