Keith opened Veronica's room door and grinned. "I have instilled the fear of God into him. You can come out now."

Veronica chuckled and playfully warned, "I hope you didn't scare him off and leave me partner-less."

He pursed his lips thoughtfully and assured her, "I'm pretty sure that he's smart enough to not ditch my daughter."

She shook her head. "Scared him good, did'ya?"

"As president of the best father's club, it's my duty to set a good example."

She arched an eyebrow followed by a chuckle. "You're so full of it. You're lucky I love you or I'd think you were a dork." She paused and pretended to reconsider her words. "No, no, you are a dork."

He chuckled. "I love you too, kiddo." He kissed her forehead and said, "Have fun, sweetie."

"Thanks dad." She smiled.


When they entered the dance, Norris and Veronica had chatted for a while and danced to a song when the duo separated to greet their respective friends.

"Hubba, hubba," Veronica waggled her eyebrows. "Who's the lucky guy? Haven't seen him in these parts before."

Yolanda giggled and relayed, "Benjamin Bloom. He doesn't go here. Our parents hate each other but we're more friendly."

"Modern day Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending?" Veronica nudged her teasingly.

The girls giggle and the brunette slyly grinned, "Hopefully. You know how I was saying that I was blowing off some steam at Logan's party?" At Veronica's nod, she continued, "He was there and I was so frustrated, he just wouldn't make a move because of our stupid parents. So I thought I'd make him jealous."

"Ah. So you kissed Logan. At least it worked."

"Yeah. But like I said, if I had known that you liked him-"

"Yolanda, chill," the petite blonde reassured her. "If it wasn't you. He'd probably have kissed another girl. That's what drunk Logan does. At least you got something out of it."

A grateful smile spread across Yolanda's lips. "I'm glad I met you, Veronica."

"Me too." Her eyes catch her best friend and her date. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a scene to perform."

Lilly had confessed to her that she'd had a benefits situation with Weevil. Of all the lovers Veronica could have guessed, the leader of the PCHer biker gang was no where near her list. She'd confessed that she'd needed to get away on the day of Logan's party because Weevil had been overwhelming her and then they'd gotten into a fight because he wanted more.

Veronica knew her best friend liked flings which was why most of the guys Veronica knew about were nameless people that were gone with the wind as soon as Lilly had gotten bored with them.

Lilly had said that thanks to Veronica unknowingly advising her during their shopping trip in San Diego, she'd figured about that she actually wouldn't mind pursing things with Weevil. And that she actually quite liked him.

It all had blown Veronica's mind but really she should have figured that her larger than life best friend would fall for the rebel without a cause. Kindred spirits, those two.

The petite blonde stood in front of the newly out-of-the-closet couple and exaggeratedly gaped, "You're dating Weevil?"

Lilly bit back a smile while Weevil grinned.

"You know he's fond of calling me blondie, among other less flattering names," she chimed.

He arched an eyebrow, surprised. "Tattletale."

She shrugged and remarked, "I'm laying it all out there, We-Evil."

On cue, Lilly gasped and glared, "Eli Navarro, you were picking on my best friend?"

His mouth dropped opened. "That was just in good fun!"

"Good fun?" Veronica gaped with disbelief. "Once in the Sheriff's department, where my dad picked him up for vandalism, he stole my My Little Pony action figure and held it up high and told me to take it from him if I can."

Lilly looked quizzing at her best friend. "You still have your My Little Pony doll?"

"I was twelve," she told her.

Lilly let out a slight oh and then turned back to Weevil. "How dare you antagonize my best friend?!"

Veronica burst out laughing at Weevil's fear-stricken face. Lilly tried to keep her enraged face in place but quickly fell in a fit off laughter.

He was stunned. "You were messing with me?"

"Serves you right," Veronica struck her tongue out.

Lilly laughed good-naturedly. "Did'ya really think that I was gonna have a secret boyfriend and not tell my best friend? Because I know that Felix knew before I knew that he knew."


Veronica whistled when she saw Mac, "Oh la la, Macalicious." She waggled her eyebrows.

Dick smirked, his arm wrapped around the brunette's waist, holding her close to him. "Ronnie!"

"Marsastic," Mac grinned.

A chuckle flew out of the blonde's lips. "What does that even mean?"

"It means you're sassy and fantastic," Mac remarked with a thoughtful expression. "It's really hard to add adjectives to Veronica."

