Drunk Logan
Chap 42

A/N: I don't own betting, dating or the acronym SUV. No replies today. I've got company coming and I have a massive cleaning schedule. So, sorry, but you all know I love you!!!!

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Veronica was in a daze as she stared at the doorway that Lynn had just walked through. She tried to digest the woman's words.

'Wow, bossy Lynn. Who would've thought. This is gonna take some getting used to.' The corner of her mouth turned up slightly at the thought that shooting one's husband is apparently quite empowering.

When she turned to face Logan, she jumped a little. He was staring straight at her, his mouth in a tight line and his eyes full of fire. She watched as his jaw muscles tensed and relaxed. Before she could study him any further or ask him what was going on, he turned on his heel abruptly and headed toward her room.

Veronica had to move quickly to keep up as Logan moved down the hall and away from her with long, purposeful strides. When they entered her room, he stood ramrod still in the middle, crossing his arms over his chest.

When he wouldn't look at her, she couldn't let it go anymore. "What's going on Logan? Why are you so ticked?"

The fact that he was chewing on the inside of his cheek was the only sign that he had heard her at all. As she opened her mouth to restate her question, he finally broke his stance. He walked around her to her dresser, grabbing the stack of paperwork she'd brought home the night before. Then, he grabbed her phone from the night stand before returning to her.

When Logan was standing in front of her again, he held out the items to her and she remembered the whole reason they were in her room. She needed to "undo all of the crazy plans" that she'd made the day before. At least, that's how Lynn had put it. Veronica wasn't sure she'd necessarily word it that way, but that was neither here nor there.

Considering Logan wasn't being real talkative, she sat on her bed and started making the phone calls. She watched Logan out of the corner of her eye the entire time. During the first phone call, turning down the job at the Sac-n-Pac, he continued to stand in one place. The next call to Java The Hut produced a pacing Logan. Finally, on the last call, cancelling the apartment that she and Cliff had found, he began to relax. By the time she was off the phone, he had made his way over to the bed and was sitting a few inches from her.

After she hung up the phone, she heard Logan exhale a heavy breath. He was looking at his lap when she turned to speak to him. He looked like the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders.
"Logan?" She said softly. She placed her hand on his leg. "Logan, what's going on?"

When his eyes finally met hers, she wished that she'd never pushed the subject. A myriad of emotions tangled behind his beautiful brown orbs. The anger she'd seen before had lessened, but what remained made her wish for some of that anger back. The concern, the worry, the hurt. It broke her heart.

"Veronica...why would you do all of that? What were you thinking?" His voice was strong, but quiet. "Don't you want to be here? Don't you know that I need you here?"

"Oh, Logan," Veronica shook her head slowly and took a deep breath. "These last few weeks, being here, have been some of the best times in my entire life. I mean, it's hilarious if you think about it. While staying here or just before, I've been stalked, beaten up, found out my ex-boyfriend was my brother, then not, kidnapped, hit on by your father, and then almost killed in your pool house. Unless I have some sick fascination with pain and danger, I think it's safe to say that you're the reason I've been so happy." She wrapped one arm around his waist and caressed his face with her other hand.

"I've spent the last year of my life having to do things out of necessity. Dad and I didn't want to sell our great house and move into a small, crappy, two-bedroom apartment with almost no hot water. I didn't want to know how to change a tire in under five minutes or have to get a DNA test to prove my paternity. I didn't want to walk the halls at school, wondering which one of those people had raped me. I didn't want to cut my hair and change my clothes and completely cut myself off from everyone." Veronica glanced away for a moment and let out a frustrated breath. "Those are all things that I've done in order to survive and move forward."

"I absolutely did not want to leave here. I was raised, though, to respect people and to not take advantage of other's kindness. Assuming that I could just continue to live off of you and your mom goes against everything that I stand for. Can you understand that?" She was pleading with her eyes for him to believe her. She needed him to know that she wasn't saying this to tell him what he wanted to hear, but that it was what she truly believed.

Logan searched her eyes for a moment, then sighed. "I get that, I really do Ronnie. You're the most responsible, kind and unassuming person I've ever met. But, why didn't you talk to me about it? Why did you keep me in the dark? If you were going to move out, at least I could have been there with you."

