Summary: Set near the end of A Trip to the Dentist. This is how the scene with the ceiling fan should have went down… LoVe style.
Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars, lucky Mr. Rob Thomas does.
Author's Notes:Hello everyone. I am SO sorry that this took so long. It was pretty much out ofmy control. I had this chapter done over a week ago, but I was temporarily suspended from posting.I had written a story years ago, whichwent by the rules of those days, but violates some of the new ones. I'd taken such a long hiatus from writing that I totally forgot what was even in the story. So I appologizethat you, my loyal readers, were punished for that. : ) Alright now that that's over...Thanks so much to everyone for their super awesome reviews! Thanks especially to ddsw and SeluciaV, you guys are amazing and make me so so excited to keep writing. Here's the confrontation scene you've been waiting so long for... Enjoy!
"What a great day to be alive," Logan exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air after he shut his car door.
Let's hope you're right…
Veronica shut her door as well and picked her purse up out of the car, since the top was down after Logan had insisted they fully enjoy the warm day. She walked slowly around the car watching as Logan spun around in circles in the sand. "You just get more and more juvenile by the day," she mused, stepping onto the beach.
He smirked at her while walking backwards towards the ocean, "What can I say? I'm a kid at heart."
I'll take that over a murderer any day.
Veronica smiled at him, but she had to force it. Logan's smile faded slightly, and he stopped his backward momentum. He looked at her quizzically, seeing that there was something wrong. She had stopped walking and stood looking off into the distance.
Logan walked towards her slowly, cocking his head to the side, and trying to get her to look at him. He put a hand on her arm and squeezed gently, "Hey… What's going on in that head of yours?"
Veronica took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then let it out in a big sigh, "We need to talk."
"Sure… Anything in particular?" he asked, confused.
She turned and began twiddling her thumbs while she walked down the beach, "I'm going to ask you a question."
"Anything," Logan assured her, but she kept walking along in silence. "Come on, Ronnie. The suspense is killing me."
Veronica stopped in her tracks at his choice of metaphors, and turned to face him, "I need you to promise me that you'll tell me the truth, because it's very important that I have all the facts straight."
Logan's face showed even more confusion, and some sadness, "I can't say I know what you're talking about, but I swear I'll tell you the truth. Believe me when I say that."
She nodded, "I do. I want to trust you. That's why I came to you with this." After a look around to make sure that no one was within hearing distance, she continued, "When did you really come back from Tijuana the day that Lilly died?"
I know I know, it's wrong to ask him a question I already know the answer to, but I need to know that he wouldn't lie to me.
Logan's emotions changed from confusion to shock instantly as his mouth fell open slightly. He stared at her for a moment before looking out over the ocean.
Veronica wasn't sure he was going to answer her when out of the silence, he spoke, "It was early in the morning. Sometime around 8 a.m. if I remember right. But my guess is you know better than I." He looked at her then, not angry but somewhat hurt, and saw that she was slightly ashamed, "I'm guessing Beaver told you."
She nodded her head, before asking a question she wasn't sure she wanted an answer to, "Did you see Lilly?"
Logan sighed at her implication, before starting to walk down the shore line once again, "I saw her." Veronica looked to him sharply, but he went on unaffected, "I saw her in the physical sense, just like I saw you that day, at the car wash."
"I never saw you," she said, in a way which wasn't accusing but simply perplexed.
"I parked across the street. I just watched her for a while. Somehow I could tell just by looking at her that it was over… that we really weren't going to get back together," he smiled ironically at a sympathetic Veronica. "So I stayed in my car and wrote her a note, explaining how I'd figured that out. I left it for her in her car."
Suddenly something clicked in Veronica's head, "With the shot glass."
"Yes, with the shot glass. I guess Beaver told you about that, too. He was thorough, wasn't he?" Logan asked sarcastically.
Veronica was deep in thought when his last comment brought her out of it, "Well, were you ever planning on telling me?"
