Title: With Time
Author: Cole
Pairing/Character: LoVe
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Veronica thinks over what the murder case has cost her which is more than she ever imagined.
Spoilers/Warnings: 1x22 some swearing
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Veronica Mars. Just some clean old fun while I'm waiting with baited breath for next season

Authors note:

I got this from a timeline discussion over at the TWoP Forums.

June 1987 to September 1987
Veronica is born. Leo is surprised that Veronica is only 17. (1.11 Silence of the Lambs)
Since Lilly was alive at the time of Veronica's sweet 16 birthday party, it means Veronica was born before October 3, 1987. (1.1 Pilot)

Since they never mentioned her birthday at all during the year her birthday must between

June and September

Also I don't know anything about wills or insurance or how any of that actually works so just go with it and ignore and mistakes in that regard. Other than that though please do tell me if there is something I can improve on.

Thank you all again for your replies they really help. Sorry this took a little longer to get out. Better late than never right?

Also if anyone can help me post over at Veronica Mars Fiction. I would so appreciate it. I figured out how to do the live journal but I'm challenged and can't transfer it to VM Fiction.

Chapter 3

Veronica didn't finish the school year she had had a couple weeks of classes and exams left. The classes didn't really matter she already knew the material and Alicia had arranged for Veronica to make up the exams at the end of the summer school session. Not that she was worried about passing, she had always been good at school and it was the last thing that was on her mind.

Other matters had been on her mind though, like waiting for her 18th birthday so she could have access to everything in her fathers will. There had been two surprises there, Lianne hadn't been mentioned and her dad had had a small life insurance policy. Had Veronica not been weeks away from her 18th birthday, she would have gone to live with a guardian or been subjected to the system and the money would have been put into a trust. Wallace's mom and Cliff had greased some wheels on the guardian issue though and Veronica had just put off signing the paperwork on the policy. The policy wasn't much but it would last her until after she graduated if she was careful. Of course that would be after she paid her dad's hospital bill. Her car had been a rite off and the insurance check was in the mail. She was driving her dad's car so that check had gone directly into the bank. She had managed to pay the rent on both the apartment and the office with it. She was able to feed herself, not that she felt very hungry, and she still had a little left over.

Veronica had not gone to Aaron Echolls arraignment. Reporters were the last thing she needed. She knew that Aaron Echolls hadn't gotten bail and that he was up on various charges including two murder charges. She was the D.A.'s star witness after all. Veronica felt surprisingly empty about Aaron finally being caught and arrested. She had worked for the past year for just this outcome but if she hadn't of forced things, if she had just let things be than her father would be alive.

On July 22 2005 Veronica Mars turned 18. She celebrated by going down to her father's lawyers office to officially sign papers that had her inherit what apparently her father's life had been worth. After making a stop at the bank she went to the hospital to pay her father's bill.

"What do you mean it's been paid?" Veronica demanded.

"Ms. Mars, as I have told you twice now, the account was paid in full on May 23 2005." The accounts worker smiled at the girl in front of her a bit irritated at having to explain something more than once and went back to her paperwork. When Ms. Mars doesn't move she looks back up at her pointedly. "Will there be anything else?"

Veronica doesn't respond, instead she gets up from her chair and left the too white room.

Most people in this world can't remember the day, the moment that they lost there innocence, their trust in people the moment they became jaded. For most people it takes years, things happening daily or weekly that they can't specifically pin down when they look back over the years.

Veronica Mars remembers, she knows when where and what time. Of course there was more than one time but she remembers each instance. Sometimes she wishes she could forget; go back to trusting people, trusting herself. She hasn't the faintest idea how to though. She knows she doesn't trust people; shouldn't that make it easier to fix make it easier to change? No matter how much she wants to fix herself, to change herself she can't. She's Veronica Mars, something will always happen, something will always be out there waiting for her. Taunting her, "we didn't get you this time but we're here we're not going anywhere, we'll get you next time. So don't get comfortable, don't fall in love and don't trust."

She can feel her father watching her, if she turns around he'll have just waltzed in returning from getting yet another bail jumper saying "who's your daddy?" he'll smile and tell her they're barbequing tonight. She can feel his eyes penetrating into the back of her head. The eerie feeling sweeps her body from top to bottom waiting for the words to come out of his mouth because she knows he's there. She doesn't turn around though because she also knows that he's not there, and never will be again.

She doesn't see her dad they way she used to see Lilly. She doesn't see anybody the way she used to see Lilly including Lilly. The last time she saw Lilly in her dream Lilly had told she had to know how things were going to be from now on. She didn't know that meant she'd never see Lilly again. It makes sense though, Lilly's at peace and it's not like she doesn't know who killed her father. That should make it easier, shouldn't it? Somehow it doesn't.

She has no idea how long she's been on the beach with Backup crying and watching the sun set when Logan approaches her. "I got my birthday present. I have to say I was surprised that Aaron Echolls paid for my father's hospital bill seeing as how he killed him and all." She says not looking at him.

Logan recoils as if he's been slapped, somewhere in his mind he thinks he has been he's face is stinging like he has been. "I paid it, I thought it was the least I could do."

"With your daddy's money?" veronica asks bitterly. She is still sitting in the sand with arms wrapped around her knees Backup lying beside her. She finally looks up at Logan.

"I thought it was… fitting." Logan tells her sitting down in front of her.

Veronica finally looks at him. "So I see you've finally decided to speak to me instead of just following me. Let me guess you were sitting your car, saw me sitting here for God knows how long and got worried?

"Something like that." Logan answers as he leans back into the sand.

"Do you mind telling me who the hell you are because whoever this is it isn't you?" Veronica practically yells as she dusts the sand off of her self and stands up.

"What does that mean?" Logan asks also getting up.

"It means that Logan Echolls doesn't follow the girl he doesn't trust and doesn't want anymore around just because his daddy killed hers. You don't want me? Fine, than don't follow me. Let me process, let me try to get on with my life. The only thing you've been doing for the past six weeks is to wait and see what I'm doing."

Finally, finally Logan feels something for the first time since he heard that Keith Mars was dead, only it wasn't the emotion he wanted. It was anger. "What exactly were you expecting? I mean how exactly was I suppose to act after my father was arrested for sleeping with and killing my girlfriend and then trying to kill you and killing your father? Was I supposed to rally to my father's side? Maybe do the talk shows with Trina? I mean really what would you have me do?"

"You were supposed to hate me for destroying your family, or love me and never leave my side. You were supposed to lose yourself in umpteen bottles of JD or never touch the stuff again. You were supposed to return to 09ers like nothing happened or never speak to any of them again. I have no idea what I expected you to do Logan but I never thought you would just roll over and take this." Veronica tells him as she turns and begins to walk away.

"I must have missed it when they erected a soapbox for you so you could let all of us peons know how we should handle things perfectly like the "great Veronica Mars." You don't handle things or confront people, you run away and hide. Did it ever occur to you in all this grand thinking that you've done that if you had stuck around that night you found the camera in the pool house that I might have been with you, that we could have figured this all out together?" Logan throws his words at her, like he used to do; he aims and waits for them to hit their targets.

Veronica slowly turns around and he can see the tears in her eyes and he instantly feels guilty.

"I don't handle things perfectly Logan. Haven't you heard? Veronica Mars is a train wreck." She smiled slightly and then turns again and heads with Backup to her car.

Wallace is there when she gets home. He has a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and quite the selection from the video store. She smiles at him remembering how she once told him that there was no problem that couldn't be solved with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It hadn't been true then and it wasn't now.