Veronica Mars was not normally one to sit on the dark of her apartment, alone, with an empty shot of vodka in her hand. A shot that had been filled more than a couple of times in the past few hours. But today was different. It was the anniversary of the beginning of the end of her life. If that made any sense. The darkness seemed to help the vodka do it's job, to numb her of all her pain, to temporarily ake her forget of the mess that had become her life. To make her forget Duncan. Not that one could forget a guy like him so easily. That's why. for only tonight, she turned to alcohol. Any other night she would be the strong, indestructable woan that everyone that knew her loved. As the alchohol took affect and she could feel her eyes closing heavily, the phone rang frosomewhere on the floor below her. Veronica stumbeled hastily out of her chair and reached for the phone, picking it up and answering soewhat slurred.

"Mars residence," she said.

"Who knew you to be so professional?" her fathers voice answered fromthe other side of the line. He was clearly obliious to the fact that she had been drinking.

"Hey Dad," she said, the affects of the booze wearing off just by the sound of his coforting voice.

"How are you sweetie?"

She took a second to ponder the question, wondering whether or not to put up the facade that she did for everyone except Wallace.

"I've been better," she answered truthfully.

"I'm sure you have. Heard from Duncan lately?" he said, realising seconds after that mentioning Duncan was probably the last thing his distraught daughter wanted to hear.

"I've been served."

"What?" he asked, wondering what she was talking about.

"Divorce papers," she answered simply.

It was now Keith's turn for silence. He wondered how she was taking this, two years of marrige, three years of seperation. And now he was serving her with divorce papers.

"I'm sorry hunny. Are you ok?" he asked, concern etched into his voice.

"No. But I will be."

"Have you signed them?"

'Nope."

"Are you going to?"

Veronica took another second before answering her father. Truthfully, she didn't know whether or not she planned on signing them. She was so furious, so upset, that all she had done was tossed the envelope aside and burried herself in her work.

"Haven't given it much thought. I don't blame him though. It's been almost three years since I left Neptune, since the seperation. But he didn't even call. He just sent me the papers." There was a moment of silence. "Correction, his lawyers sent me the papers."

Keith could hear the bitter resentment and hurt that laced his daughters voice and it was killing him that she was hurting.

"Why don't you come out here sweetie? Take some time off work and come live with your old man for awhile. I don't want you alone right this time of year. Now since..." Keith let the rest of his sentence hang in the air.

"Dad I appreciate your concern. But just because it was three years ago today that...that..." Veronica took a minute to gather her composure. "That it happened, doesn't mean that I need to be with someone right now. It was because of what happend that made me and Duncan split up and I think some time alone is good for me. Besides, Duncan obviously wants me out of his life for good, apparently Boston isn't good enough, and I think the worst thing to do would be to come to Neptune. It would be weird."

"If, and I say if, you run into Duncan, just tell him that you're visiting your dad. Not everything revoles around that man, even if he is a Kane."

Veronica let out a half laugh. "Alright." she reluctantly agreed. "I'll be there sometime tomorrow."

"Ok sweetie. Love you."

"Love you too."

Veronica hung up the phone, reflecting on just what had made her relationship with Duncan go south. But she knew the answer all to well, they both did. It would be a miracle for any couple to survive a tragedy like the one they went through. After the incident, they just stopped communicating. They only time they spoke to eachother was when they were yelling across the room, both so heartbroken that they started lashing out at eachother.

Veronica picked up the phone again and dialed the number of the airport, quickly booking a last minute flight for later that night to Neptune. With much hesitation, Veronica pulled herself up from her chair and walked to her bedroom, shoved a couple week's worth of clothes into a suitcase, and left her apartment, each second making her dread more and more her promise to her father.

XXXXXXXXXX

Veronica stepped into the open airport of Neptune, looking around ofor her father. When she spotted him, he was sitting in a chair a couple feet away, a folded newspaper in his lap. She walked over to him, a grin playing across her mouth. Keith Mars stood up, seeing his daughter for the first time in six months. He walked over to her and threw his arms around her in a tight, but not stifiling hug.

"Hey you." he said.

"Hi dad!" she said in return.

"Welcome home."

"Some home," she mumbeled, though Keith heard her perfectly well. He decided to ignore it.

"Ready to go back? Wallace offered the spare room in his place for you if you wanna stay there. Or you can stay in the spare room at mine and Alysha's place. It's up to you," Keith said as he grabbed one of his daughters bags and the two of them started walking out of the airport.