Dick's foreheard crinkled and he put forth, "Uh Ronilistic. Ronnilicious. Ronnitastic. Ronster."

"Those all sound horrible," Veronica grimaced. "Never say it again."

"Marster," Mac sounded out.

Veronica arched an eyebrow, "Did you just call me master?"

"No, Mars-ster," she annunciated.

"You spent a week with him," Veronica let out with wide eyes. "One week. And you're already adapting his vocabulary."

"It's cause I'm awesome," Dick winked and pecked a loud kiss on Mac's cheek. The brunette laughed and good-naturedly smacked his chest as she wiped her cheek.

Dick noticed Norris heading toward them and frowned. "Why'd you say yes to that guy?"

She sighed and shook her head. "He's not a bad guy."

"Whatever," Dick scoffed. "He's not Logan."

Annoyed, she retorted, "Well, Logan didn't ask me. Logan's not even here. Logan probably ditched to suck face with Carrie Bishop."

"Excuse me," Carrie let out, offended. "Logan Echolls can kiss my ass."

Veronica's forehead creased and she remarked, "You'd like that wouldn't you."

"Note the tone, Veronica," Carrie scrunched her nose.

Veronica huffed but her annoyance disappeared once she saw Meg and Duncan smiling. She waved at them just as Norris took her hand to dance.

"You okay?" Norris asked as they swayed.

She hummed yes her response. The reminder of Logan had put a damper on her mood.

"You don't look like it," he commented.

Veronica arched an eyebrow. "You do know that you're supposed to be flattering me."

He shrugged. "It's Logan, isn't it?"

"Logan?" She quizzed.

"Yeah," he whispered. "You guys are pretty close so I figured that he'd ask you and when I heard that Logan hadn't asked you I thought that maybe the rumors weren't true."

"What rumors?" She stared at him quizzing.

"That Logan threatened the guys not to ask you out," Norris reiterated.

She snorted. "Logan wouldn't do that."

He shrugged. "I don't know. He seems pretty into you."

"He's not," she denied.

His eyes lingered over her features and he questioned, "Are you into him?"

She met his gaze and mused, "Is this proper dance conversation?"

He chuckled. "I guess not but I needed to know."

"Why?" She piped up out of curiosity.

"Kinda wanted to ask you out again," he softly let out.

Veronica's eyes widened slightly, surprised at his admission. Before she could say anything, she heard a familiar voice yell, "Come on everyone. Let's wang chung tonight."

Veronica gawked at the scene. Logan jumped off the stage and drunkenly swayed. "What, everybody wang chung tonight."

Veronica let go off Norris and walked toward Logan. He stammered and shouted, "Wang chung or I'll kick your ass. Everybody!"

Veronica grabbed his hand, "Logan."

"Ronnie!" He beamed.

"Logan, c'mon." She pulled him out to the corridor.

Norris looked between the two as Veronica fumbled around for his keys. "Come on Logan, just give me your keys."

"No. No! No. No." He giggled. "'Cause tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999."

"Logan, when did you stop wearing pants?" Lilly laughed and Weevil snickered beside her.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn, Logan?" Veronica groaned.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn, Logan?" He mimicked her voice.

Logan finally took notice of the unfamiliar face. "Hey, who's this guy?"

A sigh of exasperation left the petite blonde. She turned to Norris. "I'm so sorry."

"I get it," he nodded with a half smile. He'd gotten his answer, but at least he'd tried.

"Thank you," she returned his smile and then turned to Dick and Duncan. "Can one of you help take him to his car?"

"I'm not gonna let you drive my car, Ronnie," he chuckled at her.

"It's not like I'm giving you a choice here."


"Hey, Veronica," Trina warmly greeted her. "Are you and Logan doing the after dance thing?" She waggled her eyebrows.

Veronica's eyes popped wide and she frantically shook her head. "No, no, no. Logan and I, we're not, you know, anything."

Trina chortled. "Yeah, right. My brother's like in love with you."

"What? No, he's not."

"Uhm." The redhead gave her a look of disbelief. "I'm pretty sure he is. It's always Veronica this. Veronica that." She laughed and Veronica cheeks colored. "He'd been driving me crazy for days getting that romantic wonderland created for you in the pool house."

Veronica blinked, unable to comprehend Trina's words. "What?"

