Chapter 5

Why oh why, did I have to bring Logan to my apartment? Was the thought going through Veronica's mind as she climbed out of the cab. The air had gotten slightly chilly, and she pulled the sleeves of her cardigan down again. As she turned to pay for the cab, she saw Logan giving him the money. She didn't say anything about it, but she was feeling uncomfortable with him paying for her. She couldn't explain it.

The cab drove off, and Logan moved to stand next to her.

"So, where are we?" he asked, looking at the building in front of them.

Veronica just shook her head. "C'mon."

She walked to the door, and took out a key ring with a few different keys from her bag. She unlocked the door, and held it open for Logan, who entered right behind her. She started climbing up the stairs. She knew she was walking really funny, considering one of her heels was broken. Of course. This is how Logan would see me after ten years: in my wacky apartment with one shoe broken. Fun.

They climbed three floors by foot, seeing how Veronica's apartment building didn't have an elevator. She cursed that fact today more than ever before. When they reached the third floor, Veronica led Logan to her apartment's door at the middle of the hallway, the first door on the right. She used different keys from her key ring to open the locks on her door.

She let Logan enter first, and closed the door behind her.

"This is my apartment." She said, as if it wasn't clear. "It's not great, but…"

"It's kinda cool." Said Logan, with a smile on his face, looking around the apartment. Veronica raised her eyebrows but didn't say a thing. Her apartment was cool? Logan Echolls thought her two rooms, slightly shabby apartment was cool? This was coming from a guy living in a freaking mansion, and probably owning three more houses only in the USA. And let's not mention the houses he probably bought in Europe.

Veronica took off her shoes, and tossed them aside. She flexed her toes, glad to be out of the uncomfortable pumps. She dropped her bag by the door.

"Why don't you grab sit?" she said, walking into the main room, a mix of a living room with a kitchen, and toward the couch. She took off a few newspapers and some of her photography equipment and placed them on the small coffee table in front of the TV.

Logan set on the brown couch, grinning.

"What?" she asked, looking for an excuse to be a bitch. She was not having a good day.

"What?" he asked in return, clueless.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing." He said. "Just thinking how much this place is like you."

"Messy and cheap?" she asked, practically begging for an excuse to snap at him.

"Crazy and unique." He replied.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" he just smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and groaned silently.

She walked into the kitchen part of the main room and grabbed a bottle of Mountain Dew from the fridge. "Want anything to drink?" she called out.

"If I ask for Vodka will it be considered wishful thinking?"

"Like I'm gonna get you drunk for this interview."

"Hey, if you want to get the full story, alcohol is the perfect way to get it."

"I have better ways to get the full story out of you." She said with a smirk. "I've got 7-Up. Works for you?"

"Sure." She returned to him and tossed his the bottle, then set down next to him on the couch. "I love what you've done with the place" he said. I hate it when he's like this! She thought. How am I supposed to know if he is sarcastic or serious? He sounds kind of mocking… but is he for real? Erg!

"No you don't." she replied.

"No, seriously." He said. Veronica glanced at the room. The walls were all painted in a bright shade of orange. The wall opposite to the door was mostly window. The wall to their left had two blue doors – one leading to her bedroom, the other one to the bathroom. The kitchen wasn't too big, but big enough for her to actually be able to make some nice meals in it.

"Uh, we should probably get back to the interview." Said Veronica.

"Wait, didn't we say we were gonna eat?"

"And risk being chased again by psycho teenage worshipers? I'd really rather not." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, so what do we do?"

"Well…" she said as she twirled one of her blond locks around her finger. "I could make something, but-"

"That's okay, I think I'll avoid your cooking." He replied.

"Hey! I am an excellent cook!"

"Sure you are."

"I am!"

"Oh, I can just see you in the kitchen… burning it up."

Veronica got up and went to the kitchen. She looked around a bit until she found what she was looking for. She returned to the couch with a blue Tupperware box, and tossed it to Logan, who caught it easily enough.

"What is that?"

"A demonstration of my cooking skills."

He opened the box and took out a snickerdoodles. "You bought those." He stated.

"Home made." she replied. He raised an eyebrow. "Just ask Wallace, he eats them every time he comes here."