"Um..." Veronica said, wondering whether or not it would hurt her father if she chose to stay with Wallace.

"I won't be insulted if you don't choose to stay with me," Keith said, knowing what Veronica would be thinking.

Veronica laughed. "Alright. I'll stay with Wallace then," she said, glad to have somewhere to stay other than her fathers. Not that she didn't enjoy staying with her dad and stepmom, since Keith and Alysha had got married, it was just that she was so close to Wallace. She told him everything and they had remained really close since her move to Boston.

Keith led his daughter over to his car which was a ways out in the parking lot, giving Veronica some time to get use to the blinding California sun.

"Boston is not this sunny," Veronica said.

"I don't know how you live there. It's so cold,"

"You get use to it after awhile," she replied.

Keith walked over to his car, popped the trunk, placed Veronica's bags in it, then unlocked the door for her to get it. Veronica climbed into the passengers seat, did up her seatbelt, and waited for her father to start the car. He turned the key in the egnition but didn't move the car from its' space.

"Why aren't we moving?" she asked.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Keith said, answering a question with a question. He wasted no time in beating around the bush.

"Dad..." Veronica said, wondering whether again to put on a facade. "No. I'm not ok. Not a second goes by that I don't think about her and I miss her so much. But I will be ok. As long as I keep busy, as long as I'm doing something, I'll be fine."

Keith was taken back by his daughters honesty. "Alright then," he said, finally pulling the car out of the lot. "What can I do to keep you busy?"

"You can take me to Wallace's. I need to get changed and then I'm going to see Duncan."

"Duncan?" Keith asked, in awe that his daughter's soon to be ex-husband was the first person she wanted to see.

"Yes, Duncan. I need to talk to him. Or yell at him. Whichever I feel in the mood for," she joked. Veronica tried a smile but it didn't reach her eyes. They were still cold, hard and hurt.

"Ok. I'll take you to mine and Alysha's place. You can drop you'r bags off there. Then I'll give you the keys and you can go and see Duncan. When you get back we'll all go over to Wallace's for dinner and we can take your bags over then.

Veronica simply nodded. The hard reality of seeing Duncan for the first time in three years had finally setteled in her stomach. The butterflies were back.

Keith allowed the rest of the ride to be silent. He knew that his daughter needed some closure and nothing he said could take away the heartbreaking pain she was in. So he allowed the silence to numb her, to close her eyes and slip away from life. Keith pulled up to his house, shutting off his car and looking over to his daughter who was asleep with her head against the window. He placed his cold fingertips on her cheek and she woke up, rubbing her hands sleepily over her cheeks.

"Are we there?" she asked. As Keith looked at her, he could still see his little girl. Like the time he and Lianne had taken her up to the cabin in the moutains one summer, and excructatingly long seven hour drive. Every couple minutes an 'are we there yet' would escape her lips and soon enough her parents were paying her to stop asking. Keith wished he could have that little girl back. The little girl that was on a leash that he could pull on when she strayed to far, that he could protect and shield her from pain. But she wasn't. And he couldn't.

"Ya we're here. I'll get you're bags. You go on in."

Veronica gave him a simple smile and obeyed, grabbing her purse and leaving the car to walk up the front porch, walking into the living room and flopping down on the couch, her head immediatly falling on the pillow, her body screaming for sleep. But she could hear Keith behind her, shuffleing with the weight of her bags.

"Are you sure you wanna go today? I mean maybe you could just spend the day here with me. Rent a couple movies, order that Chinese food you love so much. Give you a chance to catch up on sleep. Then you could go see Duncan tomorrow," Keith said, taking a stab at convincing his stubborn daughter. He closed the front door behind him and walked over to the couch, slumping down beside her.

"Sorry Dad but I gotta do this. If I don't do it now I'm gonna keep procrastinating and then I'm never gonna do. I can't think about it. I just have to do it."

Keith nodded his head, not quite understanding what she was saying but realising that this was something she needed to do and nothing he said was going to talk her out of it.

"Your bags are in the front hall," he said, giving in, "You know where the spare room is," he said with a smile.

