Title: Home Sweet Home
Author: SWChick57
Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, a littleV/D, Beaver/OC, Ensemble
Word Count: 2,378
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 3, 2002
"Jeremy, what the hell is your problem?" a 17-year-old Cecilia Hayes shouted loudly.
"Oh, your talking about me having a problem? What the hell is your problem, Cecilia? I thought that we were going to spend the Fourth of July together with Adam, Heather, and Jay! I mean, I thought Heather was your best friend!" Cecilia's boyfriend, Jeremy Maran, said loudly.
Jeremy Maran was the typical, good looking 17-year-old basketball star. He was also Cecilia Hayes' boyfriend. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and beige skin. While he was 6 foot 2 inches, Cecilia was only 5 foot 4 inches. He was practically a shoe in for a basketball scholarship. They were now arguing on her driveway.
"Well, I told Heather the same thing that I told you! I told her that I was going to spend the Fourth of July supervising my little sister, Carly, and my neighbor, Logan! They need a chaperone and I said that I'd be with them. Come on, Jeremy, can't you understand?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do, but we planned this weeks in advance! Why are you bailing on us now, why are you bailing on me now?" he asked angrily.
"I'm not bailing on anybody, Jeremy, please. I can't say no to my parents, and disappoint Carly and Logan. You'll have Adam, Heather, and Jay, anyway, so what's the problem?" she asked.
"The problem is that I wanted to spend the Fourth of July with my girlfriend and my friends." he answered.
"Well, we can all hang out some other time. Jeremy, I've never really asked for anything, and I'm just asking for this." she said pleadingly.
"Okay, fine." he said relunctantly.
"Okay, now I've got to go. I'll talk to you later or something." she said as she stared at her shoes.
"Yeah, whatever." he said as he started walking toward his car. Cecilia watched as he got into his red Ford pickup truck and sped away.
As she turned around, she bumped into non other than Logan Echolls.
"Hey Cecilia, have you seen Carly? She wants to talk about tomorrow or something." he said smiling.
"She went shopping with our mom, she'll be back soon." she said sadly.
"Cecilia, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"I just got in another fight with Jeremy, nothing big." she said smiling weakly.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am." she said looking at the ground.
"You know that I'm always here, right? You know that I'll be here for you. You might not realize it or anything, but I am a 14-year-old, now. I'm a great listener, whenever you need one." he said smiling as he lifted her chin.
Cecilia had noticed Logan's growth spurt and his new mature facial features. He almost looked like a 16-year-old, rather than a naive 14-year-old. He looked rather handsome.
She smiled as he pulled her in for a hug. "Thanks, Logan, sometimes I forget that your not that annoying 11-year-old, anymore." she said hugging him tighter.
"Sometimes I do, too." he whispered.
Unknown to both of them that Jeremy was watching from across the street. He had driven back to talk to Cecilia and had seen the whole exchange.
Present
"Carly, could you get that?" Julia Hayes yelled from the shower, as someone was knocking on their door.
"Okay, mom." Carly yelled back with a very energetic Dakota in her arms. As she made her way through the clutter she finally made it to the door. As she opened it, she saw Logan Echolls standing there with his back turned to her.
"Hey, sorry to break the bad news, but stalker hours ended at sunrise." she said smirking as he quickly turned around.
"Oh shoot, hey what about mass serial murderers?" he asked.
"I don't think that they have particular hours of the day, so, why are you here so early, Logan?" she asked curiously.
"I'm just here to drive you to school." he answered smiling.
"How did you..." she started.
"I sort of figured." he cut in.
"Well, then, that means that your welcome to come in." she said as she moved out of the way to let him pass.
"Thanks, Care Bear." he said as he entered.
"You can sit here while I finish cleaning." she said as she motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs in the small kitchen area.
As she put Dakota down in her high-chair, Logan took a seat across from Dakota. He started to stare at Dakota intently.
Carly quickly saw him staring at Dakota and decided that it was time for them to meet.
"I guess this is the infamous Dakota Lorraine Hayes." he said smiling.
"Yeah, it is." Carly said. "Dakota..." she whispered into Dakota's ear as she kneeled next to her.
"Mmm..." was the only sound Dakota made as she stared at Logan.
"This is your Auntie Car's friend, Logan Echolls." Carly said.
"Lolo?" Dakota asked questioningly.
"Yeah, I guess you can call him that." she said smiling. Logan smiled at Dakota, and she smiled back playfully.
"I think she likes you." Carly said as she started cleaning up Dakota's left-over food.
"Well, I like her, too." Logan said as he touched Dakota's nose.
Dakota giggled and playfully grabbed Logan's finger. Logan smiled and continued to play with Dakota as Carly continued to clean up.
"You can hold her, if you want." Carly said suddenly.
"Okay, are you sure?" he asked worriedly.
"Logan, it's fine." Carly answered smiling.
"Okay." Logan said nervously as he picked up Dakota and started to hold the beautiful, green eyed, 2-year-old in his arms. Dakota grabbed Logan's face with her tiny hands and stared him in the eye. He playfully stared back.
"Lolo." she said giggling.
"Yeah, Dakota, I'm Lolo." he said smiling.
"Honey, did you... get... that." Julia trailed as she stared at Logan who was holding Dakota. "Hello, Logan." she said smiling.
"Hi Mrs. Hay... I mean, Julia." he stammered.
"Hi mom, Logan just came over to take me to school." Carly said as she finished cleaning up.
"Okay, well you two better go, you don't want to be late. Logan, you can just hand Dakota to me." Julia said smiling as she extended her arms.
"Oh, okay." he said handing Dakota to Julia. Dakota whimpered and started crying. "Lolo, I want Lolo!" she screeched.
