Operation Romance Chapter 3

Veronica walks into Journalism before lunch and walks down the row of computers towards the back of the room to sit next to her boyfriend. He immediately notices her as she walks in the room and he smiles, happy to see her. When she gets to the next seat to Logan, she looks down at him sternly without talking. His initial smile at seeing her falls and his eyes immediately scan her face to get an idea of what is wrong. He pulls out the chair to the computer next to him and reaches for her bag as she sits. "Has some unworthy person annoyed my beautiful girlfriend this morning?"

She slides into the chair he is holding and lets it roll closer to him. Looking up at him she shakes her head and tells him seriously, "No. My boyfriend wrote me a story and reading the first chapter made me late for English."

A smile lights up his face. He leans in and asks, "You read it already?"

Meeting his gaze, she openly questions, "An impulsive wedding in Vegas Logan?"

Leaning in even closer, he tells her quietly, "I like to think than an older me would immediately recognize how unique and wonderful you are and wouldn't hesitate to snap you up."

Touched, she looks up at him impressed at how he was able to deflect her question about his story so easily. She loves his humor and his quick wit. Reaching up, she gently caresses his cheek and then his chin, "Well clearly fictional Veronica knew a good thing when she saw it as well." A smirk appears on his face at her answering compliment. Before he can say a smart comment, she softly nuzzles her nose to his and then kisses down his cheek to his ear whispering, "Why didn't you send me the whole story?"

Enjoying her attention he answers a little absently, "I was planning on sending you a chapter every week."

She leans back and frowns up at him stating firmly, "Oh no! I don't want to wait a week. I want to know what happens next and how they met."

Pleased at her desire to read more of his story, he teases, "Well I could give you a chapter every month."

Immediately upset, she exclaims, "A month Logan. That isn't fair!"

"Well," he points out, "It's a good way to keep you dating me. If you break up with me, you will never find out the ending to the story."

A little amused, she smiles up at him and agrees, "Well it's good that I am not planning on breaking up with you then." Tilting her head a little, she pouts, "A month would be torture for me to wait. You know how curious I am."

Looking at his girlfriend pouting, Logan is completely charmed by her obvious manipulation to get the rest of his story. Leaning down he gently kisses her and shares, "Your need to know everything is one of the things I love about you."

Her pout changes to a smile and she asks hopefully, "So you will let me read the rest of the story today?"

Laughing at her attempt to use the head tilt against him, he leans down to kiss her forehead and tells her, "A chapter a week." He leans over to his computer and starts his log in. The teacher has arrived and has sent their assignments to their email. This is one of the classes he really likes so he is a little anxious to see what he is supposed to write about this week. He ignores the look of annoyance that crosses his girlfriend's face at his refusal to give her the whole story today knowing she won't give up but 'Miss Bound for Stanford' will get her work done and leave him alone for now.

When his mother gave him the novel to read, Logan had paid close attention to the main character because his mother was interested in playing her in the movie. It was ironic that his mother didn't get the part because the producer didn't think that the public would buy his mother as a woman who had a poor self image because of poor relationships with the men in her life. That aside, the book showed Logan how a real man treats a woman and for the first time, he could see his role in Veronica's life. In the book, the man spent the rest of his life showing his woman how much he valued and loved her. He saw it as a blessing to take care of her, not a chore and Logan felt exactly the same way. He would like nothing more than to spend the rest of his life showing Veronica how beautiful, smart and wonderful he thinks she is. Throughout their lives together, the man wrote the woman poems and stories to show her how much he loved her. Logan, although not really gifted at writing poetry, found writing to be a good way to express his thoughts. He thought about his and Veronica's past and wondered what would happen if they hadn't met in Neptune. What would their lives be like if they hadn't gone through the pain of the last year and a half together? He wrote her his first story and he hoped it would be the start of many more to come.

A week later he emails the next chapter to her after he drops her off from their date. He doesn't want her to be late for class again although it did stroke his ego that she was late because she was reading his story.

Veronica crawling into bed gets the incoming ping of an email. She leisurely picks up her phone and looks to see who is sending her an email. Her breath sharply intakes as she sees that Logan has sent her chapter two of the story he wrote for her. Falling on her back into the bed, she quickly opens the link excited to read more of their story.

Impulsive Marriage Chapter 2

Wednesday morning Veronica wakes up slowly and stretches in the luxurious bed. She looks over at her sleeping husband and relaxes watching him. He looks so innocent and young; like he hasn't a care in the world. She is still finding it surreal that they are married. He is Logan Echolls for god's sake! He is the son of two famous actors and is wealthy probably never having to work a day the rest of his life. His whole life has been in the tabloids from his baby picture to their quickie Vegas wedding. Frowning a little, she thinks about the press coverage of their marriage. She has never been a target of the press and reading the wildly speculative stories about their marriage has been hard for her. Most tabloids had her as a gold digger and they talked about how drunk they were when they got married. They talked about her being pregnant and her stalking Logan. Supposed quotes from her when she never talked to anyone about her marriage initially made her indignant and angry. Now she was a little discouraged that so little actual research went into the stories about her on television or on line. Logan is convinced that most of the reporters just got pictures and gossip sent to them from someone who saw them together and whipped out their cell phone. Then the reporter added what they needed to make the story more shocking or interesting to the public; they are not concerned with truth or accuracy. She is inclined to believe him now that she read stories. Logan's favorite is how he is almost out of money and he has to be married to get the rest of his inheritance. It is all really intrusive and kind of horrible. Logan has had a lot of experience with the press and has taught her to wear shades and not answer any questions that anyone asks either of them about their personal life. He also encouraged her to ignore anything written about them. That is easier said than done.