Veronica kissed him on the cheek before walking into the hall, grabbing her bags, and following the hall to the cosy room at the top of the stairs. She dumped her bag on the unslept bed, unlatching the clasps and pulling it open, looking for something suitable to wear. She settled for a pair of flattering jeans and her favourite black heels. The top was a little more tricky. Digging through the flip-flop of messy, un-folded clothes, Veronica finally came to the perfect top. It was a simple thick-strap tanktop, a gourgeous v-neckline giving you just a taste of what you couldn't have, accented by a thin layer of beige lace, the same that made up the straps. It was a dark, chocolate brown with beige polka-dots. Mature and sophisciated yet child-like and flirty. Perfect to steal away Duncans attention. Satisfied with her outfit, Veronica moved onto her hair. She pulled it up into a simple ponytail, the bottom flipping out naturally, drawing the lookers eyes to her back, leading the view down to her jeans. She left her makeup the way it was. She had that just awake look but it matched her outfit nicely. It was innocent, almost to the point of being vunerable. Her skin was fairly lighter than normal, there wasn't much sun in the winter in Boston, and her cheeks were naturally flushed, a slightly blushed look that even a make-up artist can't achieve.

Grabbing her purse from the bed, she left the room and went back into the living room, her dad still on the couch, now watching tv.

"My key's are on the counter sweetie," he said. "Wow, don't you look nice. Dressing to impress?"

"Slightly," Veronica said, grabbing the keys from the counter. "I haven't seen him in three years. I have to look good," Veronica said with a sly smile. "Bye dad." She walked over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek then turned on her heel and walked out the front door to her dad's brand new SUV. She climbed in and wondered where Duncan would be. Normally Sundays were his days off from Kane software. Although if he was still anything like he was after the incident, he hardly ever came home. Deciding to first try the home they once lived in together, Veronica drove to the 09'ers part of town, pulling up at last outside a beautiful house that Veronica adored. She drove the truck through the gate and down the driveway, finally stopping a couple feet from the front door.

She stopped for a second before getting out to gather all the courage she could muster. Finally, she opened the door of the car and walked up to the front door, raising her fist and knocking, taking deep, slow breaths while waiting for a reply.

Veronica could hear footsteps from the other side of the door then the sound of someone placing their hand on the doorknob and slowly twisting it open. Duncan look to his visitor, his eyes making contact with hers. His expression was priceless. His jaw lost all slack and opened slightly. His eyes were practically popping out of his head.

"Veronica," His voice was cracked and distraught, dispite his best efforts.

"What are you doing here?"

"That's all you have to say to me? What are you doing here?" She meant it to come out as a yell, as angry as she could make it. But it came out as a whisper, hurt and vunerable.

"I'm...I'm...sorry," he spluttered.

He stepped aside and motioned for her to come in. She waited no time in walking into the grand, lavish foyer that she herself had designed. She walked a little ways into the hall, stopping beside a side table with two pictures and a fresh vase of flowers.

Veronica closed her eyes, taking deep calming breaths so she wouldn't start yelling. From her spot by the table, she could see a picture that made her want to cry. It was her favourite picture of their family, the picture that broke her heart every time she laid eyes on it. Duncan followed her gaze and stared at the picture as well. Then he looked back into her eyes. They were glassy and she looked as though she was about to cry.

"I miss her," Duncan said, not sure of what else to say.

"So do I," Veronica replied. But she was tired of being sappy and wallowing in the past. She remembered what she had come here to do.

"Where do you get off having your lawyers sending me divorce papers!" she yelled. "You couldn't have just called me! A little warning may have been nice!"

Duncan couldn't believe the sudden change in her mood. It was just like the last few months of their marrige. But he couldn't blame her. She had every right to be mad at him.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have called. It's just...I haven't talked to you in almost three years. I thought you would be mad if I just called out of the blue."

"Oh and what! I wouldn't be mad that you send me divorce papers through the mail?"

She could feel her anger boiling up inside of her, ready to burst.

"I'm not signing them," she said simply, this was a whisper.

"What?"

"I'm not signing them. Not right now at least."

"Veronica come on! That's not fair!"

"Not fair? Not fair? Don't talk to me about not fair!" she screamed, her voice cracking as she tried to hold in her tears.

"I'm sorry," he replied. He was at a loss for words.

"Sorry won't bring her back. Sorry won't change a thing," she said before half running out of Duncan's office.

"Veronica wait!" he yelled at her retreating back.

But she didn't care. She ran across the foyer and out into the front yard to her fathers car where she opened the door, threw herself in, rested her head on the steering wheel and cried into her arms.