Thank you Marte for reading the whole of this fic and reviewing everytime it makes me smile to read your reviews, so thank you! I'm just glad that you put up with the ramblings of this. To be fair it was never meant to be anything more than a one shot, but hey... imagination runs and all that.
Thank you to everyone else that has been reading and has reviewed and all that!

Anyway, only one more chapter after this one. This one starts off in Logan's POV then jumps to Keiths after the line break.

Disclaimer - I own nothing that resembles anything to do with Veronica Mars... I just like making things up in my head.

Enjoy!!!

Chapter 5

You sit in a bar, your fingers curled around the bottle like its your life line. It's your first one, but you haven't taken a sip yet. You just stare at it. You want it, your bodies screaming for it. But you know, if you do, that's taking a step back. You were making progress just half hour ago, then everything blows up.

You just have to make a scene, you love making a scene. You must've got that from your father, it's the genes. It's like, if you're an Echolls, you know how to make an exit!

"What was she like?"

Your breath catches in your throat, you almost forgot that you came to the bar with someone. A sad smile tugs at the corners of your lips. You know she's asking about Veronica, but do you really want to talk to a stranger about her?

"Which one?"

You bite your lip playfully, mentally preparing yourself for floods of emotions.

"The reason you're with the group?"

Melissa's eyes look hopeful as she takes a swig of her beer. You take in a deep breath, definitely Veronica, Lily you dealt with, your mom you dealt with, your dad you dealt with, Beaver you dealt with... but Veronica, five years down the line, you're barely past denial.

"She was a goddess and now she's gone. What happened to you?"

You uncurl your fingers from around the bottle as you turn to her. She smirks slightly, she knew it was coming.

"Car crash, amnesia, fire. How did you meet her?"

She shrugs it off like its nothing.

"What is this twenty questions? School."

You answer using as little detail as possible, mimicking Melissa. That way it might not have been her you were talking about.

"Now I know what your next question is... and no my hair isn't naturally black. It just seemed more fitting than the blonde."

Your ears prick up at the blonde. Blondes are your weakness. They all look like her if you squint really hard. You reach out for the beer bottle infront of you.

"Blonde suggests bubbly and perky... I am neither."

"Veronica was blonde."

You mumble as you press the bottle to your lips, downing half the contents. There goes the four day marker. Might as well not stop now.

"Veronica the blonde goddess? Figures."

You got the call half hour ago. But you were busy with paper work. By the time you arrive at the bar, you realise maybe you should have left straight away. You spot him straight away and take the bottle out of his hand before passing it to the bar tender.

"Keith, nice of you to join us. Want a drink? Oh Melissa, this is Veronica's dad, top bloke! Sheriff, you know. Melissa's in group therapy with me... Keith, Melissa, Melissa Keith... yada yada."

You close your eyes hoping that all of this is a dream. He was making progress. Running your hand over your brow you open you eyes again. Spotting the timid young girl next to him, nursing her beer, he wonders if she's even old enough to be in here, and you know it's your job, but you can't even comprehend the amount of violations there are in this bar at the present moment, you have a bigger problem to deal with.

"I think you've had enough don't you Logan? Lets get you home."

"Home? Tell me now, is home that place where everything seems so real?"

You can hear the bitterness in his words, as he swigs from a beer bottle he picked up from another patron. You take this one off him too and pass it back to its owner, who looked about ready to kill Logan.

"She's been gone for five years Logan! I've been lenient on you in the past. I've been patient with you over the last five weeks, you were making progress, but then you go and blow it all because you thought sharing sucked. Well, reality check! Life sucks! Her not being here sucks! I've tried being there for you, I've tried waiting it out, but I'm done. I'm through with being sympathetic!"

He's looking at you with wide eyes, seemingly sobering up. But you're not done, not by a long shot.

"Don't you think I'm miss her too? But you don't see me trailing every bar picking up every blonde I can find. I think it's time to try some tough love! You need to get out of this slump your in and live your life... Veronica wouldn't have wanted any of this! She'd want you to live you life, if you're not going to do it for yourself, do it for her!"

You find yourself awfully close to him, there's barely inches between you as you point angrily in his face. He looks away from you, you're done here. Hoping the message sinks in, you turn to leave.

"I'm afraid..."

You hear his voice crack as he quietly speaks. You turn to look at him again, the expression on your face turning as you see his brokenness, your compassion returns a little.

"I'm not going to lie to you Logan, it's going to be hard. You can move on with your life while still remembering her every day, but keeping her alive in everything you do. You don't have to dwell on her, it only taints her memory. I don't want to see you like this anymore... she wouldn't want to see you like this, she wouldn't want this. The only person that's going to get you through this is you."

Your words hit him hard, they also strike a cord in your heart. All these years you've been harbouring your own guilt, but it wasn't your fault. Sure, maybe if you'd known you'd have been able to stop it, but there's no way you were to know. Your just tainting her memory yourself. You need to let go of the guilt, of the pain.

You turn to leave again, but you know, by the look in his eyes, that you finally hit home.