AN: Thanks for the feedback. I was not going to update this so quickly because I wanted to wait until it was finished to post the rest. But seeing as that finish is at least two weeks away by my reckoning, I thought I would throw out some LoVe for those who like such things. I can promise you that you will like where I leave this chapter, but I cannot promise you that things will stay easy or happy for an extended period. Because the way I have planned the ending, it will echo something in the show and will be open-ended. This means it is up to the reader's interpretation. Here is another 8 pages. And oh, if you want to read more frequent updates, go to and check out the veronicamarsfic community. I do regular updates there rather than here.
The ride back was quiet and unhurried. She tapped her fingers to some imaginary music and kept her eyes on the road. When they came within a mile of the Neptune exit, Duncan asked, "Was it something I said?"
"Huh?" Monique asked pleasantly.
"Well, it's just…I hope I didn't offend you."
"How could you possibly do that?" She seemed genuinely confused by his comment.
"I turned down your pictures."
She smiled. "So what? They're pictures, not the end of the world."
"Are you sure? Because I thought…with what happened between us…" Duncan faltered when she touched his shoulder.
"You are very sweet, Duncan, but you owe me nothing. No explanations, no strings, and no guilt."
He lowered his gaze and felt a flood of shame and disappointment. "OK."
Monique lit a cigarette and dangled her hand out the window. "Tell me, was it supposed to mean something?"
Duncan hemmed and hawed for a second. "I…uh…it usually does, yeah."
She took a drag and stopped at the bottom of the exit ramp. "I was like you once, but love kicked me in the ass and left me for dead."
"I'm sorry." What the hell else could he say?
Monique finished her cigarette and ground it out in the ashtray. "Don't be. So, where should I take you now?"
"You can drop me off at the beach if you want."
"Are you sure? Your friends have probably gone home."
"Right. Umm, do you know where The Camelot Motel is?"
She shook her head. "Is it near the business district?"
"Sort of. Head downtown and take a left at the post office."
"So what's at the Camelot?"
He felt the need to fill the silence. "Logan is staying there."
Monique looked at him oddly. "Why?"
"Why do you think? Don't you read the newspaper?" Duncan asked in disbelief.
"No. I am here because Logan contacted his grandfather for help."
"And that's the only reason?" Disbelief gave way to disgust.
She hissed in annoyance. "Jesus, what do you want from me? I'm not here on a mission from God."
"Someone has to help him."
"Maybe he should learn to help himself," she observed coolly.
"He's a minor. How is he supposed to do that?"
Her laugh could have cut glass. "Get a job? I know it's a stretch, but we all have to start somewhere."
"You are unbelievable."
"I've been called worse." Monique spotted the motel and shook her head. "This is a sad place."
Duncan yanked open the door. "Thanks for nothing."
She ignored his pissiness. "Where is your car?"
He scanned the parking lot in dismay. "Logan must be using it."
"Then I'll drive to your house."
"No," he said forcefully. "I mean, that's not a good idea."
Monique laughed. "So what are you going to do? Sit here until he gets back?"
"I have no choice."
She turned her car off. "Nonsense. What room is he staying in?"
"210. But I don't have a key."
"So we let ourselves in."
"But that's…" He ran his hand through his hair with a frown.
"Trespassing?" Monique turned around and gestured to him. "Are you coming?"
Duncan followed in her wake and watched her look both ways before extracting something from her purse. "Hey, that's a…"
She shut him up with an icy look. "Thanks for pointing that out." With a deft twist of her wrist, Monique worked the pick and popped open the door. "Here you go."
"I'm still not sure about this."
Monique patted his arm. "You're a good boy, Duncan. Your parents are lucky to have you."
Sure they were. "Not so much anymore."
"Yes, well, they don't have to know about this. It'll be our little secret." She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips lingered for a second before she whispered, "Au revoir."
