A/N: Thanx so much for all the wonderful reviews. Now, I have a horrible feeling I'm going to depress you all with this chapter... but just hang in there, peops, 'cause the next one (the last one) will be the happily ever after!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 15

"You're going down, man!" said the voice in Logan's ear.

"Not. A. Chance." he replied succinctly, dispatching his opponents' soldiers on the computer screen with relative ease and three shots that matched his words.

It was a victory, but a hollow one, as the guys around the world who he'd been playing against cursed colourfully in more than one language and soon offlined. Logan liked winning, and yet as he pulled off his headset and watched the screen change telling him of his triumph, he barely smiled.

This was not the highlight of his Summer, far from it. He'd had all the highs and these were the lows that followed, no matter how many games he won. Logan was back to being locked up in his ivory tower and the princess who rescued him for a brief while was gone, banished from the kingdom. Not that she was ever really a princess, not that Logan was really a prince either, and besides he was far too old for fairytales.

It had felt like a story book though, for a while. Like some kind of adventure novel where he could pick his own destiny. Logan was allowed to forget for a while that he was the son of two movie stars, that he had few friends, and even fewer that were true and honest.

Veronica was so different to anyone he ever met, Logan thought, not for the first time as he lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. She was a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure, and as wild and adventurous as anything. Now he knew why she wasn't afraid of trouble, she'd seen enough of it if she was the daughter of Keith Mars. He ought to have remembered the name of the head of security's only child, he had heard about her before, but not often enough for it to really stick in his mind.

Now every thought of the beautiful blonde spitfire that had made the first half of his Summer so great, was tinged with the darkness of betrayal. She'd lied to him from day one. She must have known he was Logan Echolls and why he was running towards her car that night. She knew about the back up following them, and if Leo D'Amata was to be believed, she knew him very well indeed. Logan felt like such a fool, not least because he was actually stupid enough to believe that Veronica liked him.

All that time he'd spent trying to make her see he was a man, not a boy. Convincing her that what he felt for her was deep and real. Now he wanted to wish it all away, pretend he never cared, make believe she never existed in his life at all, but it couldn't be done. As mad as he wanted to be at her for hurting him, there was a corner of both his heart and mind that still cared about Veronica, still missed her, and could not truly regret the time they spent together.

He got just a couple of weeks of running around, and one night spent in heaven with a woman he could honestly say he both loved and hated in equal measure right now. It looked as if he was back where he started, ending the Summer as it had begun, but that wasn't true. Before, he wanted to see what lie beyond his window, and now he knew that whilst there was adventure, fun, and love out there, freedom did come at a price. He had discovered betrayal and pain, and heartbreak, if he were completely honest with himself.

A tapping on the door was very nearly met with a nasty threat of what would happen if the person on the other side didn't get lost. Logan was glad his reflexes weren't so sharp when he glanced up and saw his Mom was peering in at him now.

"Hey, sweetheart" she smiled a little, as if testing the waters as she slipped inside her son's bedroom and closed the door behind her, "How are you doing today?" she asked awkwardly.

Logan sighed, not sure how to answer. He loved that his Mom cared, of course he did, but they didn't talk like this all that much. She was often so busy being famous, out with his Dad and having little time to spare. She tried, Logan knew she did, and had been trying even harder since he got back from his impromptu-vacation. It didn't change much though, because there was nothing she could say to make him feel any better, he was certain of it.

"I'm... I don't honestly know what I am" he said, sitting himself up on the end of the bed as Lynn joined him, "I mean, what are you supposed to feel when somebody you thought really liked you just flat out lied to your face?" he asked, as if genuinely curious.

"Oh, honey" said Lynn, feeling terrible for her baby boy, "The first time it happens is always the hardest" she sympathised, recalling her own teenage years, heartbreaks she thought she would never recover from.

It wasn't easy being that age, whether you were a boy or a girl. Everything seemed like the start or end of the world. A new relationship was an adventure, the end of the same could seem like a dark cloud descending over the entire world, never to lift again. It was difficult for Lynn as a parent to explain that everything would be okay, firstly because she couldn't guarantee it, and second because she was certain Logan wouldn't believe her anyway.

"How does a person do that, Mom?" he asked, though mostly he was looking at the carpet rather than at Lynn, as she rubbed her hand on his back comfortingly, "I mean, she acted like she loved me or something" he said vaguely, less than comfortable explaining to his mother just exactly the nature of the relationship he and Veronica had shared.

"Maybe that's because she does love you, Logan" Lynn suggested, as her son scoffed, "No, hear me out" she urged him, even as he got up and walked across the room to the window, "You know, people make mistakes, baby. All people do. Sometimes we do what we think is best and it turns out that maybe it wasn't" she explained as best she could, "Veronica is not a bad person, she just made a bad decision"

The worst part for Logan was knowing his Mom had a point. He'd like to put all this on Veronica, make it all her fault, but maybe it wasn't completely. Regardless of what she did and didn't know about him, she had let him dive in her car that night, she had kept his real identity secret for him, and allowed him to have the adventure she knew he craved.

