The next day Wallace and Jackie are at the Mars house. Mac doesn't make an appearance and Veronica is secretly grateful. Piz flew in for a couple of days, which somehow calms Veronica down. The four of them plus her dad are playing cards. No one mentions her reaction from yesterday and she's thankful.
There's a knock at the door.
"I'll get it." Veronica says as she stands up.
She doesn't expect to see Logan behind the door. Annoyingly enough, her heart flutters when she sees him. Veronica smiles and he returns the smile.
"Hey, uh, you left this at the event yesterday, so I thought I should get this to you…" Logan says handing her a leather jacket. She takes it from him.
"Thanks." She says awkwardly. She can't help but feel self-conscious when everyone else in the house has less-than favourable feelings towards Logan, yet here she is talking to him like nothing ever happened.
There is blame to be thrown around but it is equally balanced between her and Logan. She made plenty of terrible decisions and so did he.
"It was nice seeing you yesterday." Veronica says and he smiles.
"You too, Veronica, you too. Who would've thought, huh?" He says. It's true. If anyone had told her way back then that she would be calmly standing in front of Logan Echolls having a non-toxic conversation, well, she would have called them delusional.
Then suddenly she notices a shift in Logan's expression as he takes a small step backwards. She looks behind her and sees Piz standing not far behind. She sighs internally. She was about to invite Logan inside but immediately realizes that would be the worst idea of any that she's ever had.
"I should…go." He says and she doesn't respond, instead giving him a weak smile.
When the door closes, Piz turns to her.
"What did he want?" he asks.
"He was just returning me my leather jacket." Veronica responds and Piz's eyebrows rise.
"I left it at the event yesterday when I left early and I guess none of my friends noticed it missing." Veronica adds.
She doesn't sleep well that night.
Veronica and Piz decide to take a nice stroll down the beach the next day.
Veronica stops and turns to Piz.
"Out with it." She says.
"What?" He replies.
"You've been fidgety all morning and you've barely said a word on this walk. What's up?" she asks. She's nervous. She rarely got nervous when it comes to Piz.
"I…I love you Veronica." He says and it brings a wide smile to her face.
"I love you too Piz, you know that." she replies.
"I know, I know, but…" he says and the word 'but' makes her smile disappear. 'I love you but' is never a good sign.
"Piz." she says, nudging him to get on with it.
He looks down at his feet and takes her hands in his.
"I love you and I know that you love me too…but I also know that I'm not enough for you." He says.
"What? How can you say that?" She pulls her hands out of his.
"Oh come on, Veronica. I was never going to be enough. And I knew that but I don't think I can go further, not anymore. I know you've taken on some investigative tasks whilst here in Neptune, it's like an itch you finally got to scratch again. You're addicted to it. And don't even get me started on the look you get when it comes to Logan." He says the last part with venom in his tone.
"Piz! I'm over both the P.I. work and Logan. It's been many years. Just because Logan came by the house yesterday doesn't mean anything." Veronica says, desperately trying to keep Piz from going down the road she fears he's heading towards.
"I can't be number two anymore, Veronica. I love you and always will, but this isn't good for either of us. It was before but not anymore." He says.
A tear springs in her eyes. It was rare for her to let her guard down like this.
"Are you…are you breaking up with me? After all these amazing years you're doing this? How can you…" Veronica asks.
"I'm sorry. It isn't something I want to do but it's better for both of us."
"You don't get to say what's good for me."
"No, maybe not, but I can say what's good for me."
"Piz, please don't do this…"
"Maybe one day we can be friends, but right now, I just…I need to go." Piz says and leaves her standing there alone on the beach.
She stands there for what feels like hours until a gentle touch brings her back.
"Veronica? Is everything alright?" A voice she would recognize anywhere says. Logan. She sighs. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.
"Yes." She says resolutely.
"Well you don't look fine. Do you need a ride home?"
"I said I'm fine Logan. Don't you have better things to do? You've already done enough. Leave me alone." She says and immediately regrets those harsh words but doesn't take them back. Her heart aches.
"I was just trying to help." He says annoyed.
"Then stop." She shoots him a glare, and it seems enough for him to back away and leave.