"You needed to be with your mom. You needed to have time to start figuring out your family without Aaron." Before he could interrupt her, she continued. "And, if I had talked to you about it, I know that you would have felt bad for me and tried to stop me. I don't want pity, Logan. I don't need it."

"I know and I don't pity you...I love you. So does mom. That's why we got so upset when we saw all of the stuff you'd arranged yesterday, without even talking to us." He shook his head. "Doesn't even matter anymore. Mom told you that you are family and we are all going to be here for each other for a change. It'll be great." He exaggerated his eyes at her.
"You can teach us how loving families actually operate. And won't it just be a hoot when your dad can come home and show us what a loving dad is actually like!" Logan was getting silly and had finally relaxed into his normal playful, snarky self. "Of course, ya know, Mars. There are no martyrs in loving families." He smirked cockily at her.

"Oh, shut up!" She started laughing and nudged his shoulder playfully. "If we weren't both beaten up, I'd totally tackle you right now...then we'd see who the martyr was."

Logan caught her wrist quickly and then pulled her to him. It happened in the blink of an eye, but he was still gentle with her. Their bodies were pressed together and the heat was rising rapidly.

"Oh, I look forward to that Miss Mars. In fact, I think it's worth the pain. Any time you want to tackle me, you are more than welcome." The look on his face could only be described as lecherous.

Veronica burst into laughter. She was so happy that Logan was getting back to normal. She wrapped both arms around him and leaned forward to give him a chaste kiss.

"You know I love you, right?" she cooed into Logan's ear.

"Not as much as I love you," he hummed back.

"Oh, are you challenging my love for you? Not smart. You know that I do everything better than you, right?" At his scoff and eye roll, she smirked. "That includes loving you."

"No way."

"Fine," she replied with complete resolution. "I'll bet you that I can love you better."

"What?" Logan seemed genuinely confused as he leaned back so he could look at her face. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm betting you that I can love you more and better than you love me. It's that simple."

"Oh, really? And just what are the terms of this thing you call a bet?" Logan was truly intrigued now by what was going on in his girlfriend's head. He knew her extremely well, not only from their recent life-altering experiences, but from everything they'd been through since they were twelve. Having said that...he could live to be one hundred and still be surprised by what was rattling around in her head.

"Hmmm...let's see." Veronica put her finger to her chin and looked upward like she was really considering the question. Then, a slow, sly smile spread across her face.

Logan would have described it as evil, like the cat that ate the canary, or the Cheshire cat, but really it was just plain scary. He waited, never one to back down from a challenge, but also unsure that he wanted to hear what was coming. Scenes began flashing through his mind. Flashes of a bong being pulled out of his locker, of a video clip of Madison and Kimmie revealing their plot, of guys twice her size caving under the knowledge of what she could do to them. His girl sure knew how to plot and scheme and he had just opened himself up to her ingenious plotting.

"Seeing as how it would need to be something of utmost importance to you...so that you take the challenge seriously, and seeing as how it would bring me immense pleasure..." She was really dragging it out and Logan couldn't take it anymore.

"Veronica," he said in a stern voice. "Tell me already."

She continued speaking as if he hadn't interrupted. "I would think it would make perfect sense that if you lose, you have to get a new paint job on your car...in my choice of color." Her eyebrow quirked up quickly, playfully as one side of her mouth lifted.

"What! Are you crazy? That's my baby!" His eyes were wide and his jaw hung open.

"Really?" Veronica replied in her most pouty voice with her bottom lip sticking out. "And here I thought I was your baby." She sighed overdramatically.

"Besides, Logan," the gleam was back in her eyes. "I thought you were so sure of yourself. Why does it matter what your part of the deal includes if you're not going to lose, hmm?"

Veronica couldn't help the giddiness she felt. It was stupid, really. Some ridiculously childish bet about who loved who more. A situation that proved that neither of them had matured to the point of being able to pass up the challenge of a bet...a dare.

The giddiness came not at the hands of the specific dare itself, but more at the lightheartedness of the moment they found themselves in. They were being silly and ridiculous and childish and the world wasn't coming to an end. There were no stalkers, rapists or murderers. There was no imminent danger, none of the tensions that had surrounded them for the last year. They were being stupid and she couldn't be happier.

"I AM going to win. Which, by the way, means I'll be getting what in return?" He narrowed his eyes at her, waiting again to see what her mind would come up with next.

