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LoVe Made Me Drunk
Earlier while Wallace had looked for Veronica's phone on the Echoll's lawn, she had swiped an unopened bottle of the Stoli vodka Trina was drinking from the liquor cabinet. Veronica knew it was petty and vindictive, but she'd wanted to do something, just a little something, to get back at Trina for the things she said. Her only other idea involved the flagpole at school, but it was a disproportional response and not immediate enough, so she settled on stealing the vodka instead. Her original plan was to have a drink with her bath, but Meg's hysteria increased while Mac was gone, and Veronica gave her a drink to help calm her nerves. Since the bottle was already open, and since Veronica had one hell of a day, she decided to have a drink herself. After Meg left, she convinced Mac to have a cocktail too.
"Was it necessary for her to take all three tests?" Mac asked as she sipped the drink Veronica made for her. It was a mixture of 7Up and blueberry vodka. It was pretty good, much better than the beer normally found at the few high school parties she'd attended.
"You're the one who bought three tests," Veronica countered. She was a little worried about Meg's reaction to the results. It had taken an hour for the girl to stop crying and pull herself together enough to go home. Veronica suggested she stay in the suite for the night, but Meg was adamant she had to leave. She reluctantly admitted her parents didn't know where she was and probably wouldn't approve if they did. Veronica wasn't surprised.
"I never bought a pregnancy test before. I wasn't sure which one to get, so I bought three different kinds. I didn't expect her to use them all." Mac remembered the look on Meg's face when she saw the negative result of the first test, and then the subsequent two. "Was she disappointed? Is that why she took all three? Does she want to be pregnant?"
Veronica had been asking herself the same questions. "No. And maybe yes. I don't think she'd get pregnant on purpose. Meg's not the type, and her parents are super strict. Church every Sunday, bible study, the whole nine yards. If she was pregnant, it would not go over well. But... I think she does love Duncan and it would keep her connected to him."
Mac shivered at the thought of being seventeen and pregnant. Not in her plans, that was for sure. "What she said about not existing anymore? I'm not sure you've heard the rumors at school because you've busy, but I heard Duncan's totally blowing her off."
Veronica fell back on the bed, careful not to spill her drink. "It is such a Duncan thing to do, and it's so crappy of him. You know, he never officially broke-up with me; he just stopped talking to me. Exactly what he's doing with Meg. He doesn't want to face it, so he acts like it's not happening." Even now when she knew the reason why Duncan broke-up with her, she still wasn't happy about he handled it. No, it wouldn't have been an easy conversation, but he had over a year to figure out how to approach it. The fact that she had to drag it out of him on the front porch of his parent's house was unacceptable.
A loud commotion from the outer room caught Mac's attention. The guys had moved from Grand Theft Auto to Resident Evil:Outbreak and were now playing Half-Life. She was tempted to join them, because she knew she could bury them on Half-Life, but she was having fun hanging out with Veronica. They did it so rarely without a case involved. "Soooooo." She sucked in her bottom lip and raised both her eyebrows. "Is he still in love with you?" she asked in a rush.
"And this would be the gossip portion of the evening." Veronica propped herself up on her elbows. "I don't know what's going on with Duncan. The last time I saw him was... that night. He must know I'm staying with Logan. Hell, the entire free world knows. If he is 'in love' with me," she made the air quotes, "then he's probably upset. But how Duncan feels is the least of my problems. Between dad and Logan, I have more pressing issues to deal with." Two girls, sitting in a bedroom, drinking cocktails, talking about life. It reminded Veronica of Lilly, the best parts of Lilly, and she needed it. She needed to remember that more important than Lilly's death, was Lilly's life. The time they spent together laughing, joking, gossiping, being friends. That's what she wanted to remember about Lilly. And she wanted to have that again with someone else. She was glad it was Mac.
"Ah, yes. You and the young Mr. Echolls. When did you two 'hook up', as the kids say? I'm hearing interesting things about an '09er party and you getting busted kissing in Logan's doorway." Mac had to admit she was curious. Seeing Logan and Veronica all cuddly earlier was weird.
"A month ago?" At Mac's shocked and hurt expression, Veronica hurried on to explain. "Neither one of us knew what was going on. We have so much baggage and there was so much to work through. Still is. We wanted to keep it quiet until we figured it out. And Duncan was missing. We wanted to wait until he got home so we could tell him personally. Of course, you heard how well that plan worked." Veronica stared down into her glass. "Neither one of us were looking for this, it just... sorta... happened."
