- Logan -

Aaron just won't shut up. All the way home, he's been blathering on about what a prize Veronica is and what a lucky guy I am to get a partner as beautiful as she is and on and on and on. Mercifully, I have the road to focus on and not the ramblings of my self-important, drunk father and mother. Although Mom knew enough to stay quiet during these periods. It came from years before the war when they had a big house and a chauffeur, and she knew enough not to make trouble in front of anyone who could gossip and tarnish their image. Now, everyone is paid a standard living wage from the government, as we are all equal, which means they needed to wait to get a chauffeur again until I turned sixteen and could take on that role. My older sister, Trina, did it for a while, but she buggered off the minute she was paired with two partners. Aaron has to bite his tongue once a year when they all come for a visit.

While I can ignore my own father, what I can't overlook is the way Mr. Mars was eyeing me through that entire awkward gathering. Growing up, whenever we were all at Veronica's house, hanging out in the back yard with her dog Backup, Mr. Mars was friendly and would even join us occasionally, showing us the tricks he'd taught Backup over the years. Now, he looks at me like one wrong move and he's going to feed me to a pack of Backups in a remote area, where no one can hear me scream. He has every right—he really doesn't know me and he only knows my family socially from the functions and events hosted by the government where heroes still paraded and shared stories of life before and after the war. All he knows now is that I'm going to be the one who gets to know his daughter…if she ever lets me touch her, that is.

And for all the times I've fantasized about Veronica in the past, now I'm numb from the waist down at the thought of touching her. Now, it's different. The way she held on to my hand the entire time we were at her house, while she nodded pleasantly at the stupidity of my father and the twittering of our mothers about the future, it all just felt different. Lilly and I had a crazy intense relationship, partially fueled by the secrecy of it all, but Veronica…I still don't know. I'm still trying to process that she said yes at all after I told her everything.

The car coasts up the driveway and I park, taking out the keys and handing them to Aaron before I exit quickly, trying to avoid any further conversation. I just need to get inside and hide. Collect my thoughts.

"Logan!"

Glancing towards the voice, I realize it's Duncan, standing on the front porch. What is he….?

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, dude!"

Jogging towards him, I fish my house keys out of my pocket, trying to get us both inside faster than my parents can stagger.

"I waited for you, Logan, and when you didn't show and didn't return my calls, I figured I should come and see what's up."

I grab Duncan by the arm as I come past and try to drag him up the steps, but my father's voice calls out again across the lawn.

"Logan was meeting with his betrothed!" Aaron laughs, slamming the car door. "Looks like he'll be married off by tomorrow."

"Married is what you got, dad," I mutter as I struggle with the key in the door.

"What? Wait? You got matched?" Duncan places his hand on mine, stopping me from turning the key and I sigh, resigned that this was going to happen here.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." Standing straighter, I look my best friend in the eye, knowing full well I'm about to break his heart. "I got partnered with Veronica."

I watch Duncan's soft face go slack, his dark eyes glaze over. For a second, I think I may have blown out his cerebral cortex, but then his hands rise to grip his hair, his face getting red.

"You…you couldn't…not my Veronica…."

"Well, for starters, she's not yours…she's no one's…" I correct him and his whole body begins to vibrate.

"No. This must be a mistake. She's a better match for me, not you." His round face contorts in a way I only saw once, when he caught me sneaking out of his sister's bedroom one afternoon when we were supposed to be at school.

"Not according to Orwell, buddy." I shrug. "Apparently, I'm her match."

"Isn't it great, Duncan!" Aaron is now on the porch near us, my mother coming close behind. "Logan really lucked out, I tell you."

Duncan's nostrils flair and his hands come down, and I legit think he's going to punch me, but instead, he shoves them in the pockets of his khaki's. "Yeah. He did," is all he musters before turning and stalking down the steps, ignoring my parents as he passes.