"I think somebody likes you!" Julia said as she tried to soothe Dakota.
Logan smiled and said, "That makes five."
"Bye mom." Carly said as she picked up her stuff.
"Bye Carly. Logan, bring her back home before eight." Julia said.
"Will do, bye Julia." he said as he and Carly walked out the door.
"You really are going to drive me to and from school?" Carly asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I sure am, bud. Whenever you need a ride, just ask. Plus, you're going to be living next door soon, so there's really no difference, right?" he asked as they walked to the elevators.
"Right." she said smiling.
"So, what did your mom say last night after I left? It's apparent that she didn't ground you or anything." he said.
"She said to never scare her like that again, and she also realized that I didn't have a cell phone. So, we're going to buy me a cell phone this weekend. She also said that one more stunt and I'm going to know what a real grounding is." she said as they made it to the elevators.
They finally made it to school and went their seperate ways to their lockers.
As Carly walked to her locker, she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
"Carly!" the voice called.
She turned around to see that it was Beaver Casablancas.
"Cassidy, what can I do for you this fine morning?" she asked as they walked together.
"Nothing, just walk with me." he said as he smiled weakly. He looked rather nervous and jittery.
"Cassidy, are you okay?" she asked a little confused by his strange behavior.
"Yeah, I just don't feel that well. I'm fine, though." he answered.
"Are you sure? If you don't feel well, you should go home or something." she said as they reached her locker.
"No, I'm fine. So, how are you?" he asked gritting his teeth.
"I'm super, how are you?" she asked sarcastically as she opened her locker.
"Same, I guess. So, I heard you went out with Logan last night." he said, a bit of jealousy apparent in his voice.
"Yeah, I did, why?" she asked as she prepared for her next classes.
"I just wanted to know." he answered. 'You can't keep her if you don't sleep with her, if you don't, you know Logan will.' Beaver thought as he tried to shake the words Dick had told him out of his head.
"Cass, are you jealous?" she asked.
"No, why?" he asked defensively.
"Because you're acting really paranoid about me and Logan. We're just friends, he's like my brother." she said as she shut her locker close.
"Carly, I'm not jealous." he said looking her in the eyes.
"Okay, I just wanted to know." she said as she smiled weakly. "Well, I've got to go to class. I'll see you at lunch." she said as she started to walk to her homeroom.
"Okay, bye Carly." he said as he started heading to his own class.
Carly glanced over her shoulder to look at Beaver one more time. As she turned her head around she bumped into a familiar tiny blonde girl.
"Oh, sorry, Veronica." Carly said sheepishly.
"It's okay." Veronica said sweetly.
Carly smiled and Veronica said, "So, I hear you and Logan are best pals, again."
"Yeah, I guess news spreads fast. Well yesterday I forgot to congratulate you. I can't believe you're dating Duncan Kane, again. Bravo." Carly said sarcastically.
"Oh, so Logan told you, huh?" Veronica asked akwardly.
"Yeah, he told me about you and him and you and Duncan." Carly said quietly.
"Logan and I have a rough history." she said.
"Yeah, he told me. You accused him of stealing, rape, murder, I mean, come on, Veronica, whats next?" Carly asked sarcastically.
"Carly, you don't understand..." Veronica started.
"I don't understand how you could just dump Logan like that. If you truly loved someone, then why would you just leave him hanging." Carly said.
"Carly, Logan's been on self destruct mode for a long time. I was just fed up with him and his antics. I mean all his revenge on Weevil and the PCHers, he just wouldn't let go and let things get back to normal. Even after I broke up with him he got worse." Veronica explained.
"What do you mean, worse? What revenge on Weevil and the PCHers? Aren't those the guys who beat him up on the bridge? A couple rolls of toilet paper and spray paint isn't something to be worried about, I guess. Plus, I've seen him and talked to him, he seems okay to me." she said.
"Aren't you a little worried about his behavior? I mean with Kend..." Veronica started before she realized that Carly seriously didn't know what Logan had done before she had returned to Neptune.
"What were you going to say, Veronica?" Carly asked.
"Nothing, look Carly, I don't want to get into a whole discussion about Logan and me. I sincerely think that you and I can be good friends. I've got to go, I'll talk to you later." Veronica said smiling.
"Okay, I don't want to pick a fight with you Veronica. I like you, you seem like a sincere, decent person. I just care about Logan." Carly said.
"I know." Veronica said as she started to walk the other direction. She started to look for Logan and when she finally spotted him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the girls' bathroom.
"What the hell?" he shouted angrily. He finally saw that it was Veronica who pulled him into the girls' room. "Oh Veronica, don't you know this is in public? I don't do quickies with ex-girlfriends, it's just not my style." he said smirking.
Veronica looked under the stalls and secured the door closed before she asked angrily, "So, I take it that Carly doesn't know about your dirty deeds, huh?"
"What are you talking about, Mars?" he asked.
"I'm talking about Carly not knowing what you've done the past year. Don't you think she deserves to know? I mean, there's the burning of community pools, screwing around with 09er stepmoms, and much more that I don't really want to say right now." she said angrily.
"Whatever, Ver-on-i-ca, I don't really give a shit, now good-bye, ma'am." he said as he saluted her and started for the bathroom door.
"Logan, I'm going to give you one month to tell her. If you don't, then I or somebody else probably will." she said bitterly as she folded her arms over her chest.
Logan paused with his hand on the doorknob and said quietly, "Thanks for the warning, Mars. I appreciate the sympathy." Once he finished the last sentence, he threw the door open and walked out. Veronica just sighed as she was left standing there in frustration.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! Yay, Veronica's back in action! Just as a preview for the chapters to come, expect some drama, romance, angst, and everything in between! Stay tuned, the story's only beginning...
Ally