"Hey, that's not how it works. I'm not here to do your brainwork, too." She was goading him and he loved it. They were poking fun and chiding each other, but it carried none of the weight that it would have just a few weeks earlier.

"Ah, I see. And here, I thought you had it all worked out. Okay, let me think about this." After a brief pause, he restated her guidelines, "Something important to you and something of immense pleasure to me, right?"

It wasn't until she caught his leer that she knew where his line of thinking was headed. Her body temperature rose quickly as she tried to hide the blush she was sure was there. She'd come a long way from the innocent girl she'd been since Lilly died, but Logan still had the ability to make her blush with his innuendos.

"I've got it. If I win...I want to see you dressed in nothing, but..."
'Okay, Logan,' Veronica thought. 'You're killing me now. Just rip off the band-aid already. I guess turn about is fair play'

Veronica winced as she saw Logan preparing to finish that sentence.

"That outfit you wore to Gameland. You have to wear it while with me, on a date of my choice."

'That smug son-of- a-gun. He wouldn't make me do that, would he? What am I thinking? Of course he would! Fine, it's not like he's going to win anyway. Don't let him see you sweat, girl.' She chuckled to herself when she realized that she was channeling Wallace now, with all that 'girl' talk.

"Fine, Logan. If you win, I will wear that outfit on a date of your choosing." Logan watched as she tried to hide a smirk. She may be full of surprises, but she had to know that he knew her better than that.

"With me." He said firmly.

"What?" came Veronica's innocent reply.

"A date of my choosing WITH ME." He pinned her with that look that said 'I know what you're trying to pull and it won't work, sweetheart.'

She huffed and pouted for a minute before looking back into his eyes. "Fine!"

"Say it."

"LOGAN!"

"SAY...IT!"

"FINE! I will wear my Gameland outfit on a date of YOUR choosing WITH you. You happy?" She stared at him with faux irritation.

"Immensely. Of course, not as happy as I'll be when I've got my very own catholic-school hottie on my arm, but yeah, I'm pretty happy." Veronica tried to wipe the smirk off of his face with just the power of her glare. It wasn't working. She finally broke out in laughter with him immediately joining her, only to stop suddenly when he grabbed at his ribs.

"Ow-oowww-ow! Stop Veronica. Don't make me laugh. It's just not right to kick a man when he's down."

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As they were leaving to go to the hospital, Logan made sure to use an exaggerated arm gesture when he held open the front door for her and then another after he jogged ahead of her to open the car door for her. Both times he had to hold his ribs because of the pain shooting through him.

"Logan, stop. You don't need to cause yourself so much pain that you pass out."

"Ah, you just know I'm going to win. Because, let's face it, I am going to score major points when I pass out from pain in an effort to show my love for you."

Veronica just rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics.

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The drive to the hospital was quiet. That darn reality was trying to creep back in as they got closer and closer to the still and prone form of Keith Mars, surrounded by machines and tubes.

Veronica worked best with avoidance, so she figured she would try to earn back some points in their little contest until she was forced to face her father's condition.

She watched Logan for a moment. His expression was one of concentration and tension. She watched as his jaw clenched and released several times.

'Okay, Veronica, Operation: Help Logan Relax is now under way. First step?' She smiled to herself slyly as she began to trail her fingers lightly up his arm, over his shoulder and then nestling into the hair at the base of his head.

She wondered if he'd notice the click of her seatbelt release, but he didn't react if he did. After slowly freeing herself of her seatbelt, she leaned into him, leaving a light kiss on his shoulder. Still, no reaction. She smiled wryly at the challenge that he was silently issuing.

Veronica moved her entire body as close to him as she could. With her hand still playing with his hair, she used her other hand to trail her fingers over his chest while kissing her way toward his neck. His breathing was coming out in shallow spurts.

By the time his ear was nuzzled between her soft lips and her warm breath was attacking his senses, her hand was reaching under his shirt to caress the skin around his waist band.

Veronica yelped when the SUV swerved to the right. Everything happened in such a frenzy that she didn't even register the fact that he was pulling to the side of the road, hitting the breaks and then slamming the gear shift into park.

It wasn't until his lips were on hers and his tongue was invading her mouth that she realized he had plucked her out of her seat and she was sitting in his lap. The kiss was filled with passion and heat and his arms were so tight around her and holding the back of her head. She wasn't sure the kiss would ever end until she found herself back in her seat once again.

