You're not some baby boy

Why you acting so surprised

You're sick of all the rules

Well I'm sick of all the lies

Now I've held back a wealth of shit

I think I'm gonna choke

I'm standing in the shadows

With the words stuck in my throat

--Why do you love me (Garbage)

Logan stood staring at her, his mouth slightly open, his fists clenched. He looked angrier then she'd ever seen him. And she'd seen him angry plenty of times.

"You're drunk!" Logan shouted.

Veronica blinked.

We have a murder, a suicide, a best friend, a girlfriend, a homicidal father and a blank three months between us and you want to discuss my drinking habits?

The only thing that stunned Veronica more was watching Meg walk purposefully over to him and slap him with every ounce of strength that she had in her tiny frame.

"You bastard!"

Logan gaped at her.

"Do I have a "punch me" sign on my back," he asked, trying to grab for Meg's arms as she lunged at him again.

Suddenly he found himself surrounded by two extremely pissed off girls. They were shouting and cursing at him like two hissing cats. They were shouting so loudly that they were overlapping each other. He had no idea what they were saying except that they weren't applying for his fanclub.

"Hey!" He heard someone shout and he saw Duncan sprinting toward them.

Well this is going to hell faster then expected.

Logan looked at Veronica who was standing back, staring at him, stunned. Left without anything else to do, he pushed passed her friends and reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

"Come on," he said.

"I don't think so," she said, pulling back away from him.

"I'm sorry, did you think I was asking?" He lifted her up like he had in pretty much every make out session they'd ever had. Only this time she wasn't a willing participant.

"Logan!"

She tried to wrestle away from him but she was still a featherweight. He carted her over to his car, ripped open the driver's door and shoved her inside.

"Logan, what the hell are you doing?" Duncan shouted, coming to a stop next to Meg and Mac who were just staring open mouthed at him.

"Don't worry, Duncan, I'll return them to you safe and sound." He climbed in after Veronica and pushed her aside with his hip when she tried to crawl over him. "Quite frankly, dude, I'd be more worried about me."

Then he started the engine with a grinding noise and peeled out of the parking lot.

Duncan stared after him, his mouth hanging open. He had no idea what to do. Call the cops, call Keith? He looked a Mac.

"Did he say "them"?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Veronica reached over and tried the door handle. It was locked. She scrambled for the lock but it wouldn't move. She looked at Logan.

"Child safety locks," he said with a demented sort of grin. "Poetic isn't it?"

"Logan, let me out of here!"

"Put your seat belt on," he said, pulling onto the freeway.

"Go to hell."

He looked over at her and glanced down at her stomach.

"Please," he said and returned his eyes to the road.

Oh God…

She stared at him a moment longer and pulled her seatbelt over her shoulder. She snapped it into place and looked out the windshield.

"Where are we going," she asked.

"I have no idea."

Veronica sat silently in her seat after that, her mind racing.

How long has he been back? Exactly what does he know?

She glanced at him again.

Well, of all the ways you imagined seeing him again this certainly wasn't one of them.

He pulled off the freeway. She looked out the window and saw that he was taking them onto a crushingly dark mountain road. Veronica sat up straighter in her seat.

"I was hoping it was you," she said to a very disgruntled Weevil.

"Yeah, that's what all the ladies say." He stepped aside and let one of his buddies shove an extremely drunk Logan into her apartment.

"Where'd you find him," she asked.

"Coronado bridge. Dancing with the devil, if you ask me. He was spoiling for a fight. You're lucky I owe you or I would have given him one. Either way, he was showing definite suicidal tendencies."

"Where are we going, Logan," she asked again.

He glanced over at her. Her eyes were wide and she was gripping the armrest with white knuckles.

"What? You think we're going over the side?" He was joking but the way her eyes got even bigger he realized she was genuinely afraid. "Jesus, Veronica, do you really think I'd--"

Of course she does. Like father like son.

He swore under his breath and pulled over to the side of the road. He unlocked the door and she pushed herself out of the passenger door. Logan climbed out and walked around to her side. She was gulping in air like she had been suffocating.

"Veronica--"

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I've had my fill of being shanghaied in cars by members of the Echolls family."

Logan stopped cold.

You fucking idiot.

"The beach," he blurted. "I was taking us to the beach."

He made a sweeping gesture and she realized they were on a cliff overlooking the ocean. She wasn't sure if it was the guilt rolling through her stomach or the last margarita but she turned and promptly threw up in a nearby bush.

Logan stepped back and walked over to the guardrail.

You literally made her sick.

He listened to her retch for a few minutes before she finally stumbled back over to him. He turned around and leaned against the rail. She still looked a little green and utterly miserable.

"This isn't exactly how I pictured this going," he said.

"How did you picture it," she asked ferociously.

He shook his head and started for his car.

"This was obviously a mistake. I'll take you home."

When he didn't hear her footsteps he turned and found she hadn't moved. Instead she was standing in the same spot, arms crossed.

"What? Would you prefer me to call Duncan so he can take you home on his white steed?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I had a few things to say to you?"

"Oh why not?" He spread his arms. "It's been my day to take a beating. Have at it."

Veronica was trembling she was so angry.

"Where the hell do you get off being the victim in this scenario?"

"Where the hell do you," he demanded.

Her eyes were burning with furious tears.

"Oh how about starting with your going away present? Why don't we start off there?"

"That day on the beach I was angry, all right? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I told you to stick your head in an oven. I'm sorry I called you a cold hearted bitch. But I think getting knocked up while I was away is already a hell of a way to stick it to me don't you think?"

Her mouth fell open.

"Yeah, I know about the bundle of joy Veronica. I must say I didn't think of you as the type who would drink herself into a blind stupor while pregnant. Does Duncan know about your little drinking problem?"

"Does Duncan---" she sputtered.

He saw the disbelief on her face and the truth splashed him in the face like ice water. The baby wasn't Duncan's. That made him even angrier. Duncan he could understand. He hated the idea with a fiery passion, but he could understand it. But if she just hooked up with some random guy…

"Oh, my mistake," he said in a deadly whisper. "Weevil? Wallace? Did you even get his name?"

She lunged out and pushed him so hard that he slammed into the Xterra. He didn't realize someone so small could pack a punch like that.

"You bastard!"

She was pummeling him with her fists. He grabbed her forearms and gave her a shake. She looked up at him with a hatred he could feel even as her eyes blurred with tears.

"The baby was yours!"