Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: This chapter has been very difficult to write, so it's with a huge sigh of relief that I was able to finish it. Anyway, on with the story...

Veronica Mars is uncomfortable. And these days very few things can make her feel uncomfortable. But talking to your fiancé's ex-girlfriend just happens to be one of them.

She sighed inwardly. When she woke up at five am this morning she didn't exactly imagine her day going like this.

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the absence of Jess' warmth. Turned out her beloved was already on the phone, making frantic calls to his uncle.

Veronica can't help but say yes when Jess asked her if his ex-girlfriend, of course he didn't call her that, he just said the name Rory, can come to their two weeks of fun, fun, fun, before the wedding. She knew Jess would have said no if he knew she wasn't comfortable with the idea. But she also knew how much he wanted someone from his side of the family to be there two weeks before the wedding.

Jess got along surprisingly well with her father, despite the threats that he had to endure from the former sheriff. In fact, their banter seemed to cement the foundation of their relationship. Jess is also well-liked by her friends. Hell, even Logan Echolls got along with him.

Veronica met Luke Danes a few months after she and Jess started going out. Luke merely raised his eyebrows at Jess' choice of girlfriend. But Jess shook his head and laughed at their silent exchange. Jess explained later that it was because she was blonde and short; of course she insisted that she was petite and not short. She also met Jess' mom and sister, but Jess did not seem to keen on letting her meet his stepfather and father.

She knew was the exact opposite of Rory Gilmore appearance-wise. But she liked it that way at least she's certain that Jess isn't with her just because he is reminded of Rory.

She just hopes she won't regret agreeing to house the ex-girlfriend.

Both women left the room and walked back to where Rory was sitting before. Another heavy silence and Veronica can't help but feel stifled by the situation. How exactly can one alleviate the tension between the past and the future?

The door opened and revealed the answer to her prayers, the one and only Logan Echolls.

"Ve-ro-ni-ca, Jess is looking for you." Logan drawled out as he saw the two women. He flashed his patented smirk at the expression on Veronica's face; he could tell just how much fun she was having talking to her future husband's ex.

"He is? Well then, he beckons I suppose I must come running." Veronica sarcastically replied as she headed out the door, but not before smiling at Rory and a grateful smile for Logan.

"Ah… young love. So… you're Rory Gilmore."

"I am. And you're Logan Echolls."

"Now that we're done with the introductions, are you here to stop the great Mars-Mariano union? Coz, I have to tell you they even have the alliteration going for them." Rory's eyes widened at the question, Logan merely smirked at her reaction.

"Well I could ask you the same thing. You used to date Veronica right?" She finally replied.

"Good one. And no, I'm not here to stop the wedding. For a Yalie, I thought you would be smarter than that, were you not there as we were walking to the rooms, one might deduce that Jess and I are actual friends. I'm the groomsman. Your turn."

"I don't think I am. And as Veronica said, I'm going to be family. How did you know I graduated from Yale?" Rory seemed anxious to change the subject. The thought of stopping the wedding did not cross her mind, until of course Logan Echolls, brought it up, now she has to wonder if she was here because of what he said.

"Jess hasn't changed so much from when you've known him. He still sometimes resorts to monosyllabic communication, but he tells Addy everything, BFF bond and all and Addy tells me some of those things." Logan answered with a flick of his wrist.

"And you and Addy are?" Rory prompted

"Man, aren't you nosy." Rory blushed at his comment.

"Addy and I are classified under undefined. She's the UN and I'm the defined. Personally, I think of her as my own little heiress." He stated as he sat down on one of the couches, theatrically putting his hands behind his head.

"So she's your girlfriend?" Rory tried to clarify.

"If by girlfriend, you mean a girl who makes out with me, goes out to dates and I won't get all crude and stuff, but yes under those categories she is. But we don't see each other as regularly as I'd like, but when we do it is what it is. As I said she tries not to define our relationship, she just enjoys the perks." He smiled genially at Rory, as if he was used to answering such questions.

"By the way, you have a very funny mom. She was hilarious." Logan commented offhandedly.

"How exactly would you know that?"

"I was in the plane with the three of you. I was a little pissed at having to wait three extra hours to get back here but the in flight entertainment that is your mom and stepfather was really worth it."

