A/N: This story really isn't as popular as I hoped it would be, but thats okay because I'm enjoing writing it at least! Thanx to those that have reviewed, and I hope maybe a few more of you readers will as it does help :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

"Come on, what's the problem?" asked Logan as he and Veronica stood outside the jewellery store.

"The problem is I don't want you spending money on me" she told him, feeling so extremely awkward right now.

They had been all over the mall, originally to buy clothes for Logan but also window shopping and just messing around, hanging out and having fun. By now it was dark outside and Veronica had mentioned finding a hotel so they could get some sleep, but nothing would stop Logan in the quest he had been on for the past hour. He wanted to buy his new friend and vacation-buddy something to say thank you for letting him tag along on her trip but she was determined that there was no need for it and there was nothing here she wanted.

Logan refused to believe he had found the only woman in the world unable to find something desirable in a mall! He had suggested clothes, jewellery, all manner of jokey things and gadgets that had made her chuckle, but Veronica refused every single one. He tried to tell her it was fine, he had plenty of cash and he didn't mind at all, but still the little blonde insisted on saying 'thanks but no thanks' as she shook her head.

Of course, Veronica knew it would be easy enough to just accept some kind of gift, if only to stop Logan asking, and asking, and asking some more. She could have picked out something cheap and cheerful, maybe even something useful, and then made sure she paid him back later, albeit secretly. She was doing a job here, and even though it felt as if she and Logan could and would become friends on this trip, she wasn't willing to start getting in too deep. Accepting a cheap gift would have been pretty easy, then just make sure the cash got back to the Echolls family via her Dad when this trip was all over, she'd feel okay about that... kind of. It meant being more deceitful than she was already being though, and since Veronica hoped to keep her lies to a minimum for however long this vacation lasted, she just kept on saying no and making excuses.

"Please, Logan" she urged him, even as he pointed out a necklace that would match the earrings she was wearing, a bracelet with stones the same colour as her top, "Can we please just go? I'm tired" she told him, the truth for once and a genuine yawn escaped her lips to confirm it.

Logan didn't like that he'd spent so much money here today and not a dime of it on her. He knew very well that friends couldn't be bought and he didn't want to do that, he just wanted Veronica to know how much he appreciated what she was doing, changing her plans to accommodate him, letting him share her car, her space, her whole vacation. It didn't make a lot of sense to him, especially since she didn't seem to even know who he was, but Logan didn't question it, he was just so glad to be here and free.

"Okay, let's go" he agreed at last and Veronica left out a sigh of relief as they moved out of the shopping mall and headed down the street towards the hotel she had suggested on their way into town.

Veronica dreaded another fight over who was paying for the room, but thankfully Logan seemed uninterested in the bookings. He told Veronica to figure something out and let him know how much he owed her when she was done. He wandered off almost the second they got in the door, mumbling something about the bathroom before leaving her in charge of all his bags of shopping and the job of booking them a pair of rooms. Veronica didn't mind much, though she didn't like losing sight of him. She trusted that Leo and Sachs were close by, keeping an eye on things, though she hadn't bargained on them being quite as nearby as they actually were...

"Hey" a tap on her shoulder and a quiet word spoken right into her ear had Veronica spinning around so fast she almost knocked herself over with the force of it, "Sorry, guess I'm a little stealthier than I thought" Leo smiled as he put his hands to Veronicas shoulders and steadied her.

"What are doing here?" she hissed, checking to be sure Logan wasn't in sight.

"Mostly my job" he shrugged, even as she pushed his hands from her body, "You two check in, we check in. That's kinda how the whole tracking thing works"

"If Logan sees you talking to me..." said Veronica looking worried, but he waved away her concern in a second.

"Relax" Leo told her easily, "Sachs has his eye on the boy wonder. Seems he wasn't just sneaking out for a bathroom break either" he grinned too much, "See, I was gonna explain better than that, but after the way you were so snappy with me, maybe I won't" he said annoyingly as he backed up a couple of steps, still smiling, "Later, Mars" he winked, disappearing from her sight just as fast as he'd appeared.

"Excuse me, ma'am" she was snapped out of a daze just a moment later as the girl behind the hotel's front desk thrust two key cards in her hand at last, "Two single rooms with adjoining en suite bathroom" she smiled overly much and it was all Veronica could do not to smack her upside her head just for being so damn happy when she felt quite the opposite - was everyone just trying to make her mad right now?

"Thank you" she forced out, practically through gritted teeth as she swung her bag up onto her shoulder and turned around in the hopes of spotting Logan and getting up to their rooms already.

Veronica needed to sleep before she did anything else. She had pulled all nighters before, as she had last night, but it always took a couple of days for her body to catch up and for her to feel really comfortable again. Hopefully by tomorrow she would be in a better frame of mind, but right now all the joy from earlier in the day seemed to have easily evaporated and left her feeling drained and somewhat angry.

"Hey, we all booked in?" asked Logan as he suddenly appeared at her side.

Veronica gestured for him to pick up his bags and move, not a word leaving her lips as they headed to the elevator and went inside. The doors closed with a clunk and Veronica hit the number for the correct floor with some force, making Logan almost physically wince.

"Okay, just a hunch" he said, looking to the blonde, "Are you pissed off about something?" he asked her.

"No" she sighed heavily, though Logan looked less than convinced when they reached their floor and Veronica looked no happier and had not said another word to him yet.

