Title: Home Sweet Home
Author: SWChick57
Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble
Word Count: 4,290
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Carly Hayes is a freshman at Neptune High, and she's an old friend of the Echolls Family. Slight AU. Season 2.
Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas does. Though I wish I owned Logan… Oh well!
July 2, 2002
"So, Logan, what's the plan for the Fourth of July, this year?" 11-year-old Carly Hayes asked casually as she handed, 14-year-old Logan Echolls, a soda.
"I don't know, Carly, how about that annual 09er family fun barbeque that our parents love to throw every year." Logan saidsarcastically as he opened his soda.
"Yeah, well I was thinking about that too, but why don't we skip it?" she asked grinning as she handed him her soda so he could open.
"What do you have in mind, I may ask?" he asked as he put his own soda on the small, wooden coffee table in front of the couch so he could open her soda.
"Well, I was thinking that we could go and..." Carly paused before removing a key out of her back pocket, "take my dad's private boat for a ride."
Logan shook his head in disapproval and said, "No, no, no, I thought you were kidding. Do you remember what happened the last time we skipped or shall I say snuck out of a party? We were nearly grounded for life. I'm sorry, as much as I want to piss off my parents, I actually want to go outside in the near future."
"Oh my god Logan, who do you think I am? I asked my parents, they said it was fine. They said we can go on the boat at noon and come back to the docks before the Sun sets, then we can watch the fireworks from there. Of course, we have to bring Cecilia, but she's definitely not a party pooper, I hope." she said smiling.
"Carly Elizabeth Hayes, one of the most responsible and good hearted kids left in America." Logan said smiling as he handed her the open can of soda. "So how did you convince your parents? Fruit cake, chocolate chip cookie, come on, tell me." he said smirking as he reached over to pick up his soda that he had earlier put on the small, woodencoffee table.
"Oh Logan, rocky road ice cream and a whole bag of begging and pleading is the only way to get what you want these days. Parents are much harder to crack than we thought." she said taking a sip of soda.
Logan chuckled and was about to say something until the sound of the front door slamming brought their attention to Cecilia. She entered the house in a huff, and walked angrily to her room upstairs. They both watched her until she disappeared out of sight.
"Whoa, what's her deal?" Logan asked as he took a sip of his soda.
"Oh, it's probably just her and Jeremy. They've been having problems in their relationship lately, so if I were you, I would not piss her off. Right now, anyway." she answered as she took a seat on the oversized sofa.
"Jeremy? Is she's still dating that guy?" he asked as he took a seat next to her.
"Yeah, I think they're going for couple of the year. They've been together since Cecilia was a sophomore, I think." she answered.
"Wow, well, for the Fourth of July thing, count me in." he said.
"Great, cause' even if you said no, I was still going to make you go." she said reaching for the remote.
"Wouldn't want it any other way, Carly." he said smiling as she turned on the TV.
"Hey, don't you have Duncan, Lilly, and all your other friends, though? I mean, why did you just agree to spend the fourth of July with me and Cecilia?" she asked a little confused.
"Well, I'll see Duncan and company all the time when I go to high school in the fall, and I see them all the time now, I guess I'd rather spend at least some of my time with my bestest pal." he answered as he glanced at Carly and smiled.
"Good answer." she said smiling as she started flipping through the channels.
Present
"Beaver! I still can't believe you like Beaver!" Logan said loudly as he threw his hands in the air.
"God Logan, you make it sound like we're going to get married. We just met." Carly said as she played with the sand under her shoes. They went to the movie theater and saw some stupid scary movie, then they went to eat dinner at some Chinese restaurant. They were now talking on the beach as they watched the waves.
"I love the beach. It's kind of like my own fortress of solitude. It's kind of funny isn't it? My fortress of solitude is a public beach." he said shaking his head in amusement as he looked out into the ocean.
"Yeah, I can't believe you took me to this beach. This is where you tried to teach me how to surf, when I was like 10 or something. Tried is the key word here." she said.
Logan glanced at Carly who was staring at the ocean. She wasn't the little girl he knew, anymore. She wasn't the little 4-year-old girl who forced him to watch all the Care Bear movies and episodes of Blue's Clues when he was seven. She wasn't the little girl with the cute baby face and the adorable smile that made you melt. She was a 14-year-old teenage girl now, who was still growing up. She was still cute, but in a more mature way. Her long black/brown hair, brown eyes, light golden beige skin, and cute facial features seemed to gleam in the darkness. There were other assests that he noticed, though, that he couldn't and wouldn't even think about.
He started to stare at her more. Her attitutude, her posture, it reminded him of Cecilia. Carly and Cecilia may have been sisters, but they didn't look that much alike. Cecilia was the green eyed beauty of the family. She was oneof the most popular girls when she attended Neptune High. She looked perfect almost everyday, she looked almost angelic. Her beautiful green eyes, her perfect beige skin tone, her long wavy, sometimes straight, black hair, and her gorgeous facial features made her looks and status the envy of every girl, and she was the fantasy of every guy in Neptune High.