"You were there?" she was truly surprised.

"Addy's plane, guy she makes out with." Logan pointed to himself.

Rory can't help but laugh at his response. Logan smiled at her warmly and the two fell into a relaxed conversation.

Rory learned that Logan, Veronica, Wallace, Cindy and Richard, who are only called Mac and Dick by close friends, all graduated from the same university, that the five were friends since high school. She also found out that Veronica is in the middle of completing her master's degree in Stanford. The two were so engrossed in their exchange that they did not notice the time.

"Hey guys, you two may want to freshen up, it's quarter to seven." Veronica popped in the library.

"Well, gosh darn it Ronnie, you don't say. I actually have to be somewhere like fifteen minutes ago, so I'd better get going. It was nice talking to you Rory. Veronica." Logan tipped his imaginary hat to the two women and left the room. Rory was smiling and Veronica was smiling and shaking her head at Logan's antics.

After a few murmured words the two women parted company.

DINNER

Dinner was loud and rowdy. It was probably due to the amount of alcohol that most of the company imbibed in prior to the meal. Even Keith Mars was joking around with his future son-in-law. The conversation was continuous and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was a huge relief for both Jess and Veronica, who were worried that the two weeks of activities they planned were going to be a bust if the families and friends were unable to get along.

At the head of the table was Keith and to his right were Veronica, Mac, Dick and Wallace, then two empty chairs. To the left were Jess, Luke, Lorelai, Rory and another empty chair. It was if the dinner setup was arranged according to who knew each other way back when.

Logan Echolls arrived half an hour late into the gathering and sat at one of the empty chairs on Veronica's side. Jess and Veronica exchanged knowing looks which did not go unnoticed by Rory as she was glancing at the former most of the night.

His arrival made the party even more rowdy. Jess asked him where he went for the last forty-five minutes and he responded by raising his eyebrows and smirking at Jess, as if telling him that he should know exactly where he was.

Luke and Lorelai fit right in with the rest of the crowd, chatting with everyone on the table. Rory evenfound herself talking to Wallace who was sitting across from her.

Half an hour later Addy strolled in with a man wearing a uniform on her arm.

"Look who I found wandering around your castle." Addy announced as the man walked her to the seat next to Rory and proceeded to seat down on the chair next to Logan.

"Well, if isn't the law, fancy meeting you here, deputy. Come to take me away?" Logan asked the man mockingly.

"Once again Adriana, this isn't a castle! It doesn't even measure up to your house, not even a little bit." Jess sternly replied to Addy's earlier comment.

"No, Echolls I'm not here for you. I'm here for my favorite PI." Eli retorted.

"You're here for me? Oh, Eli you shouldn't have." Keith Mars piped in.

Veronica rolled her eyes at her father's antics, "Dad, I think you've had enough of that wine of yours. And if you," she looked at Eli pointedly, "say that you are here for my dad then I'd be too disappointed and extremely insecure."

"Come on V, you know I'm here for you." The deputy beat his fist to his heart twice and flashed Veronica a peace sign, all while grinning at Veronica.

"Lorelai, Rory I would like you all to meet Deputy Eli Navarro." She introduced the cop to those who didn't know him.

"But he'll always be Weevil in our hearts." Logan stated empathically.

Lorelai and Rory shot each other puzzled looks. Luke quietly explained that Eli Navarro used to be a leader of a biker gang and that his street name was Weevil. But after graduating from Neptune High, the young man cleaned up his act and joined the police academy.

The rest of the party laughed heartily when Eli glared at Logan and Logan in turn mockingly acted terrified at the deputy's expression.

"By the way, Eli, I was hoping you could revoke Logan's license." Keith deadpanned.

"Sure thing Sheriff, it has to be a crime to keep on driving that yellow beast of his." Eli nodded in agreement as he took a bite of the chicken on his plate, which materialized since he sat down.

"Dude, first of all, the reigning Sheriff would not agree to that at all. Come on you guys, it's Leo for crying out loud. He's not revoking anything of mine anytime soon. Besides don't blame me for driving my SUV. It's Mr. Mars' fault. I asked him to pick me up, I had no particular car in mind and the X-terra was what he brought to the airport. And stop calling it the yellow beast." Logan protested vehemently.