In the moment that she turned, Duncan caught a reflection from a car parked in the street. When he moved closer, he saw a telephoto lens sticking out of a window. "Fuck." he yelled, "They took our picture."
Monique smirked. "Get inside. I'll take care of this."
Veronica looked at the fair grounds and back at Logan. He was wearing a sweet, expectant expression that she wasn't used to seeing on his face. "A carnival for our first date. I never would have guessed."
He took her hands in his. "That's the whole point, Ronnie. If I made things easy, what fun would it be?"
"How did you know this was here?" She felt a rush of heat when he started caressing her palm with one of his fingers.
"It's here at the same time every year. I only know about it because my Mom used to take me when I was little," Logan admitted wistfully. "That kind of thing stopped when her movie career kicked into high gear."
Veronica touched his forearm. "Well, maybe we can bring back a little of that magic."
Logan slid his hands up her arms and kissed her forehead. "That's what I was hoping." He wrapped his arm around her waist and cuddled her close.
"What do you want to do first?"
"I seem to remember this one booth over by the Ferris wheel. Want to check it out?"
"That sounds good, but can we grab some food first? I'm starving."
Logan smacked his forehead. "Duh. How could I forget something so basic?"
"You were too busy feeding on the snarkfest to notice."
"Is that what it was?" He pulled her over toward a hot dog stand. "Let's start with the basics."
Veronica started to take out her wallet when he stopped her with his hand. "I'll get this."
"OK, but I'll get the next round. Two chili dogs with all the fixings," she told the guy behind the counter.
Logan laughed. "Same for me."
Four hot dogs and two sodas quickly disappeared and were replaced with cotton candy and fried dough. "This is awesome," she crowed.
He smiled. "Where do you put it all?"
She patted her thighs. "Inside my hollow legs."
Logan traced the outline of her hand and rested his hand on the inside of her knee. "Feels pretty solid to me, Mars."
Her eyes closed when his hand inched higher. "Not here," she whispered in a strangled tone.
His lips brushed against hers and she stared through her lashes at his intense gaze. "You sure?"
His fingers tiptoed to her waist and ducked under the edge of her shirt. "L-Logan," she stammered when his hand found the warm skin of her lower back.
Logan licked at the sugar that lined her lips and levered her mouth open with his. When she started falling backward, he caught her with his free arm and started twisting his lips back and forth across hers, seesawing in the same way that he had at the Camelot. Liquid heat soared through her as he deepened the kiss and bent her back even further. When he finally pulled away to catch his breath, her eyes fell open like a china doll's and were instantly entranced by the adoration shining from his eyes. "Veronica, I…" Logan stopped and looked away for a second, clearly overwhelmed by the sexual tension that stretched between them.
"Tell me later," she urged softly. "In private."
His gaze searched her face for a moment. "All right. You ready to find that booth?"
"Sure. Is this one of those games where I can beat your ass?"
Logan smiled. "Not quite, but the outcome should prove to be very important."
Veronica jostled him with her elbow. "Did the 8 ball tell you that?"
"Shit. Now you know all my secrets," he joked.
She looked at him solemnly. "I doubt it."
Logan picked up on her malaise. "You know more about me than anyone else, Veronica. I mean, when you get right down to it, there's not much to see. It's all there on the surface."
The hurt in his voice burned away all the other emotions and she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Don't sell yourself short."
He hugged her back and drew her forward with a gentle tug, directing her attention to a brightly colored kiosk that was rimmed with eager teenage boys and their dates. "There it is, Nancy."
"Go kick ass, Joe."
Duncan watched the action from the hotel window. Monique was right in the photographer's face and it was quite a sight to see her hands flying as she talked. The guy flamed right back at her and then he started to look scared when she grabbed his camera and shook it. In very short order, the car with the camera was out of the picture and Monique was holding her thumb up. She started moving toward the Porsche but stopped when he came barreling down the stairs. "What did you tell him?"
She smiled triumphantly. "I made a deal. Jake won't print the photo, and I won't go to the press with the dirt I have on him."