Trina arched her brow. "Wait, he didn't show you?" Her eyes filled with confusion and then she shrugged. "He probably realized that it was too much. Seriously, he acted like he was proposing instead of asking you to the dance." An idea popped into Trina's head, the thought of embarrassing Logan in front of his girlfriend made her feel delighted. "C'mon," Trina told the petite blonde and led her to the pool house. "Logan's way too lazy to clean up after himself and the staff wouldn't take down the arrangement without being told to. And Logan's way too lazy to tell them to."

Trina's eyes widened when she slid the door opened. "Huh, you two are wild."

Veronica's mouth dropped open. "I didn't do a thing! I swear, I haven't been here."

The redhead frowned and picked up an empty bottle, "I was kidding, Veronica. Kinda. But I think Logan got a little carried away with his friend Jack Daniels."

"I gathered as much," the blonde sighed. "He crashed the dance. And he wasn't even wearing any pants."

"The same dance that he did all this for?" Trina quirked an eyebrow and Veronica solemnly nodded. Trina took out her phone and browsed through her pictures. "Here, this was what it originally looked like."

The light threads ran across the ceiling and was draped down the wall, it glowed a soft shade of gold that romanticized the room.

Veronica's eyes automatically looked up to exam the threads, it was still there but it looked pulled and not patterned like it was in the picture. Veronica's eyes caught the cotton cloth hiding the wall, curiously she walked over and peeked over.

Her eyes widened at the sight of pictures of herself and Logan. She tugged at the cotton cloth and revealed a huge collage of pictures filled of her and Logan with the words, 'Will you go to the dance with me?' printed in the center.

Veronica's breath hitched. "I can't believe he did this for me."

Trina shrugged and said, "Didn't I just say he's like in love with you?"

The blonde flushed. The Echolls family always tended to be over dramatic. But that didn't stop her heart from fluttering. If he'd had this planned? Why didn't he ask her to the dance? Lilly's words from her conversation with Logan echoed in her mind, Logan's behavior clicked in her mind and her eyes widened.

Oh.


He squinted his eyes opened and cringed as the headache hit him. He mentally cursed when memories of last night hit him. Why did he have to be so stupid?

When Lilly had told him about Veronica seeing him kiss Yolanda, he'd felt awful with a side of crap. His heart ached at the thought of hurting Veronica.

He'd tried to speak to Veronica through the week but she's become an expert in the art of avoidance. When he wrote her notes, she responded with 'I need to pay attention in class. Talk to you later.' But later never came. When he tried during lunch, she'd always mysteriously disappear under the claims of a school project or a test she just had to study for. When he went to her house, her mother looked at him apologetically and gave him some generic response.

He couldn't blame her for avoiding him. He'd hurt her. And he'd only made it worse when he'd acted like such a jackass toward her.

Why couldn't he just think for a moment without being so impulsive and reckless? If he hadn't have gotten drunk, Veronica would have stayed and he'd have asked her and they'd have been dancing at the stupid dance.

The stupid dance that he crashed. He groaned. Once again, he ruined Veronica's night.

He hadn't intended to. Really. But he'd gotten drunk as per usual (he really needed to stop because each time his drunk self did something more stupid than his sober self). When he started to think about the dance and of Veronica and Norris together, he just couldn't handle it.

How could he have lost a girl he never had?

How could he let the girl go without even putting up a fight?

And that's what he'd intended to do. He'd intended to fight for her. It seemed like a real swell idea when he thought of it.

But then he'd gone to the dance and he'd saw them. Together. Swaying. That guy's hands on Veronica's hips.

And so he'd done the one thing he knew would break them apart. He made a scene.

There was one thing Veronica couldn't resist; a damsel in distress.

When she'd left with him instead of staying at the dance, he was thrilled. His plan had worked. He hadn't factored in the prospect of her being mad at him.

And once again he'd made a mess of everything.

For once, couldn't his romantic gestures work out and be romantic?

He dragged himself out of bed and hit the shower. He stunk.


Logan walked into the kitchen and froze at the sight of the petite blonde leisurely fanning out the cookies from the oven while she laughed with his sister.

He blinked. Was he still dreaming? And if so, why was Trina in his dream?

"Look who finally got their lazy ass up," Trina remarked as she snatched a cookie.

His eyes went to Veronica's and his heart rate quickened when she gave him a small smile.

