A/N: Thanks so much to all my fantabulous reviewers - you rock! Sorry for the delay in updating, but I'm here now!

Now, just when things are going so well for our favourite couples...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 14

Veronica woke slowly, her eyes fluttering open as they adjusted to the amount of light in the room. She wondered what time it was, reaching an arm out of the bed towards her watch that was on the nightstand. It blinked at her that it was the wrong side of lunchtime, which meant she had been asleep much longer than she intended. Of course, she had reasons why and couldn't help but smile as she recalled the main one.

It had been a while for Veronica, a good long time since she'd woken up with a man she really cared about after a night of making love. The feel of his arms around her body, holding her back snugly against his chest was not restrictive or scary to Veronica, in fact it was the most comfortable she had been in years. This was probably why she had found it so easy to sleep on, that together with how tired she was from too much driving and the activities they'd indulged in before sleep claimed them.

Settling her head back on the pillow, she reasoned there was no point waking Logan yet. Eventually they were going to have to have awkward conversations and she could use delaying that a while longer. As she moved to pull her arm back under the covers, she stopped short of bringing her hand in, smiling as she spotted the pink sparkling plastic ring on her finger. The only one it fit comfortably on was the third finger of her left hand, where an engagement ring might've resided. It was too ridiculous for words to think about marriage and Logan in the same sentence, since Veronica was already wondering if she was a fool even sleeping with the guy, but she couldn't help it.

Veronica's smile grew wider as she felt Logan move behind her, his lips at her shoulder, and then whispering in her ear.

"Morning" he said softly, only letting up his grip on her enough for her to turn over and look at him.

"Hi" she said, almost bashfully as she met his eyes, "So... that kind of happened" she smiled, feeling ridiculously girlish right now.

"Yeah" he agreed, reaching up to push her hair out of her eyes and gazing into those same sapphire orbs, "Any 'morning after' regrets?" he asked, all but holding his breath until she answered him.

"Logan" she whispered, "I couldn't ever regret what we did" she promised him, "I mean, it seems crazy, we've only known each other a little while but you can't help who you fall in love with and..." she stopped suddenly as if only now realising what words had escaped her lips.

There wasn't a second to take them back (not that she would have tried) or even wonder on what his reaction might be, as suddenly Logan's lips were covering Veronica's own, clearing her mind of everything else in a heartbeat. He knew better than to think they'd live happily ever after, of course he did, Logan wasn't as naive as people sometimes thought he was. When the Summer was over, when they were forced to head home and face the real world, this could all be over. That thought scared Logan more than anything else, after everything that had happened, and so he chose not to think about it too much. He had started this trip buy diving head first from one situation to another and so far it had worked out pretty well. Not perfectly perhaps, but where he was now was in no way a place to complain about, as he and Veronica set about reigniting their passion from the night before.

"You know I love you too" he told Veronica, in between kisses, rolling them both over in the bed a little too far to the point where they nearly fell out.

The moment was broken some as Veronica narrowly avoided hitting her head on the bedside locker, and reacted by busting up laughing. She set Logan off too, though perhaps not as much; at least he still had the ability to speak, whilst she now had her hand over her mouth feeling dumb. To Logan, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

"So" he smiled down at her, "I don't have to meet Dick for the concert for…hmm, at least five hours" he said, checking the watch Veronica had left on the night stand, "Now, how are we going to fill the time until then?" he asked, with a look that answered his own question.

Veronica's laughter died on her lips as she shuddered in the best way, thanks to the intense gaze he had her pinned to the bed with, and the direction in which his fingers were travelling across her skin.

"What about your friend Jackie?" she asked, not quite willing to let that go in spite of the fact she had already admitted to loving this guy.

Logan smirked at her gall, knowing as well as she did that trying to make Veronica jealous with some would-be rich bitch he picked up at the gas station was pretty lame. Still, it had worked out in the end, so he was still kind of proud of that, even if now was not the time to mention it, perhaps.

"Jackie who?" he asked with a shrug as he leant down to capture her lips in a hungry kiss.

Veronica could do nothing but respond favourably, and revel in this day that might yet be her and Logan's first and last together like this.

