DISCLAIMER: Characters of Veronica Mars, the canon events of their storylines, and recognizable dialogue belong to Rob Thomas.

A/N:

Chapter 18 was posted 2 weeks ago. So … this makes 4 chapters in 14 days. If you haven't checked in for a while, you should click back.

CH 18 = Hearst campus visit and demolition of Old Shark Stadium.

CH 19 = senior trip and Alterna-Prom.

CH 20 = final exams and Aaron Echolls trial.

Now … moving on to graduation and wrapping up the school year/season.

This chapter is a modified version of #2.22 "Not Pictured."

Chapter 21

During my freshman year at Neptune High, some local civic organization – apparently concerned about our mental and emotional wellbeing – gave all the students a business-card-sized "FREE hug card." The three graduating classes before us had handled things with more maturity and less snark. The Class of 2006, however, could be counted on to cause trouble right up to the very end.

As my classmates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas from Principal Clemmons, each of them redeemed the card for a free hug. Clemmons was mildly annoyed at the delay this caused, but after he realized the trend would continue, he finally gave in and embraced the moment.

After Eli Navarro's name was called, there was quite a bit of cheering, including several teachers. I'm sure that Letty, my dad, Mac, and I were the loudest ones in the crowd. When Eli walked across the stage, Clemmons gave him a hug of sincere congratulations. I would love to have heard what he said that made Eli smile.

[

After I took photos of Wallace with his family and with Jackie, I handed off my camera to Dad to take photos of me with Wallace and Mac, before she ran off to celebrate with both her families. Then came the photos of me with my father, taken by Alicia.

Alicia still had the camera pointed at me when Dad gave me my present – an envelope that was clearly not big enough to contain a pony. I opened the flap to find plane tickets to New York City. I'm sure the photo she took captured the excitement I felt at that moment.

Dad explained, "We leave Tuesday. The Fennel family will be traveling with us. Figured you wouldn't mind sightseeing in NYC with your best friend."

Jackie, who was standing nearby, added, "I'll be on the Tuesday flight, too. Heading home."

Terrence wrapped an arm around his daughter as he reminded her, "You'll always have a home here, too."

She smiled at him and said something I couldn't hear.

Wallace stepped toward me, giving Jackie a moment with her father. "I'm gonna get to meet the rest of her family. Especially looking forward to meeting her son. And her mom, of course."

Dad handed my camera back to me as he said, "Honey, I've gotta leave for Nevada."

When the scandal hit critical mass, Woody had taken off. My father had tracked him to Quail Creek Lodge which was just outside Reno.

"Be safe, Dad. Let me know when you'll be heading home."

He kissed the top of my head. Then, he gave Alicia a kiss romantic enough to embarrass their children. "See all of you soon."

There was nothing left for the rest of us to do, except go home … and get ready for the party tonight.

On the way to my car, I caught a glimpse of Eli with his family. I walked over to say a quick hello, and Letty insisted on getting a photo of us together. She handed me a thank you gift – as well as one for Mac – for all the help I had given her grandson. Plus, she invited me and my dad to the party they were having Sunday afternoon. I told her that we'd try to be there.

After congratulating Eli one more time and giving him a hug, I asked if he planned on attending Logan's party later that evening.

"I suppose I could move some things around on my calendar, open up enough time to make an appearance." If I wasn't mistaken, there was a bit of flirtation in his tone.

"Wow, you'd really do that for little ol' me?!" I said sarcastically. "I guess I'll see you there."

Just then, Miss James approached him. That was my cue to leave. I could hear him introducing her to Letty. Turning around to catch a glimpse of the smile on his face and the proud look on the faces of the two women, my heart overflowed with happiness.

Heading for my car again, I said goodbye to a few people as I went. Along the way, I found out that Dick would be moving in with Logan and attending Hearst, while Cassidy would be moving up to Frisco with his mom's new family.

Finally getting to my LeBaron, I found Leo leaning against the driver's side door waiting for me.

Holding up his hands, he said, "Not stalking you. Just wanted to let you know that I'll be at Logan's party tonight, keeping an eye on Gia. Wondered if you'd want to go—"

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to go together. Not even if you only meant going in the same vehicle." For emphasis and clarity, I added, "I'm not interested in getting into a relationship right now. And I have a feeling that you are. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea."

"Understood. You've made that pretty clear. But we can talk to one another while we're both at the same social function, right?"

[

[

Shortly after I arrived at the Neptune Grand, I got a call from Eli saying that he wasn't going to make it to the party after all. When I asked why, he explained that one of his cousins asked him to help with car repairs. He's 16. First car. And Eli was proud of him for earning the money to buy it.

"When he asked, I couldn't say no."

