Drunk Logan
Chapter 35
A/N: Just a little reminder...I don't own any part of VM, but there are certain parts of Logan, I'd like to. Does that count?
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Monday morning brought with it a host of emotions for Logan and Veronica. They were both trying to be strong and put on a brave face for one another. Inside, though, they were plagued with uncertainty.
Veronica knew that the press would be bad. It hadn't let up all weekend and she was hoping that they wouldn't have to fight with it at school, too. She was nervous about school. She was used to people talking about her, but this thing with Troy was different. It was like when she thought she was raped. Although she knew it wasn't her fault, it was still a private matter and she didn't want people speculating about the details.
Veronica was also afraid for Logan. She knew that he'd stand by her, but she didn't know what would happen to him when he did. The 09er's may not make him an outcast like they had her, but she knew the rumors would be bad. She didn't want him to have to feel the hurt of having your "friends" talking behind your back.
She also knew how protective Logan was of her. There was a very real possibility that he would find himself in the middle of a fist fight or two. And, although she knew he could take care of himself, there was still a chance he could get hurt.
Logan was anxious for school, too. He couldn't care less what anyone said about him. He'd spent his entire life having rumors and lies about himself splashed all over the tabloids. He was more concerned about Veronica. She'd had so much to deal with, and he just wanted a break for her. She hadn't deserved all of the stuff he and the other 09er's had put her through over the last year and she certainly didn't deserve it now. He got angry just thinking about it all.
Both of them were happy about one thing. They would be facing the day with the one person they'd found so much comfort and strength in for the past few weeks.
Breakfast and the ride to school were pretty quiet. What conversation there was, had to do with mundane topics no where related to school. When they pulled into the parking lot, they were happy to see that the press had been kept at the gates to the school and did not have access to the students on school grounds. Logan shut off the engine and reached over and grabbed Veronica's hand. They just sat there, heads resting back on their seats, looking at each other.
"You know that I'm glad you're here, right?" Veronica said quietly and gave his hand a quick squeeze.
"You know," he raised their joined hands and kissed her fingers before continuing, "that I love you, right? I'm glad I'm here with you."
"Thank you, Logan." She gave him a chaste kiss. "I love you, too."
"Well, it's time, my dear." Logan tried to lighten the moment.
"Ready to face the firing squad?" Her mouth quirked into a small smile and she winked at him as she tried to cover her anxiety.
"With you? Of course!" He kissed her quickly and then got out of the SUV. He reached Veronica's door just as she was getting out and grabbed her hand, closing the door behind her. People were staring at them as they walked to the school, but no one said anything...at least not to them. The whispering had already started.
When they reached the building, Logan opened the door with a flourish and swept his arm out, motioning for her to enter. As soon as they walked in together, the noise in the hall reduced to a low murmur. Logan looked down into Veronica's eyes and saw the discomfort she was feeling. He reached out his hand and she looked at it, then slowly laced their fingers together. They continued walking toward her locker.
They'd only gotten a few steps when they saw Dick and Beaver approaching them, with a few other 09er's lagging closely behind them. Veronica immediately picked up on the daggers being shot at her from the 09er girls. Her attention was brought back to the guys as soon as Dick started speaking.
"Dude, what the hell are you doing? Please tell me that this is like some new reality show called 'My Skank'." Dick had leaned toward Logan's ear as if he were going to get a real answer from Logan by keeping the gag going.
"Goodbye, Dick." Logan said calmly, but with a deadly serious tone.
"What?" Dick backed up a little. He couldn't figure out what twisted reality they were in.
"Get out of my way," Logan started pointedly. "If you have a problem with Veronica, then leave."
"Actually, if you have a problem with Veronica, you're pretty much dead to me so just like evaporate or something, I don't know."
He turned to the rest of the crowd, "That's kind of a general invitation. If you don't like my girlfriend, then just stay away from me."
