Veronica had buried her face in the sheets on her bed, choking back tears that so easily surfaced, but were much more reluctant to go away. It had been one week ago that Lianne Mars had called her daughter leaving a tearful message babbling on about guilt and being unable to help herself. It had been two weeks and one day, but who's counting, since Veronica had read Logan's letter that he had left in her cell phone and it had been coincidently the same amount of time since a true Veronica smile had spread across her face. Her lips had flirted with her trademark smile when Wallace had came to visit (after a phone call from Keith worried about Veronica) but since then had remained desolate of any emotion other than sorrow.

"That's it get out," Keith said much in the same manner and tone that he had once used to kick out an unwanted and much hated tenant of the Fennel's.

Veronica groaned and rolled over, facing the wall as Keith lifted the blinds letting the sun creep across the rug and over Veronica's greasy, matted, blond hair that had been deprived of shampoo for the last few days.

"I'll give you five minutes. If you don't get your lazy butt out of that bed by then I'm going to put a hole in that much beloved waterbed of yours," Keith stated before turning and walking out of the bedroom.

Typically Veronica would have just closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep, but this time she didn't feel that this was an empty threat. She figured that her father was going to keep his word on this one and if he came back and she wasn't out of bed she wouldn't have a bed to sleep on that night for it would have been reduced to nothing more than a big puddle.

She lay there for a few more minutes and then finally got out, well rather rolled out, of bed and slumped off to the bathroom and into the shower. For once she didn't mind when she ran out of hot water and the cold icy stream poured over her body and through her hair.

Veronica threw on some clothes and applied minimal make up before she bid her father a goodbye which consisted with something about putting a 'Father of the Year Trophy' somewhere not specified and she walked out the door. Her first thought was of caffeine and she immediately turned right and went to the coffee shop on the corner. Dreading where she had to go next she drank her coffee extremely slowly as she distracted herself by rearranging the sugar packets that sat in the ugly off white dish on the uglier green table.

It's amazing how teenage girls will conjure up anything that will delay for just a few milliseconds of evasion from the unwanted task at hand. And further more shockingly to Veronica was how much of a teenage, drama queen, girl she could be because sometime during the rearranging of the sugar packets, she glimpsed at her fingernails in which pink, yes pink the ultimate teenage girl color, was chipping off and leaving bare nail exposed. Instantly Veronica decided that much more important than anything in the world right at this moment was the condition of her fingernails which now required the immediate attention of a highly trained professional... highly trained with fingernail polish and a file, but don't underestimate the power of these seemingly unimportant objects for they can be sometimes the best cure for the broken heart or tired soul.

Pulling into the small nail salon a few blocks down from the coffee shop, Veronica spotted Duncan at the red light and she watched as he drove away, and she remained in the parking lot, alone, and unnoticed. When she walked through the salon door she was instantly greeted with the strong yet unmistakable smell of nail polish and acrylic powder. She reached the counter and began looking through the assortment of nail polishes wishing that the biggest decision of the day would be 'periwinkle desire' or 'candy apple,' both of which were at the moment striking Veronica's fancy as she tried to keep her mind off of Logan.

Her manicure seemed to have flown by and wasn't nearly as relaxing as Veronica had hoped for as she sat waiting in the uncomfortable plastic chairs she remembered his smile and the exact way his lip curled and the way one side of his smile seemed to rise higher than the other giving the impression to whoever had noticed that he knew a secret that no one else did. While her cuticles were being cut she thought of his laugh and the way that it seemed to always, even after Keith had accused Jake of murder and he had become her enemy, brighten up a room. As a red layer of candy apple was polished over her nail she thought of his hands, always gesturing and waving through the air as he told stories and how they always seemed to be pulling someone in for a hug or a pat on the back. As she sat at the dryers she felt herself start to crack and tears gather in her eyes and she kicked herself again for being such a teenage girl.

As she climbed into her car she though of his words in the letter, no longer needing the piece of paper for she had read his messy words so many times that she could now pull them out of thin air.

Veronica,
Somewhere along the line we lost each other again. I know that you think that it was fear that caused me to doubt you and maybe you are right, but at some point Veronica you have to realize that there is something that keeps me coming back to you, wanting you near me and maybe someday you will figure out what it is. Trust me Veronica.
Love, Logan

Every syllable seemed to slice through Veronica's, usually tough, thick skin and penetrated through her ever so sensitive heart and as she sat grasping the steering wheel she knew where she had to go so without another hesitation she started the car, hearing the engine turn over, and pulled out of the parking lot onto the main street. She sat at the same red light that she had seen Duncan at only a short while ago and she knew that she could get over Logan the same way she got over Duncan. Slowly and painfully.

The light turned green and she drove forgetting the way to her own home and driving , as if it was the only place she had ever known, towards Logan's. She drove by the house and was shocked to see that there were no photographers craning necks and cameras over fences and walls to catch a glimpse of Logan, the son of the movie star and most recently, killer, Aaron Echolls. This was a big relief as Veronica parked the La Baron and walked to the back of the house near the tennis courts. She had remembered Logan telling her how for some reason the alarm system was never installed on a particular 10 foot span of the fence and she climbed the bricks pulling herself up and smudging her index finger on the left hand. When she jumped to the other side of the fence she was glad that Logan's mother hadn't given in to her son's idea of attack dogs and instead went with an alpaca.

The back door was unlocked and Veronica walked into the house very quietly and quickly punched in the code to stop the alarms from going off in approximately four seconds. (Logan had given the code to her while they were still going out so that she could sneak in without anyone noticing, because apparently the flashing lights and the loud wails of the alarm system tended to get people's attention.) She walked up the stairs knowing that there was no one in the house because it was Monday and that was the maids' and everyone else's day off. Veronica climbed the three flights to Logan's room and wasn't surprised when she saw, even though it was quarter past twelve, that Logan was still in bed. Veronica felt tense as she walked into the room telling herself that she could still run and that he would never know that she was there but just then Logan rolled over and lifted an eyelid.

He didn't jump or scream. He didn't look shocked or surprised. Instead he gave a weak smile and lifted the blanket with his arm inviting Veronica in with him. She kicked off her shoes and crawled in next to him without a word. She lay next to him looking into his eyes keeping completely quiet for what seemed like years until he leaned his head down and kissed her. Veronica suddenly felt warm as his lips pressed against hers and she realized just how much she had missed him for the last two weeks. He pulled his lips from hers, their legs intertwining under the covers and whispered into her ear, "I never meant to hurt you."

Veronica smiled in the same sort of weak way that Logan had greeted her and then she whispered back, "You never did."

Those were apparently the words that Logan was looking for and those were apparently the words that Veronica needed to say for she fell asleep in his arms and he in hers.