"Wallace Fennel? You're still in touch with him?"

"Of course."

"Now there's a person I want to meet."

"You've met him. You went to high school with him for two years."

"Okay, so: There's a person I want to meet again."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Eat the biscuit."

"Is it poisoned?"

"No, I stopped poisoning the cookies after I moved to New York. People here are much too cool to kill."

Logan smirked and ate took a bite from the snickerdoodle. He chewed and swallowed. Veronica tried to look as uninterested as she could.

"Hey, these are not half bad."

"Like I said, I am an excellent cook."

"Fine, go ahead and make lunch." He said, shoving down the rest of the biscuit. "You have my permission."

"Well, the problem is, the only thing I have around here is rice and salad." At his questioning look she added "I haven't been to the store in a while."

"So, how about we order in?"

"Chinese?"

"Perfect."

There was a knock on the door. Veronica stood up from the couch, and turned off the tape recorder. While they waited for their food to arrive, Veronica and Logan managed to put on tape a few more questions and answers. Veronica was very affective.

After unlocking all four locks she had on the door (She was not paranoid!), Veronica opened it.

"Hey Ben" she greeted the delivery guy. College student Ben was working for the little Chinese place to help pay the rent for the apartment he was sharing with two of his friends.

"Hey Veronica!" he said enthusiastically. "What's with all the food?"

"I've got company" she said, taking two of the bags, and motioning to Ben with her head to follow her inside. He did just that, shutting the door with his leg.

"And you're not cooking?" he asked, placing the bags in his hand on the counter, and Veronica did the same.

"I don't have any food around. Except for rice. And veggies."

"You eat vegetables? I'm disappointed." He mocked her.

"Ha ha, very funny. Now, bill me. How much do I owe you?"

"No way, Veronica." said Logan, now suddenly standing right next to her. When did he get here? "I'm paying for the food."

"You paid for the cab." she argued.

"You paid for the coffee. Plus, it's my fault your shoe is ruined. Let me make it up to you." Veronica was too proud to let him to that. And Logan knew that. As she opened her mouth to argue, he said "I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm paying."

She huffed but let him pay. He took out his wallet and paid.

"Thanks…" said Ben, looking between Veronica and Logan. "Veronica, what is Logan Echolls doing in your apartment?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "He's here for an interview."

"You are interviewing Logan Echolls?"

"Yes I am." Ben was staring at Logan in awe. Veronica rolled her eyes. "Oh, Jeez! He's an actor, not God! Now go, work, deliver Chinese food for those who need it, and for heaven's sake, stop staring at him like that!"

Ben shook his head and left the apartment, muttering goodbye.

Veronica shut the door after him, locking it. She unbuttoned her cardigan, and tossed it on the floor next to her ruined shoes, angrily.

"How do you handle this?" she called out. "I've been with you less than a day and it's driving me nuts!"

Logan opened his mouth to answer, but Veronica didn't let him. "No, don't. Save your answer to the interview. For now, just grab some food and let's eat." Logan grinned and did as he was told. Veronica wondered when had he turned so obedient.

"Chop sticks or fork?"

"Chop sticks" he replied.

They both picked a bunch of different containers and made their way back to the couch. Veronica pulled her legs under her, and adjusted the strap of her dark purple camisole.

A while later, the interview was on again, both sides chewing on their Chinese food.

"I met Shane in Florida. I was working on a movie, and she was working on a movie. Our agents wanted us to meet, see if maybe there's a base for a future production together. We hit it off instantly, started dating each other. But, you know, when we got married, it just… faded. All the excitement, the fun, whatever it was that made the relationship so good, just vanished. It turned into fights about stupid things, and then the press started writing all about it, making stuff up, and there was always an image to keep with the media on out tail. When she started cheating on me, I filed for divorce. It took a bit of a while, but finally the divorces were authorized. Five months ago."

Veronica tried to look unaffected by this new information. God, poor Logan. Was every relationship he ever had doomed? All his girlfriends cheated on him. She couldn't understand why. Underneath that jackass front he didn't seem to be using anymore, was a really sweet guy. First Lilly, then there was Caitlin Ford, and now Shane, his ex wife. Veronica figured he had many other relationships, but all of the ones she heard about were horrid for him.

