Title: Home Sweet Home
Author: Modern-Insomniac1138
Pairing/Character: Logan/OC Friendship, LoVe eventually, Beaver/OC, Ensemble
Word Count: 2,435
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!
August 1, 2002
"Cecilia! Cecilia! Cecilia, open the door!" Logan Echolls yelled impatiently as he banged on the door of the Hayes residence. "Hurry up, your parents already left! They're now enjoying shrimp puffs and vintage wine at my place! I don't think you want to miss it!"
A few minutes passed and there was still no answer.
"Cecilia!" Logan shouted before the door opened.
"Hey, will you shut up already? I'm here!" Cecilia said as she emerged from her house.
"Yeah, whatever. Can we go now? I've been waiting out here for about twenty minutes." Logan whined.
"Wow, you are seriously six years old!" Cecilia exclaimed as she slipped her cell phone into her purse.
"C'mon, let's go," Logan said as they walked toward his house, "The fun's only begun."
Present
"Okay, what do you need to talk to me about?" Jeremy asked slightly confused and agitated as he sat in a chair across from Carly and next to Emma.
"Well, um... how can I say this, but... uh... hey cool shirt!" Carly exclaimed as she tried to change the subject.
"Thanks, I guess." Jeremy mumbled.
"Yeah, well, I always knew that blue was your color and so is..." Carly started before Veronica nudged her in the arm. "Ow!" she exclaimed as she rubbed her arm in pain. "Gee Veronica, you're really in the hitting mood today!"
"Carly, I don't think you drove all this way from Neptune to compliment my shirt." Jeremy said. "Now tell me what you need to talk to me about."
"Okay, um... I know that this may be hard for you to listen to but, I have to talk to you about Cecilia." Carly said apologetically as she watched how Jeremy nodded in acceptance of her answer.
"Emma, can you excuse us for a moment." Jeremy whispered as he looked at his fiancée in desperation. "Carly, Veronica..." he paused as he glanced at Veronica to make sure that he had said her name right. She nodded a 'yes', and he went on, "... and I need to talk alone for a while."
"Jeremy, are you sure?" Emma asked worriedly as she started to stroke his face.
"Yeah, I am. Why don't you take a nap, babe? You seem really tired, and that's not very good for you and the baby." Jeremy suggested lovingly as he cupped her hand on his face.
"That sounds like a good idea. I'll see you later." Emma said as she kissed Jeremy lightly on the lips. "It was nice to meet you both. I hope you stop by again." she said as she turned to Veronica and Carly.
"Me too, and thanks for everything." Veronica said graciously.
"Yeah…thanks." Carly said as she smiled weakly. Emma nodded and left the room.
"Okay, so now that it's just us, what do you want? How can you just come into my home and interrupt my life like this? What's there left to talk about Cecilia?" Jeremy asked.
"Jeremy..." Carly started but then she couldn't find the words.
"Carly." Jeremy said sternly.
"Jeremy, it's very complicated. I don't know how you'll take what I'm about to ask you." Carly said as she glanced at Veronica to make sure whether or not she should continue. Veronica weakly smiled and motioned for her to continue.
"Jeremy, we were good friends. I mean, you and I talked plenty of times, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, we were. Look, I've known you for a long time. I've known you for as long as I've known Cecilia, and Cecilia and I were friends since first grade before she and I started dating. You have to tell me what's going on. Tell me why you're here." Jeremy demanded.
"Remember that conversation we had before you and Cecilia broke up?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, I remember." he answered.
"I said that you and Cecilia were meant to be together. I told you that you weren't going anywhere. I asked you to stay with her, but then a week later, you two break up. Why?" she asked angrily. "You promised me that you would try to work it out. You promised that you would stay. Was it the fact that she was pregnant? Is that why you broke up with her?"
"No, Carly, there's some things that you will never understand. You may not even believe me if I told you." Jeremy answered.
"Try me." she said bitterly as she started to clench her jaw tightly.
"I didn't break up with her... she broke up with me." he answered.
"What?" Carly asked in disbelief.
"You don't understand. I was madly in love with your sister. She was all I could think about. I was so willing to work things out, but then she called me and told me that she couldn't be with me. She told me that there were some things that she had to work out on her own. She said that she loved me, but that she didn't deserve me. She never mentioned anything about a baby." he answered.
"Liar! Stop lying! You broke up with her! That's what she told me! Stop lying!" Carly shouted angrily.
"Carly, listen to him. Give him a chance to explain." Veronica suggested earnestly.
"Yeah Carly, just please listen to me. I asked her why, and she just started crying. I was so hurt and confused. We stopped talking after that. She would always avoid me. I guess that's inevitable, I mean, she didn't really talk to anyone after that. She quit all her extracurricular activities at school. She stopped hanging out with Heather and all her friends. It was like she just stopped her life." he started as he looked up at Carly to make sure that she was hearing this.
"Then, three months later, you guys moved away. She never even told me that you guys were moving. A few weeks later, I find out from the National Inquirer, that the Hayes Cosmetic heiress, Cecilia Hayes, was pregnant. I was so upset. I didn't know if that baby was mine or not, so I just assumed that since she broke up with me and that she didn't tell me was because she didn't want me involved in her baby's life. I just figured that she wanted me out of the picture." he said as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.
"Jeremy, please stop lying. That's not true, she would never." Carly cried out hysterically.
