A/N : I guess the ice-skates should've told you whatthe keys were for. At least one person guessed correctly. May I present Veronica Mars On Ice ;-)
Chapter 14 - Ice Ice Baby
"Y'know it's not like I object, but is there a reason why you can't stop smiling at me?" Logan asked, glancing quickly at Veronica and back at the road as he drove, "Are my amazing good looks just hypnotising you?" he suggested with a grin.
Veronica's eye-roll that he caught sight of as he took another glance at her told her his suggestion was a little off.
"I was just thinking" Veronica admitted as she continued to stare at her friend, "You're actually kind of an amazing person" the smirk on Logan's face had her quickly adding, "I swear, you make one smart-ass comment, Logan Echolls, and I'll take it all back"
"I barely reacted!" he told her, protesting his innocence, his eyes flitting between the road and her face once again, of course the fact he was laughing as he said it proved he'd had in mind those exact comments that Veronica did not want to hear.
It wasn't his fault, at least Logan didn't think so. He was used to being sarcastic and/or obnoxious, it covered a lot of other stuff he didn't want to show. Whilst he figured Veronica was maybe one of the few people that understood that, he didn't want to mess this up by saying the wrong thing. He was actually quite grateful she'd stopped him. God knows, he was glad she'd even been willing to speak to him this morning. Last night had not exactly gone how he planned, but he'd loved every minute, well, almost every minute, at least every one he spent alone with Veronica.
"So, how exactly did you get the keys to the ice-rink?" the blonde asked him suddenly, and Logan brought himself back to reality, thinking himself lucky he hadn't crashed the car in those few moments when his mind had been elsewhere.
"Money talks, Veronica, you know that" he shrugged, "For all the bad points about Daddy Dearest, his cash sure does prove useful"
"Uh-huh" she nodded, shifting in the seat beside him, and then Logan knew he'd messed up again, albeit unintentionally.
Aaron Echolls was the last person either of them wanted to talk or even think about, and yet he'd brought him up, right there in the middle of what ought to have been a perfectly nice day.
"If it makes you feel better" he sighed, "My Mom actually helped me set this up" he admitted, "Y'know without him there to get in the way, we actually talk and stuff, like when I was a kid" he smiled to himself as he pulled into the empty parking lot outside the closed ice-rink and shut off the engine of the X-Terra.
"That can only be good" Veronica said with a smile, "For the both of you"
"Yeah" Logan agreed, the two sharing a moment that neither was sure about.
Both their minds flashed back this time to the night before. They'd kissed twice, knowing it would change their relationship forever. They couldn't hide behind simple friendship anymore. The genie was out of the bottle and squashing it back in would prove impossible. Still, it seemed neither of them were actually willing to say or do anything about... anything, and so an awkward silence stretched out between them until eventually it got the better of Veronica and she spoke.
"So, this is it, huh?" she smiled, eyes shifting to look out through the windshield at the building that held both an ice-rink and a bowling alley, the combined place bearing the rather obvious name of The Ice Bowl.
The pair got out of the car, Logan bringing two boxes from the back, his own skates and those he'd bought as a gift for Veronica. They met at the front of the car, Logan with the two boxes under his arm. He locked up the car and offered his free hand to Veronica, who took it without a thought. They did this a lot lately, held hands as they walked. It had become just another thing they did, though neither was sure exactly how. It was as much a friend thing as anything else, unchanged despite the other things that had altered
"So, seriously for a second" Veronica said as they reached the door, and Logan had to let go of her hand to unlock it, "You pretty much brought me here just to see how many times I can fall on my butt, right?"
He smirked at that, but neither denied or confirmed it as they went into the building. The deserted rink looked even bigger than it might had it been full of people, but not at all daunting, in spite of the fact Veronica knew there was every chance of her falling quite spectacularly just as soon as she stepped out onto the smooth surface. She was happy to be here, on a new adventure, albeit it somewhat less dramatic and exciting than any of her father's stories that came from many years of law enforcement.
For perhaps the first time in a while, Veronica felt normal, and like the teenage girl she ought to be, as she and Logan sat together, changing their footwear from shoes to skates. Everything had been so intense lately, all arguments and sadness and huge emotional turmoil.
When she was with Logan she forgot about a lot of the badness. He had this weird ability to make her smile, and she'd like to think she had some part in making him happier too. They'd both been through quite the tornado of extreme emotions lately, as those they loved left them and hurt them. Leaning on each other seemed like the thing to do, but it was so much more than friendship for comforts sake now.
"You ready for this?" Logan asked as he got to his feet and held out a hand to her.
Veronica smiled and nodded as she placed her hand in his and stood up beside him. She was ready to see if she could skate with any kind of grace or elegance, that was fine, but she wasn't quite so sure if she was ready for what all this really meant.
If Duncan had done something like this for her when they'd been dating, Veronica would have thought it all highly romantic, but she and Logan weren't together that way... were they?
Their relationship, for want of a better word, had been undefined from Day One. They were really only friends back then via the brother and sister that they dated, and now, it was obvious to anyone that they were much closer than the average pair of acquaintances they'd once been, but no-one had talked of love, not even of that kind of liking. There had been kisses of course, two blissful moments last night the mere memory of which created butterflies in Veronica's stomach and a strange tingle that ran down her spine.
Nothing had been said about it, no words spoken by either of them either then or since about those two fabulous kisses. For two people, so defined by what they said, so noted for having opinions and snarky comments on just about any given subject, it was extremely odd for them to remain so silent about something that could potentially be such a big deal, and yet not a word was said about it. No talking, just skating, and laughing, and trying not to fall down!
