Title: Meet the Kanes, part 2
Author: Elgatoneun
Pairing/Character: LoVe, WeeVer, LillyLogan, LillyWeevil
Word Count: 1562
Rating: R
Summary: AU, what if Veronica had been raised as a member of the Kane family?
Spoilers: Everything up to 1.20, but it is AU.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, it belongs to Rob Thomas.
Notes: Thanks for all the beautiful reviews. Just a little back story to clear things up. Veronica is not Celeste's daughter, but the Kanes took her in when she was born and have presented her as their full-fledged biological daughter. Duncan is 10 months older than the girls. Lilly's and Veronica's births were close enough that they told the girls and everybody else that Lilly and Veronica were fraternal twins.
She paused in the foyer; Lilly was home. Veronica steeled herself for the inevitable fight that always seemed to happen between them now. She debated going into the den to study versus the possibility of getting to her room without seeing her sister.
"Don't bother, I saw him drop you off." Lilly stood on the stairs, hands on her hips looking down at Veronica. She was still in her pep squad uniform. Her eyes narrowed at her sister's slightly mussed hair and clothing.
"So how does it feel sleeping with your sister's boyfriend?" Lilly asked coolly nonchalant. Veronica was not going to let that pass.
"Why don't you tell me? You did it first. We could compare." She didn't know when she was going to get over the pain of finding out about Lilly and Eli. Their mother had apparently found Eli in Lilly's room. Veronica and Duncan had come back from covering a school board meeting for the paper to find their mother and Lilly screaming viciously at each other. As the vitriol spewed back and forth, the circumstances were revealed. Eli and Lilly together … caught doing enough that Celeste Kane was calling her daughter a slut. As that dawned on Veronica, she became numb. She pleaded silently with Lilly to tell her it was all a horrible mistake. Lilly didn't … couldn't look at her. It was the first time that had happened between them. And that was confirmation.
It must have been a good day for Celeste Kane. Her favorite activity always seemed to be tearing her daughters down. That day she'd been able to do both of them. After sixteen years, she was almost used to the disdain and resentment that her mother had for her … and Lilly. It was one of the many things that she and Lilly shared, boyfriends being another one apparently.
Lilly had betrayed her. So Veronica had decided to do the same. Logan had been surprisingly susceptible and agreeable. It wasn't what she had expected. He was sweet, in his own way.
"Don't space out on me now. Let's compare then. Don't you love it when Weevil lets you take him for a ride? I like it nice and slow, he does too. But I think Logan's neck fetish is sexy too. The things he can do with his tongue …"
"Don't be disgusting, Lilly." Veronica felt physically ill. She had never been as casual about sex as Lilly. In fact, she and Eli had never been fully intimate. Logan had been her first. She'd been slightly drunk and hurt beyond anything she felt before. Lilly was her other half. She wanted Lilly to feel the pain that she had. Instead Veronica lost something that night, more than she thought would, more than she had wanted.
"Now you sound just like mom," Lilly rolled her eyes.
"Payback's a bitch."
"And her name is Veronica." Lilly quipped. Veronica wanted to smile and cry at the same time. It was so like Lilly to try to be flip when the situation got too serious for her. Lilly's smile faltered.
"I swear, Veronica, I never meant for it to happen. I would never ever want to hurt you."
"Well, you did. Why did you do it?" That was what had been haunting her since she found out. Veronica knew her sister's penchant for boys. But Eli had been her first and only boyfriend. That should have made him off limits.
"I don't know, it's just, we were fighting again. You know she was bitchier than usual. I don't know . . . he was there. He came by looking for you . . . "
"So you just decided to screw my boyfriend? Because you were mad at mom?" Veronica didn't know why she was surprised. Almost everything Lilly did was centered on pissing off their mom. Sometimes Veronica thought it was the only thing that gave Lilly any pleasure.
"Well, it's not like you were in love with him or anything. You were doing the same thing." Lilly shot back hotly.
"No, I wasn't. Not everything I do is a ploy to get attention. I'm not like you, Lilly."
