Veronica's Hangover

Chapter 8 Pt. 3 – Getting Warmer

Dinner had bypassed and exceeded Veronica's expectations.

"Logan. Buy me the chef please." she whispered as they wandered away from the table to mingle with their guests.

"Is he for sale?"

"You know what they say, everybody has a price." Veronica smiled.

"You want me to buy you a person. I've finally succeeded in corrupting you." Logan said, twirling his imaginary mustache.

Sophia allowed the tension to drain from her shoulders. The worst possible scenario had happened, it had been handled, and it was over with. Now she could afford to breathe and enjoy the results of her handiwork. She had to admit, she had been pleasantly surprised by Veronica's defense of Logan. If Veronica could learn how to weather storms instead of trying to outrun them, she might end up being good for Logan after all. She certainly seemed to understand how he ticked.

"We seem to have gotten off to a rocky start." A voice said. Sophia turned to see Keith Mars approaching her.

"Let's start over." He said. "I'm Keith Mars." He held out his hand.

"Sophia Dane." She answered, coolly.

"I sense you're mistrustful of me for some reason." Keith said.

"I think you're a threat to Logan's happiness." Sophia answered honestly.

"Are you a relative of Logan's?" Keith asked.

"No. I sort-of adopted him when he was still in school. Officially, I'm his Personal Assistant. Unofficially, I'm his over-protective mom." She answered.

"And what was your opinion of this marriage." Keith asked.

"I was against it at first." Sophia admitted. "I met Logan after he'd lost Veronica, and it wasn't pretty. I don't know if he could take losing her again."

"And now?" Keith asked.

"After that speech of your daughters? I think they just might make it." She answered.

"So tell me truthfully, why should I trust Logan with my daughter?" Keith asked.

Sophia considered his question for a moment before answering. "Because he's remained emotionally faithful to her for over five years, even when he had no reason to have hope. There is no chance that he's going to mess things up again."

Keith mulled it over. He was happy that Logan had found someone to take care of him. He had never actively disliked Logan, and he had never doubted Logan's love for Veronica. However, Logan had issues. He was reckless, had no respect for authority, and was too charismatic for his own good.

On the other hand, he'd been deprived of the love and affection that should be a basic human right for any child. For Lynn and Aaron, Logan had been an accessory, as easily discarded as a broken watch when the going got tough. Even when surrounded by throngs of friends as the most popular kid in school, he'd always come across as lonely to Keith. And to be honest, Keith had failed Logan as much as everybody else had. His spidey-senses had always told him that Aaron was abusing Logan. As sheriff of Neptune, he should have found a way to get Logan out of that home. Had he done so when Logan was 12 or 13, the damage may have been minimized. Maybe he could have been placed into a loving home where he would have been taught basic values. That he was doing so well now said a lot for his strength and adaptability.

"Charlie, meet my lovely wife Veronica. Veronica, my half-brother, Charlie."

"Congratulations." Charlie said reaching out to shake Veronica's hand. "I can't help but feel like I know you from somewhere."

"I spoke to you once before - only for a second. That was how I learned that the man calling himself Charlie Stone was an imposter. I sincerely apologize for what happened when Logan went on Larry King. It wasn't until later that we learned that Norman Phipps was bugging your phone."

"I got over that a long time ago." Charlie reassured her. "I'm confused about what happened here tonight. If you've been together so long, why was it such a surprise to everybody that you'd eloped."

Logan and Veronica explained how they'd recently found each other again after their long separation.

"And you really decided to get married less than an hour after running into each other?" He asked.

"Blame it on the tequila Veronica drank." Logan laughed. "If I ever find out who that Tucker guy was buying the drinks, I'm going to send him a thank you card."

They excused themselves to greet other guests.

Charlie watched the way that Logan couldn't seem to stop touching Veronica. If his hand wasn't on the small of her back, he was brushing back a lock of her hair, or kissing her on the forehead. Logan Echolls was hopelessly in love. Maybe the Echolls blood wasn't necessarily cursed after all.

"Veronica, meet my adopted little sister Heather. Heather, Veronica obviously needs no introduction."

"Nice to meet you." Veronica said to the smiling teenager. "I believe we met before in an elevator."

"Yeah, when Logan wouldn't tell you how he felt. He should have told you." Heather said, shaking her head at Logan.

"He should have told me." Veronica agreed. "He was stupid for not taking your advice."

"Hey!" Logan said.

Heather beamed. "But you're finally together now. Married! I knew you would find your way back to each other. You're soul mates!"

Veronica raised an eyebrow at Logan. "You think?"

Logan only smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"I'm back in town for good, so we can play our video games in person now. Wait until you see the house I'm trying to buy." Logan told her.

"Maybe Veronica can play with us now." Heather suggested.