"Veronica..." he tried again, even as she opened up the door to her room and he hung around outside the next one.

"I'm sorry, Logan" she apologised with a sigh, putting a hand to her now-aching head, "It's just... it's been kind of a long couple of days"

"And here was me thinking we'd had fun today" he said with a sad smile that only served to make Veronica feel worse.

"I know, and we did" she promised him, "but... I need more sleep than I've had is all" she forced a smile, knowing there was much more to it than that but also that she couldn't say a word about any of it to him.

For what was most definitely not the first time on this trip, Veronica Mars wondered what she had let herself in for with this crazy adventure into the unknown with the rich-boy son of two moviestars. She could have been relaxing on a vacation spent with her Dad, putting her feet up and enjoying a break. Of course if she told the truth, the idea didn't so much appeal as this kind of adventure, except for the seeing her father part perhaps.

At last, Veronica and Logan wished each other goodnight and went their separate ways. On the other side of their respective doors at last, they relaxed, almost simultaneously allowing themselves to flop backwards onto their beds, though of course they had no idea what each other were doing right now.

For Logan this whole thing felt very strange and yet he could not shake the smile that seemed to be permanently at his lips. Laying there on the bed, his hand behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling, still grinning as he thought about Veronica. She wasn't like any other woman he ever met, though she was equally as hot and probably far more intelligent than most of them. He couldn't put his finger on what it was he liked so much about her, probably it had to do with the fact she seemed to know her own mind so well, she didn't take crap from anyone, and very little seemed to bother her at all. She had no idea who he was, and yet they were fast friends, in the space of just two days. She was letting him share her vacation and they were having a blast already. Logan so wanted to show Veronica how grateful he was and yet she had refused every gift he offered.

The smile on his lips only growing wider, Logan reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the plastic ring that resided there. He had spotted the machine right outside of the hotel doors. Meant for kids, of course, it was basically a vending machine full of cheap moulded plastic junk that was far too over-priced, and yet Logan couldn't help himself. He'd selected the most ridiculous pink glitter filled ring with a huge flower on top and bought it especially for Veronica. Now he had it, he knew he would feel dumb just trying to hand it to her, but that was okay, he had another idea.

Getting up off the bed, he moved over to the en suite and put an ear to the door. No sound at all suggested Veronica wasn't in there yet and so he quickly slipped inside, putting the ring on the vanity unit. Of course, she may just think it had been left there by the last user of the room or the cleaning staff or some such so he really should leave a note...

Thinking fast, Logan hurried back into his hotel room and rifled through the drawer in the locker by the bed. As he suspected a hotel pen and a little notepad resided there and he hastily wrote a note, rolling it up much like a cigarette and going back to the bathroom. He was just finished pushing the note through the ring, making it look kind of like a napkin through a holder, when he heard Veronica coming. The door to his room must have barely closed when hers opened and she never suspected he had ever been there as she wandered into the bathroom in her hotel-issue bathrobe, a towel over her arm and a wash bag dangling from her fingers.

Mindful of the fact she was sharing with Logan, she walked directly to the other door and tapped on it, telling him she was in there and would let him know when she was done. He replied that was fine and Veronica hopped straight in the shower.

It was some time later when she emerged in a haze of steam and a cloud of strawberry shampoo, one towel wrapped around her body and a second on her head. She moved towards the sink and peered at herself in the mirror, not thrilled by the dark circles appearing under her eyes or the scars on her body that were revealed at times like this. It was something and nothing in her line of work, just scratches really, borne out of struggles with various perps and all. Still, she could use the world not seeing them and asking questions, and the world very definitely included both Logan and her father.

Glancing down Veronica began to frown when she spotted what seemed to be a piece of rolled up paper by the basin, held closed by what appeared to be a child's plastic ring. She half wondered if it was something left behind by the previous users of the room, but couldn't be sure until she slipped the note from its place and read the hastily scrawled words written there.

Veronica,

I couldn't just not buy you anything today, so here's a gift maybe you will accept.

Thanks for letting me come along on this trip with you.

Logan

Veronica couldn't help but giggle at the ridiculousness of this whole thing. She could have let Logan buy her a real gift, but more than ever she was glad right now that she hadn't done so. Holding the over-sized pink ring into the light and letting the silver speckles of glitter sparkle and flash, it was the most precious thing anybody had ever given to her. Hardly any money spent and yet so much thought had been there, he wanted so badly to make it known how important this trip was with her. In a frantic bid to just show his gratitude, Logan had desperately sought out one gift Veronica would find hard to refuse, a simple little trinket of little or no real value, but that would always mean something to her now.

Sliding the flower ring onto her finger, Veronica found herself grinning like an idiot as she moved back across the bathroom to the adjoining bedroom door. A light tap on the wood and then she eased the door open, peering inside. She found Logan laid out on the bed, apparently asleep. She thought about waking him for all of three seconds before she realised how peaceful he looked, and she just couldn't disturb that.

"Thank you, Logan" she whispered, still smiling as she closed the door again and went back to her own room.

The second the Veronica was gone, Logan opened his eyes, a grin on his face fit to rival her own. He knew he'd done the right thing and he was pleased to know it. It hadn't really occurred to him til today that gifts didn't always have to cost a fortune to mean something, and that you didn't necessarily have to know a person more than a couple of days to realise how special they were.

"You're welcome, Veronica".

To Be Continued...