Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. They all meant so much to me, but I am sad to say that this is the last chapter. I was rereading some earlier chapters and I realized I wasn't exactly happy with how I had written it. Not only that, but I have lost motivation for this story. I might someday rewrite it, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. So thank you all again for everything!

Epilogue

The only time Veronica Mars could remember crying in public was when she was fourteen. She had cried since then, of course, but usually by herself or with one or two people around. Sometimes they had been happy tears and sometimes they had been upset tears.

Today was both kinds of tears.

Veronica sat in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, fighting back the tears wanting to spill out. Her husband and her sons were all talking at once, trying to be heard over the other three, and all four were oblivious to the turmoil she was dealing with.

"Hey, Mom," Tony said, grabbing hold of the back of her seat to peer around.

She tilted her head to the side to look him in the eye. A thought in the back of her mind relayed how much Tony looked like Lamb, whereas the other two were a good mix of their parents. "What, honey?"

"I think I am gonna take my guitar with me," he told her. "That way I can still practice and not have to worry about buying a new one."

She nodded, her heart breaking a little more at the thought of her son taking yet another piece of him away from her. "That's fine, honey. Whatever you want."

He beamed at her. "Cool." He sat back, jumping into whatever debate Liam and Levi were getting into.

Don shot her a glance. "You okay, Mars? You look like you're about to start crying."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "I am not." But as soon as the car was parked, all three boys jumping out from the backseat, she felt a few tears slip down her cheeks.

Let it be known that her sons could count the number of times they'd seen her cry on one hand, so when they saw those tears on their mother's face, they stammered out lame excuses before pretty much running toward the restaurant.

Veronica actually started crying, shoulders shaking and all.

"Wait, hold on." Don turned the car off, turning to her. "Mars, why are you crying?"

"Our boys, jackass," she cried, slapping his arm, his look bewildered. "They're all leaving us in the next two days!"

It was nearing the end of August, and her boys were all leaving for different colleges. Levi was going to some school in northern California, Tony to one in New York, and Liam to one in Florida. So of course, with all three boys leaving at once, Veronica was going to be a hot mess, especially since she wasn't going to be able to help Liam get settled (they both couldn't go with both boys, so tomorrow, after getting Levi settled, Don was going with Liam to Florida and Veronica was going with Tony to New York).

"I know," Don said softly, running his hand up and down her arm comfortingly. "Believe me, I know. We haven't had any peace and quiet for eighteen years. Now we're going to have all this spare time."

Over the years, Liam had turned into a damn good football player, earning him a full ride to college. Tony was more musically inclined, going to a school in New York for it, while Levi had been more into literature. All three had been different, but they had kept their parents busy throughout their lives in anything from sports to band practices to just driving them from place to place (between the three of them, one of them was always in trouble). And now they were leaving all at once, tearing her heart three separate ways. She felt bad for Tony having to deal with her the next few days.

"Don, why are you so calm? Shouldn't you be worried that they'll get arrested or something and we won't be able to get to them?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Veronica, I am worried, believe me, but this is the best thing we can do for them. They've grown up and they need their own lives. We have to let them go at some point."

"When did you become all philosophical and crap?"

"When you turned into a basket case."

She slapped his arm again, ignoring his laugh.

"Come on." He leaned over, kissing the corner of her mouth. "They're probably worried you're going crazy."

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the boys standing in a huddle, throwing looks toward the car, Liam pointing at one point. She shook her head. "Yeah, alright. I can keep myself together for a couple hours."

"But tomorrow's fair game?"

She nodded, looking back at her boys. "But the next few days are fair game."

If Don would've let her, Veronica would have gone into each of the bedrooms and just stared at the emptiness. Well, part emptiness. They had left some things behind, but only little things they hadn't needed or could replace at their college. And for the first time in eighteen years, the house was quiet. From upstairs, she was able to hear the television in the living room.

She hated it. She wanted the noise back, Tony's guitar, the arguments, anything. She would take anything at that point, and for a moment, when she heard a phone ring, she let herself think it was one of her sons' phones. But then she heard Don answer, heard him yell to her that it was Wallace.

She didn't want to talk to anyone, not even her husband, so she just lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She knew she would get used to it, eventually, but going from one hundred to zero in two days was difficult.

"Veronica?"

She lifted her head, dropping it again when she saw Don standing there with an eyebrow raised. "Leave me alone to wallow in my self-pity."

He chuckled. "That's not gonna happen. I can't let you waste away in here."

"Yes you can." She felt the bed dip. Tilting her head, she saw him lying beside her, hands clasped on his stomach.

"You know, this ceiling is boring," he commented. "We could be doing more interesting things." She reached out to hit his chest. He laughed. "I didn't mean that. I meant you could be out tracking down the scum of Neptune, take your frustration out on them, then just lay in bed."

She thought about that. She could lay there and let herself be pathetic, or she could go find someone to use a Taser on. Weighing each option, she chose the second one. Sitting up, she sighed like it physically pained her, despite knowing he wasn't buying it. "Alright, fine. I'll go do the sheriff's job for him."

"That's all I ask."

She leaned over, kissing him lovingly on the lips. "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled at her. "Anytime, Mars. I've got your back."

She hopped off the bed, already feeling better about the thought of someone else feeling the same (or almost the same) hurt she was feeling. And though she would miss her boys every day, Don had been right. They were young adults. They needed their own lives right now.

Besides, she could worry over them when they came home for Thanksgiving. She paused in her closest. What if they didn't come home for Thanksgiving? What if they found someone and never came home again?

Dropping her bag, she called, "DON!"