Dick and everyone else looked shocked, but they stayed quiet. Veronica and Logan noticed Duncan by his locker. He was gathering his books, trying to ignore the showdown in the middle of the hallway. Logan was happy that they had talked to Duncan the night before. Otherwise, the situation would have been ten times more awkward for them all.
Everyone eventually went back to socializing, albeit quietly, casting glances at Logan and Veronica every once in a while.
"Whew! See now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Logan smirked at Veronica.
"Oh, yeah. Can we do it again?" Veronica clapped with faux excitement.
"Not right now, Sugarlips. We do have to go to class, you know?"
"Sugarlips?"
"Yeah...No?" He looked questioningly at her.
"Yeah, NO. Keep trying, buddy."
"Well, let's get you to class so that I can get my learning on. You know how upset I get when I'm tardy." He was trying to keep a serious face.
"Logan, you invented tardy!" They were laughing as they walked toward her class as carefree as possible while trying to avoid the continuing gossip around them.
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What they didn't notice was the pair of eyes that hadn't left them the entire time they were in the hall. The eyes that were filled with hatred.
Lilly had been the Queen of Neptune High. Everyone knew it and watched every move that Lilly made, including who she trusted as friends. Her brother, Duncan. Her boyfriend, Logan. Her best friend and only true confidant, Veronica Mars.
Veronica, who at the time, was dating the crowned Prince of Neptune High, Duncan Kane. The same Veronica who didn't have the same money that the other 09ers had. She shouldn't have had the same social status as them. In fact, she should have been ousted from their group before she'd even become a part of it.
Instead, she had actually sat higher than the rest of them. It was Lilly and Duncan who had made her the second most sought after girl at Neptune High. The guys wanted her, although they never hit on her because she was with Duncan. The girls wanted to be her. They wanted to be looked up to, to be Lilly's best friend, go to the best parties and meet the famous people that hung around the Echolls' and the Kane's.
Veronica had gotten what she'd deserved after Lilly died. She'd been ousted and treated like the trash she was. Lilly was no longer there to ensure her status and Duncan had turned a blind eye toward her. Logan was the best, though. He went from protecting her and her status to being the first and loudest to attack and ridicule her.
Now, though, the tide had turned again. The once ruthless Logan Echolls had somehow fallen back under Veronica's spell.
'What is it about her? Why are the most popular kids here drawn to her?' She pondered.
'Doesn't matter. I'm going to put an end to this before it can get out of control,' She thought as she watched Logan and Veronica kiss each other before Veronica disappeared into her class.
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Logan and Veronica were sitting at the lunch table that Wallace and Veronica normally shared. Wallace walked up and sat down, looking at the two strangely.
"What?" Veronica could see the wheels turning in his mind.
"This is going to be weird," he said vaguely.
"What is?" Veronica and Logan spoke simultaneously. All three of them laughed.
"Well, I was going to say that having anyone else at our table was going to take some getting used to...but this whole mind meld thing you two have going tops that." They all laughed again.
"Yeah, usually we are in no man's land," Veronica said. They all knew that it wasn't the complete truth. In fact, lately, they had gotten quite used to Troy joining them for lunch. None of them would mention that, though. No one felt the need to bring up his name.
Not a minute after the words were spoken, Dick, Beaver and Luke came walking up to the table. Wallace and Veronica stared openly at the three, while Logan barely noticed their presence.
"Logan...and Logan's special lady friend, who I have absolutely no problems with," then turning toward Wallace, Dick continued, "...and Logan's special lady friend's special friend, whom I know nothing about."
"Are these seats taken?" Dick pointed to the empty seats at their table. Logan then took notice. He had ignored them, not sure that they had definitely decided to fall in line, but apparently they were willing to accept Logan's terms of friendship.
Logan looked at Veronica. It wasn't necessarily for permission, but he definitely wanted to make sure that she would be comfortable with them sitting at her table. When he received the imperceptible nod from her, he lifted his hand toward the table and shrugged.
The boys sat down and started talking as if the last year had not happened. Veronica and Wallace were just looking at each other amazed at the scene playing out in front of them.
