Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Rob Thomas has not yet acknowledged my offer to buy Veronica Mars, so Logan, and everyone else, still belong to him.

A/N: As promised, another chapter. Thanks so much to all who took the time to review, it's great to know people are enjoying this!

Veronica left the office early so that she could watch Logan's 'publicity stunt' on TV. He had text messaged her earlier letting her know that every major news station would be covering it during the 6PM broadcast, if she felt so inclined to watch. She did.

She watched nervously as the cameras showed Aaron signing autographs. She had to laugh a little at his ego as she wondered what in the hell homeless people would do with his autograph. Her heart fluttered a bit as the camera panned over and showed Logan serving people in the food line. He was wearing a huge grin, and she honestly couldn't tell if he was being genuine or putting on a show. She didn't really care either way. He was behaving himself, and Logan staying out of trouble was the only thing she was worried about.

Veronica giggled at the sappy, happy persona Logan was putting on for the interview. She stopped when she saw Aaron's face as Logan announced his most generous donation to the Neptune Food Bank.

"Shit, Logan. What are you doing?"

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It had been nearly four hours since the end of the broadcast. Veronica had watched the newscasters sing the praises of Aaron Echolls, commending his generosity. She wondered what they would think if they new the truth, that it had been a lie Logan told to get under his father's skin, and he would be brutally punished for it.

She stopped leaving messages after the first ten unreturned phone calls, and her worry was quickly turning into panic. She had seen the rage, that had been undetected by the newscasters, in Aaron's eyes and she remembered the fear in Logan's voice the day she came to know that Aaron had a dark side. She knew that Logan wouldn't get out of this one with a shove onto the couch.

Veronica was grabbing her keys, intending on going to the Echolls' estate, when there was a knock on the door. She ran to the door and flung it open to find Logan, his hands wrapped around his waist.

"I was so worried!" Veronica yelled as she threw herself into him, pulling him close to her. She lightened her grip when she heard Logan release a small, pained breath.

Logan pulled her shoulders back and looked into her eyes, "Before you even say anything, I am fully aware of how stupid I was today, and I've already taken shit for it, so I would appreciate if we could skip the lecture."

Veronica tried to hide how much the latter part of his statement stung, "I wasn't planning a lecture, Logan." she snapped back. Her tone softened as she said "I was worried about you."

He let out a deep sigh and kissed her forehead as she opened the door all the way, inviting him in.

"I got your messages, and I'm sorry I didn't call. I thought it would be better to just escape at the first opportunity. Can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course you can stay here, Backup will be excited to have a bed buddy" she joked. "And don't be sorry, I'm just glad you're still alive." She leaned over and kissed him gently.

"What happened, Logan?" Veronica asked, after an extended pause.

"We were at the gas station and he got a call from his agent. They were talking about this new script and I heard him say what a total piece of shit it was, and then agree to do it five seconds later after he heard they were willing to meet his eight figure contract. And it hit me. We weren't going to the shelter because he thought what I did was wrong."

Logan stood and started pacing around the room, "He couldn't give two shits about the people I…I, exploited. He only cared that my little stunt might hurt his income. Veronica, I know that what I did was wrong, and I honestly don't know why I thought it was a good idea when Dick brought it up. But I really feel bad about it, and I realize why it's wrong. That doesn't matter to him. He wouldn't care if I went out and did it again tonight, so long as the press doesn't catch wind of it, and that hurt. And I wanted to hurt him back, so I went for what matters most to him, his money."

Veronica watched him pace, and gave him a small smile, "I understand, Logan. I know revenge, maybe a little too well." She stood and met him in the middle of the floor, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "What did he do to you?" she asked quietly when the kiss finally broke.

Logan pulled her arms from around his neck and gingerly took off his shirt. Veronica felt the heat moving into her face and gave him a puzzled look. The puzzled look turned into a look of horror as he turned around and revealed the red, raised lashes that covered his back.

"Oh my God, Logan." Veronica barley whispered as she gently ran her fingers down his beaten skin.

"At least he let me pick the belt this time. DK had to deal with the aftermath of the studded belt. That was a hundred times worse. At least I'm not bleeding this time." Logan said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"What?" Veronica practically shouted, causing Logan to pull away from her touch and turn to face her, pulling his shirt back on.

"DK? As in Duncan? He knew about this?" she practically shouted again, her voice full of anger and disbelief.

Logan relaxed a bit as he realized that her anger wasn't at him, and he studied a spot on his shirt while telling his story, not letting his eyes meet hers. "Actually, Duncan had the pleasure of witnessing it. We were twelve and thought it would be a great idea to steal dad's Beamer and take it for a spin around Neptune. We thought he was gone for the day, but there was a problem on set and he came home early. He was waiting for us when we got back. The car was barely stopped when he pulled me out of the car, took off his belt, and whipped me in the middle of the driveway, right in front of Duncan. Afterwards, he just turned around and walked away, and Duncan sat in my room with me while Mrs. Navarro took care of my back, and then we never talked about it again."

When he finally looked at her, he saw tears in her eyes, "I remember that. I remember you and Duncan laughing when you told me and Lilly about it, but you never said you got caught."

She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, the anger had returned to her voice, "Why didn't Duncan do something, or say something? You were twelve when that happened, Logan, and he is your best friend. What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"This isn't Duncan's fault, Veronica. He didn't cause any of this. It was going on long before our little day trip." Logan said, trying to defend his friend.

Veronica shook off Logan's words, "No, you're right, he didn't cause it. But after he knew he didn't do anything. He ignored it, pretended like it didn't happen. He should've been there for you, a least acknowledged what had gone on! I just can't deal with the fact that you've been going through this alone when your best friend knew about it."

Logan smiled at her, a feeling of pure love washing over him, "Its okay, I'm not alone anymore. Now I have you." He closed his arms around her waist and felt her relax into his embrace.

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Veronica had finally gone to bed, after checking to make sure Logan was sleeping soundly on the couch. She couldn't shake the outrage she felt at Duncan knowing about, and ignoring, the pain Logan had gone through all those years.

She knew that she couldn't take back what had happened, but that didn't change the fact that she now had a serious bone to pick with Duncan Kane.