"Is it wrong that I wanted to try and tell you at a time and in a way that wouldn't make you suspect me of murder?" he asked, "I wanted to allow the least amount of doubtful thoughts to enter your mind. Apparently my plan failed miserably." Logan looked at her a beat longer before walking away, leaving her somewhat stunned.
"Logan wait!" Veronica called, jogging after him a moment later. He stopped and turned to face her. "What did you expect me to do, Logan? Just go on with my investigation of Lilly's murder and pretend that I hadn't found out your alibi was blown? You know I couldn't do that." He didn't respond, but the anger in his face softened. "I didn't want to believe what the evidence was pointing to. I couldn't imagine that you…" she looked at the ground, unable to finish her sentence, "But you know me. I had to find out if Beaver was telling the truth. And then I had to find out if it meant anything."
"So what'd you find out?" Logan asked, somewhat meekly, not wanting to look in her eyes and see distrust or contempt there.
"Well I know that Beaver was telling the truth, because we know when your car crossed the border," she told him, silently letting him know that she had told her dad and that they'd been investigating him most of the day. She took a deep breath before saying the next, much harder, part, "And I know that you didn't kill Lilly, but unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't mean much."
Logan face had shown promise, but then he was quickly dejected. He looked up into her eyes, "It means a lot to me."
A small smile started on Veronica's lips before it faded, "I know it does. But for it to mean anything to anyone else, we're going to need proof that what you're saying is true."
Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Well, how do we do that, Ms. Sherlock Holmes?"
"We find your note, for starters. Beyond that, I'm not sure," she shrugged. Logan nodded in understanding. "I need to get home, my dad's expecting me," she told him regretfully.
"Right… so what's the plan?" he asked her, hopefully.
"I'll check the evidence reports and see if they found your note. If they didn't, then I think I know a place she would've put it and the police wouldn't have found it," she said knowingly.
"The air vent," Logan filled in, making the connection.
"Exactly," she said. Veronica walked up to him then and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Let's go. I'll take you back to school."
The two of them drove in relative silence, aside from the sound of air rushing around them. Logan looked off into the distance, and Veronica stared intently ahead.
Veronica pulled into the parking lot of Neptune High and right up next to Logan's Xterra. He opened the door and hopped out just as she put the car in park.
"I'll call you when I know something," she assured him, and he started to turn and get in his car. "And Logan-"
He cut her off without turning around, "I know I know, don't skip town." Logan looked over his shoulder at her.
"Well, yeah that's probably a good idea, but that's not what I was going to say," she corrected.
"Is that so?" he asked, smirking in a combination of suspicion and joy, not sure if he believed her but hoping she was telling the truth.
"It is," she confirmed, "I wanted to say thank you."
Logan looked taken aback, "For what?"
"For a few things. Such as telling me the truth. And for putting up with that little doubtful voice inside me," she told him, and he slowly walked around the car to stand outside her door.
"Of course," he did a little mock bow, "I can do the right thing on occasion."
Veronica smirked at this, "If we could only get you to do the right thing all of the time, or even most of the time."
"What? And be perfect like you?" he shook his head, "My psychiatrist says it's best to set realistic goals for myself."
Veronica contemplated this for a moment, "Your psychiatrist is probably right."
Logan laughed, before becoming serious, remembering the reality of the situation, "I could be in quite a jam over this. I'm counting on you to help me out of this, Ronnie."
You're counting on me for more than you know.
She nodded somberly, "I'll talk to you soon." Logan leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, "Kay." He then walked to his car without another word. As he pulled away, Veronica relaxed back into her seat.
Well that was fun… Now for the hard part.
Veronica left the school parking lot, headed for the office, trying desperately to figure out what she was going to tell her dad, and how she was going to find a way to prove Logan was innocent by midnight.
The metaphorical clock is ticking Veronica… And you've got nothing. You have approximately 9 hours to stop a revenge seeking PCHer and his buddies from killing your boyfriend. How ever will you do it? Good question.
Hope you liked it! If you did please send feedback, I can't get enough of it! Oh, and if you find something amiss, tell me about that too. I can take it. : )