Of course, he couldn't say no. And I loved that – and many other things – about him. I told him to send me pictures of the progress on the car and that I'd see him in a couple days at the party Letty was throwing for him and two of his cousins who graduated earlier in the day.

The Logan's party was in full swing when I got up to his suite. I scanned the room to see who was there already.

Although Gia was not exactly "with" Caz, they had gone to prom together, and he was hanging around her on this particular night, clearly hoping to get lucky. He was no more thrilled with Leo's protective presence tonight than he had been on prom night.

Caz quickly got drunk and went looking for an easy score, hitting on every unattached female in attendance. At some point during the night, he hit on me. When I turned him down, he started saying angry, hateful things about women being teases. Adding that he preferred when they just shut up and let him take what he wanted. In the middle of his rant, he confessed to having his way with me at Shelly Pomroy's party.

His admission had me reeling, and I excused myself to the balcony. There was no reason for him to lie, to confess to something he didn't do. But I couldn't remember anything that I could testify against him. And there was no evidence from that night. I wanted to believe that if someone had seen him go into the room I was in, that one of my classmates would have mentioned it when I had interrogated them last spring. I was gonna need some time to come to terms with this information – and the fact that (unless I could dig up some evidence that had thus far gone unnoticed) I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Joining me outside on the balcony, Leo informed me that one of his coworkers had just told him they now had proof that Caz, in addition to Lucky, had been stalking Gia.

We went inside to find her, only to realize that both Caz and Gia were no longer at the party. We asked around and found out that they had left together.

Judging by the way Gia had been acting with Caz earlier, I didn't think she would have gone with him willingly. I tried to call her. Getting no answer, I texted her: Stay away from Caz. He's been stalking you.

As I hit send, Leo told me that the security guy in the lobby had checked with the manager who gave them the number of the room reserved in Caz's name. Leo said I should keep looking around for Gia while he went to check Caz's room.

A couple minutes later, I got a reply from Gia to meet her on the roof.

But when I got there, Gia wasn't there.

The voice I heard call my name belonged to Lucky. He was waving a gun around and ranting about shutting me up so I couldn't get in the way anymore. His rambling went from complaining about me warning Gia via text to confessing several things.

He had made the anonymous phone call that led to Curly's death and had also set the ball in motion to take out Woody. It was hard to follow Lucky's train of thought, but he seemed to believe that Woody had blown up the bus with a bomb built by Curly. He decided to take both of them out to show his love and devotion for Meg – who would have been on the bus if the 09ers hadn't taken a limo.

Lucky pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and explained that he had put a "present" on Woody's plane. "I heard that Woody is in the air … returning to Neptune to be charged for at least some of his crimes. Should be coming from that direction. Let's watch the fireworks together."

I screamed and begged him not to press the button. My dad was on that plane.

He laughed maniacally, saying that was a bit of bad luck. He added that he'd give me a minute to call Dad and say goodbye.

As I speed-dialed my dad's number, I kept an eye on Lucky. After three rings, it went to voicemail.

Pleading with the gun-wielding lunatic did no good. He held down a button on his phone, and immediately an explosion lit up the night sky.

Crumpling to my knees, I wailed and sobbed uncontrollably, tears running down my face. My head spun and pounded. My insides felt shredded for what seemed the hundredth time in the past few years. How could this be happening?

A couple moments later, Lucky began to ask me to jump off the roof. He wanted me out of the way too. And apparently, he didn't want to get my DNA on himself.

My phone was still in my hand. Somehow, I managed to text Leo without Lucky seeing what I was doing.

Thankfully, it only took Leo a couple minutes to get up to the roof. After a struggle, the gun was knocked out of Lucky's hand. As he and Leo wrestled one another on the ground, I picked up the gun. I did not have time to dwell on the similarities between this scene and the night Aaron Echolls had run Eli and I off the road last spring.

Firing one bullet straight up into the air once, I then pointed it at Lucky. "Leo, get away from him."

Leo reached toward me, saying, "Veronica, please hand me the gun."

I shook my head as I told him why I wanted to shoot Lucky. "He killed my father."

Continuing to step closer, Leo said in a calm, soothing tone, "You're not a killer, Veronica."

He wrapped one arm around me and took the gun from me with his other hand. I collapsed against him as I told him what Lucky had said. Leo helped me sit down, and then he dealt with the situation.

After he had handcuffed Lucky, he called the Sheriff's Department. While we waited for help to arrive, Leo held me.

A couple of deputies showed up, took Lucky into custody, and wrote down our statements.

[

It turned out that Caz had taken some random girl to the room he reserved. Lucky had grabbed Gia from the party and had taken her to a nearby room. He saw the text I sent her about Caz, but misread it, thinking I was warning Gia about him. Leaving her tied up in the room, he went to the roof to deal with me.

