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VI.

'You can't avoid me forever, Veronica.' Lilly's voice sounded like a perfect mix of breeze and smirk, but Veronica could tell she was annoyed.

Like she had been a lot, lately. And with a good reason, because yes, she had been dodging Lilly's calls. She always felt a bit guilty listening to Lilly's voicemail messages. Lilly usually sounded like her normal upbeat self, but her messages often turned into rants about Celeste, whose ice queen-attitude had always smothered Lilly.

She sighed. 'I know, I'm sorry. I guess…' What would she tell Lilly? 'I guess you're right, it's time to get out of my coffin and step into the sunlight again. You've got any plans tonight?'

'Nope. I'm all yours. Movie and pizza at my place?'

'I'll be there at eight o'clock.'

She hung up before she could do anything stupid, like asking if Duncan would be home. Lilly would probably maneuver them into some awkward situation and laugh at their expense, like she'd done many times before. The last time, actually, she'd pushed them in the pool and told them to finally get on with it. That night, they'd had their first kiss.

The test recommended taking cheek swabs. She'd already taken a sample of her own saliva, but that had been, of course, the easy bit. She wondered how she was going to get a DNA sample of her dad. She'd considered wiping his glass, but she wasn't sure if it would provide her with enough material to do a proper test. She sure wasn't willing to take the risk. She needed to come up with something clever.

Unfortunately, she couldn't use a school project as a cover until the summer holidays ended. There were still two weeks left and she didn't want to put it off any longer. Think, Mars. And you're supposed to be the clever one?

She groaned and threw herself backwards on the bed. She had three hours left before going to the Kane's. For the first time since coming back from her trip to Portland, she was bored. She could read a book, maybe watch some TV – but neither option really appealed to her. She decided to go for a walk with Backup to take her mind of things.

The sound of Joni Mitchell's Clouds drifted up through stairwell, which meant her mom was having a good day. With a smile, she went downstairs.

'It's been awhile since you've played this record.'

'Hello, darling.' Lianne smiled back at her, looking more relaxed than she'd been in a long time. 'I'm feeling… nostalgic today.'

'Ah yes, those golden days of yore… If you don't mind, I'm going on a walk with Backup.'

'That's fine. Actually, would you like to run to the store and pick up some things for me?'

Her mom gave her a short list with groceries and she left the house, Backup frolicking happily behind her. She decided to go to the beach first, even though the supermarket was further uphill. It was no use dragging a bag of groceries with her down to the beach, and she knew Backup would be happier running through the gulf than stuck on a leash, tied to a lamppost.

This time, the beach was practically empty. The sea was calm and there weren't any surfers in the gulf. She let out a sigh of relief and felt her body relax, realizing she'd been clenching her fists all this time.

So, to sum things up, her life was a big mess. Her boyfriend had broken up with her and now refused to talk to her because she was probably his sister. To make things worse, that made her best friend her sister as well. And all of this because her mother, who also happened to be an alcoholic on the verge of a break-down, had never moved on from her high school sweetheart.

And yet the world seemed so strangely unaltered. She had changed – the rest, not so much. Most people were completely unaware of the struggles she was going through right now, even those that stood close to her. She'd spend the past six months drawing up walls around her, keeping secrets from the people she loved and shutting them out. It'd left her exhausted.

Still, there was no way back. The change she'd made was final. Cutting off her hair had meant letting go of the old Veronica forever. She was different now, and growing out her hair or switching back to her preppy wardrobe wouldn't change that.

After picking up the groceries her mom had asked for she got in her car and drove over to Lilly's, silently cursing the fact she probably had to face at least one of the Kane family members. Duncan tried too hard to ignore her, Celeste barely tried to hide her disgust these days and Jake made her feel queasy.

She parked her car down the road and walked up to the house, groaning when she saw a bright yellow X-terra parked in the driveway. If Logan was over, there was no way she could avoid Duncan. Hopefully, Lilly wouldn't be too reluctant to spend the whole evening in her room.

'Veronica!' She turned her gaze to Lilly, who walked through the gate clad in a skimpy blue bikini. No such luck tonight.

'I haven't packed a bikini.' Lilly gave her a mischievous smile.

'That's why I didn't tell you! Now you have to borrow one of mine.' Before Veronica could protest, Lilly had grabbed her hand and started dragging her to the house. 'Don't worry, I'll let you choose. Although I have the final say, of course.'

'What happened to movie night?'

'For God's sake, V! We're young and unbelievably hot, let's save the movies for when we're old and gray, okay?'

Veronica followed Lilly up to her room, sputtering halfheartedly. 'I'm so not in the mood for this.'

Lilly ignored her protests and held up two sets of bikini's, both skimpier and more expensive than anything Veronica owned. She pointed at the black one, immediately regretting her choice as she put it on. A push up bikini. Lilly thought this through completely.

It looked good on her though, the fragile golden straps around her neck adding a little bit of spice to the otherwise simple black design. 'At least your makeup skills have improved,' Lilly said teasingly, referring to the smoky eyes Veronica was now sporting.

'Really, I love it,' she continued, a big grin on her face. 'Veronica Mars doesn't take your shit anymore. Piss her off now, and she'll kick your ass! Love, love, LOVE it.'

'Lilly, are you going to –' Duncan came barging in without a warning and stopped dead in his tracks. 'Oh.'

'I don't really care what you're going to ask, the answer is probably 'no'. Veronica and I are going to hang out by the pool. Obviously,' she added, pointing at herself and Veronica, who was now feeling very underdressed.

'Logan and I –'

'You two can do whatever you want. But we're not going anywhere. So if you want to avoid us, don't come near the pool.'

When Duncan quickly turned around and closed the door, Veronica suddenly felt the urge to throw her arms around her friend. 'Lilly Kane, you're the best.'

'I know I'm fabulous. And you know what? So are you.' Veronica returned her smile and felt a warm glow spreading through her body. Lilly was still on her side. Maybe their friendship wasn't completely hopeless yet. 'Now let's get this party started!'

'I kind of counted on that pizza, Lil.'

'And I would hate to let you down, Ronica. You know pepperoni and chlorine go together just perfectly?'

'Naturally.' Lilly linked her arm through hers and they walked to the pool, shouting and laughing as they jumped into the water.