Now was the time, Keith decided finally, as he stepped up onto the chair in his bedroom, and pulled down a box from the top shelf of his closet. Various items resided in the box marked 'Playboys' though not a one amongst them was actually an adult magazine. It was anything he needed Veronica to not see, and this DNA kit was one of them.
Though he had brought her up as his own little girl, Keith Mars had always known that Veronica might not actually be his own flesh and blood. Lianne had been having an affair with Jake Kane, on-and-off the whole time they were together, and she had confessed to trying to rid herself of her child through the demon drink because she was convinced at that time the baby she carried must be the next of the Kane dynasty.
It was by no means definite either way. Veronica could easily be the daughter of either Jake or Keith, but it was decided by all concerned it was best for the little girl to be raised as a Mars, by Lianne and her husband.
Veronica had never been told of her possible rich heritage. Many a fight had occurred between her supposed parents when she began dating Duncan, after all they might be half-siblings, nobody knew for sure. Still the secret was kept, and eventually when the young Kane broke off the relationship it was to the relief of both Keith and Lianne, but their fighting wasn't done. Her affair with Jake was only one thing to disagree on, other things cropped up too; his work, her increased drinking habit, one thing after the other until Lianne had gone off on her vacation, only to decide enough was enough and she was not coming back again.
Keith sighed as he unpacked the DNA kit onto the kitchen table and looked at it. All this time he'd coped with it, lived with knowing Veronica might not be his daughter, and yet treating her as if she were, wishing it were true. Now he had to be sure, for her sake as well as his own. He'd lied to her long enough, too many people had wanted her to have the truth, but to give her the whole truth meant getting this test done first.
A hair from his head, another from Veronica's hairbrush that laid in it's usual place on the desk in her room. Soon they'd both know the truth about where she really came from and who she really was. Keith was dreading finding out she wasn't his child, after all they pretty much only had each other left to lean on, but honesty was always the best policy, it was something he'd taken pride in teaching Veronica, and he would stand by those words. What kind of Sheriff, what kind of father, would he be, if he didn't?
Veronica smiled proudly as she continued on around the ice-rink, skating like she'd been doing it for years, or at least a few weeks. She could start and stop without a great deal of trouble, and Logan loved to see how happy it made her. She'd slipped a couple of times, fallen right over more than once, but mostly he'd been there to catch her. She trusted him to be there, and as much as he was sure she liked knowing he was there for her, Logan liked knowing she wanted him there. His mother aside, nobody really craved his company, especially not lately. Wanted was not something he often felt, and the last person who genuinely seemed to want him around had actually been sleeping with the local gang leader and his own father whilst simultaneously seeing him.
"Hey, check this out!" Veronica called from across the rink as she managed a slightly awkward turn all by herself without falling down, grinning like a proud child when she completed her task.
"Should I applaud?" he teased her, holding his hands as if in anticipation on her instruction to do as he suggested.
Veronica just rolled her eyes and continued on having fun. Neither of them had been having much of that lately, but this activity, this time spent together, it was certainly not a bad thing at all.
"Y'know maybe you should slow down a little" Logan told Veronica as she came hurtling across the ice at him.
He opened his mouth to issue another warning but she suddenly made a sharp turn as if to stop herself only the momentum kept her going and he knew before even she realised it that she was going to fall flat on her face. Rushing to her side, he almost made it, but the grab he made for her arm only helped to send him sprawling too.
The pair landed on the ice with a thump, Veronica's fall somewhat cushioned by the fact she fell mostly on top of Logan. As she shifted in an attempt to assess her current state, injured or not, and then tried to stand, Veronica failed in her endeavour and only managed to land once again on top of her friend, face to face and breathing unevenly.
"I'm sorry" she said too seriously, the amusement that should've come from the ridiculous accident having been completely obliterated by the intense moment of closeness that had now occurred.
"I'm not" he told her, one hand sliding up behind her head and pulling her to him til their lips met.
Far from shying away, Veronica returned Logan's kiss, barely thinking about what she was doing just knowing this was what she wanted, what she'd secretly been wishing for all day. When they had to part for air, she was smiling, knowing by now that this could not just be accidental, or alcohol induced, or a weird kind of fluke, That was something real happening between herself and Logan, something special.
"That keeps on happening" she stated the obvious, for lack of knowing what else to say.
"Yeah" Logan agreed, "You, er, think that means something, Miss Mars?" he asked her, "I mean, you're the Sheriff's daughter after all. Care to put together the clues and try out a theory?"
"I wouldn't know where to start" she admitted as she looked down into his eyes, "Maybe I'm crazy, maybe we both are, but... whatever the hell this thing is, that we have, I like it"
"Me too" Logan smiled back at her, before his expression shifted to something much less good, almost pained in fact.
"What's wrong?" she asked, almost afraid to know the answer, and he couldn't help but smirk at her obvious panic that he was about to tell her all this meant nothing, or whatever.
"I... cannot feel my back anymore" he told her eventually, and she actually laughed with relief when she realised the only problem was their current awkward position on the ice.
"God, you had me really worried then" Veronica complained as the pair helped each other to their feet.
"You were worried, Veronica? About me?" Logan feigned a pleasantly surprised expression though in all honesty it was kind of nice to hear anyway.
"What do you think?" she said perfectly seriously, taking her turn at initiating another kiss between them.
Whatever the hell this was between them, is was going pretty well so far. Sure, it was early days yet, the first day of them actually admitting there was something between them, but it was a start. The start of something beautiful perhaps.
To Be Continued...