"Ok, something is REALLY different about you" Mac declared, scrutinizing Veronica like a wayward line of code and pointing a chip in her direction as she twisted some noodles around the plastic fork in her hand, squirming from the microscopic attention of the petite brunettes gaze.

"You mean aside from her ability to answer a phone call or manifest a physical appearance at this Lunch table?" Wallace muttered, tearing his sandwich in half. "I had to find out where you were from Dick Casablanca's… Dick Casablanca's!" Wallace scolded her in mock betrayal, the sound of the canteen bustled around them. He gave her that famous Fennel side-eye of disapproval.

He should patent that look… sell it off to parents everywhere.

Last they had touched base before her mysterious 3 day disappearance under the bedsheets with her boyfriend Logan Echolls. She had been investigating a series of thefts in one of Neptune's most prestigious Holistic Spa's. Shocker… the maid did it.

Veronica had violated one of their most sacred pacts; never disappear without giving the other a heads up. They had come up with this rule after his return from Chicago, the two of them were closer than just best friends, they were practically family, their parents had dated through most of their senior year and Veronica had been secretly more than a little disappointed when it hadn't lasted. In many ways, Wallace was the brother she'd always needed.

He was right to be mad at her but that weekend had just been so toe-curling perfect.

"I was undercover," she blushed. Wallace wrinkled his face in horror and dropped the sandwich back down on his tray.

"Mental images, I do not need, you ladies keep catching up, I am away to see my man Piz, and enjoy this pudding cup in peace" he declared, getting out of his seat and taking his tray with him.

"Oh, the pudding, we had some great fun with chocolate pudding!" Veronica exclaimed.

"AHHHH, that's just WRONG Mars!" Wallace cried out. "You know... that's not what an apology sounds like" he protested shaking his head as he retreated towards the DJ booth where his roommate Piz was currently hosting the lunch time Q&A.

"He was worried, you should have called" Mac murmured as she watched Piz give Wallace an awkward fist bump.

"I accept no responsibility, and I would do it all again" Veronica claimed proudly.

"What is in the bag?" Parker asked laughing, showing curious interest in the small shopping bag beside Veronica's chair.

"My brain?" Veronica retorted, kicking it beneath her seat.

"Oh! Now you have to tell!" Mac said, kicking Veronica's shin playfully beneath the table, her mouth widening in mock surprise as Parker raced from her chair and retrieved the bag.

"No….. no….." Veronica complained, trying to stop her but Parker was already standing safely behind Mac's chair with her stolen treasure.

"Penance!" Mac declared as she pointed a finger at Veronica, who had buried her head into her hands and began blushing again.

"I see you have kindly set aside this time today, to public humiliate me?" she said sardonically, this was really embarrassing.

"This should be good" Parker giggled, putting her hand inside the small grey paper bag and pulled out a small box. Puzzled she flicked her eyes towards Mac, who pursed her lips in bewilderment.

She passed the box to Veronica, who took it from them, and opened it to reveal small folded silvery blue tie. It was for Logan.

"All that secrecy over a tie?" Mac asked her incredulously, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She was visibly disappointed, she had been hoping for something juicier.

"A present… I kind of ruined the last one" Veronica explained.

"It's… nice!" Parker told her, handing back the bag and sliding back into her seat.

"Yeah, some man bling!" Mac said, confused.

"You guys ok now?" Parker queried softly, taking off her white sweater. Veronica wasn't used to all this girl talk, her experience of these kinds of friendships was limited to her conversations with Mac and her dead best friend Lilly Kane, gossiping and boy talk, it seemed was a skill she was sorely lacking. Her father Keith Mars could instil teachings of the finer points of lock picking but these this was beyond the realm of his expertise, so Veronica had to work out this part of her friendship with Parker by herself.

"After the Madison thing? Yea.. I think so" she smiled shyly.

"I still think you should make him sweat it out a bit" Mac mused as she started detailing how she would make the boy who was ever dumb enough to let her go and sleep with a hated rival grovel and woo her with bouquets of computer upgrades and expensive vacations.

Sweat it out? She had certainly been sweating it out with Logan the last few days.

"I would be expecting a new camera lens, a least!" Parker agreed. "I mean lets not get all Ross and Rachel, you may have been 'on a break' but you still deserve some romance."

"You are into Camera's?" Veronica repeated, raising a questioning eyebrow at the bubbly blond in front of her. Parkers interests consisted of shopping, all things equine and dating, she had never mentioned anything about photography before.

