Epilogue

"Shit!" Logan swore at the sound of tearing paper, gritting his teeth in frustration as he tried to extricate himself from bits of tape and wrapping paper that clung to his fingers.

"Dude, just put 'em in gift bags," Dick called from the living room. "Why didn't you get someone at the store to wrap them for you?"

"'Cause I didn't buy their gifts at a store. And you know what a snoop Veronica is. If I use bags, she'll peek for sure," Logan grumbled.

"Suit yourself. I'm outta here. You and the lovely Ronnie have the love nest all to yourselves. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"See ya." Logan glanced at the time on his cell phone. He had twenty minutes before he had to pick up Veronica for their study date, and he was running late. Sighing, he cut off another large piece of paper and started over.

Logan had ended up going back to Hearst, but only enrolled in a couple of courses for the fall semester after his doctor warned him to take things slow. It had been nearly four months since the shooting, and Logan had fully recovered from his injury.

Several weeks ago, after his last physical therapy session, he'd even spent a weekend surfing in Mexico with Dick and a few of their old high school buddies. It had been great to be in the ocean again, feeling the powerful surf surging beneath his feet, and he'd spent two days riding the waves from sunup to sundown, until every muscle in his body ached.

Still, as much fun as he'd had hanging out and surfing with the guys, Logan missed Veronica horribly so he'd left early, just when the party at Enbom's family vacation condo was getting underway.

"You might as well cut off your balls and serve them to Ronnie on a silver platter," Dick had drunkenly chastised, while their other friends snickered.

But it had been worth the ridicule. When he'd come home to find Veronica sound asleep in his new, king-size bed, he couldn't resist waking her. She'd spent the rest of the night tenderly kissing away all his aches and pains.

Logan had finally moved out of the Neptune Grande. Using money from the sale of his parents' old house, he bought a three-bedroom condo on the beach, almost equidistance from campus and Veronica's apartment. Dick was technically renting one of the rooms, but he spent most of his nights at Heather's sprawling mansion.

The other room he'd turned into an office for Veronica to work in when she stayed over, which was surprisingly frequent. Except for the large, high-def, flat panel TV and supple, brown-leather couch he'd picked out, Logan had pretty much given Veronica free rein to decorate and furnish the condo as she pleased. "Just don't make it too girly," he'd beseeched. "I do have a reputation to live up to, you know."

Now, Christmas was just two weeks away and, for the first time since he was a young boy, Logan was actually looking forward to the holiday. He'd spent a quiet Thanksgiving with Veronica and her dad, and after they'd gorged themselves on dry turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, Logan had shyly invited them to spend Christmas at his lake house in Tahoe.

"It's nothing fancy, but there's plenty of room. Trina is currently 'between projects' and boyfriends so she'll be there, too," he'd said hesitantly, picking at the leftover pie on his plate. "It's close to the lifts, if you like to ski."

He'd been pleasantly surprised at how enthusiastically they'd reacted to his idea. Keith's eyes had lit up at the mention of skiing, saying it had been years since he'd had a chance to hit the slopes, and Veronica had immediately peppered him with questions.

"There's snow up there, right? So we could have an actual white Christmas with snowball fights and everything? When can we go?"

Excited by the prospect of sharing the holidays with people he cared about, Logan had agonized over their gifts before finally settling on what to get them.

When he'd donated his father's Hollywood memorabilia to the Balboa Children's Home annual charity auction, to raise money for the non-profit that gave abused children a place of refuge, other celebrities had come out of the woodwork with their old belongings. Logan had managed to win a baseball mitt signed by every member of the Sharks team who clinched the World Series back in '89. It was the perfect present for Keith.

Logan had decided to give Veronica a pair of diamond solitaire earrings that had belonged to his mother. He vaguely remembered Lynn saying they'd been a 21st birthday present from her parents, which explained why they were far smaller than the three-carat rocks she'd usually worn. But Logan thought the more refined, modest stones better suited Veronica.

To throw her off track, he'd put the earrings in a large box along with a pale blue, cashmere scarf he'd seen her admiring one day when they were strolling by a trendy Neptune boutique. Logan had even paid cash for the scarf, just in case Veronica got it into her head to track his credit card charges again. Logan was pulling out all the stops to surprise his super sleuth girlfriend.

Logan had even found a plush doggie bed for Backup through an online catalogue. It had arrived the other day, complete with the pit bull's name embroidered in red on sturdy, washable denim.

All in all, Logan couldn't have been happier. His relationship with Veronica was better than ever and, for once, he wasn't anxiously holding his breath, waiting for the floor to fall out from under him.

Now if he could just get the damned presents wrapped. After fifteen minutes of wrestling with the shimmering green paper and festive red ribbon, Logan finally managed to finish tying a bow around Veronica's gift. It was crooked, and for some reason, all the boxes looked oddly lumpy, but at least they were wrapped. He quickly hid them in Dick's room, knowing it was the one place Veronica would never venture.

