Duncan drove carefully back from Tijuana, only slightly worse for the wear. All booze, no drugs. That makes us good kids, Duncan thought. Duncan wasn't strictly supposed to mix his seizure meds with alcohol but he had long ago stopped caring after the first few times it didn't kill him. He glanced over at Logan, who was sleeping silently with his seat heavily reclined. Duncan sighed. They had been nearly inseparable for over four years and now he felt like he didn't know the guy. And it was all his fault. Logan stirred. "Hey, we stateside again?"

"Yeah, we'll be home in a few." Home. A vague concept if there ever was one. "You want to hit up a Starbucks or something? I feel like I didn't sleep all night."

"You didn't, man. That's the point. But sure." Logan fingered the flask that was in his right pants pocket but he didn't take it out for fear that Duncan would think he had A Problem. Like mother, like son. But he so desperately wanted just a little more-just a little more buzz. The hair of the dog that bit you and all that. Although even with the hangovers, Logan never felt like alcohol bit him. Like Backup, it was always his friend. And he knew it helped Duncan feel better too.

"How's Lilly?" Logan non sequitured. Logan was never really comfortable with silence, even when he was home alone in bed. And even with Duncan back in his life, Logan still wasn't seeing much of his first crush. So, how was Lilly?

"She's good. Can't wait to graduate. She's a little pissed you've been stealing so much of Veronica's time lately."

"Yeah, well, I guess she'll be happy that that's over before it began."

"What happened?"

Logan paused. Whatever his current feelings about Veronica, she had talked to him about her case because she trusted him and he couldn't betray that trust to anyone. "I don't know. Same shit, different day. I'll never be good enough…"

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that. You're good enough for me." With that, Duncan winked sarcastically at Logan who groaned, produced his flask of whiskey and began to drink.

"Remind me to dump the rest of this in my Starbucks," Logan said as Duncan raised his eyebrows. "What, man? I'm not the one who was puking in a public fountain last night."

"Did I?" Logan nodded. "Oh shit, man, I can't even fucking remember that. Did I drink more after that? I may still be drunk."

"Quick: say the alphabet backwards."

"Z, y,…" Duncan paused.

"Ok, dude, if you can't come up with 'x' it is time for you to let go of the heavy machinery. Alright, pull over," Logan ordered before taking another swig. "I've always wanted to drive this baby anyway."

Duncan protectively squeezed his hands tighter around the steering wheel of his black on black Range Rover. "No way, dude. I've seen how you drive."

"I just need some more practice." Duncan pulled over to get coffee, but not to let Logan drive.

"I agree. Somewhere with like training wheels and bumper bowling and no other cars around." A few minutes later, Duncan slowed the car in front of Logan's apartment building, which had the asinine distinction of being named after some lady named Beverly. Keeping it classy. Logan hopped out of the car with nothing more than his wallet, his sunglasses, his trusty flask that he had in fact stolen from his mother and a cup of coffee he'd recently made Irish. God, Logan needed to get inside and brush his teeth. As soon as Duncan peeled off, Logan ran smack into Aaron who was standing outside the building and finishing up a call on his cell phone.

"Good news, son. We're moving." Aaron didn't ask where he'd been all night or mention if he'd noticed Duncan's car. Or even tell Logan he smelled like alcohol, which he most certainly did. Aaron was officially in what passed for a good mood. Logan glanced around at the actual honest-to-goodness movers who were hauling the Echolls' meager assets into their truck. Never before had Logan moved without breaking his own back. He glanced at his father. Logan's eyes were full of suspect.

"Why? What's going on? Who's paying for this?" That last question might have been one too many.

"Who do you fucking think?" Logan stared at his dad blankly, so Aaron gave him a little shove. "Me, you little shit. I came into some money and we're moving on up." To the East side, Logan added silently. He stopped himself before he began humming.

"Great," Logan replied, with forced jocularity-so forced that it could easily be mistaken for sarcasm. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, just had to get the hell out of this shithole. Right now we're going to be staying at the Neptune Grand until further notice and our shit is going into storage so kiss it all goodbye." Logan made a mental note to try to save his CDs and books.

"So... we're sharing a hotel room?"

"It's a suite, Logan. You got a problem with that?" Logan immediately shook his head. "When I was your age, I would have killed for my old man to do something like this for me. 'Course, I already lived on my own and the son of a bitch was already dead-"

"But, Dad, it's kind of expensive there, isn't it?" Aaron looked at his son through dark as coal eyes.

"If I say we can afford it, we can. Don't worry, I won't come calling for your pitiful hundred bucks a week." Aaron laughed like this was hilarious and Logan just stood there. He actually made about two hundred bucks a week but, at this point, it was just arguing semantics. What the fuck was happening to his life? And even when Aaron was being "nice" and generous, he was still so objectionable that Logan had half a mind to help Veronica out in whatever way he could. Whether she was using him or not, at least she was fun to be around… Mostly.

"Tell your friends to come by when we've settled in. I haven't seen 'em in a while... Whatever happened to that Lilly Kane? You guys still friends?"

Logan knew his dad was pretending to be friendly-asking questions that a father would ask-because he was excited about the move, but nothing could disguise the lechery in Aaron's voice when he brought up Lilly. Logan shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, which was his dad's number one pet peeve about him-how Logan would just shrug and stare at his shoes instead of answering a damn question.

"What's that, Logan? I didn't hear you."

"We're not really friends anymore, Dad. She's a senior and she's graduating and going to college, so..."

"Well, still, have her over anyway. Isn't it about time you two reconnected?"