"Yellow beast, that's a cool name for your car, man! Much better than the big bird or even the banana boat." Dick Casablancas countered.

"I thought you were my friend." Logan dramatically exclaimed.

"Are you sure you don't want to go into acting? Coz, I'm sure you can be crowned a drama king dude. Besides, I told you, it's cool." Dick calmly replied.

"What are you talking about? They maligned my baby."

"Seriously, after all these years that car is still the coolest. It can fit two surf boards and fit five people inside. That car is designed for fun, fun, fun." Dick recited as though he was used to saying those words over and over again.

"Hey, Mac, what exactly did you see in him?" Veronica cut the discussion about Logan's vehicle.

"Sometimes I wonder myself." Mac answered while shaking her head in wonder.

"Mac attack, you know very well why you LOVE me." Dick pulled his wife and enveloped her in his arms. Mac laughed at something he whispered and Rory can't help but think it was "ghost world".

"I won't stand for this. My car is precious to me and I don't care if anyone keeps on calling it names," Logan reviving the topic of his car.

"Man, you got to let it go." Wallace commented.

Everyone at the table was quiet. The topic of his car seemed to be very important to Logan. It was as though everyone knew instinctively that the topic switched to a more serious note from the previous light hearted banter.

"Do you know that you get good mileage with the Nissan X-terra?" Addy broke the silence as she drank from her glass of wine.

"Yeah, apparently you could actually get fifty miles per gallon. And the best part, is the back seat, am I right Logan, Veronica? Addy added shooting teasing looks at both Logan and Veronica.

"Adriana Arabella Townsend!" Jess, Keith and Luke all said in unison.

"Whoa! It's like all three of you practiced." Lorelai burst out. Luke shot her an irritated look.

Addy looked nonplussed at their reaction. She shrugged off their glares. Jess glared at his best friend, Veronica looked like she was debating on whether to be amused or horrified. Mac and Dick were both wearing expressions of disbelief, Eli was quietly laughing, and Wallace seemed amused by the turn of events.

Rory noticed that her mom was cajoling Luke to drop his death stare and Keith Mars was looking at Addy as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Rory's gaze finally settled on Logan himself who was smiling softly at Addy's direction. Then as if he felt someone staring at him Logan met Rory's eye and gave her what she felt was an I-told-you-so- look. She can't help but giggle.

"Now that I am the center of the attention, I so want to know why we were dragged out here two weeks before the actual wedding ceremony." And just like that it was as if the young woman said nothing to offend anyone, let alone inspire glares from the two authority figures and Jess. Rory can't help but admire the ability of the girl. At her words and the flash of a very innocent smile at everyone, it was as if she did not commit a social faux pas by bringing up past relationship between the bride to be and the groomsman.

Jess and Veronica both stood up at her words and started to address everyone in the room.

"The thing is you guys make up most of the entire wedding party. Veronica and I opted for the small intimate wedding." Jess stated as he intertwined his fingers with Veronica's, who smiled at his gesture.

"So we decided that we want this to be more than a casual affair. We want the wedding to be more than a gathering of people who barely know each other. All of you guys are important to us, so Jess and I agreed that a series of activities would make the wedding feel a little more personal." Veronica continued.

"It's not like we're going to be spending all of the two weeks as the Brady bunch, but there will certain times that we all be at one place at the same time."

"Like now for instance."

"Tomorrow we have nothing planned, but you all will be getting a copy of the itinerary. The most notable would be the trip to Catalina on Friday and we'll be staying there for three days. We'll be using the yacht of Mr. Richard Casablancas, a round of applause for his kindness please." The rest of them obliged.

"And we're actually wondering how Will and Richie will get here." Veronica directed her gaze at Luke and Lorelai. Apparently her mother and stepfather did not exactly think about that as well.

"I have no idea." Luke finally answered.

"I was thinking that maybe you can invite Emily and Richard, who can bring Will and Richie. They can use the private plane and then we won't have to worry about you going back and forth, unless of course you two prefer it that way."