Trina rolled her to eyes. "Okay, I'm not staying here for the intense stare contest." She grabbed a plate of cookies and hopped of the bar stole. "Later Ronica."

Veronica broke their locked eyes and waved Trina off, "Later, Trina."

Logan moved toward her and she sucked in a breath. "You stayed," he softly let out.

She bit her lip and quizzed. "So you remember last night?"

He nodded in response and started, "Veronica-"

"I wasn't going to leave you to fend for yourself," she softly said. "Especially considering the state you were in."

He swallowed. He needed to fix his mess, he honestly didn't know where to start. She busied herself clearing up the counter and he settled himself on the bar stool. His heart tugged and his voice soft, "I shouldn't have ruined your date. I'm sorry."

She paused her movement and met his gaze. She sighed and finally said, "You're an idiot." Her lip curved and amusement danced in his eyes. He stared at her in confusion for a moment and wondered why wasn't she yelling at him?

He went along with it and a hinted grin curled it's way on his lips. "Veronica Mars, resorting to name calling? Never thought I'd live to see the day."

She shrugged. "I'd never thought I'd do a lot of things, Logan but then I met you."

His breath caught in his chest at her soft tone and he cursed himself for ever making her feel anything other than happiness. "Veronica, I'm-"

"Cookie?" She offered him and he looked at her helplessly.

"I need to talk to you," he pleaded and she simply nodded.

"Logan, eat something. Then, we'll talk."


They'd eaten in silence, Logan had never in his life felt so nerve-wrecked. He needed to apologize, explain and plead that she forgive him for being such a 'dipshit' as Lilly so elegantly put it. While Veronica sat opposite him, calm, cool and collected. He wished he knew what she was thinking. He wished they could full the silence that engulfed them. But Veronica had insisted that they'd eat.

He would have suspected that she'd wanted to bolt but wouldn't she have done that while he was asleep?

Once they'd finished off their food, Veronica stood up, looked at him and urged him, "C'mon."

He watched her with intense curiosity as he got up and asked, "Where are we going?"

"To the pool house," she easily let out the words.

He froze and quickly shook his head. "No, we should stay here and talk."

She turned to face him, quirked an eyebrow and said, "I'd rather we go there."

He swallowed and remarked, "I'd rather we not."

"Logan, I'm going in. If you want to talk to me, you'll come with me."

He groaned and confessed, "It's a mess, Veronica."

"It's really not," she told him as she started to walk toward it.

When she slid the door opened and led him in, he gawked at. He tore his eyes away from the clean and perfectly put together place and looked at her quizzing.

She met his gaze, a coy smile on her lips as she confessed, "Trina helped me clean it up. It wasn't that ruined. You wanted it to be special, right?"

Logan sucked in a breath and Veronica's eyes glistened with emotion. "I couldn't believe that you'd had all this prepared for me."

He blew out a breath and cupped her cheek. "I'd do anything for you, Veronica."

Her cheeks heated, her insides tingled and that single sentence had made her feel so much more than any other boy had ever made her feel.

They settled onto the couch and he held her hands in his, his eyes filled with remorse as he confessed, "I'm sorry that I messed it up. I'm so sorry, Veronica. It kills me that I hurt you when all I wanna do is protect you."

"Logan-" She started but he shook his head.

He swallowed, he didn't want to bring up this memory for her but he needed to apologize. And he needed her to know that he didn't want to be kissing anybody that wasn't her. "I don't remember kissing Yolanda -"

"Lilly told me," she hurriedly informed him, wanting to put those events past them.

"Of course she did," he let out. "I just needed you to know that that was a horrible mistake. And -"

"Lilly told me, Logan," she assured him. "Something along the lines of 'he looked like I gave him a dead puppy and told him he'd killed it.' I know you're sorry Logan." She squeezed his fingers and bit her lip, for a moment debating whether or not she should bring it up. She looked in his eyes and he silently encouraged her to speak her mind. "But getting drunk and hooking up with a girl is kinda your MO when you're angry and hurt."

"I don't want it to be," he painfully let out. "I really don't." He breathed out. "Last night, I'd done the same thing but I didn't hook up with someone Veronica. I went to fight for you. And that's something I plan to keep doing. Not the getting drunk of my ass part. But the fighting for you part."

Her lips began to curve into a smile and she nodded. "All you need to do is use your words and communicate with me. Okay? How was I supposed to know if you felt what I felt?"