One afternoon while they were relaxing on the couch, waiting to get the energy up to go to dinner, Logan talked a little about the hell of his teenage years. Veronica gently rubbed his hair while he rested his head on her chest with his back against her. He loves to hold her but he was surprised to find that he actually liked to be held by her too. Even though she is tiny and her arms hardly fit around him, he feels safe with her. Although he doesn't feel ready to talk to her in any detail about that time in his life, he does want to reassure her that he is no longer the out of control young man who was often negatively portrayed in the press. Veronica had read some of the stories of that time and had seen one of the movies of the week. She knew that his father had murdered Lilly Kane who was his girlfriend. She knew that his mother supposedly committed suicide and that Logan had testified at his father's trial. By the time Logan talked to her, she had seen his back and had realized that the allegations of physical abuse by his father were true. To her credit, the only question she asked was if his mother had a drinking problem. He had honestly answered that she had and she had then quietly told him that if he ever wanted to talk to her, she would listen.

Logan fell even more in love with her when she didn't ask any more questions and just left it with him to talk to her when he wanted to. He also really appreciated that she didn't criticize his mother. She grew up with an alcoholic mother who left her so she knows that their mothers couldn't be there for themselves so they couldn't really be there for them.

Holding Logan, Veronica did feel anger at all the adults that let Logan down. Lynn Echolls should have left Aaron when he first started abusing Logan. Veronica felt hate for Aaron Echolls for physically and emotionally abusing his family as well as being a murderer and an adulterer . There were others who knew of the abuse including relatives, friends, doctors and nurses who did nothing. Truly, she admired how strong Logan is. Sure, he probably didn't handle things properly as a teenager. He made a lot of poor choices back then but he had no one who cared about him; no one to give him support and guidance. No, he made it through and has gotten his life together pretty much on his own. At least when her mother left, she had a steady, caring, wonderful father. He has always been there for her. Veronica thinks about when she had to call her father and tell him that she got married. He had been predictably upset and when he found out who she married, he had not been reassured. However, he supported her choices and was going to reserve judgment until he got to know Logan. She knew she was going to have a lot of explaining to do the next time she saw him.

Deep in thought about the changes in her life, she is a little startled when her new husband, without opening his eyes, reaches over and pulls her closer to him. His voice a little husky from sleep, he tells her, "Good morning." Veronica reaches over and brushes the hair back from his forehead. She gently caresses his face touching his nose, cheek and lips. It is like she is memorizing his features for the time they are apart. Logan smiles as she touches him and he asks quietly, "Aren't you tired this morning?"

He hears the smile in her voice as she says, "I know I should be. We didn't get much sleep last night."

Logan opens his eyes and looks at her. Her face is close to his. He gazes at her big blue eyes, tiny nose and full lips. Her long blonde hair is messy but she looks beautiful to him. He really loves that she is comfortable in little makeup, simple t-shirts and jeans most of the time. She often just pulls her hair back into a pony tail or braids it so it is out of her way. It is clear though that she likes to dress up as well. She looked so sexy the other night when he took her out to dinner and dancing. With her hair curled, smoky eye makeup and matching red nails and lips, she looked so hot that he almost didn't want to take her out. Last night though, she didn't want to play poker or go out to dinner. She just wanted to stay in their suite and spend their last night together alone. He was really touched that she valued their alone time. He has never dated anyone who didn't want to party all the time. She was really happy to just relax with him. They did a crossword puzzle on her tablet together and they watched a movie with her laying on their bed in his arms. Of course that was inbetween bouts of lovemaking. They were afterall, still on their honeymoon. It was quiet and comfortable and he absolutely loved it. A little sad that they have to go to the airport today, he openly admits, "I wish we didn't have to be apart for so long."

Veronica smiles one of her loving smiles and agrees, "I do too. It will go by fast though. We'll both be studying for finals."

"We'll talk every night," he adds.

Pleased at his desire to talk to her, she leans in and rewards him with a sweet kiss before she questions, "You're OK with flying up, helping me pack and then driving down to LA with me?"

Logan turns his head and kisses her hand. He says, "Don't forget meeting your gun toting, disapproving father."

Veronica laughs and promises, "I'll soften him up for you."

"Good," he answers easily, "I hope to be around a long time."

She leans in and gently kisses him, "I hope that too."

This time, Logan reaches up and pulls her into a deeper kiss. He pulls away a tiny amount when it is over and rests his head on the pillow near hers. Meeting her clear blue eyes, he tells her, "I know the start to our relationship was unorthodox, but I am happy with you."