"Hey, babe! Looking good!" Dick was calling out favourable remarks to any girl that so much as looked at him, and a few more besides that turned away in disgust at the sight of the staggering blond with the beer in his hand.

"Hey, Dick!" Logan called as he approached his friend with a smile he couldn't help.

"Echolls, my man!" the surfer declared as he gave the guy a manly hug, "We are so gonna rock!" he yelled, waving his arm high, hand forming the universal symbol for rock.

Logan let out a long laugh at the behaviour of his buddy. They weren't exactly close, only met a couple of times, but they were like brothers in arms at this moment. They had both run out on their restrictive rich boy lives and were out here in the real world, finding out what life was really about. The only thing that was bothering Logan was the way Dick was now staring at him as if he had two heads,

"What's up, Dick?" he checked with a quizzical smile, "I thought we were heading inside... y'know, to rock" he reminded him, copying his hand gesture from before.

"You totally had sex!" he declared, way too loudly for a public place as girls milled past giggling into their hands.

"Hey, could you yell that a little louder. I don't think the band actually heard you" said Logan, trying to be mad at Dick for his outburst but at the same time grinning like an idiot because he knew he was right, "and it's not as simple as that, man, I mean... y'know I really like this girl"

"Well, c'mon, man, tell Uncle Dick all about the fine woman that has you falling in lurve!" he urged him.

Across the way, Veronica was oblivious to the fact she was being talked of in such terms. She was leant against the side of her car, wondering what she was going to do next. She could probably find a way into the concert, even without a ticket, but she really wasn't all that bothered about getting closer to the band she'd never even heard of. She had been playing around with her cell, but it still refused to work at all, the blow it took when hitting the bedroom wall last night seemed to have been the final nail in its electronic coffin. It was then she looked up and her eyes flitted to a bank of payphones.

"C'mon, Veronica" she said to herself, knowing there was really only one choice she could make here.

As much as she loved Logan, and she knew now that she really did, they couldn't be on the run forever. Eventually, they both had to go home, Logan most especially since he'd never survive like this too much longer. Besides, Veronica knew both her father and the Echolls would be going crazy now after so long without contact. She hadn't seen Sachs and D'Amata since she and Logan gave them the slip back at the hotel, so it was likely they'd never caught up - she would've seen them by now if they had.

Pushing off the car, she started moving through the crowds of people, towards the payphones. She almost made it when she lost her footing and stumbled into another woman coming the other way, the contents of the brunette's bag rolling all over the concrete.

"I'm so sorry" said Veronica, immediately crouching down to help pick up the fallen items, not the traditional lipstick and perfume she would expect to find in another woman's purse, but instead recording devices, hard drives, a taser, pens and notebooks, "Mac?" she realised as she glanced from the contents of the fallen bag into her friends smiling face.

"Hey, Veronica" she grinned back, a little stunned to see her too but none the less pleased, "What are you doing here?" she wondered, as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"I gave Logan a ride to the concert" the blonde explained, "It's not really my idea of fun"

"Oh, really? 'Cause these guys kind of rock actually" she explained, showing off the T-shirt she wore with the bands emblem across it, clearly proving she was a fan, "So, Logan really is a friend or...?" she asked curiously, knowing it was none of her business but intrigued as ever by the blonde's schemes.

Nothing was ever quite what it seemed with her friend Veronica, either back in High School or now it seemed. The fact they'd run into each other twice in the past few days after years of little to no contact might've seemed strange with anybody else, but Mac stopped being surprised by Veronica Mars long ago.

"A little more than friends" she explained, close to blushing which was odd in itself for her, "Mac, I think I screwed up, in fact, I know I screwed up" she sighed, putting a hand to her head, "Logan is the son of Aaron and Lynn Echolls" she told her as quietly as she could, mindful of being overheard but having to speak up a little else never be understood over the crwods and the noise from the concert that would be starting imminently.

"The moviestars?" Mac's eyes went wide as saucers at the information she was being given, "Geez, even I've heard of them" she admitted, proving just how well know they must be since Mac was hardly a reader of gossip magazines and the like.

She had assumed from the start that Veronica & Logan's Romeo & Juliet tale at the hotel was bogus, but she'd just assumed the guy was either a mark or a client in trouble. It never would have occurred to her that Veronica was on the run with the son of two world-renowned moviestars. This was big even for her, especially since it seemed they were, as she'd put it, more than friends.