"You two were friends before. An argument could be made it's not completely out of left field." With perspective the rest of them didn't poses because they were close to Lilly, Mac reasoned the tension between Logan and Veronica over the past year had more to do with grief than any real hatred they held for each other. "How's your dad taking it?"
"If he wasn't laid out in the hospital, I'm sure he'd be lecturing me every minute of the day, but right now he's just happy I'm alive. The after-glow is washing over onto Logan." Then Veronica remembered the past few days and the conversations in her dad's hospital room. "I take it back. It's not all because of me. I think my dad likes Logan and I know he feels bad for him. Not pity, but empathy. With everything Logan's lost, I think my dad respects him because he's still standing. Perseverance through adversity. All that guy stuff."
"How very John Wayne of him," Mac commented and both girls laughed. But Mac understood. She'd suffered her own adversity recently finding out the truth about her parents. It almost crushed her. She couldn't imagine how Logan was dealing with the truth about his father. "He was sweet to me when I showed up. You weren't here, so I was going to leave, but he told me to stick around. Got me a coke. Asked me about some computer stuff. It was uncomfortable, but he wasn't an ass or anything. And then Dick showed up." Mac rolled her eyes, her disgust evident. "And he was an ass, but Logan told him to back-off. Not the treatment I expected from Logan Echolls."
Veronica was sure the situation was awkward for both of them, but she was proud Logan treated her friend well. "Contrary to popular opinion, Logan's never been an easy one to pin down. He can be sweet. He can be a jackass. Most of the time, he does what's expected of him. He's a chameleon really. It takes a lot for him to stop acting and just be Logan."
"So the two of you do have something in common," Mac said in her best smart-ass tone. Veronica threw a pillow at her head, but Mac ducked before it could connect. "Come on, Veronica. You're not the easiest person to get to know either. If you were a computer, your firewalls would be unbreachable. If someone doesn't have the password, they can't connect."
"Am I that bad?" Veronica whispered, not sure she liked the analogy. She knew she was closed-off, but Mac made her sound like...
"Firewalls are in place for protection," Mac said matter-of-factly. "You have a multitude of secrets you don't want anyone touching. I'm not saying it's bad. You got screwed over by people you thought were your friends. Once bitten, twice shy." It wasn't Mac's intention to insult Veronica. It was the last thing she wanted to do. But she thought Veronica would appreciate the honesty. On a lighter note she added, "It's like a private club. The five or six of us you let get close. I must admit, I do feel special," she teased.
Veronica's smile reappeared. "You should feel special. I am a very discerning person. Only the best people are my friends."
"We're an eclectic bunch, I'll give you that." Mac thought about Veronica's friends: the computer geek, the athlete, the biker, the princess, the jackass. There were several pop-culture references she could make, but she refrained. "Me, Wallace, Weevil, Meg, Logan. Am I missing anyone?"
"Duncan," Veronica said, then qualified, "but only on his good days."
Mac snorted. "Uh, no. I don't think so." Veronica titled her head and waited for Mac to explain. "That chameleon thing you mentioned? You do that with Duncan. You're not Veronica around him, not the Veronica I know. You get all... soft," Mac finished with a squinch of her face. "Logan, Logan you give hell. But with Duncan, you're all... ahahahah," her voice falsetto as she battered her eyelashes and fluttered her fingers.
"Mac!" Veronica practically screeched as she lightly slapped her friend's shoulder.
But Mac continued to laugh at her. "It's not my fault you get all goggly-eyed." She tucked her feet under her on the bed. She was getting into the whole gossip thing. She'd never really done it before. Never had a girlfriend to do it with. "But it looks like there are still feelings there. If Duncan asked you out, would you say yes?"
"I'm dating Logan," Veronica said primly.
"That's an evasion," Mac pointed out, "and does not answer the question."
"You're right," Veronica agreed. She laid down on her stomach, her head propped up in her hand. Unlike Mac, she didn't have to drive home and didn't have to go to school in the morning, so she was on her second drink, while Mac was savoring her one-and-only. The alcohol was obviously wearing down those barriers Mac mentioned and Veronica took a chance. "What do you think I should do?" Mac's face paled and Veronica could see her start to pull away. "Don't stop now. We're having an open discussion fueled by alcohol. I've already heard from Wallace and my dad. You're observant and I trust you. I'm not going to base the rest of my life on what you think, but I want to know."
