a/n: Thank you for the amazing feedback! I'm glad to see that people like this story. Since we're still in the beginning stages, I'm updating it right away-but I doubt I'll be able to update every day. School and all that stuff. I hope you guys like this!

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"What were you doing on the beach with Logan Echolls?" Piz demands of her at breakfast in the mess hall the next morning.

"Well good morning to you too," Veronica says, a little disgruntled. She pokes at her cereal, swishing around the soggy flakes with her spoon. "So did you decide to start stalking me? Am I going to have to get a restraining order?" she's joking, but Piz tenses at her words.

"I was with Wallace. My roommate remember? We were flying his plane," Piz explains.

"It's for a case."

"So you're working for Logan Echolls now?" Piz seems disgruntled by the thought.

"What's wrong with that?" Veronica asks, popping a bite of cereal into her mouth.

"I don't like him."

"Oh I'm sorry Dad," she says, starting to get annoyed. "Should I have checked in with you before hand?"

"Yes, you should have, because I'm your best friend Veronica."

"I don't really see what that has to do with anything," Veronica shrugs, "It was just for a case I'm working on with him. Purely business."

"And that case is?"

"You know I can't really tell you that."

"Of course you can't."

"Are you feeling okay? Because I don't remember you having such a stick up your ass before. Logan is perfectly nice, alright?"

"Highlighting my many qualities again?" Logan's voice speaks up from behind her, and he drops into the seat next to her, a smirk toying at his mouth.

"You wish," Veronica says. "What's your poison Echolls?"

"I thought you might want to talk more about my…" Logan hesitates and glances at Piz. "My case." Veronica nods thoughtfully.

"That would be helpful. Pick me up at my dorm room at three? We'll talk somewhere else."

"Sounds good," Logan says, and then leaves the table. Veronica pretends not to notice Piz glaring at her while they finish their breakfast.

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"Hey Ronnie," Dick says as Veronica enters the room, carefully shutting the door behind her. "What's up?"

"Mac isn't here," Veronica says, "So why are you?"

"That hurts Ronnie. That hurts real bad. Don't you want me here?"

"No."

Dick takes her insult with a shrug, leaning back against Mac's pillows. "I'm waiting for Mac," he explains, and Veronica nods.

"Well I'm only going to be here for a couple minutes," Veronica says, checking the time. Five minutes until three.

"Meeting a hot date?"

"Something like that," she says absently, checking her phone. Three missed messages from Piz, and two from her Dad. She listens to the voicemails from her Dad, but they're mostly just 'checking in'. She texts him that she's fine but busy, and ignores the ones from Piz. She's still slightly annoyed about the way he was acting this morning, and doesn't want to get in with it right now when she should be figuring out one of the biggest murder cases of the century.

There's a knock on the door and Veronica opens it. Logan's on the other side, still wearing a long sleeved shirt even though it was really hot outside.

"Logan?" Dick sat up, suddenly very interested. "Are you Ronnie's hot date?"

Logan merely looked at Veronica. "Ronnie?" he inquires.

"He won't stop calling me that," she shook her head. "Even though I absolutely despise it." She gives Dick the evil eye, but he merely shrugs.

"Veronica's too boring."

"Ready?" Logan asks, and she nods.

"Hey, are you two hooking up now?" Dick asks, "Because I can leave if you want to get busy."

"It's a very professional relationship," Veronica assures him as she grabs her coat. She isn't really sure where they're going to talk, and she wants to be prepared.

"Is that supposed to be a dirty joke or something?" Dick adds, and Veronica quickly exits the room, closing the door tightly behind her.

"I would apologize for my roommates boyfriend," she says, "But since he's your friend…"

Logan laughs a genuine laugh, and Veronica blushes when she realizes that it's actually a really beautiful laugh; like he's shocked that she's said something funny and amused all at once.

"Dick is a dick," Logan agrees, and Veronica snorts slightly.

"So where are we headed to, cowboy?"

"Cowboy?"

"Don't like my southern references?" she inquires, shaking her head slightly. "Because I've got a hatful of them."

"Very funny," Logan says sarcastically. "I was thinking we could go to get ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

He shrugs, looking slightly embarrassed. "I figured it'll be loud enough that nobody can hear us talking, and you're new to this town, right?"

Veronica nodded.

