PROLOGUE

Veronica was fuming. Actually, forget that, she had skipped fuming and had gone straight to pissed off. She walked into the Echolls estate guns blazing and opened the door with more force than she intended. It swung open and hit the wall with a loud bang. She winced, but only slightly. 'Good,' she thought, 'let him hear that I'm on a warpath.'

She knew that Aaron was off shooting a movie and, as she had discovered when she and Logan had dated, he usually left Logan to fend for himself. Since Lynn had died Aaron had taken on more projects in an attempt to get away from the domesticity he so detested. Logan didn't mind much, he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

She walked to the living room, figuring he would be there playing video games, but when she saw the empty couch she made her way upstairs to his bedroom. Underneath the anger radiating off her was a slight pang of nostalgia, and her heart clenched for just a fraction of a second before she swung open his door. Logan was laying there, one hand clutching a pillow on his abdomen, and the other swung over his eyes.

He sat up when he saw Veronica in his doorway. "Parker already chewed me out so if you're here to give a speech-"

She cut him off and started laying into him. "He's having trouble breathing because of his ribs. He got five stitches over his eye." She tried to keep herself from yelling.

"Only five, huh?"

"You're a lunatic," she breathed out. Logan's nonchalant demeanor was pushing her over the edge and she tried to steady her breathing.

"You didn't know he was taping you?"

"Because he didn't!"

"Oh come on, Veronica! Who else would have or could have done that?"

She looked him square in the eye. "Here's what I know; it wasn't Piz, and it could not be less of your business!"

"Aren't we trying to be friends? As your friend I was angry at what happened to you." He moved closer to her in an attempt to start pleading. He knew he was in a shitload of trouble. Whether Piz had done it or not, fighting was off the table with Veronica. He had learned that the hard way the summer of their Junior to Senior year. "Someone's always supposed to pay. Isn't that the rule we live by?" He hated how bitter he sounded.

"We tried to be friends. And it didn't work." She let a moment of silence hang between them as she steeled herself for what she was about to say. She didn't want to say it. Deep down, not really. But for some reason it was the only thing she could think of in the moment and the words came tumbling out before she could stop them. She sounded strangled, and it took away some of the conviction.

"This is the moment, Logan! Right now. Where it is just… done. You're out of my life… forever." She looked at the floor before turning around, avoiding Logan's eyes. They'd never been good for her. He was not good for her.

Nine years later…

She heard a faint ringing in her ears. She couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. There was a man sitting across from her, a lawyer, he couldn't have been older than forty-five, and he had handsome features. Not entirely her type, but he reminded her of someone she'd gone to Stanford with. She stared at his red tie and light green shirt, vaguely wondering why he thought that was a good combination. He needed to say it again. He needed to repeat himself and tell her exactly what was happening, leaving no room for ambiguity. Right now, she could only remember hearing three words; custody, Summer and Phil.

She swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, what?" She knew she sounded impolite and bordered on slightly rude but she didn't care.

"You have been granted custody of Duncan and Meg's two children. Both of you."

She glanced sideways at Logan, he seemed just as taken aback as she did but managed to keep himself composed. She, on the other hand, was starting to freak out.

"Us, both? Together?" She asked. She started shaking her leg, a habit she had picked up in university and that only came out whenever she was extremely nervous. She felt her stomach clench and her face get warm. It was that same sickly nervous feeling, a strange anxiety that she felt before an exam or when she was on a dangerous case. She thought she might actually throw up.

"Yes. Together." He looked like he understood just how uncomfortable she was feeling. "I know this is a shock for both of you."

"To say the least," Logan replied, his voice admirably level, while she gaped at the man like a cow in a field watching a train pass.

"Duncan and Meg have stipulated that the two of you be named as the guardians of their two children should anything happen to them, but there are certain contingencies-"

"But what about Lilly? Or Duncan's parents? Or Meg's sisters?" She interrupted. She had way too many questions already and he hadn't even gone down the list of conditions or whatever he was about to rattle off.

"Well, that's where it gets a bit… tricky," he trailed off.

She raised her eyebrows, tricky didn't sound good. But then again, that generally seemed to be the way her life went, why would this be any different?

"You two get custody of the children if you both agree to it. If only you agree to be the guardian of the children, and you," he looked at Logan, "don't, then the children go to Meg's sister Lizzie. Same situation if Logan agrees and you don't. Duncan was very clear about this. Either you do it together or you don't do it at all."

"And what about the house and the car and their company?"

She could feel the lawyer get a bit exasperated with her, but this was his job, surely she wasn't the first person to react this way when learning she now had to take care of two children at the ripe age of twenty-eight. Then she realized that not everyone leaves their children to two people who aren't family of the couple and aren't actually a couple themselves.

"Yes, well, the house and the car are all things that will take time to resolve and can, of course, only be decided once you two make a decision. The company is to be discussed with the respective business partners."

There were a few moments of silence as the weight and magnitude of what he was saying started to sink in. She couldn't be a parent at twenty-eight. She barely took care of herself, how was she going to take care of two children? And she was selfish. Extremely selfish. She liked to lay in until noon and skip dinner, and go out for impromptu dinner dates and fuck off to New York for a weekend when she felt like it.

"Do we need to decide now?"

She looked to her left, that was the first Logan had said for the past ten minutes.

"Is there even a choice?" She asked him. He just glanced at her quickly and then looked back at the lawyer, not sparing her an answer. She felt annoyance creep into her at what Logan suggested with that question. She might be selfish but she loved those children. Duncan and Meg had chosen them. They had made the hardest decision a parent could and had decided that Logan and Veronica were most suited, out of all the rather qualified people they knew, to raise their children.

"No, of course not," the lawyer replied to Logan, "it's a big decision and you'll need to speak to each other about this. Right now the kids are staying with their paternal grandparents."

"Does their family know that we have been given guardianship?" She asked, concerned that they might end up in some family feud. The last thing she wanted was for Meg and Duncan's families to think that they were taking away these two kids.

"They do. They were informed of this before you two, and they, much as you two, had no idea. I don't think Duncan and Meg told anyone about their decision." He reached for something else in his file, "they did ask me to give you this. It's a letter Duncan wrote to each of you, explaining their decision."

"Fucking Duncan," she thought, "he's dead and writing a fucking romantic comedy from the grave." She tucked the letter away in her purse. There was no way she was going to read that now. Logan had seen her cry once, years ago, but she wasn't about to turn into a blubbering mess in front of a guy who wore an ugly red tie with a light green shirt.

They stood up and thanked the man. He thanked them for coming in and for their time, told them to think about it, talk about it together and let him know as soon as they decided. He saw them out, with a weird look on his face. It looked a lot like pity. She wasn't sure who he felt more sorry for; them or the children.

It was a tale as old as time. But she couldn't understand why they named her and a guy she used to date and hadn't spoken to in nine years as the guardians of their two kids. She stared at the back of Logan's dark blue trench coat as she followed him out and stepped out into the daylight. The two most unqualified people in the universe were now parents.

Author's note:

Hi guys, it's been a hot second, huh? I guess this story officially marks my return to fanfiction. I haven't written fanfiction in about eight years, I think.. Maybe even ten. I have however been writing a lot, and just recently read through my old stuff again, so I hope y'all like this story and hopefully appreciate the evolution in my writing. I really, really appreciate all feedback.

The story is definitely AU, all the relationships and changes will become clear as the story progresses, but if anything is unclear, just ask.