"My Dad is their security guy" she explained some more, "I was on my way for a visit when Logan bolted and the next thing you know he's in my car and..."

"And you guys are on the run together" said Mac, finishing off the explanation succinctly as Veronica looked close to breaking down - this whole thing had been so stressful, in spite of the fun she'd had in between.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Mac" she said sadly, "I was just trying to help some guy get a little freedom, I didn't mean to fall for him" she explained.

"So, Logan doesn't even realise you know who he really is? Nevermind that your Dad is his parents security?" gasped her friend, exactly at the wrong moment, it seemed.

"He does now" said the man himself from behind the two women, and Veronica felt sick as she turned to look up at his face that showed anger, sadness, and betrayal all in one.

"Logan..." she began, but it was already clear he wasn't going to listen.

"You knew who I was from the start?" he yelled too loudly, "You set me up?"

"No" she protested, "I mean, I did know, but it's not how it looks, I swear..." she said, reaching for his arm but he ripped it out of her grasp, backing up a step.

"You lied to me, Veronica!" he exploded, "What else is there to say?" he asked, though apparently didn't want an answer as he turned and walked hastily away, tears threatening in his eyes that only made him more mad.

Immediately Veronica made to go after him, hampered a little by a blond guy that she might've correctly guessed was Logan's buddy Dick, had she not been so preoccupied right now. As it was, he was quite happy for the little blonde to rush past him, but quickly intercepted Mac when she made to follow.

"Hey, hot stuff" he greeted her with a grin and a look that was clearly supposed to make her weak at the knees.

"Seriously?" she said as she looked up at him, "Does now look like a good time for a lame come on?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she went around him the other way to catch up to Veronica and Logan.

"Logan, please!" Veronica called as she chased after him, realising her mistake too late as other people turned to see what all the fuss was about.

"Oh my God, it's Logan Echolls!" yelled a girl to her friend, and before anyone had a chance to react, cameras were going off at an alarming rate, too many people rushing for a glimpse of the celebrity.

Mac and Dick were too late to be of any use and Veronica was soon being pushed aside by the clammering boys and girls all wanting to get close to the famous Logan Echolls. He was panicking and she knew it, but she couldn't help him, as questions were fired at him and people started getting pushy and angry when others got in their way. The situation escalated to near-riot proportions within a minute, but just as fast the cavalry arrived.

Veronica turned around as she heared a familiar voice shout for order.

"Dad!" she called, running to him, barely noticing that Leo and Sachs were there too and already pushing through the crowd of screaming fans with relative ease.

"It's okay, Veronica" Keith promised his daughter, pausing just a moment to hug her, "We're gonna take care of this" he told her before heading off in the direction of the crowd to extricate the son of his bosses.

It wasn't long before the three security men were bundling Logan into an armoured car as Veronica rushed to talk to him before he disappeared out of her life, possibly forever.

"Logan, I never meant to..." she tried to say as he moved to close the car door.

"Stay the hell away from me, Veronica!" he shot nastily before the metal and tinted glass came between them for what might have been the final time.

That was when it all got the better of Veronica. She usually held it all together so well, but right now she just couldn't. After so many days that had stretched into weeks of mixed emotions and stressing out and falling in love, it all hit her at once in this moment of craziness. Tears streamed down her face as she yelled for Logan to please let her explain, and Keith's heart broke knowing that as much as he wanted to be of some comfort to his little girl right now, he had to do his job first.

"Mac" he called to the girl he recognised easily from years before, "Can you take care of my daughter for me, please?"

"Yes, sir" she nodded once as she put her arms around her friend and pulled her clear of the car that had to leave.

"I'll call you" Keith promised Veronica as he got into the drivers seat, checked he wasn't going to run over any crazy fans and drove away.

Veronica was still crying hard into Mac's shoulder even after the car was long gone and the crowds of people dispersed into the concert they had originally come to see. The two women remained there in the parking lot, unnoticed now by most who passed by, except for one man who was far too interested to just walk away.

"So, are you single?" Dick asked Mac, apparently oblivious to her look of incredulity as he added, "Can I get your phone number?"

To Be Continued...