There's a moment of silence as we all watch him walk quickly to his car, throwing himself into the driver's seat and slamming the door so hard the whole thing vibrates. The engine roars to life and he takes off, tires squealing, nearly hitting another car coming down the street in the process. My mother gasps at such a display from the normally placid Donut. Having seen his tantrums before, it doesn't surprise me but my stomach still tightens and twists.

I knew Duncan wanted to be paired with Veronica. He's had a stupid crush on her for most of our lives, but didn't make any move, putting his faith in the fact that Orwell would eventually pair them together. And he wasn't wrong. They had a similar temperament—smart and in control and driven to be better. I'm still kind of at a loss as to why she was paired with me or even why she agreed.

The phone rings on the other side of the door and Aaron shoves me aside, completing the operation of turning the key and letting himself in. I wait for my mother as I hear him stomping through the house to answer the phone and she gives me a soft smile and touches my cheek, glassy eyes twinkling at me.

"I think Orwell picked just right," she whispers and then proceeds into the house.

Considering how well her chosen match has gone, I actually find this comforting. Maybe Orwell saw past the bullshit and got right to the heart of the matter, so to speak. Who is biologically compatible and who just wasn't. My parents had to find out that they weren't and live with the consequences. At least Orwell had some science behind the process.

I follow and find my father walking towards me, a smirk on his face as he talks into the hand-held phone. "Yes. He's right here now. I'll pass you over, Lilly."

Oh. Shit.

Panic rushes through me and I wave off the phone as Aaron pushes it my way.

"Take it," he hisses, his eyes narrowing and I realize I'm a fool. There was no way Lilly would brush this off. I heard the phone ring a few times at the Mars residence and Veronica finally answered it, telling the person on the other end that she couldn't talk before hanging up again and returning to hold my hand. It was obviously Lilly and between not hearing from Veronica and probably hearing from Duncan when I didn't show up, she's chomping at the bit for gossip.

Taking the phone, I exhale long and loud. "Hold on, Lil. I want to get to where it's more private."

Not waiting for an answer, I cover the mouthpiece, ignoring my father's glare as I quickly march past him to my bedroom and shut the door.

I can hear her chirping, "Logan! Logan!" as I bring the receiver to my ear.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What the hell's going on over there?! I've been waiting all day for Veronica to call me about her match and when I tried to call her, she told me she couldn't talk, and when I called Duncan to see what was happening he said that you disappeared too."

Dropping onto the bed, I fall onto my back and close my eyes, wondering if Lilly will connect the dots as she says everything out loud.

"And then when I tried to call you, all I got was your voice mail, so I'm assuming that you know something about what's going on and maybe even you were at Veronica's for some reason, even though I'm not sure what that reason could be but…"

"Lilly…if you stop talking for a second, I could tell you exactly what's going on."

A huff and a sigh from her and I can almost picture her sitting on the edge of my bed, rolling her eyes at me. "Fine. What? Did Veronica get paired with some sicko and you had to go calm her down?"

"No, Lilly. Veronica got paired with me."

A beat of silence preceded the gasp, followed by a high shriek of laughter. "Oh, my God!"

As her laughter continues, I sit up and move the phone away from my ear, trying to save my eardrum. I give her a moment to at least try to compose herself before I continue.

"I'm glad you find this all so amusing. I've already seen your brother—he's devastated."

"Pfft. The only person that thought Duncan was a good match for Veronica was Duncan. But you got paired with her, Lover, and it's absolutely perfect."

Glancing at my reflection in the mirror, I roll my eyes at myself. "Enlighten me, Lilly. Why is this absolutely perfect? Because Veronica definitely has her doubts."

"This is perfect because you are exactly the kind of man that can keep her from completely turning 100% no fun for the rest of her life. I mean, come on, you know how serious she was in school. The only time she ever let her hair down was when she was with us and you were a part of that. If she's supposed to be a Judge one day, she needs that kind of balance in her life and for that, you are absolutely, positively perfect for providing that balance in every way."