"Carly, it is true. Then, about five months later, I get a phone call from Cecilia. She's hysterical. She starts going on and on about someone trying to kill her. I tell to go to sleep and to call me when she's calm. She never calls me back. I try to call the number that she used to call me, but it's out of service. All of a sudden, a couple weeks later, she gives birth to a healthy baby girl and dies in childbirth. Somehow, I felt responsible. I couldn't go on with my life. I felt that it was my fault. That if I had told someone about Cecilia's phone call, that she wouldn't be dead. I tried so fucking hard to go on with my life. I went to college, I started dating, I went to parties, but I wasn't complete. I felt like this wasn't the life I wanted. So I left college, got abandoned by my family, changed my name, and moved out here to attend college to become a teacher. Then I met Emma. She reminded me of Cecilia in a way, but Emma's my true soul mate. I think Cecilia did me a favor by breaking up with me. I think that by not involving me in her daughter's life, I could live my own life and..." Jeremy trailed before Carly slapped him. Veronica looked at her in shock.
"Shut up! If you are Dakota's father, then you ruined my life. You had to get Cecilia's pregnant! You killed her! You fucking bastard, you killed her, and you killed me! You made my family move to North Carolina, a place where everyone hated me and made fun of me! I couldn't go to sleep because I would hear Cecilia crying herself to sleep every single night, but the crying didn't stop there! Her daughter cried even louder every night! She wanted her mother! She wanted her poor, dead mother and I couldn't give it to her! I could never be her mother! You ruined everything! I thought by coming here I could get a DNA sample from you and prove that you are Dakota's father! I thought by coming here that Dakota could have a real family, but no! You have your own life! You have a new life! You have college, a beautiful, caring, and sweet fiancée, a baby on the way, and a future! It's just not fair how you can live and Cecilia had to die! It just not fucking fair!" Carly shouted as she got up from where she was sitting and started to run out the door. Jeremy quickly followed and stopped her before she could get to the door. Veronica got up from where she was sitting, also, and watched as Jeremy pulled Carly into a hug as he tried to comfort her.
"Let me go!" Carly wailed as tears started to stream violently down her face.
"Shh..." Jeremy whispered gently as he continued to try to comfort her. "I'm sorry." he started to whisper as she started to breakdown in his arms.
"No! Please, just let me go..." she whispered as she continued to cry in Jeremy's arms.
"Shh..." was all he could whisper back. He, then, looked up at Veronica, who could only watch in sympathy.
"Here, you go." Jeremy said as he handed Carly a glass of water and a tissue.
"Thanks." she mumbled as she took a sip of water and wiped her tears away with the tissue. Veronica rubbed her back soothingly.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Jeremy asked as he watched Carly play with the tissue.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Sorry about my whole breakdown. It's just that I had never really let all my feelings out before. I guess seeing you and your new life, all the feelings started coming back and it all erupted into one big blowout. I'm sorry about slapping you, too." Carly answered apologetically.
"It's okay. So, you really came here for a sample of my DNA?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah." Carly whispered.
"And you are here for some friendly support?" Jeremy asked Veronica.
"Actually, I'm here because..." Veronica started before Carly interrupted. "She's actually here to meet you. She's a family friend." Carly said as she glanced at Veronica, who smiled.
"Um… Jeremy?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah?" Jeremy asked.
"Earlier, you mentioned a phone call from Cecilia. Who threatened to kill her?" Veronica asked.
"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure that it's true or not. I mean she died in childbirth. Who would want to kill her anyway? I don't blame myself for her death anymore. She died from a natural cause, and I've learned to live with that explanation." Jeremy answered.
"Well, I think we should be going. We've been intruding for three hours, already. Thanks for everything." Veronica said.
"Oh, you aren't intruding. I understand completely." Jeremy said.
Veronica smiled and looked at Carly. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah." Carly said as she stood up. "Bye Jeremy. I'll see you soon. Here's my number if you need anything. Call me when the baby's born." she said as she pulled Jeremy in for a hug.
"I will. Bye Carly." he said as he let go of her and turned to Veronica. "Nice to meet you Veronica. I hope I'll see you soon, also."
"Same here." Veronica said as she and Jeremy shook hands.
"Okay, well say good-bye to Emma for us." Carly said as she started to walk toward the door.
"Carly, wait!" Jeremy said. She stopped and turned around to face him.
"Wait here." he said as he scurried into the kitchen. Carly looked at Veronica in confusion, but she only smiled back like she knew what was going on.
A few minutes later he came back with a small Ziploc bag. He then yanked out a piece of his hair, put it neatly inside the bag, and sealed it.
"Here." he said smiling as he handed it to Carly.
"Oh, Jeremy, I can't... not now." Carly said as Jeremy put up his hand to stop her.
"Please, you came all this way for this. Just take it. I hope you find what you're looking for, Carly Hayes." he said smiling. Carly smiled back and jumped up to hug him again. "Thank you." she whispered into his ear before kissing him quickly on the cheek.
He smiled back and she let go of him. "Bye you two." he said as they made their way to the door and left.
"Well, that went well." Veronica said smiling as they walked down the stairs toward Veronica's car.
"Yeah, it did." Carly said as they walked toward where Veronica parked her car.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright? I mean you seriously had a big break down back there." Veronica asked with concern lining every word.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. For now, I'm a pretty happy camper. I got the DNA sample, and good ol' Jeremy and I are back on good terms. Plus, soon I'll know the truth." Carly said as they reached the spot where Veronica parked her car.
"Oh shit." Veronica murmured as she stood there in shock.
"Um... Veronica? Where's your car?" Carly asked as they stared in shock at the empty street. Veronica's car was nowhere in sight.
Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the new chapter! Please, please, please review! Watch out for some LoVe next chapter.
Ally