[

I was in a haze as Leo took me back to my apartment. He carried me up the stairs and put me on the couch. After he pulled a blanket over me, he made me tea. He offered to stay, saying that he didn't think I should be alone. I agreed.

He held me, stroking my hair and rubbing my back. "Go to sleep, Veronica. After everything that happened tonight, your body needs rest."

I knew that he was right, but my thoughts were swirling. There was no way I could sleep at that moment.

Disbelief over tonight's events. Trying to make sense of why Woody would have blown up the bus. Trying to come to terms with Caz's confession. Trying to accept the fact that my father was dead.

Shock hit me hard. Grief washed over me in waves.

My body was exhausted. My mind was reeling. My emotions were numb.

Although his comfort was needed and appreciated, Leo's arms were not the ones I longed to have around me. My dad's arms would have been my first choice; Eli's would have been my second.

[

[

We must have fallen asleep on the couch together. I awoke to the sounds and smell of Leo making breakfast. Before my eyes opened, my mind was hopeful that it was my father at work in the kitchen. When I saw Leo standing in front of the stove, memories from last night came crashing back into my new reality, and I burst into tears. Just as he rushed over to wrap his arms around me, I heard movement in the hallway.

I turned to see my father standing there. He was confused by what he was seeing and expressed concern about finding the two of us together on the couch when he got home.

Taking a minute to explain what had happened last night – and what I thought had happened – I clung to Dad. As he took in my words, he told me that Lamb hadn't wanted him on Woody's plane, that he had gotten off at the last minute.

Grief was replaced by waves of relief. And yet, there were a few things that were no different than they had been last night: Caz had raped me, Woody had blown up the bus, and Lucky had killed both Curly and Woody in some deranged Hinkley-style effort to avenge what he viewed as an attempt on Meg's life.

While the three of us ate the food that Leo had prepared, he and Dad filled in details that I didn't have yet. Dad had had some time to question Woody while they were waiting to fly back to Neptune. Leo had called a former coworker at the Sheriff's Department and got details on Lucky's part in all this.

Lucky had overheard Woody offering to help Terrence Cook. Later, he had heard Woody hire Curly to build a bomb. Lucky had been working at the stadium on the day of the crash. He had seen Woody near the bus during our tour of the stadium and then saw him hurry to his helicopter after the bus left the parking lot. Lucky might be certifiable, but he correctly assumed that Woody had planted the bomb and then followed the bus in his helicopter to detonate the bomb. Although it was uncertain when he would have put the rat on the bus, it had been effective in ensuring that his daughter and the other 09ers would be riding in another vehicle on the way back to school.

Apparently, Lucky had heard talk at school involving Cervando and the Fitzpatricks. Deciding to use that info to spin a story, Lucky had made the anonymous call to Eli in order to get the PCH Bike Club to take out Curly. He had watched from a distance as Thumper had beaten Curly. Lucky had been the one to write Duncan's name on Curly's hand before dumping the body into the ocean.

When Dad and Leo had finished their narrative, I added, "The day we visited Shark Field, Woody mentioned that he decided to invite the journalism classes because he wanted his daughter to make friends. I doubt that was his real reason for arranging our field trip."

Leo began to clear the dishes which gave Dad an opportunity to pull me into another hug. No complaint from me. I was over-the-moon happy that my dad alive and well, at home with me.

We turned our heads when we heard the front door close. Leo had decided to let us have this Kodak moment to ourselves.

Dad asked cautiously, "The two of you are dating again?"

"No. I mean we did go out … but no."

A few minutes later, I went back to my room to get my phone, with the intent to thank Leo for staying with me last night. But I got sidetracked because there was a text from Eli: Just heard the news. Wanted to make sure you're ok.

Unsure how to reply in a text, I opted to call him. I explained that the night before had been horrible, mostly because I went to sleep thinking that Dad had died when the helicopter blew up.

"Did Wallace or Mac stay with you last night?" When I said no, he asked, "Why didn't you call me?"

"I … wasn't alone." There was silence until I spoke again. "Leo was there last night … at the Neptune Grand … when Lucky … and after giving my statement, he drove me home."

"And he stayed."

"Yeah."

He was slow to respond, but when he did, his tone told me he meant it when he said, "I'm glad he was there for you."

I sat listening to him breathe, wondering if there was anything else to say.

Finally, he asked, "Are you and your dad coming to the party tomorrow?"

"If you want us to."

"Of course, I do."

"I wasn't sure. It was your grandma who invited us, not you."

"V." His tone said what he couldn't: that it wouldn't be the same if we weren't there to celebrate his accomplishment.

"Can we bring anything?"

His response was immediate. "Snickerdoodles."