"You okay there, buddy?" she asked smiling as she brought him back from his thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry." he mumbled as he started to play with some sand.
"Were you thinking of her?" she asked as he was staring at the sand that he was playing with.
Logan looked up to meet her eyes, slowly. He smiled and said sadly, "I miss her, a lot. She was one of my best friends. I could tell her anything. Even when she started high school, and grew up, she was still there for me. Even after all her boy troubles, she would always find time for me. We were close, especially before she got pregnant."
"Did you know that I was the last person in my family, besides Dakota probably, to see Cecilia alive?" she asked gritting her teeth.
"No, I didn't." he whispered back.
"Yeah, well, after my parents saw her, she and I talked. She wanted to talk to me as long as she could before she gave birth. She wanted to spend time with me. We talked for at least two hours at the hospital, before she had to give birth. We talked about baby names and boys. I picked the name Dakota, she picked the name Lorraine. I said it was a pretty name, so we sort of decided on Lorraine Dakota Hayes. It was nice to talk to my sister, again. We hadn't really talked while her and my parents were preparing for Dakota's arrival into the world. The last words she told to me was that hopefully when her daughter turned one, she would take us both back to Neptune. She also told me that she was going to name her baby, Dakota Lorraine Hayes, instead of the previous name we had both chosen. She had chosen the name I picked over hers. Oh god, I miss her!" Carly said trying to fight the urge to cry.
"I wish I could have been there with her. I wish I could have seen her." Logan said glassy eyed.
"I'm sorry that I didn't call you or anything. I'm sorry that I made it seem as if, I had just disappeared off the face of the Earth. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, personally, about Cecilia or Dakota or anything. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when Lilly died, when your mom died, when you found out Aaron murdered Lilly, when you stood trial, when Veronica broke your heart, I'm sorry I wasn't there. I wish I could've been the one to comfort you, and to tell you soothing lies into your ear. I can't tell you how sorry I truly am." she said as her brown eyes started to water.
"Carly, you have nothing to apologize for. Yeah, I do wish that you were here, but what's done is done. You can't change the past. I don't think life works that way." he said.
Carly smiled weakly and glanced at Logan's watch. "Oh shit!" she shouted suddenly as she jumped up from where she was sitting.
"What?" Logan asked worriedly as he got up too.
"My mom!" she yelled.
"Where?" he asked as he looked to see if she was there, too.
"No, I mean my mom doesn't know that I'm with you! I totally forgot to call her to tell her I was going to be out with you, and it's almost ten on a school night! I can't believe I lost track of time. How stupid can I be? Didn't I notice the freaking Sun setting a few hours ago! Oh my god, I've gone nuts! We've got to go!" she shouted as she started to run to his SUV.
"Carly, hold on!" he shouted as he followed her. Once he reached her she had already made it to his car. "Damn, you seriously should consider doing some sort of sport or something." he said panting.
"Give me your cell phone, please!" she demanded.
"Why, don't you have a cell phone of your own?" he asked.
"No, now hand it over, big boy." she demanded as she stretched out her hand.
"Here." he said as he put the cell phone in her hand.
"Thanks." she mumbled as she flipped it open to find that it had ran out of battery. "Fuck." she muttered as she handed him his cell back. "Next time you go out, make sure your phone's battery is full."
"Sorry." he mumbled as he opened the car's doors. They quickly got in, then he started to drive.
"My mom's going to be pissed." Carly said.
"Sorry, I lost track of time too. I'll just go with you, and explain to your mom what happened. I'm sure she'll understand." he said calmly as he looked at her and smiled. As she smiled back, he noticed something poking out of her back pack next to her feet. It looked almost like a piece of wood or something. "Hey, what's that?" he asked curiously as he pointed to it.
She turned her head to what he was pointing to. "Oh." she said as she took it out. "Don't you recognize it?" she asked quirking her head to one side innocently.
He studied it for a few moments, then he realized that this was his old skateboard that he had given to her right before she left. "Oh my, you've got to be kidding me? Is that my old skateboard? Do you still ride it? I can't believe you even have it still." he said smiling.
"Actually, I do ride it still." she said confidently.
He looked at her in surprise.
"Did you think that I would forget so easily? I still remember all the tricks you taught me, and then some." she said smiling.
"Wow, you have to show me one day." he said smiling at her.
She smiled back and looked out the window. Then suddenly, her smile looked as if it had been smacked off her face as she frowned. "My father should be with my mother." she said.
"What?" he asked a little confused.
"My father should never have left my mother. He should be with her, instead of being in North Carolina with Louise, the woman he left my mother for. He should be here with us." she answered sadly.