"Oh please, little miss perfect. You and Duncan are like the Stepford children. Sometimes I can't believe we're even related, let alone twins." Veronica had heard this rant from Lilly before.
"Just because I do well in school and don't sleep with half the guys at Neptune doesn't make me …"
Lilly interrupted, "Veronica, you were going out with Weevil for six months. You never even got close to sleeping with him and you were never going to. He scared you. I know he did. You were only going out with him to get mom and dad's reaction. Admit it." Lilly finished triumphantly.
Veronica was uncomfortable with the small kernels of truth in Lilly's words. Eli, no, Weevil, had scared her a little, she never felt totally comfortable with him. She never felt like she knew all of him. It had been deliberate. He flat out told her that he only wanted her to see the good parts of him. She couldn't trust him, not completely. And she had seen glimpses of his other side, of Weevil. He had compartmentalized himself for her, being only Eli when they were together and she had foolishly played along. But who could blame her? He had been the first boy to want her, not the wealthy daughter of Jake Kane, not one of "those Kane girls", or the Ice Princess as she had been dubbed at school. She never heard anyone say it to her face, but she knew she was regarded as the cold one. Lilly was fire and she was ice. Lilly always had guys after her. Veronica wasn't unpopular with the male sex, it's just that they were always interested in some made up fantasized version of her. They never seemed to be interested in just Veronica. Eli had been the first.
"Look, V, if I thought that you really liked him, I wouldn't have touched him. But he was there, a fine specimen and the perfect weapon, just going to waste. You would have dumped him sooner or later anyway. I know that doesn't make it okay. I know that. You know me. Sometimes, I just have tunnel vision. I forget about the consequences."
That summed up the situation. It always did. The world revolved around her sister. Other people were just lucky to be in her orbit. But Veronica also caught something in Lilly's tone. Something unpleasant.
"Do you even like Weevil?"
Lilly shrugged. "I like him for now." Again, Lilly's situation with guys perfectly described in one sentence. Veronica knew why guys were drawn to Lilly. She was the proverbial flame and drew helpless moths to their desired destruction. What she couldn't understand was why so many went headlong into the fire with their eyes wide open. She may be an ice princess, but so what? What was wrong with that? Ice eventually melted, but fire consumed everything. Weevil was going to be devoured. Veronica still cared for him, in spite of everything. But another part of her waits in anticipation, wants him to hurt. It's justice that will be meted out by her sister, and she knows it. Lilly knows it too. It's her job. It was always that way.
She and Lilly had been more than sisters, they had been best friends. Lilly knew her too well, knew she was hurt more than anything else. Veronica felt most of her anger dissipate. She didn't understand what drove them to do some of these things, well some of them she understood only too well.
Lilly walked down the rest of the stairs until she was close enough to touch. Veronica saw the same sorrow and regret that reflected back at her every morning in the mirror in Lilly's eyes now. Maybe it had always been there.
"Veronica, I'm sorry. You know that. I wish you hadn't found out that way. Please don't hate me forever." Lilly's voice wavered. Veronica seldom saw a vulnerable Lilly, only their mother seemed to have that power. It was over, she couldn't stand it anymore. Veronica pulled her sister into a hug. She needed her sister and her own moral ground was also shaky. Lilly hugged her back fiercely, almost desperately.
They both turned their heads when they heard the clacking sound of high heels on marble flooring. Celeste Kane in all her regal glory was frowning at them slightly.
"So you girls have finally made up?" Their mother didn't wait for an answer, and they both knew that she really didn't care. She was already busy retouching her lipstick in the mirror. She didn't look at them as she spoke.
"Your father and I are going the Calloway benefit tonight. We should be back by eleven. Loretta will have dinner ready at seven. Make sure Duncan eats something and that he takes his medication. Veronica, Lilly, are you listening to me?" Their mother was looking at them now with barely restrained impatience.
Lilly and Veronica grinned devilishly at each other. In perfect unison they turned to their mother and angelically answered.
"Yes, mommy dearest."
Their mother huffed in annoyance and turned back to the hallway.
Lilly and Veronica laughed, it only sounded slightly broken.