It had taken a lot of running on his part to get her to admit any feelings for him, and now he was wondering if he knew the reason why. Maybe she wanted to keep her distance because she knew that last day had to come, the day when he found out the truth. It might've been easier on both of them if they hadn't fallen in love, but as it was Logan had been left with a broken heart and for the first time now he was realising, maybe Veronica was hurting just the same.

"I guess we all make mistakes" he said softly, so much so that Lynn almost didn't hear him.

"Of course we do, honey" she agreed with a nod as he turned back to glance at her, finding she was by the door and about to leave, "It would be a little childish to mark Veronica as the devil just because she made one bad call" she told him, and then she was gone.

Logan's eyes returned to the view from the window as he let out a long breath. He thought he had been a fool for letting Veronica get close to him, never realising she was not all she seemed. Now he wondered if it wasn't being mad at her and letting her drop clean out of his life this way didn't make him a bigger idiot than ever. Still, forgiving her wasn't as easy as he almost wished it was.

Veronica stamped another file as 'case closed' and moved it to the other side of her desk before picking up the next folder full of paperwork with a sigh. Taking a vacation had seemed like a really good idea at the time. Of course, a couple of weeks staying with her Dad could have been more relaxing than almost as long on the run with the renegade son of two movie-stars. Still, she would have come back to more work than she would have liked anyway. As it was she had the stack of work, a pile of guilt, and a lot of memories that wouldn't leave her be on top of that.

It was fine, she could do her job. She had suffered no injuries and made no major mistakes since she'd been back at her office, doing the work she loved. The trouble was, Veronica knew she was distracted and had to make such a concerted effort to keep her focus. She couldn't help but think about Logan Echolls and what he could have meant to her, what he did mean to her, even though it would probably be best for both of them if she just forgot all about him.

Unfortunately, forgetting wasn't easy, and from experience Veronica knew that forgiving was even harder sometimes. She so wished she'd had a chance to explain herself properly to Logan before all hell had broken loose that night at the concert. He never did get to hear her side of the story, at least not first hand. She had faith in her Dad to put forward her side if he could, but it wasn't the same. Even Keith didn't know all the details, had no idea how much Veronica really cared for Logan.

It was such a short relationship, barely two weeks from first meeting to the night they were torn apart. So much had happened in that time, this major connection that Veronica couldn't ever imagine going away. She had been right in the first place, she shouldn't have let herself and Logan get in so deep, it only made the break up that much more painful, but she just couldn't help herself. Making love with him had been amazing. He wasn't the most experienced guy she'd ever been with, but that really hadn't mattered. Veronica wasn't sure she'd ever felt like this about another man, and he had proven himself to be all man in the end.

With such things occupying her mind, Veronica found herself to be quite startled when the phone started up ringing beside her on the desk. Shaking herself from her hazy daze, she reached to answer the call.

"Mars Investigations" she said into the receiver, getting a further surprise when she realised the person on the other end of the line was far from a client.

"Hey, Veronica, it's Mac" she greeted her friend, causing the blonde to smile.

"Hi" she replied, asking how she was doing and the other usual pleasantries.

One good thing to come out of all this was the reunion of the two high school buddies who had been out of each others circle of friend too long. Now they were in regular contact via email and phone, with visits due to be arranged before long as well.

"I'm good, I guess" Mac told her friend, "Dick Casablancas is still calling me pretty much every day" she laughed lightly, something Veronica wasn't quite sure how to react too.

"Wow, the boy is persistent" she said, sitting back in her desk chair, the light catching on the pink plastic flower ring on her finger and taking her attention.

"I know, and I only gave him my number to get rid of him that day" Mac went on to explain, "Still, he seems like a pretty nice guy, and I guess the fact he's still trying to get a date with me should say something about his tenacity, if not his brains. I think maybe 'dumb blond' was invented for him, but that's not really his fault..."

Mac rattled on a while longer, until she realised she had received no answer or comment in quite a while. She called Veronica's name and heard only a murmured conformation she'd been heard. Something was clearly on her mind, and Mac intended to find out what.

"So I'm thinking of letting Dick come over to my place" she said as seriously as she could manage, "Not for a date or anything, just for really dirty, dirty sex"

"What?" Veronica snapped her attention to the phone at the sound of those very un-Mac-like words in her ear.

"I thought that might get your attention" the computer geek chuckled, "Seriously, Veronica, what's up?" she asked, amused by her own joke but still entirely worried about her friend and what might be on her mind.

"I don't know, Mac" she sighed in response, "Or I do, but it's dumb. How can I be in love with a guy I knew barely two weeks, who's eighteen years old, and who probably hates me right now?" she asked in earnest.

Mac felt terrible for her friend, but hardly knew what to say. She didn't understand this any better than Veronica herself, but she did know unrequited love and broken hearts completely sucked.

"Love is not rational, my friend" she reminded her with sage wisdom, "Did you try calling Logan to apologise again and explain?" she ventured, sure that someone like Veronica was sure to have done so, several times over.

"I tried, but nobody at that house will put my call through" she admitted, "My Dad did his best to make Logan see I'm sorry and that I had good reasons but.. I can't ask him to push it. He barely kept his job as it was because of what I did"

Mac was silent on the other end of the line. She would love to tell her friend it was all going to be okay, that it could still work out in the end, but honestly, she wasn't so sure it was the truth at this point.

To Be Continued...