He grabbed his keys and headed out. It was Friday night and they were going to the library. The night before, they'd started out full of good intentions, and for the first hour or so kept to their opposite ends of the couch, noses dutifully buried in their books. It wasn't long, however, before they were making out, Western Civ and Poli Sci completely forgotten, as they stumbled into the bedroom, where they spent the rest of the evening studying each other's brains out.

But finals were less than a week away, so Logan hadn't put up a fight that morning when Veronica announced they were working at the library that night. In fact, Logan was on his best behavior.

He didn't let his lips linger too long on hers when she greeted him at the door. He refrained from kissing her nose, pink from the cold December air, even though she looked adorable in the striped stocking cap she wore pulled over her ears. And he was doing his damnedest to ignore the sexy way Veronica worried her lower lip when she was deep in concentration.

But his mind kept straying to the overnight bag she'd been carrying, and his heart rate quickened in anticipation. Just a couple more hours …

Veronica was restless.

It had been a busy couple of weeks. She'd picked up a few extra shifts at the library and did several freelance jobs for the Hearst Free Press, until she finally had enough money to pay for Logan's Christmas gift – a stainless steel watch she'd been eyeing for weeks.

With all his follow-up doctor appointments and physical therapy sessions on top of his classes, Logan was constantly pulling out his cell phone to check the time. He needed a watch, and the elegant but masculine, one she'd picked out was perfect. It ran on kinetic technology instead of a battery, charging with a shake of the wrist. It even had dual time zones, so if Logan decided he wanted to travel, he'd always know what time it was back home in Neptune. She couldn't wait to see his face when he opened it.

Veronica had never been happier. She was completely in love with Logan and for the first time since Lilly died, allowed herself to believe in fairy tales and happy endings again. Of course, they still fought and bickered, it was their nature. But they were on more secure footing this time around, and she was no longer plagued by misgivings or fears that everything would fall apart. Something told her, even if things did go wrong, they'd find their way back to each other. After all, they were epic.

She'd been eagerly anticipating their idyllic little winter getaway ever since Thanksgiving Day when Logan suggested it. They were leaving as soon as finals were over, and she was already packed, ornaments and all, because he'd promised they could get a tree. The idea of creating new Christmas memories with Logan, like roasting chestnuts and building snowmen, filled Veronica with joy.

Thoughts of making love to Logan beside a crackling fire filled Veronica with something else entirely.

In the meantime, she had a killer Western Civ final coming up, and she couldn't seem to concentrate on the textbook in front of her. Veronica had been reading the same sentence for the past ten minutes. And Logan was no help. Every time she glanced at him, his dark, intelligent eyes were darting across the pages of his book, his handsome face furrowed, obviously completely absorbed in the notes he was scribbling.

Studious College Boy Logan was seriously hot.

Sighing, Veronica turned back to her book, but her thoughts kept wandering to the previous night.

It had started innocently enough. She had been reviewing her notes on the fall of the Roman Empire, while, a few feet away, he'd restlessly tapped his pen on a book, his attention focused on the American two-party political system. But when they'd gone into the kitchen for a snack, a quick peck turned into fervid kisses and he soon had her sprawled naked on the cold, granite counter.

Veronica was a little fuzzy on the details, but vividly recalled the way he'd reverently traced soft kisses along her calves and the inside of her thighs until his mouth reached her center. After he brought her to a shattering climax using his teeth and tongue, Logan had whispered huskily in her ear, "I've been wanting to christen the kitchen."

Moments later, her body still vibrating, Logan had placed her on his bed and fucked her with slow deliberation, pounding into her until she screamed his name, coming for the second time that evening.

Veronica moaned involuntarily at the memory, jolting back to the present when Logan softly called her name.

"Hey, earth to Mars…you okay?"

She didn't answer, debating her choices for several, long minutes. Finally, a slow smile spread across her face, and she leaned forward.

"What do you say we ditch this place? Didn't you mention something about wanting to christen the kitchen?" she said, smirking as Logan's jaw dropped. "Because technically, I don't think what you did to me in there counts as …"

"A baptism?" he suggested smugly, arching his eyebrows. "Tempting. But shouldn't we study? What happened to 'No more goofing around, Logan,' and 'I really need to get some work done?'"

She shrugged, a seductive smile on her lips. "Right now, all I need is you."

Logan was grinning as they locked lips across the table.

When they finally broke away, breathless, Logan began throwing books into his backpack while Veronica quickly gathered her things. They strolled to his car, arm in arm, and when he pressed a chaste kiss to the top of her head, Veronica pulled away, a smile in her eyes.

"Hey, did you know the first two letters of our names spell 'love'?"

"Don't get all mushy on me, Mars. Let's not forget 'vole.' What is it again? A cute rat?"

"Close enough. I thought of another one – 'Velo.'"

"Okay," Logan said, dryly. "I'll bite. What's a 'Velo?'"

"A French bike."

"Right. And I just remembered why I never play Boggle with you."

"'Cause I'd kick your ass."

Logan snorted, snaking his arms around Veronica's waist, pulling her against him. He nuzzled her neck and murmured, "Admit it. You love my ass."

Veronica twined her fingers in Logan's hair, sighing happily.

"Yeah I do," she said, smiling as she heard Logan's answering chuckle.