"You actually know the guy?"
Monique made a face. "He went to school with me at NYU."
"How far the mighty have fallen," Duncan said.
"Hey, he's laughing all the way to the bank."
"What if he breaks his word?"
Monique opened her hand to reveal a flash card. "He won't."
"I can't believe he gave that to you."
"He didn't. I grabbed his camera and made all this noise about smashing it. Jake was so distracted that he never saw me remove the flash card." She noticed Duncan's worried expression and added, "I will shred the files on here. You have my word that none of this will ever see the light of day."
"Thanks." Duncan offered his hand and she pumped it with little enthusiasm.
"So, will I see you tomorrow at the hearing?"
"Probably not."
Monique nodded. "I enjoyed my time with you. Take care now." With a brisk nod, she jammed her hands in her pockets and jumped in the car. He waved as she left the lot but knew that her mind was already a million miles away.
Logan watched Veronica jump up and down like a little girl and knew he'd made the right choice in bringing her here. "This will not be my finest hour," he cracked, staring at the ring toss game with a fake pout.
"Hasn't Luke taught you anything?" she joked. "Maybe we should have brought him with us."
That was the last thing he wanted right now. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"What, no snarky comeback? I'm crushed."
He ruffled her hair affectionately and laughed when she said, "Go on, mush."
"What did you do, memorize my entire back catalog?" Logan joked.
"Hey, at least I know a good line when I steal one."
Logan rolled his eyes. "Wow. Was there a compliment buried in there?"
She shook her head. "Nope. That was your ego talking."
"If you're going to insult me, at least get it right. His name is Id."
Veronica raised an eyebrow and pointed at the booth. "Well, Id, it's time to strut your stuff."
"Sure thing, sugar. Prepare to watch me annihilate the competition," he boasted with a half smile that turned into a full grin when the first ring missed its mark.
Veronica leaned against him and giggled when he missed the second toss. "Only three more tries. Need a little help?"
He kissed her ear and growled, "Think you can do better, girlie?"
"Hell, yes. Give me one of those rings." Veronica grabbed a red ring and aimed for the nearest post. It landed neatly around her target and she put her arms over her head and bowed.
"Beginner's luck," he said with a devilish smile.
"Oh, yeah? Let's see you hit the mark."
Logan picked up a blue ring and lobbed it to the farthest stick, where it settled neatly into place. "There you go," he replied with a smirk.
"You're not done here," she reminded him with a dig of her elbow.
He grabbed up a green ring and aimed it with practiced casualness. "Oh, I think I am, Mars." The ring settled on top of hers and he blew on his fingertips with a gleeful smile.
Veronica looked at him suspiciously. "I think I've been set up."
"It took you this long to figure it out?" Logan kissed her cheek and caressed her face with his thumb. "So which bear do you want?"
Her eyes lit up as she leaned forward and examined the vast array of stuffed animals. "That one," she said, pointing at a tiny pink and white bear with a heart on its chest.
"Good choice," Logan said as the booth operator hooked the bear and handed it to Veronica.
"I already have a name for him," Veronica said softly.
"Why am I not surprised?" he said with a laugh. "So you're going to subject that poor guy to a pink and white existence?"
"You want to hear his name or not?" She put her hand on her hips and tucked the bear in her pocket with a defiant gleam in her eyes.
He held up his hands in surrender. "Do I have a choice?"
"His name is Normal."
Logan nearly melted at the way her eyes sparkled up at him. "As in Abby Normal?"
She butted her head against his arm. "It's a boy bear."
He smacked his forehead. "Right. How could I forget? Hey, maybe we should try to win a girl bear to keep him company."
Veronica shook her head. "I think he's all set."
Logan knew she was referring to something other than the bear. "Really?"
She nodded. "But if there was a girl bear, I know what she would tell him."
"What's that?" he asked gently.
Veronica stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his lips. "I wuv you beary much."