"Um...No." Logan said.

"He's only saying that because I always used to beat him at everything." Veronica said conspiratorially.

As they walked away, Heather reflected that this was the Best Love Story Ever. Logan looked at Veronica as if she was the most precious thing in the world. Totally soul mates! Like Catherine and Heathcliff. Minus the death. And the destruction. And the revenge, and all that stuff.

"Veronica! Logan!" Cliff said. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Logan said. "Thank you for coming."

"No, thank you! For getting married. This union is bound to be very lucrative for me."

"Lucrative, how?" Veronica asked.

"Well, considering your combined arrest records, I'll never be out of work again." Cliff said. "Excuse me; Who let Loretta Cancun in here?"

"Hey Mac." Dick said sidling up next to her and bumping her playfully with his hip.

"Dick." Mac smiled.

"So what was that stuff Ronnie was saying about you going on a date?" He asked, totally nonchalantly and everything.

Mac's eyes narrowed. "Butters. Principal Clemmons' son. He likes to trade favors for dates. With me. This is the second time she's accepted a date with him on my behalf."

"So...you uh...like him or something?" Dick asked.

Mac's glare was all the answer he needed.

The opening notes of "Sway" began, and Logan pulled Veronica out to the dance floor.

"This song..." She said, nostalgically.

"I asked him to play it." Logan said. "I'm going to get it right this time."

"Define 'get it right'" Veronica said.

"I'm going to kiss you." Logan said, before demonstrating just that.

"Mmmmm" Veronica said when the kiss broke.

"That first time...I was kicking myself for weeks for not making a move." Logan admitted.

"I was sure you were going to." Veronica said. "I had the butterflies in my tummy all ready to take flight, but you choked."

"Those butterflies still in there?" Logan asked.

"They hibernated for a few years, but they came back last week."

"That's a coincidence. I came back last week too."

"Coincidence." Veronica agreed, nodding. "You know, I'm glad you choked. If we had gotten back together then, I would have never gotten to hear your Epic Love speech."

"You and that speech." Logan said rolling his eyes. "The most memorable thing I've ever said to you is the only thing I can't remember saying."

"Let's boogie." Dick said to Mac, holding out his arm to her.

"Not right now." Mac said. At Dick's look, she continued. "It's not you. It's the song. Can we dance to the next song instead?"

"What? It reminds you of that dude you were dating?" he asked taking her hands and pulling her out to the dance floor, anyway. "The best way to get over it is to make a new memory with a hot rich guy."

Mac laughed nervously, allowing Dick to pull her into his arms, while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What was his name again?" Dick asked. "That dude you were with all those years."

"Max." Mac answered. "But it's not him this song reminds me of."

"Oh, that other dude?" Dick asked. He knew she'd dated some animal rights guy.

"Cassidy." She answered quietly.

"Oh." Dick said, a lump in his throat. "You danced to this song with him?"

"No." Mac said. "We left the dance. The music was spilling out into the night. This song. And we stopped to have a conversation. It didn't go well. I was pressuring him to get physical. I wish I had known…"

Dick took a deep breath and nodded.

"Do you wish you'd never met him?" He asked.

"No." Mac answered.

They danced in silence for a minute.

"I loved him." She said finally. It was barely a whisper.

"Yeah. Me too." Dick said. He pulled Mac's head gently against his chest.

After the song ended, Dick and Mac stood quietly at the edge of the dance floor, each thinking about Cassidy.

"Mac. There you are." Butters said rushing up to her. "So is next Friday good for you?"

Dick interrupted before Mac could answer. "Sorry dude. Next Friday's not good for me."

"I wasn't asking you, Dick" Butters sneered.

"Yeah, but Mac already has a date with me for next Friday." Dick said.

"Oh." Butters said. "So Saturday then?" He asked Mac.

"We have a date for Saturday too." Dick said.

Butters, getting frustrated, pulled a business card out of his pocket, handing it to Mac. "Call me when you don't have a date with him. I had a lot of fun with you at Alterna-Prom." He said before walking off.

"Thanks for the save." Mac said gratefully.

"Dick is here to service you." He said. "So are there special vegetarian restaurants or something? Where can you eat?"

"I can eat anywhere." She said laughing. "Just because a place serves meat, doesn't mean I have to eat it."

"Good. So it's a date – or dates. I'll make reservations someplace nice."

"You don't have to actually take me out, Dick." Mac laughed.

"Oh no! You're not weaseling out of it. I saved you, so now you owe me two dates." He said.

"Oh." Mac smiled shyly at him in surprise, her eyes sparkling. "OK."

"I can't believe you lied to me about this, V." Wallace said scowling. "I'm supposed to be your BFF."

"Well, I didn't exactly lie." Veronica said. "I just avoided everybody so I wouldn't have to lie."