"O-kay," Mac reluctantly agreed and hoped Veronica didn't hate her in the morning. She gave the question the consideration it deserved before answering. "To make a truly informed decision, I would need more data, but going on what little information I have... I'd have to say... stick with Logan. He keeps you on your toes."
"And that's a good thing?" Veronica asked with interest as she sipped her drink.
"You could tie Duncan Kane into knots without even trying. The guy's a born people pleaser, even I can see that. Logan seems like more of a challenge, and you like to be challenged." Mac thought the dynamic between Veronica and Logan was interesting. Normally, Veronica didn't let people's opinions effect her, but Logan easily got under her skin. Either Veronica let him do it, or Logan knew how to do it better than anyone else. Interesting. "But I'm probably wrong. You shouldn't listen to me."
"No, I'd say you're dead-on. That's sorta what I've been thinking." Veronica didn't sensor what she said next. "The goggily-eyed girl, that's the old Veronica. The Veronica I was before Lilly died. And the way Duncan looks at me, like he only sees the old me, it's flattering, but unsettling. If he's in love with anyone, it's the girl I used to be. But I'm not sure I can be her again. Or want to be her again. I don't always like the new Veronica, but at least I know I can depend on myself now. I'm stronger." She shook the deep thoughts from her mind as she pushed herself up from the mattress. "I obviously need food to counterbalance the effects of the alcohol. You hungry?"
"I could eat." Mac knew a change of subject when she heard it, but she had something to say before the opportunity was lost. She put her hand on Veronica's arm to stop her from walking away. "Personally, I like this Veronica better. The old one never would have been my friend."
--- VVV
The girls were still talking and laughing - only Veronica was drinking - when Wallace knocked on the bedroom door. He opened it enough to stick-in his head. "Hey superfly, I'm heading out."
"But it's only - " Veronica turned to the bedside clock, which read ten-twenty-three. "I didn't realize it was so late." Meg left around six and Veronica ordered room service for her and Mac around seven, but it didn't feel like three hours had passed since they'd eaten.
Mac glanced at the clock too, then hopped up from the bed. "I need to be getting home. I'm surprised my mom hasn't called to find out where I am." She quickly gathered her things from around the room.
Veronica scrambled off the bed, in the process tripping over her own foot and bouncing back on the mattress. "Thanks, stud," she said around a giggle as Wallace helped her stand.
She swayed on her feet and Wallace kept a hold of her until she was steady. "Are you drunk?" he asked incredulously. He'd been stuck in a room with Dick Casablancas for almost five hours, doing his best to play nice with the idiot '09er while trying to get a better read on Logan, and she'd been in her bedroom getting drunk!
Veronica pinched her thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little."
Mac slung her messenger bag over her shoulder, then held up the vodka bottle for Wallace's inspection. "I had one drink, Meg had one drink, Veronica had the rest."
Wallace looked at the two-thirds empty bottle, shaking his head. "And Logan turned down the beer Dick offered him 'cause he was afraid you'd be upset." He tried to sit her back down on the bed. "Stay here and sleep it off."
But Back-Up pushed open the door and came bounding into the bedroom. He stopped in front of Veronica, wagging his tail, looking up at her expectantly. She bent over and threw her arms around him. "Hi, puppy! Ah, such a good puppy. Do you have to got outside?" she asked in a tone of voice usually reserved for babies. Back-Up pranced in affirmation. "Okay, puppy. I'll take you." She sidled out of the room, the dog following.
Wallace turned to Mac, his disapproval evident. "Like I could have stopped her," Mac answered the unasked question. "And she's not drunk, she's tipsy. But we should probably go downstairs with her so she doesn't get into trouble."
"You think?!" Wallace growled. Because what the situation needed was a reporter cornering Veronica in her present state. Who knew what she'd say - or do. He snatched the vodka from Mac's hand and walked out of the room to catch up with his friend.
Veronica was already at the suite door with the dog. Wallace slammed the bottle on the counter of the kitchenette and hurried to her side. Logan and Dick were playing Hitman, Dick too involved to notice what was going on, but Logan looked up at the sound. He focused on the bottle, then his eyes snapped to his girlfriend. Back-Up pulled on his lead and Veronica pitched forward. Thankfully, Wallace had a hand on her arm so she didn't fall. Logan started to stand, concern and disbelief at what he was seeing written plainly on his face, but Wallace waved him off with an 'I got this' gesture. Mac joined them and the three left the suite.