"Okay, Logan sitting here is no longer seeming odd to me." Wallace said quietly to Veronica and she nodded slowly back at him.
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The afternoon went oddly well. Veronica hadn't been harassed too much by anyone, although everyone was still gossiping about her 'ordeal', as Vice Principal Clemmons had labeled it.
Journalism was a little awkward because they shared the class with Duncan, but Duncan stood by his word. He didn't cause any trouble for them, but mainly just stayed to himself.
Logan and Veronica's teachers were very understanding and tried to help them with makeup assignments. They would both have a ton of homework to catch up on...again, but they had gotten caught up before. They would just have to buckle down and they'd be able to get through it, especially with the leeway the teachers were giving them.
As they walked hand in hand to the Xterra, Logan noticed that Veronica had gotten very quiet. She was acting a lot like she had on the way to school.
"Hey, what's going on in that head of yours?" He asked softly as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Not much. I'm just not looking forward to my little trip to the Sheriff's Department to give my statement to the FBI." Logan had forgotten about that. In fact, he had been happy in his last class, thinking of taking Veronica home and getting to hang out alone with her for awhile before Keith came home.
"Oh yeah." Logan said glumly, but then snapped out of it quickly. He couldn't afford to be down. Veronica needed him to be strong and supportive right now. She needed to know that he would be with her and that she didn't have to go through this alone.
"Hey, I'll be with you every step of the way, if you want. I want to help you however I can, okay?" He pulled her to a stop and looked down at her. She smiled tightly at him and he knew that she was putting on her best front for him. She didn't want him to worry about her, he'd done enough of that for a lifetime, it seemed.
He kissed her softly, then pulled back slightly and looked into her watery eyes. He descended on her again, kissing her slowly at first. He caressed her cheek with his hand and ran his other hand through the back of her hair, tugging gently on the ends of her locks.
Before she knew what was happening, he had her pressed up against the Xterra and his tongue had dipped into her mouth to dance with her own. She was transfixed by him and his kisses. It amazed her that she still hadn't gotten used to them. His kisses weren't all that new to her anymore. She should've known what to expect from him and been able to keep her thoughts straight.
She wondered if she would ever fully get used to his kisses. When he kissed her, he held nothing back. She could feel every emotion that rolled around within him. His love, devotion, passion, lust, desperation and desire poured into her in waves. He kissed her as if yearning for anything she could give him and he took and took and took.
She thought for a moment that it should have scared her that he wanted so much from her. Instead, she only found herself wanting to give more and more to him.
When the kiss finally broke, Logan rested his forehead on hers and she sighed and smiled contentedly. She loved that he had the ability to wash away her troubles, if only temporarily. Logan opened her door for her and then shut it behind her. As he walked around the SUV to his door, he noticed that they had drawn a bit of a crowd. People had been watching them share a very tender moment. He just shook his head and smirked as he got into his seat.
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When they got to the Sheriff's Department, they were met by Keith, who had been waiting for them. He told Logan that he'd have to stay in the waiting area while Veronica gave her statement.
Logan was not happy about being kept away from Veronica, but he understood. He knew Keith would have let him go into the room with her, if he could. It was policy, but it still didn't make it easy. Keith had assured him that he would be with her and it made Logan feel better. He knew that Keith was more than capable of protecting and supporting Veronica, but he still wished he could be the one taking care of her.
He sat in the waiting area for an hour and a half. Well, actually, he sat, he stood, he paced. He would occasionally make a trip down the short hallway to the vending machine to study its contents. He wasn't hungry and even if he were, he wouldn't have been able to keep anything down. His stomach was in knots and he was just trying anything to keep himself busy, anything that would help him from bursting into that room to check on Veronica.