Smiling, I said, "Well, then … I'd better start baking. See you tomorrow."

[

[

On Sunday, Dad and I made our way over to the Navarro house for the graduation party. Letty greeted us as soon as we got there. After giving us an update on her health – which thankfully was continuing to improve – she pointed us toward the food and said she would find Eli to let him know that we had arrived.

I had a container of snickerdoodles because Eli had requested them. While I was making them, I had been thinking about Felix and the events of the past several months. I tried not to give into the sadness that accompanied most of the memories, but I had cried quite a bit before the cookies had finished baking.

As Dad and I moved through the clusters of people, everyone was friendly toward us, but it was a bit awkward to be there with Eli's family now that he and I weren't together.

It seemed that some relatives were confused about our status – since I was here and the two of us had appeared friendly at graduation. A couple of his female cousins directly asked me what was going on with Eli and me, desperate to know if we were a couple or not.

I replied, "Why don't you ask your cousin?"

"We did. He won't give us a straight answer."

I shrugged and began to walk away as I mumbled, "Welcome to my world."

Later, Letty cornered me and asked why we had broken up.

Shaking my head and giving a little shrug, I said, "You'd have to ask your grandson that."

What was I supposed to say to her? The words that were on the tip of my tongue were: He acted like he was doing me a favor while he was breaking my heart. But that was not something I thought I should say to her.

Back before the bus crash, I had bartered with several of Eli's relatives as payment for family and senior portraits. One of the things I got out of the deal was a one-of-a-kind prom dress – black strapless with red accents, in honor of Lilly. His cousin Anita had made a dress that exceeded my expectations. I had texted her a photo from the night of Alterna-Prom and thanked her, but I wanted to thank her again in person. I made a point of raving about her work in front of as many family members as would listen. Anita was incredibly talented, but I had a feeling she needed repeated reminders the way that Eli did. It was the least I could do.

After making the rounds for more than an hour, I stepped out onto the front porch to get away from all the questioning eyes. In a matter of minutes, Eli joined me. We sat on the steps in silence for a long time. After the crazy events the other night, it felt so good just being near him.

Leaning my head on his shoulder, I said, "You have a calming effect on me."

"Calming?! Then, I need to step up my game."

I laughed at his comment while wishing he would at least put his arm around me. A few seconds later, as if he had heard my thoughts, he enveloped me in his arms.

"Scared me to death when I heard about Friday night. Don't think I could handle it if something happened to you."

I'm not sure how long we sat there like that before Dad came looking for me, suggesting that we should get home.

In the car, Dad asked me, "So what's going on with the two of you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you dating? Are you enemies? Somewhere in between?"

"We're not together, but …"

"You can't seem to stay apart?"

"Yeah, something like that."

During the drive home, I stared out the window thinking about the two hours we had spent at the Navarro house. My interaction with Eli had been equal parts awkward, friendly, and flirtatious. Nothing had been settled. Not by a long shot. But it seemed that we might find our way back to some kind of relationship, at least a friendship.

The thing was … friendship wasn't what I wanted. But I wanted him in my life in whatever way he would allow. I could tell that he still thought he wasn't good enough for me, that I was better off without him.

[

[

On Monday while I was packing for our trip, I made sure I had all the essentials for sight-seeing: sunscreen, sunglasses, camera. And since we were heading to NYC to make our little town blues melt away, I told Dad that I had also packed vagabond shoes … and pepper spray, for if we run into that Trump character.

Tuesday morning, our entourage left for the airport. Me and my dad. Alicia, Wallace, and Darrell. And Jackie who was making her way home – to her mom and her son, to a very different life than she had in Neptune with Terrence Cook.

During the flight, Wallace and Jackie were in their own little world. Dad and Alicia were also cozy. That left me with Darrell. We played games most of the time.

And for a little while, I forgot about Neptune. About all the drama and trauma surrounding the bus crash. About Felix's death and other events caused by Thumper. About high school memories and old acquaintances that should "be forgot and never brought to mind." About Eli pushing me away, while keeping me within reach.

It had been a long year. What an understatement! It was a miracle that I had survived it. Equally miraculous that Dad and Eli were alive. Some of my classmates had not been as fortunate.

As I looked out the window of the plane, I saw a rainbow below us. It reminded me of something important: Even the most violent storms can be followed by beauty.

I made a vow to never take things for granted. Because none of us are promised tomorrow.

Glancing down the row at my father, my best friend, and our other traveling companions, gratitude overwhelmed me. I had so much to be thankful for.

A/N:

One more chapter in this fic – epilogue covering their NYC trip.

Chapter 1 of Part 3 (Commence) will be posted the same day as Chapter 22 of Part 2 (Process).

Thanks for reading! Until next time …

~Jen

25 February 2019