Logan slowly sat back down on the sofa, his concentration shattered. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Veronica was... drunk. But that was impossibly. Ronnie didn't get drunk. Ronnie barely drank at all. But his eyes kept wandering back to the bottle of vodka.
--- VVV
When the group returned, Logan threw his controller on the sofa. He wanted answers. "I'll be back in a minute," he said to Dick.
Dick continued to play, totally focused on the game. "Whatever, dude. I was kicking your ass anyway." Which he was because Logan was distracted.
Logan dismissed his friend from his mind and walked over to where Veronica was unclipping Back-Up's lead. Wallace still looked unhappy and Mac looked bored. For the moment, he dismissed them too and centered his attention on Veronica. "Ronnie?" he asked, trepidation in his voice.
Veronica straightened and lunged for Logan. She threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him solidly on the mouth. "Logan! Are you having fun? I'm having fun. Back-Up was a very good boy. He deserves a treat." She disentangled herself from her boyfriend. "Come on, boy! Let's get a cookie." And she floated away to the kitchenette and the dog biscuits she'd stored in one of the cabinets.
My god, Logan thought, she is drunk. He tasted the alcohol when she kissed him. He narrowed his eyes at her companions, his voice a threatening whisper. "Care to explain?"
Wallace pointed to Mac, keeping his voice low too. "This is all you, girly-girl. You're the one who was with her all night."
Mac huffed. She'd listened to enough of Wallace's muttered outrage downstairs; she wasn't going to take guff from Logan too. "So she had a couple of drinks? She's not falling-down drunk, she's happy. Would you two stop acting like the world's coming to an end." She peaked over at Veronica to make sure her friend was still busy with Back-Up. "Meg was upset and Veronica gave her a drink. She had one too. Once we got Meg calm again and out the door, Veronica had a few more. In the last four hours, she's had five, maybe six drinks. And I watched her pour them. I don't think there was a full shot of vodka in any of them. Plus, she ate a dinner. She's not accustomed to drinking, that's all. She's fine."
"Five or six drinks!" Logan said through clenched teeth as he ran a hand roughly through his hair "If she's hung-over tomorrow, I'm the one who's going to get the blame. Keith is going to kill me!"
"Then I wouldn't go to the hospital first thing in the morning." Mac smiled sweetly. When she first walked into the suite, she was nervous around Logan, not quite sure how to act. But after hours of talking to Veronica and learning more about the guy, Logan didn't scare her in the slightest. It was like dealing with Weevil. There was public perception and then there was private reality. According to Veronica, Logan was a pussycat. That piece of information gave Mac the courage she needed to do what she did next. She poked her finger hard into Logan's chest. "But if you try to take advantage of her half-drunk state, I'll make sure her dad knows all about it. Got it?"
Logan smirked at the unexpected threat from the girl Veronica had described as shy. Spunky was more like it. Damn! Another one of Veronica's friends who knew he was going to like. "She's perfectly safe with me. See, that's her bedroom," he pointed then turned, "and that's my bedroom. Everything's cool."
Veronica told Mac about the actual sleeping arrangements, so she gave Logan a look that made lesser computer geeks squirm. "It better be, mister. Veronica tells me things, you know. And I'm watching you." Wallace barked out a laugh next to her. Mac turned her steely gaze on him. "She's already got one over-protective father; she doesn't need two. Cut her some slack. It's been a rough couple of days."
Veronica chose that moment to saunter back. "I thought you guys were leaving. Did you decide to stay? 'Cause this place makes the best hot fudge sundaes. And Logan doesn't care what I order," she finished lightly slapping him on the chest.
Logan grabbed her hand before it slid down his torso and entwined his fingers with hers. She smiled up at him, and he realized Mac was right. Oh, Veronica was drunk, but she was happy too. And relaxed. And more open than he'd seen her since... well, since before Duncan broke-up with her sophomore year. He lifted their joined hands to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. "Yeah, stick around. Have a sundae." Anything to keep that smile on her face.
My work here is done, Mac thought. "Thanks, but I really need to get home. Some of us have school in the morning. You ready to go Wallace?"
Wallace was fascinated with the sight in front of him. In the past few hours he'd decided Logan might be an okay guy after all. He was a gracious loser, unlike Dick who complained every time he lost, and a decent winner, not rubbing it in. He'd been willing to put up with people he didn't know invading his private space when Wallace was sure he wanted to be left alone. More points in his favor. But Wallace didn't expect the look Logan was giving Veronica, or the look she was giving him back. They really were into each other. Mac nudged his shoulder. "Ah, yeah, yeah. I'm good to go. I'll walk down with ya. Call me tomorrow, Veronica. Let me know how your dad's doing."
