Summary: Yet another finale aftermath fic.
A/N: Thanks to lex and forcedmovement, my muses. Both of them urged me repeatedly to finish this chapter, helping me out tremendously each time I got stuck on something. As always, italics are VMVO, and feedback is a lovely, lovely thing.
Veronica stopped right in front of Duncan. Veronica met his gaze without flinching. She struggled to remain cool.
"How was your jello?" She asked, nearly smirking at the memory of the red smear on his his freshly pressed white polo shirt.
"Is that really what you want to ask me?" He replied, glaring.
"No." She answered, squinting up at him.
No, but assaulting someone in a police station is usually a no-no.
"What the hell were you thinking, Duncan?" She demanded to know. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "You know what? Don't bother trying to explain it." Veronica snapped.
"Would you just listen to me?" He said, sounding a little desperate.
"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot.
"I didn't mean to go there and tell him." Duncan began.
"So what, it was an accident?" She asked, clearly not believing him.
"You wouldn't understand." He told her.
"Gee, Duncan." Veronica replied. "That makes it all better."
"I didn't want there to be anymore secrets, all right?" He spat out finally. "There was enough of that involving Lilly. I didn't want any involving you too." Duncan sighed.
"What about the promise you made to me?" She wanted to know.
"I wasn't trying to hurt you." He defended.
"Well, that's too bad, isn't it?" She said. "There are very few people in my life that I can trust, Duncan, and up to an hour ago, you were one of them."
"Veronica..." He trailed off.
"You know what? Don't bother." She replied as she brushed past him. He grabbed her arm.
"Wait."
"Stop trying to hurt me because you can't have me, Duncan." She whispered, staring into his eyes. "I don't need you to be the white knight that goes around saving me all the time. If you want to play Prince Charming, go see Meg." Veronica slipped her arm out his grasp and walked over to a waiting Leo.
Another bridge, another fire.
Veronica sighed as she prepared to open her front door. Wallace was true to his word, as always, and came baring tissues and chick flicks. She gave him a hug before shutting the door behind him.
"Ice cream for dinner?" He asked, seeing the ice cream and sundae fixings on the counter.
"I've got all the important food groups right here." She defended.
"So I see." He replied, setting his bag on the counter nearby. "Sugar, fat, fruit, and carbs." Wallace said, grinning.
"Everything a growing girl needs." Veronica smiled. Wallace tilted his head.
"I think I was just insulted." He commented.
"See, I knew one day my mad skillz would start rubbing off on you." She snarked, scooping out ice cream into two bowls. Wallace shrugged out of his jacket, set it on the chair, and started opening containers of toppings.
"Now I know I have." He replied, squirting chocolate syrup on his ice cream.
"I got nothin' but love for ya." Veronica told him, smiling. Wallace matched her grin, watching as hers slowly faded away.
"Thinking about Logan?" He asked.
"No." Her answer surprised them both. "I was thinking about Lilly." Wallace gave her an inquisitive glance. "She and I used to do this, you know, a weekly thing."
"You never really talk about her, you know?" He pointed out, his voice soft.
"It always hurt too much." Veronica whispered, swirling her spoon in her ice cream. "We were best friends. We were gonna grow old together, and I was gonna marry Duncan and she was gonna live in sin with Logan, and it was going to perfect." Once the floodgates opened, she couldn't seem to stop them back up, and the words just kept coming faster and faster. "She was my best friend, and now I feel like I never knew her at all." She slumped down in the arm chair, bowl of ice cream in hand. Wallace settled on the couch. "The Lilly I knew could be bitchy...but Logan's dad? I don't understand how the Lilly I knew could do that."
"She kept a lot of secrets, V." Wallace put a hand on her arm. "I'm sure she had her reasons."
"I loved Lilly. It nearly killed me to see her..." Veronica trailed off, not wanting to think of that night, the night she'd seen the dead body of her best friend. "Everything I've done since she died has been about her, and when it comes right down to it, it's her own fault she's dead." Veronica wiped away a tear. "All this time I'd thought of her as a victim, Wallace. Someone I had to find justice for."
"You did, you know." He pointed out, licking the ice cream off of his spoon. "Find justice for her."
"Look at what it's cost." Veronica replied, resting her chin on her hand, ice cream forgotten for the moment. "Logan's already lost his mother, and now I've put his father in jail."
"Is that what this is about?" Wallace let some anger creep into his voice. "You're letting Echolls guilt you out of solving your best friend's murder?"
"No, I.."
Don't kid yourself, Veronica. That's exactly what you're doing.
"Let's just watch the movie." She finally said. Wallace gave her a shifty-eyed glance, but kept quiet as she flipped on the television and opened the dvd case. She was half listening to the news as she searched for the dvd remote. She froze when she heard the reporter mention the press conference from hell.
She and Wallace watched the news brief silently, with her cringing as they played a clip of her speaking. Wallace flashed a smile, though, and she managed one back.
"This just in, a new development in the Lilly Kane murder investigation." The reporter went on. "Tonight's attack on Aaron Echolls may be harder to prove than originally thought, as Sheriff Don Lamb explains." The tv cut to a clip of Lamb, causing Veronica and Wallace to both glare at the screen.
"Basically, we've been unable to find the lighter that was supposedly used to start the fire." Lamb said, clearly reveling in being on television. "It's going to be harder to get some of the assault charges to stick."
What the hell?
She didn't notice her breathing speed up as she listened to Lamb talk. Certain events were slowly starting to settle into place.