A steady pounding slowly woke Veronica from her coma-like sleep, growing more painful with each passing second. She tried to groan, but her mouth was parched. She opened her sleep blurred eyes and tried to grope for the cup of water she usually kept by her bed.

"Here," a voice said as a cup appeared in front of her. "Open up."

Veronica readily obeyed, parting her lips and drinking greedily from the cup. When the contents had been drained, she fell back onto the bed and let out a groan. She reached up and rubbed her eyes, smiling when they cleared and she saw who had supplied the elixir of life, also known as water.

"Hey, you," she whispered.

Duncan smiled back. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"Like a couple of trucks were playing chicken on my head. How exactly did I get here?" Veronica asked, looking around at Lilly's room. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the evil light.

"Uh…what's the last thing you remember?" Duncan asked.

Veronica thought for a second and then let out another groan. "I got really wasted, didn't I? And then Dick gave me a drink…Oh my God!" She sat bolt upright. "He drugged me, didn't he?"

"I don't know. Someone did and Dick's a good choice for the culprit. I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Duncan shook his head disgustedly. "But what I wanna know is who brought you into that guest bedroom."

"Probably Dick, right?" Veronica asked, leaning back against the mountain of pillows on Lilly's bed.

"I don't think so," Duncan answered with a shake of his head. "He was too out of it to be able to carry you into the bedroom. Besides, I saw him walk down the hallway a few minutes before I did and he wasn't carrying you."

"Okay," Veronica said slowly. "Then I have no idea. Maybe we should ask around on Monday?"

Duncan nodded and sighed. "I'm really sorry this had to happen to you, Veronica. I should have been there for you."

"You are here for me," Veronica told him with a smile as she took his hand in hers.

Duncan smiled back. "And I'm never gonna leave you again…Was that too corny?"

"Just a little." Veronica grinned and added, "But I like corny."

For a few wonderful moments, the two sat in silence. Veronica hated to break it, but there was a question she needed to ask. "Duncan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you break up with me?"

Duncan looked pained. "Do we have to do this now, Veronica?"

"Yes, we do." Veronica stared him straight in the eye, refusing to back down. She had to know.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. So he came up with a story that was sort of true. With a sigh, Duncan finally told her, "I got scared. Things were getting serious and I panicked." He looked away in embarrassment and added, "I've never been with a girl before." It was true that he was a virgin and it was also true that he had been getting scared. That wasn't why he broke up with her, but it wasn't a lie either.

Veronica grinned. "You should have just come to me. I've never been with anyone either, you know. What am I saying? You live with Lilly, of course you know. I'm scared, too. But if we both know where the other stands, then everything's okay. We're okay, right?"

"Yeah, we're okay. And you're right, as usual."

"It's a gift," Veronica said happily.

"Knock, knock," Lilly sang out as she pushed open the door to the bedroom. "Anyone for a Lilly specialty?"

"Which is?" Veronica asked.

"My patented hangover cure, of course." Lilly handed a glass to Veronica.

Veronica eyed it dubiously. "What's in it?"

Lilly winked and smiled her 'I've-got-a-secret' smile. And sure enough, she said, "It's a secret."

"It's probably just more alcohol," Duncan suggested with a roll of his eyes.

Lilly smacked her brother lightly on the head. She made a buzzer noise and said, "Wrong. Not a bad idea, though. You're catching on, bro. What are you waiting for? Drink up, V!"

With a shrug, Veronica downed the glass. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Bleh. That's disgusting, Lilly."

"Disgusting but effective. And it's made from everyday items so Celeste never knows the difference. Or at least she wouldn't if she ever actually cooked."

"Impressive," Veronica commented, handing Lilly back the glass.

Why, thank you, m'dear. Now get up," she ordered. "Some of your clothes are in the top drawer on my dresser. Donut, you come with me."

"Aye, aye, chief!" Duncan answered, springing to his feet and saluting his sister.

Lilly shook her head at him. "You really are a moron."

Duncan just smiled and followed her from the room. He and Veronica were back together and not even Lilly could bring him down. But the question she asked as soon as the door shut behind them could.

"Does she remember who did it?"

Duncan felt the grin slide off his face. "No. She remembers Dick handing her drink and that's about it. I don't think he brought her into the bedroom, though. He was too drunk and he didn't even go in there until a minute or two before I did."

Lily sighed in frustration. "This sucks, Duncan. Why her? She's a good girl. The best. It's not fair, even in Neptune, that this happened to her. I mean, what if you hadn't gotten there in time? Or if she had died? She's not used to drinking and I get a feeling she wouldn't hold her liquor well."

"I know," Duncan agreed softly, his eyes downcast. "We'll find him. We'll find the guy who did this."

"And we'll make him pay," Lilly finished, voicing Duncan's thoughts. It was scary how like her became when he was angry. Scary for the guy who drugged Veronica, that is.

-x-

Later that day, after Veronica had been deemed fit to return home, Lilly ordered Duncan to call Logan and find out what he saw. He was the obvious choice for the first phone call, as he was friends with both Duncan and Veronica and he loved Lilly (despite their current 'off' status) and he was also friends with Dick.

"Hey, man, it's Duncan."

"Hey, man, what's up?" Logan's voice filled the room. Lilly had made Duncan put him on speaker.

Lilly rolled her eyes, wondering if guys knew any other way of greeting each other than 'hey, man.' She opened her mouth to comment on it, but Duncan clamped his hand over it and shook his head and Lilly knew why. If Logan heard her voice, they would never get anything out of him. More likely than not, the conversation would end in an argument between them. So Lilly just rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed.

"Listen, man," he shot Lilly a look and she rolled her eyes again, "I need to ask you something about last night."

"No, Duncan, I didn't cheat on you," Logan said in a simpering voice and Duncan could almost hear his smirk.

"Ha-ha. Seriously, though, did you see Veronica there?"

Logan was uncharacteristically silent. After a pregnant pause, he said, "Yeah, man. She was pretty drunk."

"Did you see who gave her the drinks?" Duncan pressed, trying not to seem too desperate.

Logan didn't say anything.

"Logan. Just tell me."

Logan sighed heavily. "I don't know who gave her the first few because when I saw her she was already pretty smashed. But when I did see her, she was with Dick and a few others and they were giving her drinks."

Trying his best to sound casual, Duncan asked, "Did you see her leave or anything?"

"No," Logan answered. "Listen, I gotta go, D. Stop torturing yourself over her. She's just one girl. There's a million hot gold-diggers waiting to take her place. See ya around."

The line went dead.

Duncan rested his head in his hands. "This is going nowhere fast."

Lilly, on the other hand, was staring at the phone with an unusually pensive expression. "He's knows more," she finally said.

"Huh?" Duncan looked up stupidly.

"I said," Lilly repeated, annoyed, "he knows more than he told you."

"How can you tell?"

Lilly stared at her brother. "How can you not? He's been your best friend for years. And he definitely inherited his dad's sucky acting ability. I think that medicine's starting to make your brain go cuckoo, Donut."

Duncan shot Lilly a dark look.

"I'm just saying," she defended herself, holding up her hands. "We've gotta figure out how to find out what Logan knows."

"Do you think he did it?" Duncan watched his sister, half waiting and half dreading her response.

After a long pause, she sighed. "I don't know. Maybe."