Veronica gave each of them a one-armed hug; her other hand still attached to Logan. "Thanks for helping me earlier, Wallace. And thanks for stopping by, Mac. We need to do it more often."
The friends finished their good-byes, and Logan closed the door behind them when they left. Then he settled his hands on Veronica's waist and whispered in her ear. "Two down, one to go." He planted a loud kiss on her cheek.
Veronica giggled and squirmed in his arms. "Let him beat you so he'll leave. And then you and I can have some quality time together. We haven't been alone all day."
She pouted, her bottom lip sticking out, and Logan wanted nothing more than bite it and suck it into his mouth. But in the state Veronica was in, that could lead to very, very bad things. And now he had Keith and Mac to worry about. No taking advantage of drunk Veronica. Not tonight. But he wouldn't mind cuddling next to her in bed. "Whether I beat him or not, I'm kicking him out after this last game. Promise." He gave her one more kiss, then released her.
Twenty minutes later, Veronica was perched on a bar stool watching Logan and Dick battle it out on the sofa. Dick Casablancas. One of the many banes of her existence. Like Trina, it wasn't that he was inherently evil. He was... indifferently evil. He walked through life not recognizing the destruction he caused.
Like the GHB he'd slipped into Madison's drink at Shelley Pomroy's party. First off, who has to secretly dose their own girlfriend? If she stopped sleeping with him, and if all Dick wanted was someone to have sex with, which Veronica was positive was his main requirement in a girlfriend, why didn't he dump her? Dick was a decent looking guy. He could easily find another skank willing to fill Madison's place. It wasn't difficult. Girl's were constantly looking to move up the '09er boyfriend food chain, and many of them didn't care what or who they had to do to do it. Dick could have had another girl in twenty-four hours. He probably could have had another girl by the end of Shelley's party.
Second, who 'gives' their brother an unconscious girl to screw? Did it never occur to him that along with being morally reprehensible, it was also illegal? No, he didn't know about the drugs already in her system, and yes, along with Dick, Logan was part of the crew feeding her drinks. But no matter how mad Logan was at her, she knew he wouldn't have left her alone in a room with Beaver, given Beav a strip of condoms, and told him to 'have at it'.
The more Veronica thought about it, more furious she became. She hadn't had time to linger on what happened since finding out the truth. Duncan's confession, and her true paternity, and accusing Logan of killing Lilly, and figuring out Aaron was the actual murderer, and her dad's hospitalization had sorta pushed Dick's actions to the back of her mind. But now it was front and center once again. Veronica stalked across the room, her need for vengeance driving her forward. She swung her hand back as far as it would go, and let lose with a smack that thwumped on the back of Dick's head. "You sick son-of-a-bitch!" she yelled from behind him.
The impact snapped Dick's head forward and he dropped his controller. His hand shot up to cover the stinging spot on his neck; she'd clipped him good. "God damn it, Ronnie!" he bellowed as he jumped over the sofa, the game instantly forgotten. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"
Veronica took a step back, but she didn't run away. She folded her arms across her chest, fury radiating from her eyes. Back-Up protectively stood between her and her opponent. "You left me in room with Beaver?! You gave him condoms?! You encouraged him to have sex with me while I was passed-out?! What the fuck is wrong with you!"
It took a second for Logan to register that he had a real problem on his hands. It had been weeks since Veronica found out the truth. His first instinct was to do some damage to his friend, but she'd been adamant she wanted no one to know what happened to her that night. And when she didn't immediately eviscerate Dick herself, he took her at her word. Suddenly, he realized, she must have changed her mind. It had to be the alcohol. He skidded around the sofa. "Veronica, calm down."
"Stay out of this, Logan!" she growled, not taking her eyes of Dick. "I want some answers, and I want them now!"
Dick, in his own ignorance, didn't fully comprehend the magnitude of the current situation, and so he made a typical Dick remark. "Christ, Ronnie! You're pissed at me because you got drunk and were being a slut at a party? So you ended up in a room with Beav. It could have been anybody. You weren't being picky." He turned to Logan to back him up. "You were there, man. She was all over everybody."