"Well then you probably haven't been to the best ice cream shop in town."

"I don't think I have," she admits, "I don't exactly have the time or money for these sort of things."

When they reach Logan's bright car, he helps her into the passenger seat and they set off down the highway. Her hair blows around her face as they drive, and she watches Logan's face as they go discreetly out of the corner of her eye.

He's decidedly an odd one, she's heard about his various exploits in the past (although none in the last year is she remembers correctly) but right now he doesn't seem to fit her typical image of bad boy. He just seems like a boy who misses his girlfriend desperately. She wonders if his judgment on whether her murder was truly solved or not is skewed, because maybe he doesn't want the case to end, because when the correct person was sitting in jail, then it's really true. Then Lily really isn't coming back.

She knows this from experience. You look for the truth long enough, just because you need the reality to desperately not be true, but when you find your Mother in a bar down the road instead of staying with her sister, it tends to fuck with your mind a little bit. She doesn't really want a repeat of that one.

Still, something about Logan makes her want to help him, even if she never personally knew Lily Kane. He doesn't remind her of herself when she went looking for the truth about her Mother, he's much too hard for that. She doesn't think she'll break him with whatever they find.

When they reach the ice cream shop, she's surprised to find it's more like a shack on one of the more prestigious beaches. Logan gets out of his car, and turns to look at her. Despite the shack's degrading appearance, tons of people are surrounding it.

"Are you allergic to anything?"

"No. Are you going to order for me Echolls?" she inquires playfully. He blushes, and doesn't answer her but instead heads for the shack with a more determined grace.

He comes back five minutes later holding gigantic cones of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Veronica accepts her's gratefully with a smile.

"Good man," she nods as she takes a large lick. Logan smiles, but it doesn't really reach his eyes. You're here for a case Veronica, she reminds herself, don't flirt.

"Should we get started?" she asks, gesturing towards the beach. Logan nods, and she grabs her bag before they set off.

Logan is right, the beach is loud; a variety of college and high school kids all goofing off, drinking, and just being generally obnoxious snobs. They find a comfortable sand dune to sit on, and Veronica slurps up the last licks of her ice cream before rooting around in her bag for her notebook.

"You ate that way to fast," Logan says, amusement lighting up his voice. Veronica makes a face at him.

"You're eating yours way to slow," she protests, "I mean you're just going to get used to the taste faster."

"Or I can savor it longer," he points out, and Veronica doesn't jibe back, but instead sets her pen to paper.

"Tell me all you can about Lily," she prompts, and the amusement drains out of Logan's face like the water drains from a sink. He stares out at the ocean, his shoulders tense, his ice cream lying forgotten in his hand.

"What do you want to know about her?"

"What was her personality like?" Veronica tries, and Logan takes a deep breath like he's preparing himself for impact.

"She was flirty, wild, she loved to make her Mom angry. She was like fire," he decides, "Always burning bright and hot. She was constantly getting us in trouble, but don't get me wrong—Lily was great. Maybe a little too great sometimes. The things she would do…"

"And were you two dating at the time of her death?"

"No," Logan says, surprising her. It was more a rudimentary question; she had expected based on his insistence to get her death solved that he and Lily had been intimate at the time of her death. "We were one of those relationships that was always off and on again, it just so happened that we were in an off stage when she died."

"Okay," Veronica nods, flipping to a new sheet and writing SUSPECTS in large block letters at the top. "Now, who was Lily close to?"

"Me. Her brother Duncan, his girlfriend Meg, Madison Sinclair, Dick, basically everyone who went to Neptune high."

Veronica pauses, wondering if the next question is truly worth asking. He wants you to figure this out, she told herself, you have to ask.

"Was she seeing anyone while you were dating or on your off periods?" Veronica asks. Logan sighs, along sigh that just sounds like he's exhausted.

"Yes to both, I think."

"What were their names?" she asks softly, wanting to touch him but not knowing if it's appropriate or not.

"I don't know. She was constantly bragging when we were off that she was seeing different lovers every day, but I don't know who they were."

"And when you were together?"

"I think his name is Eli Navarro," Logan spits out the name like it's poison, "I mean he has her name tattooed on his arm, so I can only assume that's why."

"Well he'd be a good place to start," Veronica nods, and then puts her notebook away. Logan looks at her in surprise.

