Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars; although I think all of my angst would be completely dissipate if I did. Man, that would nice. Haha.
"Did this backseat get roomier, or is it just me?" There is a slight smile in her voice, and relief courses through him at the fact that she's trying. Keep it light, Echolls, he warns himself unable to keep from looking at her.
"It could be because we're not getting attacked by crazed bikers." He replies deadpan, cutting off her response as he leans forward and takes her lips for a kiss. They're down against the seats; he's settled above her, his lips and hands roaming everywhere. And just for a second he lets himself wonder why she's here with him. Why she's letting him touch her. Her timid glance, however, and the fact that there's a light blush across her cheeks, stops him. He knows it won't end well. It can't. But as he kisses her again, he doesn't think. It's time they finally got their goodbye.
He wakes first, the dark surprising him. It takes a second for him to garner his surroundings, and her head, nestled against his chest shocks him to the core. "Veronica," He whispers slightly, enjoying the perfect peace settled on her features. Her defenses are down when she sleeps, he realizes, and there is an innocence there that he hasn't seen in years. "Veronica," He whispers again, shifting a bit as the tinny noise of his cell phone begins to sound. Her eyes flutter open, and for a second, her peace remains. Her hair is rumpled and sexily falls over one eye, her skin in pink and…and yet she's still Veronica Mars. Even as realization dawns on her, his phone continues to ring. "Excuse me a sec?" He asks politely and she snorts, waving him away. The awkward silence between them lengthens as he does a frantic search for the offending mobile. Exhaling slowly, she begins getting dressed, using his discarded jumper as a shield. "Hello?" He breathes as he picks up, and she finds herself looking down at him. "Uh, no actually. I haven't. Is everything alright?" He turns to look at her, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip, and her eyebrows rise in question. "Oh, oh God." His face is ashen, and without realizing it, she lightly wraps her arm around his shoulders, giving him a comforting squeeze. "Are they…are they Okay?" He asks, and his voice is transformed. His free hand is shaking so hard that she takes it in hers just to make it stop. "I will. Um, thank you for calling me. I-I'm sorry." As he faces her, his eyes are dead. He's entirely numb, and cold. So very, very cold.
"Logan, what happened?" She asks softly, trying to meet his gaze and elicit a response. He shakes his head, swallowing and looking down at their hands, intertwined tightly.
"They're dead." He responds after a time, not looking up; unable to look at her in the eye. "They're all dead, Veronica." His voice is as flat as his eyes and shock lights her face, but she can't process it.
"Who, Logan?" She asks, but she knows. Deep inside, she knows. She shakes her head, tears spilling out of her eyes of their own accord. "No." She cries, her shoulders quaking with the deep sorrow slowly filling her soul. "How?" They're sitting side by side, not touching, and this is the first world spoken in what seems like hours. "How did it happen?" Her cheeks are red and raw from her tears, but her voice is strong, as is her resolve.
"The bus…" He trails off, swallowing slightly, and finally looking at her directly. "The bus went off the side of the cliff, as they were coming home on the PCH." The noise rushing in her ears deafens her and she blindly grabs at his hand. Fresh tears explode down her cheeks, as she gaspingly tumbles into his arms, incoherent mumblings tripping out of her lips.
"I have to call my dad." Suddenly she's sitting up straight, lifting her head from his chest, and breaking the peace of the sheltered cocoon he has created for her. "He must be worried sick. I can't believe I didn't do this before." Rummaging through her bag she locates her phone, fumbling a bit as she punches in the numbers. "Dad?" She whispers when he picks up. "Daddy, I wasn't there. I wasn't on the bus." She dissolves into sobs again, mumbling how much she loves him and how glad she is to be alive. Logan's arm tightens slightly around her shoulders, comforting her, and as she falls into his arms he holds her, doing everything he can to keep her safe.
A/N: Sorry for those of you who read this second chapter before my little changes and add ins. I was actually listening to Rob Thomas' commentary on the pilot as I was finishing this, and I was so like, into it that I totally wasn't connected and thought I was done. Not that I did anything drastic, mind you. I just made it flow a little easier I think. I'm still on the fence on whether I should have Beav, Dick and Duncan be alive. It would make my life easier if Duncan was dead-although there could be all sorts of delicious guilt and angst there if he is…but yeah. If he's alive, I can have a juicy side storyline with him and Meg…if you guys want me to continue that far. Which I probably will even if you don't, haha. Anyway, yeah. Here's the second installment again. I hope you liked it, I really enjoyed writing it. I hope it's not too fluffy for you, but then again I associate fluff with bad writing and dialogue and I'd like to think my story transcends that, but I dunno. It's all up to you. Enjoy!