Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars, although it would be pretty damn awesome if I did.

"Ver-Veronica." Even after swallowing repeatedly, his voice is low and gravelly, his eyes trained steadily on the ground. "May I speak to you? In the hall? For a moment?" His voice is strangled, and as his face is pale and pained, and two splotches of red are rising high in his cheeks. He awkwardly jerks his arm behind him, gesturing her out, or maybe as a signal of his departure, and with exceeding difficulty closes the door behind him with a prominent click. Falling back onto the bed, Veronica pulls the sheet over her eyes, squinting them in mortification.

"Oh my god, did I just get caught almost having sex in my room by my dad?" She asks, her voice low, biting her lip to keep from either laughing or crying, as if she's not exactly sure which emotion is going to win. Yet.

"You were caught by your dad," He replied, kissing the top of her head and laughing a little. "I was caught by the one and only Keith Mars, private eye extraordinaire. Who, I should mention not only threw me out of here less than a month ago, but also thought I was guilty of murdering his daughter's best friend. Now that's weird." Laughing softly, she leans down and kisses him. Soon, his arms are wrapped around her waist, her father in the hallway, forgotten.

"Veronica! I said in the hall. NOW." Breaking away with a gasp she is up and dressed within a matter of moments, throwing him her discarded sheet as a cover up.

"Now, if you had folded this, instead of throwing it at my head," He teases, licking his lips suggestively. "We could've had a deal. And I so could've used a little Suzy Homemaker! I guess all you're good for is the sex."

"Shut up!" She exclaims laughing, and smacking him hard against the shoulder, her palm leaving a stinging red mark.

"I heard that!" Keith calls, and for the first time since the initial contact, her veneer slips.

"I have to go take care of this," She murmurs, leaning down and kissing him softly. His fingers lightly tangle in her hair, and she melts into him, their mouths now hot and insistent against each other. As his hands begin the slow creep up her back, the door bursts open for the second time.

"Veronica, I understand that you're young, and that the young have…" His voice drops off, and the enormous sigh he heaves wracks through her as well. "Urges." The word squeaks out, and his cheeks color as brightly as hers.

"Dad, I-"

"No." He holds up a silencing hand, forcing her to look down at her own, clasped demurely in her lap. "I'd like to talk to you privately about this, and since I don't have the most…flattering things to say about him, I highly doubt that Logan will want to hear them." Their eyes meet, and the younger man has the decency to gulp audibly. "Don't think I'm done with you though, Echolls." His hiss is almost like a whisper on the wind, so light that if not for the look in his eyes, Logan would have chalked up to nerves. "Get dressed, and after I…detoxify my daughter, I'll deal with you." Glancing back at him, as she is forcibly dragged from the room, Veronica shrugs slowly, a wan smile gracing her lips. He mouths 'I love you'; and as Keith settles her on the couch, she can't hold back her grin. "…worried about you Veronica." Startled out of her reverie, she glances up, a protest on her lips. "Logan Echolls is not a good guy, Veronica." His voice drops as he hastily glances at her closed door. "Come on, you know this. What are you doing with him?" Memories of their past few weeks together, flash through her mind, and although she can sense her father's obvious discomfiture she refuses to back down.

"Dad, I know you're mad." She starts, smiling tightly, taking his hand within the both of hers. "Furious, even." She continues uncertainly, biting her lip. "And you have every right to be." She leans forward and brushes her lips against his cheek. "Ground me if you want to. Do whatever you need to, but I love him, Daddy. He's changed, and I can't imagine my life without him in it." Standing inside her bedroom, with his ear against the door, Logan can't help the smile slowly forming at the corners of his lips. Reaching down to open the door, Logan freezes as Keith begins to speak.

"When you were first born," He begins, cupping her cheek with his palm. "I would sneak over to your crib in the middle of the night, and just look at you, you were so beautiful." She smiles brightly, tears threatening as she looks into his eyes. "And I promised myself that I would never let anything bad happen to you." He laughs scornfully to himself, causing Veronica pause. "That didn't exactly work out the way I wanted it to, with the type of business that we do, and I've always hated myself for not doing right by you."

"Dad, come on! You've done plenty!" She exclaims standing, but his glance silences her, and she sits, moodily.

"The point is, Veronica, I haven't done enough. When Lilly died," He pauses, waiting for the sharp intake of breath, and awkward squirm generally associated with the mention of her name, but Veronica only stares back at him. "I thought I'd lost you for good."

"You'll never lose me, Dad." She mumbles, swallowing down a mysterious set of unshed tears.

"I know." He replies confidently. "Which is why, unless you end things with Logan, we're leaving Neptune." She gasps in horror, a sharp pain piercing somewhere in the vicinity of her heart.

"Dad, no-"

"Veronica," He responds slowly, looking her deep in the eyes, and taking her hand between his. "It's your decision."

A/N: Well, if it isn't the little story that could. I know you guys hate me, some more than most, but I got hit with this inspiration and thought I would go for it. While I don't appreciate getting berated for choosing not to continue, I guess I can understand where you were coming from. I hope you enjoy this, it was fun to write, and I hope to have more to add to this story soon.