"How was the divorce?" he asked.
"It was quick, sad, painful, and stupid. My dad was stupid. He was stupid for leaving my mother, he was stupid for leaving Dakota, he was stupid for leaving his life, and he was stupid for leaving me." she said bitterly.
"My mom is at home, alone, worrying about me with a two year old toddler sitting next to her. My dad should be there waiting with her, to tell her that everything's fine, and that I'm fine. He should be there waiting for me, too. I don't care how much trouble I'm in, it's kind of sick and twisted, but I wish he was here to yell at me and ground me. I wish he was just here, but I don't want him here at the same time. He abandoned us." she said angrily.
"You know when we were still living in North Carolina, he saw me and Dakota once a week for two months after the divorce. He saw us on Sunday, and for one day I felt like he cared. Then, one morning I saw him and Louise in bed having sex. He's like 50-years-old and she's like 30-years-old. It was beyond gross and disgusting, but strangely, at that moment, I realized that he didn't care or love us anymore. I mean, if he cared so much, why would he have left us. So, I begged my mom to not see him anymore. He didn't even fight for us, he just nodded and signed some papers. I didn't see him for almost three months, until I had to say good-bye. I miss him and I hate him." she said as her voice became shaky and her eyes started to water.
Logan grabbed and squeezed her hand in comfort. "Your dad turned into a major ass. Is this some kind of disease being spread upon the 09er dads so they become heartless, psychotic assholes?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.
"I wish." she mumbled as one tear slid down her cheek.
Once they got to the Neptune Grand they both sat in the car which was he parked in the parking garage.
"Carly, we can't sit here forever." he said staring at her.
"Yeah, well how does a few hours sound?" she asked.
"Carly, get out of my car." he said as he opened his car door to get out.
Carly sighed as she pulled her back pack over her shoulder and got out, too. After he locked his car, they walked to the lobby in silence. "You've really matured." Logan blurted out as they made their way to the lobby where the elevators were in.
"What? Did you just say that I matured?" Carly asked.
"I mean, you've become a really beautiful girl, inside and out." he answered casually as he walked in front of her.
"Well, thank you." she said as she followed right behind him.
"Do you think your mom's going to be mad?" he asked as they made their way into the main lobby and walked toward the elevators.
"Yeah, she's been through a lot and ever since Cecilia died, she's been overprotective of me. I understand, though." she answered as she pressed the button for the elevator to go up.
"Well, I can't wait until you're living next door, again. Hey do you know if your room is on the first floor, still?" he asked curiously as the elevator doors opened and they both got in.
Carly pressed the button to the pentehouse floor at the top of the building.
"And, why Mr. Echolls, do you want to know that information?" she asked playfully.
"Well, I need to know whether or not I can sneak into your room and kidnap you during the night? You know, just the usual." he answered smirking.
"Oh, I seriously don't want to know what you plan on doing with me!" she said in mock offense.
"Well, we just have to wait and see, don't we?" he said winking.
"As far as I know, my room's on the first floor still." she said winking back.
Logan smiled and shook his head. "I'm so proud, you're not a prude!" he said as he put his hands in the air as he pretended to praise god.
Carly laughed as the elevator stopped.
"Carly, let me explain to your mom." Logan said as the elevator doors opened and they got off.
"Okay." she said as they walked down the hallway.
Once they made it to the door of her pentehouse, she pulled the card key out of her back pocket and hesitantly slid it through the card lock. The little red light on the card lock turned green and the door was open. She shakily turned the knob and entered the spacious pentehouse, with Logan right behind, to find her mother on the phone, screaming and rambling.
"Look, I can't find my daughter! She was supposed to come home right after school! She took the bus! She wouldn't run away! She has to be missing for twenty-four hours, before I can file a missing person's case? Yeah, thanks a lot!" Julia Hayes said turning the portable phone off, and throwing it on the couch angrily.
"Mom." Carly said hesitantly. Julia looked up to see Carly and Logan standing there.
"Carly! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Julia asked worriedly as she hugged Carly tightly.
"Mom, I'm fine." she answered.
"Good, now where the hell have you been?" Julia asked angrily as her gaze finally fell on Logan. She looked at him from head to toe. "Logan?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, Mrs. Hayes, it's me." he said smiling weakly.
"Logan, will you explain to me why my daughter is out with you all day without calling to let me know." Julia said folding her arms in front of her chest.
"Look Mrs. Hayes..." Logan started before Carly interrupted him. "Mom, it wasn't his fault. I saw him today at school, and I suggested we should catch up and stuff. So, afterschool, we went to the movies, to dinner, and to the beach, then I realized how late I was... and... and... I'm so sorry, mom." Carly said pleadingly.
"Carly, go to your room, we'll talk about this later." Julia said rubbing her forehead in frustration.
"But..." Carly started.