"How long were you together?"

"Ah, grand total of one year, and…" he thought about it for a moment than added "Two months." He lifted two fingers to emphasize.

"And have you been dating anyone new since?" she asked. She was curious, the readers were dying to know – the question was legitimate.

Logan smirked at her smugly. "No, not yet."

"And what have you got planned now?"

"Well, I have two new movies coming out soon. The first is "Ego". The premiere is at the end of this month. Then on the first week of August "Nighttime sea breeze" is coming out."

"What can you tell me about these movies?"

"Not much. I'm not sure how much I should say, really. Most of these things are very hush-hush. But I can tell you that on "Ego" Connor Larkin is co-starring" Veronica bit her lower lip to cover the smile that was spreading on her face, but failed miserably at that.

"Connor Larkin, huh? And what was it like, working with him?"

"Normal." Replied Logan with a smirk. "I've known the guy since forever. He worked with my dad on two movies, and we used to hang around a bit when I was in high school. But, seriously, he's an alright guy."

Veronica smiled at the mentioning of Connor. She remembered the incident that led to their meeting. What was it that Logan told her then, when she came to question him? 'Annoy, tiny blond one, annoy like the wind'? Yeah, that's about it.

"Okay, next topic."

"Sure. What are we talking about now?"

"We…" started Veronica, thinking of a subject. "We're gonna talk about…"

"My childhood?" he asked with a smirk.

Veronica kept her face neutral. "Sure. Your childhood. Where were you born?"

"Los Angeles. I lived there till I was twelve, with my parents and step sister, Trina."

"And when you were twelve?"

"We moved, to this little town, Neptune, around San Diego. I stayed there until I was 18, then started acting, and moved back to LA."

"What kind of a student were you?" she asked. She really didn't want to handle this part of the interview. Neptune. This was going to get stressful or awkward really quickly. Possibly both.

"Not the greatest. Mostly, somewhere between class clown and the trouble maker."

"Troublemaker?"

"Yeah. I was the guy who showed up drunk for a dance and put the English teacher's car through the flagpole. I had help of course…" he said with a smirk. His smirked widened at Veronica's look of amazement. She grabbed the recorder quickly and turned it off.

"That was you?" she called out. He just smiled. "I can't believe it! You are the guy Weevil was protecting?" He just shrugged. Veronica leaned back into the couch's back and shook her head slightly. "All this time I thought he was protecting one of his cousins or something."

"What can I say… it was too good of a chance to miss."

Veronica smiled and turned the recorder back on recording.

"Were you really popular in high school?" She sooo didn't want to ask that. But Clair said that so many teens would read it, they'd want to know about his high school years, no doubt about it.

"Uh, yeah, I was. Me and my best friend, Duncan Kane practically ran the school." He checked for any sort of a reaction from Veronica but found none. "I dated his sister, Lilly Kane. Duncan, our girlfriends and me, we were the best of the best. But it didn't last past sophomore year. Duncan and his girlfriends broke up, and then Lilly was, um… was murdered." His voice was getting slightly thick. Veronica's eyes were stinging with tears. Twelve years had passed, and she still missed Lilly, so bad. "Me and Duncan still were the most popular guys, but… it wasn't exactly the same, ya know." Veronica gently bit he lip, so that she wouldn't whimper out loud.

She cleared her throat. "So you and the Kane's were close?"

"Yeah. I practically lived at their house, between best friend and girlfriend. Duncan and I are still in touch, even now. And Lilly… we just, we were just amazing together. And, a few days before she… before she died… I, uh… we broke up. It happened a lot, usually just to make a point, and we'd be back together after three days or so. But, that time, we didn't." his looked like he was about to cry. Veronica was feeling the same. She pressed her lips, trying her hardest not to break down and cry. "I was out of the country, with my parents. We… we got back in time for the funeral." He rubbed his face, a gesture he usually did when he was trying not to let him emotions show.

"You've had a lot of grief in your life."

"We all have grief in out lives. I bet you had some too. The thing is, once you're famous, people give a damn."