There were a few magazines in the waiting area, but just looking at the covers proved to be a mistake. Troy, nor his family were famous, but they did have money. Veronica was an unknown for the most part, but she did have ties to Lilly Kane and the Sheriff who 'botched' the Lilly Kane investigation. Then, there was Logan, who was a target for the paparazzi at any given time because of his parents. You put Troy, Veronica and Logan together, throwing ex-Sheriff Mars into the mix, and you've got yourself a tabloid field day.
Logan knew the story would calm down, stories always did. Unfortunately, it had only been a couple of days since their return to Neptune and would be another couple before the story was replaced with something more newsworthy.
When they were approaching the two-hour mark, Logan had just about given up on self-control. He stood up, determined to head down the hallway toward Veronica, but was stopped by the sight of her.
Veronica was being led toward him. Keith had his arm around her and she had a blank look on her face. Logan could tell that she had been crying from the red, puffy eyes she was sporting and the lack of eye contact she was sharing with him. He looked at Keith, who gave him a tight smile and nodded his head.
"Hey," Logan said quietly, as if he would break her by being too loud.
"Hey," she said as she glanced at him quickly and then away again.
"Okay, I'll see you at home later, Honey." Keith let go of her as Logan wrapped his arm around her.
Keith patted Logan on the back and as he passed him he spoke just loud enough for Logan to hear, "She'll be fine. She just needs some time."
Logan nodded and then walked Veronica out the door, guiding her into the Xterra.
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The night was a quiet one. Veronica tried to act like everything was fine, but she was emotionally and physically exhausted from reliving every detail of her time with and leading up to Troy. She knew it wasn't her fault that he was some psycho, obsessive, kidnapper-type. Unfortunately, after spending two hours of detailed questioning by the FBI about the things she said and did with him leading up to the kidnapping and during the kidnapping, she wondered what she could have done differently.
She'd spent a lot of time studying people while working for her dad. How is it that she could have missed the signs with Troy? Not that she would have known he would go to the lengths that he had, but she should have seen that something was amiss with him. She hadn't, though, and it was driving her crazy.
She had asked Logan to stay with her that night when she went to sleep. She knew that he was afraid that her father would come home and find them, but she wanted him to stay until she fell asleep.
Logan did stay with her, and Keith did find him there. Keith smiled a little at the sight in front of him. Logan was fully clothed and on top of the covers, but he had Veronica wrapped tightly in his arms. He knew that Veronica had needed Logan today.
As Keith watched her sleep peacefully in the arms of her boyfriend, he recalled all that she had gone through in the two hours with the FBI. They tried to be gentle with her, understanding that she was only a teenage girl, who had experienced a psychologically traumatic event. He watched as she tried so hard to be strong while answering their questions.
Veronica knew how it worked. She knew that they weren't asking about her feelings, those weren't things that wouldn't help them in gathering and organizing evidence for the prosecutor. The prosecutor is the one who would put on a show in court for the jury. He or she would be the one to really play up all of the emotions that this poor, unsuspecting, innocent teenage girl had experienced at the hands of a madman in a boy's body.
Veronica did what needed to be done. She answered the FBI's questions as completely as she could without going into any of the emotional details about it. At least, that is the way she spoke until she got to the part in the story where she had realized that no one had followed them from the border and no one was coming to help her. That was the point that she knew she had to surrender to Troy until she could find a way to escape.
Although, she only told the FBI enough detail about her thoughts to explain why she married him and why she would later prepare to sleep with him, she had broken down. She continued to cry softly throughout the rest of her statement. The words she used, the way she spoke about the ordeal showed a great deal of detachment and maturity, but the emotion her tears showed betrayed her.
After Veronica had left with Logan, Keith rejoined the group of agents. They were all talking about how amazing she'd been. She had been the perfect 'victim' in their eyes. Normally, in law enforcement, when someone goes through what Veronica had, they are much less composed. Veronica, on the other hand, was able to recall detail after minute detail about Troy and her ordeal. Except for the tears that she reluctantly let flow, she showed little emotion. They had expected to be there for much longer, trying to pull out the information they needed from her, while navigating the emotional minefield that they were traversing.