Just as quickly as it had started, it ended. She was back in her seat, with Logan reaching around her to belt her back in. The SUV was in gear and rolling down the road again before the fog in her head had a chance to clear. She would have been completely confused if she hadn't seen the look on his face. He was grinning as he continued to watch the traffic around him.

That was it. That's what made her efforts not only enjoyable, but fruitful. He was smiling again, no evidence of the tension of the day and their circumstances. Without looking at her, he reached over and placed his hand over hers, trapping it and lacing their fingers together.

When they reached the hospital, they walked hand in hand to Keith's room, but were stopped just before they entered.

"Ms. Mars, could I speak to you for a moment?" The kind-looking woman said as she gestured for Veronica to follow her to the nurses station.

"Uh, sure." Before following the woman, she turned to Logan. "Why don't you go ahead and go in. I don't want him to be alone any longer than he has to be."

He squeezed her hand and nodded before walking into Keith's room. Seeing him like that, without Veronica, had a completely different feel to it. The two previous times they had seen Keith, his main concern was being strong for Veronica. She'd cried in his arms and he didn't feel like he could completely break down, too. He'd shed some silent tears, but had not let himself show any more emotion.

As he approached Keith's bed, he was taken by the stillness of the room. The quiet hum of the machines in the room was no match for the suffocating silence that surrounded him.

Logan had gotten so used to Keith's 'bigger-than-life' personality. In his experiences with Keith, he'd seen the focused calm the man used to methodically search through clues in Troy's "Stalker" room and the passion and intensity the man had while searching for his daughter. The strong restraint he had shown when finally getting his hands on the boy, after they'd saved Veronica, had spoken volumes. Then, he had the pleasure of watching Keith and Veronica playfully banter and joke at various times. They were never what you'd call quiet. They may have only been a family of two, but he was pretty sure that they talked, joked, laughed and played around enough for any family. They were loud and jovial and snarky...nothing like the deafening silence that threatened to choke the life out of Logan at that moment.

He thought about the kind of man and father that Keith was. In the lifestyle he'd been raised in, he'd never met a dad like Keith Mars. Of course there was his father, sadistic, hateful and powerful. He was a womanizer who held very little true respect for anyone. Not everyone had been like Aaron, though.

There was Jake, a man that Logan had adored. He remembered so many times that he had wished Jake had been his father. Even Jake though, as kind as he was in comparison to Aaron, was still very career driven. There were many times that he had put his career above his family, but Logan had thought that it would have been paradise. At least he hadn't slept around and beaten his children. Of course, in light of recent events, it appears that Jake wasn't all that faithful to his family. He'd had an affair with Leanne.

It didn't matter, that's the kind of life Logan was used to. All of his friends had parents with high profile lives. Unfortunately, their high profile lives only included their children when family portraits and publicity were on the schedule.

Keith Mars was a man like he'd never met before. Even when they were younger and Keith was busy with his duties as Sheriff, he'd never put his job ahead of his family. Sure there were a few times that he'd miss a family dinner or something, but never any of the important stuff. After all, Aaron probably didn't even know Logan's birthdate.

Logan remembered back to a time when they were at a Hollywood soiree and Aaron had been playing the "doting" father role. He was acting for some hotshot or another. In doing so, he absent-mindedly filled his son's plate with shrimp, clams, crab and lobster. He'd forgotten or never cared enough to learn that his son was deathly allergic to shellfish.

He'd been beaten that night for embarrassing his father when he didn't dig right in and clear the plate his caring father had made for him.

Logan's eyes drifted back to the comatose Keith. No, that man was like none other Logan had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was honest and tough, but fair. He was scary, but protective. Logan had always wished for the protectiveness that always radiated off of Keith, especially when it came to his daughter. Maybe it wasn't a father thing. Maybe it was just Veronica. Logan understood the kind of protectiveness that Veronica elicited out of people. He was a part of the Veronica-Protector Club himself.

The minute Logan's hand grasped Keith's, all strength was zapped out of his body. His legs trembled just before they gave out. He was on his knees in an instant, pain burning them from the abrupt contact with the hard floor. He was clutching onto Keith's hand as if it were some kind of life line, allowing him to continue breathing in and out.