Veronica's face softens. She puts her forehead to his and agrees hardily, "Me too."

Logan puts his hand behind her head and holds his forehead to hers. They stay like that breathing each other's air and staying close. Veronica feels so loved and protected. Logan savors the feeling of being loved. He is excited to be with her and hopeful of the future.

Today they were both going back to their respective colleges. In a little over two months, spring semester will be over and it will be summer vacation. Logan is a junior taking Bachelor of Arts with a minor in writing at UCLA. He is interested in writing novels or plays. He owns a house in LA right on the beach. Logan asked her to consider transferring to UCLA next year. He loved to surf and he really wanted to stay in LA. UCLA has a great Criminology program and he hopes Veronica will apply to transfer to UCLA in the fall. He wants her to quit work and just focus on school in the meantime. He set up an account for her and the bank will send her a debit and credit card for the account. He wants her to use it to buy what she needs and pay off her student loans. Veronica was reluctant but Logan was insistent that she didn't need to work or be in debt. He knows he is probably going to have to have his accountant handle paying off her loans because she won't use his money without persuasion. Another issue is that he is concerned about her safety now it is known she is an Echolls. She was a little horrified at how public his life was and finding out the security precautions he had set up was disconcerting to say the least. Veronica really listened and agreed to be careful.

The truth was Logan had given her a crash course on being wealthy the past three days. The suite they stayed in was the most luxurious place Veronica had ever stayed. They ate at really exclusive restaurants and Logan had no difficulty getting reservations, even last minute. He just pulled out his black AmEx and paid for whatever he wanted. He ordered a spa morning for her and she had never been so pampered. They had not gambled on their last three days together despite the fact that was how they met. They just decided to spend time together, dating since they skipped that step in their relationship. They went to the Grand Canyon where they went on a hike and a helicopter ride. Veronica had never been and she really loved it. She took a lot of pictures and Logan was truly amused by her excitement. Logan bought her an engagement ring and Veronica was speechless when he slid it on her finger. She had never seen anything so beautiful. Logan had smiled at her reaction and had been touched at her worry that he spent too much money on her.

If Logan gave Veronica a crash course on being rich, she gave him one of being in a relationship. Logan could see when he met Veronica that she was the real deal and being married to her just reinforced that belief. His money, fame and social status were more of a hindrance to her. She was content just to be with him. He could see she was smart, driven and really fun. She listened to him, challenged him and matched him quip for quip. He adored her. He wasn't sure about love at first sight but he felt something really special for her. Logan had hope that this marriage would work. Veronica was the kind of woman who would be a good wife and mother and he felt he had a chance at the kind of life he wanted with her.

Veronica was going to give their marriage a chance. She would transfer colleges, move to LA and she would move in Logan's house with him. She was realistic. They were very different people from very different backgrounds. She had alcoholism in her background. He had physical abuse and alcoholism in his background. They didn't know each other that well. Their marriage had been impulsive and not that well thought out but she wanted it to work. She could tell Logan was committed to their relationship as well.

Logan's flight leaves an hour after Veronica's. He sits with her at her gate and they hold hands and talk. He tells her about how often he has flown and Veronica is amazed as this is really only her third flight anywhere. Logan rebooked her flight and upgraded her to first class. Veronica was a little excited about flying first class. Logan when he rebooked her flight didn't seem to even consider flying coach. Veronica has been amazed at the lifestyle Logan just takes for granted.

He plays with her hand as he tells her about how they should go on a honeymoon this summer and how he is looking forward to showing her some of his favorite places in LA. His last discussion with her is about being careful who she talks to. He tells her about his past experiences with people pretending to be his friend to find out about his life and family and how much the tabloids will pay for inside information and how tempting that is to most people. He talks to her about people befriending him and ending up being undercover reporters. Veronica nods in understanding and says gently, "I can't imagine how closed in you have had to be."

Logan sees the sympathy and worry. He explains, "There have been a lot of perks, don't misunderstand. It's just there is a price to pay for everything."

Veronica nods in acceptance. She says, "I'll probably make a few mistakes Logan but I will be careful. I will try not to let you down."

Logan nods and reassures her, "You won't let me down. I just don't want you to be hurt."

Veronica puts her arms around Logan and rests against him. She says, "I know. Thank you."

Logan wraps Veronica in his arms and holds her. He feels so protective of her. She just seems so tiny. He knows she can take care of herself and she is a strong person. He just has lost so many people he cared about that he feels insecure about her. Veronica tilts her head up and looks at Logan. She sees the worry in his dark eyes. She says quietly, "There will only be you Logan. I don't want anyone else."

Logan leans down and kisses her. He says, "I know. I won't fool around on you either."

Veronica pouts up at him and says, "You better not or I won't protect you from my overprotective father."

Logan pretends to be scared. He leans down and kisses her deeply. He says, "I will miss you."

Veronica responds, "I will definitely miss you." He holds her close until she has to board and then he watches her plane take off before he heads over to catch his flight. It is going to be a long two months.