The agents all complimented Keith on the daughter he had raised. They were quite impressed with her composure, which oddly made them more emotional for her and more determined to see justice served for her.
Keith was torn as to whether he should wake Logan or leave him there. In the end, he decided that Veronica's need for Logan's friendship and security at that moment overrode his own apprehension about letting his daughter share a bed with her boyfriend.
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The next morning, Veronica woke feeling tired, but good. She turned to see Logan still behind her, clinging to her. He looked so serious, like he knew, even in his sleep, that he was performing a duty. That duty...comforting and protecting Veronica.
Veronica gave him a quick kiss on his forehead before she got up to shower before school.
The day started a little easier than the day before. They had already come out to everyone at school and weren't as apprehensive on the ride to the school. Logan walked Veronica to her first class, like he had the day before and met her between classes. Things were starting to feel normal and Logan was liking the feeling. He had even witnessed a few of the true snarky-Veronica moments that he'd missed. She was slowly getting back to her old self, minus the loathing-Logan part. He was happy to see that she hadn't been broken by this latest event.
The only odd thing that had happened during the day was when Madison had come up to him in the hall and pulled him into a deserted side hallway. She spoke quietly to him about how happy she was that he and Veronica had gotten together and she'd warned him that there were people who weren't so happy for them. She vowed that she would help to keep an eye out for them.
If that wasn't weird enough, he almost felt like she was hitting on him. Despite the seriousness of her words, he could have sworn that she was flirting with him and had even leaned into him at one point and then asked him to help her remove a piece of fuzz from her hair.
It was all very odd, but Logan figured that she was just being typical Madison. She was trying to position herself to be in good with whomever was popular at the moment, yet still showing a loyalty to Logan himself, over all else.
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Logan had invited Wallace over after school. He'd loved the alone time he'd spent with Veronica, but he also knew that besides Saturday, Wallace and Veronica hadn't gotten much of a chance to hang out together over the last few weeks.
He didn't want her to give up her best friend. Wallace was important to Veronica and had befriended her when no one else would go near her. That impressed Logan and he figured that the more time Veronica spent with Wallace, the faster she would feel 'normal' again, at least her version of normal.
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Logan came face to face with just how 'normal' life was becoming at Neptune High again, while watching The Navigator daily news broadcast during the Wednesday morning announcements. The broadcast was suddenly interrupted when a video of Logan talking quietly and standing too close to Madison Sinclair in a deserted hallway came on the screen.
He was confused at first until he watched her lean into him and him make a movement that looked like he was caressing her hair. He closed his eyes and shook his head while he laid it into his hands.
Logan couldn't figure out why someone would have recorded them together and then broadcast it to the whole school.
'The whole school.' Logan thought to himself. 'Oh, no... Veronica.'
Logan shot out of his seat and walked quickly out of the classroom. He had to find Veronica and convince her somehow that he hadn't been cheating on her. Even he had to admit that the scene that played on the tv did not look innocent.
After checking her first period class and not finding her, he walked aimlessly around the school. He came up empty handed everywhere he checked and ended up going back to class. When he didn't see her at lunch, he knew that she was probably just upset with him, but he needed to make sure she was okay. There had been too many awful things that happened when she went missing.
He decided to call Mr. Mars to make sure that everything was okay. He wanted to confirm that Troy was still in jail.
"What's going on, Logan?" Keith could hear the worry in his voice.
"Nothing. I'm sure it's nothing. I think that Veronica's avoiding me, but I just want to make sure."
"Well, I just left Troy with his attorney, so we can count him out. Why would she be avoiding you?" Keith was just trying to figure out what the problem was.
"We just had a misunderstanding. When I find her, we'll work it out. I just needed to make sure that she is safe. You think you could call her? She'll answer your calls. Just let me know that she's okay." Logan didn't know who else he could ask. He wasn't used to talking to his girlfriends' fathers about his problems with their daughters, but he had no one else to turn to. There was no one else who would understand the panic he had gotten himself into just because Veronica was avoiding him.