"Why did you feel like you needed to keep this from me?"

"Because you've never really liked Logan." Veronica said.

"I never really knew Logan." Wallace said. "You never brought him around to hang out."

"You guys have nothing in common." Veronica said.

"That may or may not be. You should let us decide that for ourselves. We made a pretty good team when we were partners for the egg drop."

"Oh, I remember. That time you took his side."

"A true best friend tells you when you're being a bitch." Wallace said, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

Veronica narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine Wallace, from now on, I'll make it a point to find things the three of us can do together. Will that make you happy? Oh no, my dad has Logan cornered. Can you excuse me?"

Wallace rolled his eyes and watched his BFF walk away to separate Logan from another man in her life.

He should have known she would end up with Logan Echolls someday. They had always circled each other prizefighters sizing up their opponent. Going all the way back to that time when Logan had smashed Veronica's headlights, Logan had always seemed to be all about Veronica. "Foreplay" he'd said when Wallace had mentioned it. Whether they hated each other or loved each other, they'd always had a constant awareness of each other.

Wallace may not have always liked Logan, but even he could admit that the guy was devoted to Veronica. During that egg drop contest, Logan had pretended to play it cool, but anybody with eyes could see he was doing it for Veronica, even knowing that if Veronica had won the Kane Scholarship, she would be heading off to Stanford, and he'd probably lose his opportunity to win her back. That had to be love, right?

Keith put a hand on Logan's shoulder, and Logan braced himself for an onslaught.

"So Logan." Logan gave him a small smile. "I'm going to be able to count on you to take care of my daughter?"

"Absolutely." Logan said.

"Always treat her with respect?"

"Yes."

"You'll be faithful this time?"

"I've been faithful every time." Logan answered.

"You'll keep her safe?"

"To the very best of my ability. But you know that's a never-ending job."

Keith allowed a small smile.

"You love her?"

"Always have."

"I guess I always knew it would happen eventually." Keith said. "Every time I thought you two had moved on from each other, you'd pop back up."

Logan smiled. "I'm like a bad case of fleas." he said wryly.

"Well, there's nothing I can do now, but offer my congratulations." Keith said, holding out his hand.

Logan shook his hand, but before he could let go, Keith pulled him in to a hug.

"Welcome to the family." He said, patting Logan on the back.

"Thanks Dad!" Logan said smirking.

Keith gave him a look.

"Too soon?" Logan asked.

Keith nodded.

Veronica stopped in her tracks when she saw her father give Logan a hug. Maybe she should just let them be. They would never learn to get along on their own, if she kept running interference.

"Congratulations, Veronica." A voice said beside her.

"Thanks, Mr. Kane. I noticed your approval after my little speech earlier. "She said. "Glad it's not Duncan?"

Jake gave a little chuckle. "Actually, I was proud of you."

Veronica looked at him in surprise.

"I loved somebody once like you love Logan. But, I never took a stand like you did tonight, and that's been one of my biggest regrets."

Veronica realized that he was talking about her mother. Surprisingly, it didn't make her angry. It made her sympathetic.

"You still love her?" She asked. Jake looked away and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"I was miserable being separated from Logan for all of those years. I can imagine how hard it's been for you.

Jake's eyes indicated that he was grateful for her empathy.

"If I had taken my stand and married your mother, I wouldn't have had Duncan or Lilly, or my beautiful granddaughter Lilly, so it was for the best. But you always wonder 'what if'. You made the right decision, Veronica."

Veronica put her hand on Jake's arm. "Thank you." She said, sincerely.

As she walked away, Jake called her name. "Veronica?"

She looked back.

"Lilly would have loved it." He smiled, unshed tears in his eyes.

Veronica smiled back.

"Congratulations, Logan."

Logan stopped. That voice sounded suspiciously like an ex-girlfriend.

"Parker." He said, pasting on a smile as he turned around.

Parker Lee smiled and held out her arms for a hug. Logan accepted, extricating himself as quickly as possible. He had a jealous wife to worry about.

"So you and Veronica." Parker said. "Not even a 'you were right, Parker'?" She asked smiling.

"You were right, Parker." Logan said sheepishly. "Listen, I'm really sorry about how things turned out. I didn't set out to hurt you, but I should have known it was too soon."

"I'm not."

"You're not what?" Logan asked.

"I'm not sorry that it turned out that way. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Misery loves company, and my company ended up becoming my husband."

"Wow! Piz!" Logan said uncomfortably when Parker turned to grab the arm of a man standing nearby.

"Congratulations!" Piz said shaking Logan's hand. Apparently, he didn't hold grudges.

"Thanks." Logan said. "So you two ended up together?"

Piz squeezed Parker against him. "Yep. We started out consoling each other, and then realized we had a lot in common. We have two sons now."