"Now!" Julia demanded.
"Okay, bye Logan." Carly said as she looked at him sadly.
"Bye. I'll see you tomorrow at school." he said. As Carly started to walk to her temporary room that she shared with Dakota, she looked over her shoulder to take a final glance at Logan. She shot him a weak smile before she disappeared down the small hall.
"Well, um... good-night Mrs. H. Sorry that tonight got out of hand." he mumbled as he started for the door.
"Logan, wait." Julia said.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Logan, can we talk, I promise this isn't going to take long." she said motioning for him to follow her to the couch.
"Sure." he said as he took a seat on the couch.
"Thank you, Logan. Look, I'm sorry about Lynn. Your mother and I were best friends since we were young adults. I miss her, a lot." she said sadly.
"Mrs. Hayes, it's okay. I know that this is about missing my mom's funeral and all. She knows that you loved her like a sister. The funeral and the reception wasn't all that great anyway. So, I doubt you missed much." he said as he smiled weakly.
"Logan, I understand you and Carly are close. I understand she confides in you, and she thinks she understands you. You and her are very close, and I respect that. I'm not the person to believe all the hoopla that goes on in the tabloids. I just, after all the press you and your family have gotten the past year, what happened with you, yourfather, and everyone. It's just that nobody knows the truth to some things, and I think when the truth comes out, I don't want Carly to be disappointed with the outcome. She's been through a lot, and I know that you have too. I just don't want anyone to get hurt, physically or emotionally." she said staring at him.
"Mrs. Hayes..." he started.
"Logan, I know people in Neptune don't like you right now. They say that you killed that boy, Felix, on the bridge. I don't want to believe it, and neither does Carly, but you've been psyically attacked, also. They want you dead, and burning in hell for a crime that you may or may not have committed. I'm not saying that you and Carly can't hang out, I'm just saying that I want you two to be careful. That's all I wanted to tell you, Logan." she said.
"Okay, don't worry Mrs.Hayes, I'll make sure that we're fine." he said getting up.
"Oh and Logan?" she asked as she got up too.
"Yeah, Mrs. Hayes?" he asked.
"The next time you and Carly go out, please make sure to bring her home before eight." she said smiling.
"Yes, Mrs. Hayes." he said smiling.
"Oh and Logan, I've known you ever since you were in your mother's womb, please start calling me Julia." she said.
"Okay, thanks... Julia." he said smiling as he escorted himself out of the pentehouse.
After the door shut, Julia sighed as she plopped onto the couch. She looked at one of the boxes that had arrived that day. She had made sure that this box was sent to her earlier than the rest of their stuff. She looked inside and saw a picture of her and Mark on their wedding day. She touched the frame gently as if it was going to shatter or disappear. She was so young, only 21-years-old when she married him. He was much older, 28-years-old. He was helping his mother run Hayes Cosmetics when they met. They had fallen in love so quickly. Julia thought that his eyes were what had caught her attention. He had deep blue/green eyes, chocolate brown hair, fair skin, and a cute smirk. She had loved him from the moment they had met, but she didn't anymore. She swore she didn't anymore.
He was now in North Carolina with his girlfriend, Louise Scott. Louise Scott was a 30-year-old brown eyed beauty from Missouri. She was a former Hayes Cosmetics model, but now she was practically the queen of the company. She was nice and friendly, but Julia just couldn't help but hate her. She had stolen her husband and her life. All she had now was her daughter, her granddaughter, and the Neptune branch of Hayes Cosmetics. She knew that she would be okay, but she was unsure of Carly. Now that they were back in Neptune, would Carly fall in the same path as her sister? Would she have the same fate? Julia knew that she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't loose another daughter. She wouldn't loose another daughter.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews! I am eternally grateful. Hey, did anybody catch Wednesday's new episode ( Episode Six/ Rat Saw God/ November 9 )? I, personally, thought that it was awesome! Logan was so snarky and hot! Ha! Logan's staying at Donut's ( Duncan ) place! Yay, now I hopefully don't have to see V/D making out and having sex everytime they're together! It killed me inside when I saw his house on fire, though! Poor little rich boy! Don't you just want to hug him, too? I feel like such an awful person because I thought that Logan's revenge on Weevil was just an eye for an eye. I thought that Logan was being such a babe. I know, I'm shameless! I'm seriously worried about my own well being and sanity. Is Logan's eternal hotness clouding my judgement? Is it alright to say that Logan's so cute when he's being an obnoxious jackass to Veronica and company? When did I start contemplating Veronica's status on the show? When did I start writing the word love, L-o-V-e? When did I start writing threatening letters to Rob Thomas? Why Veronica and Duncan, it's kind of gross? Why am I asking you this? I think I need a break and a hot fudge sundae. Also, Veronica will hopefully make her long-awaited appearence next chapter.
Ally