Chapter 4

Logan didn't have to think for two seonds to figure out who he was seeing on the beach. He would have recognized her everywhere. It took him a while though to realize that she was crying. And not just crying - she was sobbing so hard that he almost felt like a knife went through his heart. He stood there for a while keeping his distance. He didn't know what to do. Was this just one of those moments that she had to cry her eyes out to be OK and was he supposed to leave her alone? Or was this one of those moments that she really really needed somebody to be there for her? How was he supposed to know?

His head was spinning as he was trying to decide what to do. Finally, his own desire to be close to her won and he made his way towards the sobbing figure on the sand.

She didn't hear him come close, or at least it didn't show. He slowly knelt beside her and whispered her name. At first she didn't react, so he delicatly touched her shoulder. This, of course, earner her reaction. She turned her head around and looked into his eyes. For a second she wondered if he was imagining him, just like he was imagining Lilly. But his touch, his look, everything seemed to be real.

For a while they just stayed like this - Logan kneeling down and touching her arm, Veronica sitting on the sand with her head turned to face him. She stopped sobbing, but neither of them knew what to do now. The tension was becoming unbearable until finally Veronica gave in to her weakness and buried herself in Logan's arms. She wasn't sure if she was doing this to be comforted by him or comfort him, she just knew that this felt right. No matter what happened, no matter what mistakes they both had made, being in his arms felt more right than anything else before.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, both of them sitting on the sand now. There was something soothing about holding her in his arms. Something that gave comfort to him and hopefully to her as well. There was something truly magical about their embrace, something that gave them both strength and faith in the future. There were still so many things they needed to talk about and so many things they needed to explain to each other, but at that particular moment it really didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was that they were able to give each other comfort and a sense of safety. This new found closeness was exactly what thaey needed.

So they stayed like this for a while, Veronica sobbing quietly in Logan's arms, Logan stroking her hair, somewhat oblivious to anything that might have been happening outside, locked in their own little world.

After a few minues Veronica finally stopped sobbing, but she didn't let go of Logan, nor did he want to let go of her. It was a while before Veronica finally spoke quietly.

"I can't believe it ends like this... He was supposed to rot in jail for what he did to her! I know he's your father, but..."

"Veronica..." he cut her short. "He killed Lilly and no, he is no longer my father. I would give anything to make him pay for what he's done."

"I feel like I failed her, you know?" she started.

"Who? Lilly?"

"Yeah. I feel like I was supposed to do something more to make sure he ends in prison."

Logan could not believe that she was actually feeling like it was her fault. "Veronica, what else were you supposed to do? You almost got killed yourself trying to make sure the killer is caught. If that does not show how much you loved Lilly than I don't know what does." he gently stroked her cheek to wipe away the last tears that still lingered in her face. "You did everything humanly possible to make sure that Lilly's killer gets punished. I was the one who ruined everything by destroying the tapes." he sighed heavily at the thought that he might have been responsible for Aaron getting away with everything.

"It's not just that Logan." she assured him. "I mean even with the tapes we don't know if the verdict would have been different. After all, all those tapes would have proven was that..." she paused for a moment and studied the expression on Logan's face. She could see how much talking about it hurt him. "Well, you know..."

"Yeah..." he whispered. "I'm just gonna have to get over it."

"I know how hard it must be for you, Logan. I can't even begin to imagine."

"Well it's not like it's easy for you. This whole situation is seriously fucked up, but we're gonna have to find a way to deal with it. We can't let Aaron Echolls mess up our lives more than he already has."

"I know." she said and more than anything she wanted to find a way to get on with her life after everything that happened. She knew it was not going to be easy, but she had to do it. Both she and Logan had to. And somehow being there with him made her feel safe, like despite everything that happened, there was still hope to go back to their lives and be happy again. Because being happy, truly happy, was one of the things she wanted the most. And Lilly wanted that for her too...