Logan eyes darted between Veronica, Back-Up and Dick, sweat rolling down his back. Back-Up could easily kill Dick. Veronica could easily kill Dick. He didn't want to defend his friend's actions, but he didn't want to clean-up blood off the floor either. "Veronica, I don't know what you want me to do here. If you push this any farther..." It wasn't a subtle reminder, but he didn't have a choice.
Veronica heard Logan, but she couldn't stop herself. She pointed an accusing finger at Dick. "He gave Madison the GHB-laced drink! It's his fault! He's the reason I was- I was-" She stumbled over the last set of words and started to shake. She hadn't been raped, but she had been exposed, violated, betrayed, and all by people she once considered her friends. The anger fell from her face, immediately replaced by pure unadulterated pain, and a sob wrenched from her throat.
Logan was curled around her in a heartbeat. "I've got you, Ronnie. You're safe now." He glanced at Dick who opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Logan cut him off. "I'll be back." Then Logan swung Veronica up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.
--- VVV
"What happened to her?" Dick asked with genuine concern in his voice when Logan emerged from the bedroom a little while later. He'd never seen Veronica like that. Not after Lilly's death. Not after her father was kicked-out of office. Not after the months of verbal abuse at school. He didn't know how to handle it. "And what does it have to do with the GHB I gave Madison? It didn't even work."
Logan dropped into the seat next to Dick. Veronica had finally cried herself to sleep, but with her other nightmares, he wasn't sure how long she'd be out. He was determined to make this quick. He didn't know what he could tell Dick without breaking the promise he'd made her, but he knew he had to tell him something. She'd said too much to play it off. "Madison didn't drink the damn drink. She gave it to Veronica. You figure out the rest."
Dick wasn't stupid, and contrary to how he normally acted, he wasn't heartless either. "She wasn't drunk that night? She was..." He let the sentence trail off as he connected the dots. He slumped down on the sofa, covering his face with his hands. "Beav didn't -"
"No, Beaver didn't do anything to her. He ran out of the room and threw-up on some chick's shoes. At least, that's what Veronica's been told. She doesn't remember much about that night." Logan rubbed the back of his neck, felt the knot at the top of his spine. He just wanted the world to fade away. "I hear about this from anyone, and I will break you. I mean it, Dick. None of it leaves this room. She's been through enough, most of it our fault. I won't have this thrown in her face too."
"Yeah, man. Of course." And Dick meant it; he wasn't going to tell a soul. He knew there was more, more Logan wasn't going to tell him. And he knew he didn't want to know the rest. "I didn't know, Logan. I swear to god, I didn't know about the drugs."
"Drugged or drunk. Does it really make a difference?" Logan let the weight of his own guilt settle on his shoulders. "I knew she was out of it and I let guys do body shots off of her. Hell, I started the fucking game." He closed his eyes, let his head fall back against the sofa. "She was my friend and she did nothing wrong. She stood by her dad, her family, and I treated her like shit for it. I don't know how she can even stand to look at me."
Dick gently touched the spot on the back of his neck where Veronica slapped him. "Has she ever hit you? 'Cause for a little thing, she hits like a heavy weight."
"She hasn't gotten around to smacking me yet, but I figure it's only a matter of time." Dick wasn't going to push for more of an explanation, and Logan was glad. He'd said enough as it was. "You gotta go, man. I don't want to leave her alone too long."
Dick took the booting graciously. He stood up and walked towards the door, but he hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. "Logan, tell her I'm sorry. I know it doesn't change much, but I am sorry for whatever happened to her that night."
Logan patted Dick on the back. "It doesn't change a damn thing, but I'll tell her anyway. I call you tomorrow."
--- VVV
When Logan slid into bed next to Veronica she was still asleep, but she was tossing and turning, mumbling to herself. He pulled her close, anchoring her to him like he'd done the previous night. After a few minutes, her restlessness subsided. Logan brushed a kiss across her temple, wondering once again how, after everything he'd done to her, she could find comfort in his arms.
Dysfunction didn't begin to describe them. They were a broken pair. Both with family issues, both with trust issues, both with masks they showed the world instead of their real selves. And yet between them, there was a sense of contentment. They were like the eye of the storm. The middle calm with devastation swirling all around them. But the eye eventually folded in on itself and became part of the storm, maybe the worst part. They'd be swept-up into the surge. And if circumstances didn't change - if they didn't change - they'd end up destroying each other.
The ominous thought plagued Logan, and it was some time before he followed Veronica into sleep.
---TBC