"You've met my parents haven't you Jess? At the very least you've met my mother, when you had a black eye, which did not end well and the woman remembers everything. I don't think they'd accept a last minute invitation." Lorelai replied.

"Oh, the swan incident." Veronica smirked at Jess; he in turn pinched her cheek in mock consternation.

"I think they'll come if you tell them that Jason and Muriel Townsend would be there." Addy spoke up.

"Who?" Rory queried.

"They are the Massachusetts' Townsend, one of the richest families in America. The Gilmores happen to think very highly of them." Lorelai answered Rory.

"Yeah, but to me they are only mom and dad." Addy smiled at Lorelai, "Jess is actually their favorite adopted, except of course they did not really adopt him. So hopefully everything would turn out okay."

Her mother seemed to be trying to reconcile with the idea of her parents coming to Jess' wedding. But eventually she just shrugged and turned her attention back to Jess and Veronica.

"So there. I hope you guys will relax and enjoy your stay here in lovely Neptune." Jess' proclamation inspired guffaws from most of the young adult males and head shakes from the women.

"I think the occasion calls for a toast." Keith finally spoke after being silent throughout Jess and Veronica's speech.

"How about we get a sample from the patron of honor and the best maid?" Dick suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. Wallace walked over to Addy and the two conferred quietly. Addy laughed at something Wallace said and Wallace put his arm around her shoulder.

"Okay, we've come to an agreement and I have to say a disclaimer first. The speeches you are about to hear would not be the speeches at the actual wedding. Townie here and I have come up with three speeches. The best would be heard at the actual wedding and what you are about to hear are the worst of the bunch." Wallace started. There were catcalls and whistles which he took as the prompting.

"The first time I met Veronica I was taped to a flagpole, the word snitch written across my chest, thank you deputy for that by the way. The moment she helped me down I knew that our friendship would go the distance. There were times when I questioned my sanity whenever I think about our friendship, but most of the time I could actually declare myself as sane. Life with Veronica was never uneventful, I always had to break a few rules, commit a few misdemeanors. But ever since Jess, I have to say man, you made her boring. Or dare I say it, normal, which is perhaps the best thing to ever happen to Veronica. When I first heard that Jess proposed the first thought that popped into my head was awesome! Normal is finally the watchword." Wallace raised his glass to toast, "To Jess and Veronica; may you two lovebirds experience life to the normalest."

There was applause and Veronica smiled at Wallace tearfully.

"Normalest is not a word." Jess laughingly commented, "And you've got to be the first to accuse me of being boring."

"Worst of the bunch man." Wallace deadpanned.

Once everyone settled down once again Addy was up, front and center.

"The first time I met Jess was at a busy bookstore at New York. I was ten, he was fourteen. I barged into the store and I saw him. I assumed that he worked there and asked for the best book he ever read. He handed me the Old Man and the Sea I scoffed he scoffed and then he rudely informed me that it was the best book for my age. I rudely told him that I'm probably smarter than him, in turn. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. For years I never met anyone he ever dated, until Veronica. Jess was besotted the first time he met her and Jess never does besotted. The two of them together made the weirdest sense to me, but they made sense. When Jess told me that Veronica said yes I wasn't at all surprised. I was happy for Jess, for the condescending, broody friend of mine finally had someone who could actually stand him. But seriously, Jess, Veronica, I am happy for you, and I hope that you make the weirdest sense for always." Addy concluded raising her glass in the couple's direction.

"Here, here. To Jess and Veronica, the couple who make weird normal sense." Logan reaffirmed the speeches that Wallace and Addy made. Everyone raised their glass and burst out laughing.

AN2: So, as I said the chapter was hard to write, mostly because of Logan. I was hoping that I could resolve the question whether this fic would be a literati by reserving Veronica for Logan, thus giving Jess to Rory. Then Logan somehow convinced me that he's too pretty to be single in this fic, so now he is with Addy, making the plot harder to resolve as I thought. He also insisted that I write him and his issuesin more often, this chapter is the end result. Anyway, I still don't know whether this fic will end with a literati and LoVe,I was hoping it would, but the story has gone on a completely different direction. Maybe next time I won't listen to Logan and just take the easy way out, but then how fun could life be if we don't listen to our inner psychotic jackass? Thanks for reading.