"Don't you have more questions?" he asks, "Like where I was at the time of the murder, and all that?"

"I don't think it was you," she says honestly, "You'd have to be an idiot to talk to me if you were the one who killed her. Besides, I think we've done enough crime talk for tonight. I'll see if I can interview some of the people on my list tomorrow. Do you have an address for Duncan?"

"Yes, but will you let me come with you?" he asks, and she frowns. She doesn't even let Piz come with her most of the time. "It's my payment for your services," he says, and she laughs.

"Fine. But don't call it my 'services' it makes me sound like a hooker."

He laughs, that same surprised laugh. "When they referred me to you, I didn't really think you'd be like this."

"Like what?" she asks, wondering if she should be offended.

"I don't know…shouldn't you have a magnifying glass or something?"

"You watch way to many movies," Veronica says, shaking her head. "Nobody uses such outdated methods anymore."

"I also thought you'd be taller."

"Hey! I'm perfectly average."

"Average for a twelve year old maybe."

She laughs again, and it relaxes her body. She hasn't realized that she's been so tense until now, as she lies back against the sand, looking up at the pale blue sky.

"It's not my fault that you're like gargantuan for your age," she teases, and he leans back next to her, until they're both looking at the sky, their arms inches from brushing.

He doesn't respond with another jibe, and they just lie there in a comfortable silence. Veronica's head swarms with thoughts, wondering just what his secret is. She can tell it's more than just a murdered girlfriend, because even when they're completely alone and it's not like she's going to attack him, he's on edge. Every single one of his muscles is pulled taught like a bowstring, and she wonders what's made him like this. You didn't get this way normally, she thought to herself, she should know better than anyone. She's been this way for ages, on edge, tense. She may feel slightly more relaxed on the beach, but it's nothing close to what she used to be.

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Logan drops her back off at around five, and Mac is waiting for her when Veronica walks in.

"Did you really just go on a date with Logan?" her roommate asks, her eyes bright. Veronica shakes her head.

"Like I told Dick, it's professional. I'm helping him out with something."

"Is it about Lily?" Mac asks, and Veronica almost nods. She catches herself though, and turns away, back towards her bed. She shrugs off her jacket and releases her hair from her ponytail, running her hands through the knots. If Logan hadn't told his friends yet, she wouldn't be the one to say anything.

"I thought so," Mac says when she doesn't answer, "Listen Veronica, I didn't really know Logan before Lily died, we became friends a year or so ago. But I just want you to be careful."

"First Piz, now my roommate," Veronica says with frustration, "It's not like Logan has rabies or something."

"No Logan's completely safe himself," Mac says, trying to reason with her. "But the problem is, he gets a bit obsessed about Lily's death. I think he blames himself for whatever reason, but Abel Koontz was tried and convicted."

"I'm just looking for the truth," Veronica says, "I've always thought there was something fishy about the Lily Kane murder, and that's all it is. Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm going to take a shower."

Once the hot water was hitting her shoulders and working out the knots in her hair and the tension in her back, Veronica allowed herself to think.

Why was Mac of all people worried about her working for Logan? Mac was friends with the boy, and yet she seemed to be treating him like he was crazy for thinking about his girlfriend's death. She wonders how long Logan has expressed his concerns regarding her death, and wondering how many people have talked him down.

She was not going to do that. She had heard the same thing a million times before when she had been investigating her Mother's disappearance—"There's nothing to look for Veronica. Your Mother is just staying with her sister." But then Veronica had finally tracked down her Mother to a bar, where she was drinking her troubles away and telling Veronica that marrying her Father had been a mistake. That she should've married the person she really loved.

It may have hurt, hearing that from her mother and making it ruin her parent's marriage, but it had proven that she was right and the other people were wrong. Veronica had been sixteen at the time, and ever since then she has been known as the 'alcoholic's' daughter in her school, of the daughter of the woman who couldn't stay.

So yes, she chose to believe Logan. If he had the same kind of gut feeling she had about her Mother, then there was a great chance that he was correct. Besides, people in the kind of tense pain Logan was at the beach, the one she had seen when they lay side by side without saying anything, was not the face of a liar.

She made a vow to herself then, in the shower, with the soap and showerhead as witness, that she was going to figure out Logan's case if it was the last thing she did.

Because if he was fucked up like she was, he was bound to be right about this.