My cheeks go red with embarrassment at the compliment. "I never thought of it that way, Lil. Thanks."

"You'll also teach her that there are better ways to orgasm than with that vibrator of hers."

"And again, I thank you," I reply with a chuckle. "But right now, sex is off the table. This is going to be a very chaste arrangement—two friends, signing a contract to spend their lives together. Nothing more."

"Nothing 'more' my smooth white ass…" The image of Lilly's aforementioned body part runs through my head but I push it aside to focus on her words. "Look, Orwell just handed you both the opportunity of your lives. You're both friends, both healthy, and both hot! There needs to be some seriously wild sex happening, pronto, or it's just a waste of a match."

"I'm not guilting or goading her into anything she's not comfortable with, Lilly."

"And I'm not saying you should. I'm saying I will."

"Lilly! Don't!" I'm on my feet as if I'm going to fight her, even though she's many miles away. "Just please trust me when I say that she's not ready and leave it at that."

"Is she not ready or are you not?"

That one catches me by surprise because when I was sneaking around with Lilly, there was never a time when I wasn't entirely ready for anything and everything she wanted from me. But with Veronica, it was different. I don't know why, but the thought of having sex with her just seemed…different.

"She's my friend, Lilly," is all I can think to reply.

"I was your friend first, too, remember? And you had no problem having sex with me when I suggested it."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is your point? And don't forget to answer my other question while you're at it…"

"My point…my point…" That I've been fantasizing about her since I was sixteen? That I never in a million years thought that I deserved someone like her? That I don't want to screw this up and end up in daily therapy with some government agent? That I didn't want her to leave me? "My point is that this is all her choice and if her choice is to take things slowly and see how everything unfolds, then I'm not going to pressure her and you shouldn't either."

Silence greets my response and I know I've hit a nerve with her because she's finally just stopped, a sure sign that Lilly is listening.

"Fine."

"Fine." I can't help but admire my Cheshire grin in the mirror. It's not every day I win an argument with Lilly. "So, when you get off the phone with me and call her—like I know you're going to do—just be chill about it all okay?"

"Okay. I'll be 'chill' Logan."

"Oh, and by the way, she knows about us," I add quickly and pull the phone away from my head, expecting the explosion on the other side. When it doesn't happen, I check to make sure I can still hear breathing on the other end.

"Of course you did. Of course, you told her. Because you're obviously going to be one of those couples that keep nothing from each other." Her tone is slightly biting, and I wonder what's been going on with her and Sabrina lately, but that conversation is for another day.

"She asked me if I had any secrets and I figured it was best to lay it all out on the table now, instead of having her find out later." Logan glanced at the door, hoping no one was on the other side listening. "You know I have enough secrets. Let's get the easy ones out in the open before she discovers any more."

"Yes, well, if you had reported any of it…"

"Stop it, Lil. Just stop."

"Fine, fine, fine, Lover. Mums the word. Just don't keep too many of your secrets locked away. Some of them are good. Like the secret of that thing you do with your tongue when I'm…"

"Aaannd on that note, you'd better call Veronica, Lilly. I know you're just dying to anyway."

There's a little snort of laughter from her end and I'm back to smiling again. The great thing about Lilly is she never stays mad for very long.

"Alright, then. I'll call her. But you stay safe over there. Aaron was doing his charming voice when he picked up the phone, but you know that doesn't always last long."

"I know, Lilly. But he has to be careful…tomorrow I participate in my Union Ceremony. Wouldn't want any marks on me that may appear in pictures or seen by my partner that night."

"Hmmm…good point. Then enjoy your last night as a single man. Don't tug too hard, or it'll fall off."

"Goodbye, Lilly. Say hi to Sabrina for me."

"Bye, Logan. I will."

I disconnect the call and toss the phone on my bed, shaking my head. For two best friends, Lilly and Veronica were almost polar opposites. But somehow, it seemed to work.

Maybe it could work for us too.