He nodded, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. "Communication, got it. See, I'm learning already." She chuckled and he gave her a small smile. "For the record, I feel this."

He cupped her cheek and dipped his head toward her. She stared at him, emotion filling her eyes. He slowly leaned in, gouging her reaction. Their foreheads touch, then their nose, and finally their lips met in a soft kiss.

She brought her hands to his waist and pulled him closer as she deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, they smiled against each other's lips.

"Logan?" She whispered and he hummed. "Wanna dance?" He pulled back slightly to look at her face. "You waited because of the dance. We're gonna dance."

He chuckled and pressed their lips together before standing up. Veronica pressed play and 'I've Had The Time Of My Life' started playing. He arched an eyebrow, Veronica bit her lip and realized that Trina had duped her. "Trina said that you'd wanted this song to be playing."

"Well, it is fitting," he smiled. "I do owe it all to you." He pulled her into his arms and she smiled. His hands rested on her waist and she wrapped her hands around his neck. He nuzzled his nose into her hair and sighed happily against him.

He moved his mouth to her neck, her jaw and found her lips again. She moaned into the kiss and when they pulled away, she whispered, "You know, if you'd just asked me to the dance like a normal person we could have been doing this a whole lot sooner."

He brushed her hair out of her face. "I just," he pressed a kiss to her lips. "I wanted everything to be perfect for you."

She pecked his lips. "It's a sweet thought."


He twirled her around and she giggled. "I love that I can kiss you whenever I want to," he sighed happily into her mouth. "Just touch you in general."

She laughed, her hands rested on his chest and her eyes sparkled when she looked into his. "You've always touched me whenever you wanted."

He nibbled on her earlobe and murmured, "You have no idea the amount of restraint I had."

"Ha," she let out and laughed.

"Seriously," he insisted. "Sometimes I just wanted to wrap you around my arms," he held her flush against him and hoarsely said, "And kiss you senselessly."

Her cheeks flamed and her heart raced at his easy admission to wanting her. "You showed zero restraint on the first part," she let out. "The second part? I'll give you that." She conceded. "And to think that was the only time I wanted you to give into your caveman tenancies."

He grinned, kissed her and echoed, "No more restraint on my lips on your body, got it."

He smiled against her lips as she giggled and proceeded to kiss her senselessly.


When the duo walked into Neptune High hand-in-hand all light whispers, giggly smiles and bright eyed, everyone sighed with relief that they'd finally gotten their act together.

The petite blonde was seated in class, her pen between her lips as she read the mathematical equations. And then a piece of paper landed on her desk. Her lip curved, her heart fluttered as she opened it.

Do you like me? Veronica read with the a box in front of yes and no.

A silent chuckle passed her lips, she turned around, arched an eyebrow and whispered, "Seriously?"

He nodded and urged her to answer. She shook her head and wrote, you're a dork. That's one of the things I like about you though.

He chewed on his pen cap, a lopsided grin played on his face and he quizzed, What else do you like about me?

A smile lingered on her lips as she jotted, That you think I'm going to tell you when really you're just going to have to wait and see.

His grin widened and he wrote, I look forward to it. And I can't wait to show you how amazing I think you are.

Her blush deepened. Win me a bear that says 'I wuv you beary much'?

His smile tugged upward and he added, And go to the movies to make out in the dark.

She bit her lip, her fingers tingled while she wrote, And hold hands and annoy everyone with our adorableness.

Intentional adorableness that brings annoyance to everyone and brings me great pleasure? Sign me up.

She bit back a chuckle. You're such a dork.

As I gather, a tidbit that you appreciate about me.

She licked her lip and jotted down, Yes :) You're my adorable dork.

He sucked on his lips and responded,You're my adorable dork.

Her hand came to her mouth, an attempt to surprise her smile, she really didn't want to get caught by the teacher. What was she going to say? That mathematical equations excited her? She almost giggled at the thought. She swallowed down her giddiness, checked yes to his initial question and responded, P.S I like you. I like you a lot.


Thank you all so much for your amazing response to this story, it's really made me a happy writer. And I am so damned proud of myself for fast consistent updates and actually finishing this story. It's all thanks to your wonderful feedback. This week has been the most I've smiled since my best friend moved away to Texas (I'm in South Africa so that's hella far - thankfully she's coming back in 2 years). So really, thank you so much.