"Well, I mean if I was you" she explained, this was an uneasy unnatural friendship, but Veronica genuinely did like Parker. Mac and her shared a room at Hearst college, and Veronica had been there the night that Mercer, the campus rapist, had attacked a drugged and defenceless Parker. Guilty that she had been so close at the time, unable to stop it from happening, she had made it her mission to find the culprit and bring him to justice. She had succeeded in unveiling the rapist, and it was Parker, who had actually saved Veronica in return as she had been drugged, helpless and trapped by his co-conspirator.

Veronica was private by nature, it came hardwired, an innate talent nurtured by her private investigator father, but Parker was still so open and trusting, the type of girl who belonged in a sorority house or selling spirit cookies, surrounded by other girls like her, but they were both survivors, it bonded them. Usually these kinds of conversations were the sort of thing she would slash her own tires to avoid, tracking down bail jumpers and cracking murder investigations that was something she could do. If she was honest, the gift for Logan was making her nervous, she wasn't used to making these girly gestures, but Logan seemed to really enjoy all the romantic fuss, which was surprising for her, given she was certain all that mushy stuff wasn't in her genetic code.

"Hi Veronica" a sweet shy voice called from behind her, it was Piz. Looking over her shoulder she smiled. "How's the chaos?" he flirted, as he slid into the chair beside Mac.

"I told you I wanted to avoid all this girly nonsense Piz, don't encourage them!" Wallace complained, retreating back to the chair he had thought he had abandoned. "Dolce&Gabana?" he muttered, looking at the small box and handing it back to Veronica, raising an eyebrow, since when did Veronica go shopping?

"Uh.. no chaos" Veronica replied.

"Must be a slow week?" Piz offered, disappointed but giving her his best boyish thousand watt smile.

"I'm guessing we would be elbow deep in our Sleuthing if she had actually been around any of this week" Wallace informed him sarcastically.

"It is rain that grows flowers, Wallace, not thunder" Veronica mockingly in a sage voice.

"I'm just not sure how I feel about this V" Wallace confessed, a quietness settled over the table, and Parker shifted awkwardly as she picked up the small box and placed it back into the bag.

"I don't know, I think it's sweet" she offered handing it back to Veronica..

"Don't raise thy Voice Grasshopper, improve thy argument" Veronica said in her best impression Keith Mars. These kinds of motivational pictures and calendar's littered his office, the car and the multitude of fridge magnets in the Mars home. It was frightening accurate and Wallace couldn't stifle the chuckle quick enough. Grateful the tension had dissipated.

"Did you go somewhere?" Piz asked politely.

"Yes! To get this!" she replied, reaching into her small black rucksack and pulling out a different small box with a birthday bow on top.

Yesterday was Mac's birthday and Veronica had almost forgotten until she had seen Madison Sinclair driving by in her new red convertible on her way back home. Popping the small box in front of Mac. "Happy Birthday!" she cheered, as Wallace also set up a small piece of cake with a candle in it.

A smile quickly spread across Mac's face as she reached for the small box.

"A matching set of socks for my new tie?" she questioned, opening it, she gasped and picked up the shiny new graphics card in her hand. "This has an E175, mod… I have neither the time, nor the crayons to explain how awesome this is, but I could totally hack this!" she squealed excitedly.

"It took me a good two hours to find that one" Veronica explained, she had dragged a former client Max, a computer genius along with her yesterday to pick out something for her super nerdy best friend, Mac was an avid Hacktivist and this was the perfect present for her, she watched as Mac beamed happily and started to explain how to modify a graphics card to accommodate a DJ deck for Piz. Maybe she wasn't so bad at this gift giving thing after all, she mused. It was nice to have all of her friends together in the same place, it was just a shame it was never as easy when Logan was around. She missed him, but he wasn't around today, he was bailing his roommate out of a Vegas related jam. She glanced at Wallace, she knew he disapproved of her idea to give her bad boyfriend another chance, he shared a lot of her father's sentiments about Logan. He was loyal, protective and Veronica loved that about him, she reached out her hand and gave his a squeeze.

"Finding friends with the same mental disorder, Priceless" Wallace laughed wryly, and squeezed hers right back, and just like that, all was forgiven.

"I like you because you join in on my weirdness" said Piz, patting Mac on the back and passing her the small cake, as she blew out the candle.