"Sure, Logan. I'll call you back." Keith knew exactly what Logan was going through. No matter what problem he and Veronica were having, he didn't deserve to go through the scare he was feeling at that moment.
He did call Logan back a couple of minutes later and let him know that she was okay. She was at school and had just told her dad that she was busy and had to go. Logan felt better knowing that she was physically okay. However, he was devastated that his fear that she was avoiding him had been confirmed.
They had made it to the end of the school day and he walked out to the SUV not knowing what to expect. When he saw her standing by her door, he sighed a breath of relief. At least he would have the chance to talk to her and try to convince her that he'd been set up. It sounded ridiculous in his own mind, he had no idea what he was going to say to her to make her understand the truth.
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Adja: Thank you. You know, if feel very strongly about V's sexuality. She truly is a girl who has not had that much experience (that she remembers). She's not a porn star and she's always been careful about sex. She didn't have sex w/Duncan the first time they dated. She didn't have sex with Logan the first time they dated and the only reason she jumped into sex w/Duncan the 2nd time they dated was because she had a brush with death that affected her. Although I'm a smut fan, I still want to keep her in character.
AJzkitten69: ok, wow! You are totally going to have to set those 'work' people straight. They really are cutting in on our time together.
alecygoodness22: You are so kind. Yes, all of your wonderings should be answered in this chapter...to a point. :-)
copperboom321: Well, Again...thank you so much. Hey, the fact that you still have the desire to compliment is great! I really appreciate it.
Elektra Bauer: Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback!!
Emjay91: Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it and hope you like what's coming.
lagurlroks: I think that you'll appreciate Aaron's brief appearance. Oh, and let's not have Keith interrupt THAT. That would just be horrible:-) They can only be interrupted by various forces so many times.
Literati and naley forever: Yea! Glad that you'll be able to read. Honestly, there isn't much more about Troy. The stuff at school, I looked at Logan and V just downplaying everything. People can spread the rumors they want to spread, but L/V don't want to add or deny any truths. Hope it won't disappoint too badly.
Lorelei Candice Black: thank you, thank you very much!
LoVeElle: What? Are you psychic or something? Please, before you do anything rash...let me explain. And, I'll do that in the next 12 chapters. You'll have to keep the computer around if you want to see things resolved. Oh, and thank you for the compliments. It's very difficult for me to write stuff like that. That was the furthest I'd gone. The only writing I've done is this fic, so obviously the only sexual scenes are the ones you've read and anything that may come in the rest of the fic. The sweetness factor? My friend asked me if I could turn it down and turn down the "I love you's" in the next fic I write. Heeheehee.
RBDFAN: A serving of angst you say?
RedBrick: Agree...agree...agree...and agree! I'm so glad we're on the same page (wink)
SaraLyleth: Wow, I'm glad that you are feeling better. Hopefully, you're all done with being sick. That's never fun. Yes, she was doing it with noble intentions, but them together...a much more formidable force. Hey, looks like you're still around. Still getting your reviews. Hopefully you'll get to catch this chapter, too.
ShmexyShmexyHinny: ROTFL!!! Really, you are just hilarious.
sofy2409: Hey, have a great trip!!! Thanks for the great review. You should have a pretty good read by the time you get back! Thanks! Stay safe!
Vmfan387: I couldn't agree with you more. I'm glad you liked it.
XoSethCohenxO: Ok, Aaron will reappear, but only for a short time. Ok, V having an affair with him...you are a sick puppy:-) She's no Lilly (yeah, I have my issues with Lilly). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the little bit of Aaron that will be in the fic.
xosummerxo: hmmm, hopefully it gets easier for people to find the story! I'm so glad you liked it, though.
XXspuffster101XX: Oh, the kids hollering were just being kids. You know like, "Woohoo! Yow! Go for it, Man!" You know, stupid stuff like that. Just enough to break up the moment. And, how did you like the school reaction?