'In and out, in and out,' the mantra running on a constant loop in his head, the only thing keeping him from collapsing into a complete puddle on the floor.

He wasn't sure what had caused this much emotion in him. He knew that he liked and respected Keith Mars, but he felt guilt, too. Guilt at the hell his father had unleashed on the people he cared about. First his mom and Lilly and the Kanes, then Veronica and Keith. Logan took some of the ownership of his father's evil acts, based on the fact that at least Lilly, Veronica and Keith wouldn't have been in a position to get hurt had it not been for their connection to Logan.

There was something else that Logan was feeling, but he couldn't identify it. It was an emotion that Logan had never really experienced before. He just couldn't quite understand it.

Deep in thought, he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he spun around to see Veronica standing behind him with tears filling her eyes. Her face was the vision of love and compassion and strength.

Strength. He almost had to laugh at that. His little pixie of a girlfriend held more strength in her little finger than most people did in their entire bodies. Logan was in awe of her.

It was her father that was laying there in a coma; she was the one that had been through so much in the last few weeks and the previous year. If she lost her father, she would have no family left, only Wallace, himself and his mother to fulfil her needs and take care of her. Yet she was the one supporting him. In his moment of weakness, her strength only shone brighter, taking on his burdens as her own.

They spent a couple of hours with her father. Occasionally they sat in silence, but for the most part they spoke to him and to each other. They told him about Lynn and what she'd done, the little they knew about the police investigation and about Aaron's death. Logan told him that when he got better, they would make a point to have an annual celebration of the day that Aaron "crossed over."

"It'll be like an annual club gathering, with mom, Veronica, you and me...or a birthday celebration. We'll have cake and ice cream and toast to a better and brighter world without Aaron Echolls in it. Sound like fun?" No one expected Keith to answer, but it's what they'd been doing their entire visit. They would hold full on conversations with him, including asking him questions. It didn't matter that he didn't answer, only that it made it feel more real.

Veronica sat back and watched Logan speak to her father, carrying on like it was any other day. She wondered briefly if he'd ever been as comfortable around his own father as he was while carrying on a one-sided conversation with hers.

When she'd entered the hospital room, she'd expected to find Logan standing patiently, waiting for her to come in. What met her, though, was the sight of the boy she loved shaking, huddled and crying over the only other man she loved as much.

She'd walked up quietly behind him, unsure of what she should do. Should she leave the room and let Logan have a moment to compose himself or should she try to comfort him? The love that she felt for him only grew by seeing his reaction to her father's condition. She had finally decided that she couldn't let him experience that pain by himself. She wasn't sure that there was anything she could say so she just laid her hand on him, hoping to transfer some of her strength to him, hoping that she could be enough for him.

After a morning of talking and laughing and crying with a comatose Keith, they said their goodbye's and headed to the Sheriff's Department. They promised to return the following day. Even if they did attend school on Monday, they would make sure to come by on their way home.

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Their time at the Sheriff's Department went pretty smoothly. Although they had to answer some questions, they weren't raked over the coals like Lynn had been. Veronica knew the least, since she was knocked out before Keith even arrived, let alone Lynn. Although Logan was able to fill in a few of the gaps, he still had only seen Keith for a moment before he was out. They had no idea of the events that occurred between Keith, Aaron and ultimately Lynn, except for what they'd been told.

The police, of course, were interested in what had precipitated the entire course of events. The affair between Aaron and Logan's underage girlfriend was of great interest and a motive for Lilly Kane's death. Even that didn't take up much time in the interview process, since the actual tapes would be the real evidence.

They called Lynn on their way home to see if they should pick up some take out. When she told them that everything had been taken care of, they weren't sure what to think. They figured it out when they walked into the house and took in the aroma of a fine meal being prepared in the kitchen. When they rounded the corner, they saw Lynn clad in an apron and working side by side with Mrs. Navarro.

They broke into uncontrollable giggles as they watched Lynn walking around the kitchen making messes while Mrs. Navarro grumbled playfully in Spanish as she followed behind her, cleaning up.

"What?" Lynn gave them a cheerfully innocent look.

"Nothing, mom, nothing at all." He and Veronica regained their composure.

"Times, they are a-changing." Veronica whispered to Logan.

"That they are. That. They. Are." Logan replied wistfully as he thought back to the shell of a woman Lynn had been just a couple of days prior.

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