Logan congratulated them again and made his excuses.

Logan felt his arm being gripped in a vice.

"Why can't my déjà vu's ever be pleasant?" He asked, looking over to see Weevil.

"You ever lay a hand on her like you did Lilly, what happened to Thumper will be child's play." Weevil hissed at him.

Duncan walked up right when Logan lost his temper.

"You know Weevs, this isn't the first time you've implied that I hit Lilly. What the fuck makes you think that I would ever hit her? Or any woman?"

"I saw the bruises." Weevil said.

"Well they weren't from me." Logan said.

"Like I'm supposed to believe that? Who else would they be from?" Weevil asked.

"When exactly did you see these so-called bruises?" Logan asked exasperatedly. "I never saw any bruises on Lilly. I was the one with the bruises."

"August. The August before she died."

Logan thought about it. "August 2003? I wasn't even in the country. I was in St. Barts for almost the entire month that summer. With my parents."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Weevil asked belligerently.

Duncan chose that moment to speak up.

"August, 2003? I think that was me."

Weevil turned to look at Duncan, murder in his eyes.

"I have a form of epilepsy. It's controllable with medication, but that was before we knew about it. She was teasing me, and I just flipped out. They pulled me off her, and got me into the hospital. I have no memory of what happened, but Lilly did have bruises from it." Duncan looked ashamed of himself.

Weevil stared at Duncan for a long time before turning back to look at Logan.

"I didn't kill Felix either." Logan said helpfully.

"Man." Weevil said. "All of these years I thought it was you…" He trailed off.

"Yeah." Logan said. "I can see where it would have looked that way."

That was the closest to an apology as they were going to get. They were guys.

"So hey, Weevs, you still doing maintenance?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, still at Hearst." Weevil answered.

"Think you could supervise a maintenance crew?" Logan asked. "Let me rephrase that. Think you could supervise a maintenance crew better than you supervised the PCHers?"

Weevil glared at Logan, but nodded.

"Give me a call next week." Logan said. "I just signed on an office campus, and I'll need a head of maintenance."

Weevil looked surprised and then nodded, bumped Logan's fist, and then headed off towards the desert table. Maybe he could start getting by on only 40-hour workweeks.

Logan noticed a crowd forming a circle on the dance floor, pushing his way in, he found Veronica and Dick Casablancas having a dance-off. He shook his head laughing. Wow. Dick had some moves.

"So you got the girl." Deputy Leo D'Amato said, standing next to him.

"Yeah, I got the girl." Logan said, smiling. He had a sudden memory flash of Leo and Veronica at the 80's dance.

"Hey weren't you dating Veronica for a while? What ever happened there?"

"She never told you?" Leo asked.

"No, it never came up." Logan answered, curiously.

"She dumped me for you." Leo answered.

Logan turned to face him. "Really? I never knew that. Sorry about that. I guess. Well, not really, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I feel a lot better about it now. At least she dumped me for her future husband instead of some three-week diversion."

Logan ran his hand down Veronica's bare back. "Let's get out of here." He said.

"I wish we could." Veronica said.

"I booked us a room for the night." He said, running a finger up her spine. "Let's go see how it compares to the penthouse."

"We can't." Veronica said. "We haven't even done the cake yet."

"But I want you really bad." Logan whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver. He followed it up by whispering all of the things he wanted to do to her.

"Want to go make out under the table?" She asked, ogling him.

Logan looked around the ballroom.

"Too many witnesses." He said regretfully. "But I did see a coat closet." He said, taking her arm and leading her away.

At the coat closet door, he looked both ways. Seeing that nobody was looking, he pulled open the door.

"Dude. Find your own closet." A voice yelled out.

Veronica looked around Logan to see Dick and Mac tangled up in a clinch. She pushed the closet door closed, meeting Logan's eyes in horror.

"Please tell me I didn't just see that." She said.

"You didn't just see that?" He said.

She sighed, regretfully.

Logan pulled her into his arms. Leaned over. Kissed her lips. She opened her mouth to him allowing him to kiss her deeply for a moment.

She whimpered in frustration.

"Screw this." She said, stomping off.

She pushed her way into the kitchen.

"You're not allowed back here." One of the wait staff told her.

"Cake." She said pointing. "Now." She said pointing out to the ballroom.

The cake – a beautiful white confection with black scrollwork – was brought out immediately, at which point Veronica efficiently sliced two pieces, setting them on desert plates and handing one to Logan.

Logan gently fed her a bite of cake. Veronica took great pleasure in smashing her slice on Logan's face.

"It's been fun. Later." She yelled out to her assembled guests as she grabbed Logan's hand and practically ran out of the ballroom.

She helped get the cake off Logan's face in the elevator, while he worked on finding that zipper.