"I…. I think maybe we should take a break." She said, turning the recorder off, and bolting into the kitchen. Logan looked after her; she was standing with her back to him, her hands clenching the kitchen counter. He sat for a moment, before rising and going over to her. He stood behind her, unsure of what to do. Finally, he placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed her arm slightly. She sniffed.

"Hey…" he said softly. She turned to look at him, her hand quickly wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Uh-huh" she said and nodded. Logan seemed doubtful. "Really, I am." Another doubtful look. "I just… haven't though of her in a while. I just… still miss her."

"I know. I do to."

"You think it's ever going to stop?"

"Probably not. But it's is gonna get better."

She laughed nervously. "When did you become so mature?"

"I think it was around the time I found out my dead ex's mother killed her daughter."

"Ah… good times." She joked. Logan chuckled and shook his head.

She looked at him, and his eyes caught hers. They stared at each other until Veronica's cell phone started ringing. She gasped and quickly brushed past Logan and grabbed the cell from her bag.

"Hello?"

"Wassup V.?"

"Hey…" she said happily into the cell. "What's shakin' dog?" Logan looked at her, puzzled and amused. She threw a smile his way.

"I need a favor."

"Of course you do. What is it?"

"I need you to run me a name."

"Just a sec." Veronica placed the phone between her ear and shoulder, and grabbed her bag. As she opened the bedroom's door she motioned to Logan she'll be right back. He nodded. Veronica entered and shut the door.

The moment the door was closed she dropped the bag.

"Oh my god, Weevil, I love you!" she called into the phone, careful not to talk to loud, so that Logan wouldn't hear.

"You know that you're the only person still calling me that, right?" Veronica rolled her eyes but said nothing. "And, not that I'm complaining or anything, but what is the cause to this confession of your undying love for me?"

"Ooh, those are a lot of big words there, Weevil."

"Watch it, V. I ain't playing. Now am I getting an answer?"

"You just saved me from a very awkward moment with Logan Echolls."

"Say what?"

"I said-"

"Logan Echolls?" he asked. "What the hell are you doin' with that guy?"

"Giving him an interview. It's an assignment from the newspaper-"

"But you do criminal writing and stuff."

"Well, it's a long story. Trust me when I say I didn't have any choice in this."

"Where are you two?"

"My place."

"Your place? You have that rich-ass punk in your place?'

"I didn't plan it, Weevil. Don't start giving me a hard time on this, okay? This is already totally hard on me. I haven't seen the guy in like, a decade and this is so not something I wanna be handling, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

"'S cool. You wanted a favor?"

"Yeah, I have a name I need you to run for me. A guy called Rico Carnal."

"Who's he?" she asked, pulling her laptop from her bag and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"He's been picking on some of my kids, trying to turn them into little junkies and dealers."

"What!" she called out, horrified. "Your kids-kids, or your work-kids?"

"Work kids" he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Funny how we all change. Though Veronica. Weevil used to be the biggest badass in Neptune High, leader of the biker's gang. And now he's a social worker, married with children. Who would have thought?

Veronica ran the search. "Well, this is interesting…"

"Sorry about that." Said Veronica as she came out of her bedroom. "Business." She explained. Logan just nodded.

"What you watching?" she asked, sitting on the couch next to him.

"I have no idea." He replied with a chuckle. "Looks like a Hallmark movie."

Veronica smiled.

"You wanna call it a day?" she asked.

"That would be cool. I don't think I'm up for anymore… questioning."

"Yeah, okay. So, we'll continue this tomorrow?"

"Yeah. How bout I pick you up from work, around 4 o'clock?"

"Yeah, sure."

"We'll go to my hotel room. We won't have too many mad fans around there." Veronica nodded her consent. "So, do you have any normal movies around here?"

"Just a few."

They went over Veronica's movies collection, which wasn't much, and finally decided on three movies. Veronica couldn't believe she was watching movies with Logan Echolls, or how good it felt being around him. It's been far too long. They watched the first movie, and mostly avoided talking to each other. Halfway through the second movie, they were both in deep sleep, Veronica's head resting on Logan's shoulder, his head resting on top of hers.