TITLE: His Friend Too
AUTHOR: arbailey
WORD COUNT: 2,672 this chapter
RATING: PG-13 for language
SUMMARY: When Veronica catches her best friend and an aging action hero together, everything falls apart.
SPOILERS: Pre-series that quickly goes AU but does spoil the 1st season Lilly/Aaron storyline
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any rights to Veronica Mars, and this story is written as a tribute only.
A/N 1: This story is currently unbeta'd, and all errors my own. That being said, anyone interested in beta-ing, please feel free to PM me!
A/N 2: I'd forgotten that the infamous Yolanda kiss was actually at Logan's own party, which is the setting for this chapter. I've minutely modified the 1st chapter to correct this error. Mea culpa!
Chapter Two: It's My Party…
Veronica makes it back to her house, but everything is silent and dark. According to a note prominently displayed on the kitchen counter, Dad is working late at the station and Mom has a migraine, so silence would be vastly appreciated. Veronica sighs deeply. Her mother's migraines are a newish development and seemed to coincide with a sudden and severe uptick in her drinking.
Her dad thinks she doesn't know about her mother's drinking and her father's unnecessarily late nights at the office. This is surprisingly naïve of the sheriff. Hasn't he raised her to pay attention to details, to notice when things are off? Still, it's easier to pretend. She has no desire to share the turmoil of her own private life with her parents, and she is willing to afford them the same courtesy.
Backup wiggles impatiently, his whole back half in motion, and barks to interrupt her reverie. Veronica smiles fondly down at the little pitbull and grabs his leash. Some individuals have very simple needs, and it would be a shame to deny him his little joys. Ostensibly the dog was to teach her responsibility, but there aren't many sixteen year olds more responsible than Veronica. In fact, what Backup actually provides is unconditional, uncomplicated affection. Over the last week, the puppy has proved invaluable.
When she gets back to the house, she considers having ice cream for dinner, but she needs her dad to trust her judgment tonight. Pinning her argument on the fact that she needs to go to a party to rescue Logan probably won't fly, but it can't but help to be on her best behavior. There is no reason to stack the deck against herself.
She's just putting the finishing touches on a grilled cheese sandwich when her dad arrives home, and she gives him a kiss on the cheek, like they're living in a sitcom from the fifties. He's instantly suspicious, and she worries she may have slightly overplayed her hand. "Where's your mother," Keith asks, gently kicking the recycling bin which tinkles with the music of empty glass bottles. "Another migraine," says Veronica, her voice softly sympathetic. Keith nods curtly but says nothing.
"So, there's a party tonight," drawls Veronica, wheedlingly. "And you want to go? Who am I to deny the dear girl anything?" says Keith taking a bite of his sandwich and giving her a winning smile before suddenly stopping mid chew, "Wait, I just remembered. I'm your father. I can deny you anything I please." Veronica crosses her arms over her chest, "But seriously, folks." Keith considers her for a long moment, "This party. Will there be alcohol and poorly supervised young men?" Veronica nods in the affirmative, "Yes. And yes. But that doesn't matter because you've taught me well. And I'll take my taser."
What had at first seemed like an entirely random grouping of presents had in fact turned out to be a carefully selected defense package. Unflashy used black convertible for surveillance and quick getaways: check. Pitbull puppy for muscle: check. Taser for general tasering purposes: check. Veronica was overly prepared for dealing with unsocial behavior from any local ne'er-do-well, and Keith took great comfort in this. While she might appear sweet, pretty, and naïve, she is actually sweet, pretty, naïve, and packing 100,000 volts.
"Veronica," Keith begins, weary, but his daughter preempts his refusal. "Logan had a bad day. A really, really bad day, and now he is at home attempting to replace all the liquid in his body with refined potato spirits. He needs a friend." Keith leans back in his chair, "And is Duncan going to be at this party?" Keith queries. Veronica's face blanches, and it is clear she hadn't really considered this fact, but she covers, "I guess."
Keith has been dealing with a daughter trapped in the slough of despond for the better part of the last two weeks, so anything that has distracted her- even the always difficult Echolls boy- is a welcome respite from her moping. And she is sixteen. He'll have to start letting go at some point. He has investigated the cost of giant hamster balls, and they are prohibitively expensive on the salary of a county official. Keith gives her one more long look, before he throws up his shoulders in a shrug, "Ok. Have a nice time at your party. And if you run out of polite cocktail conversation, just remind everyone you know the sheriff! Backup and I will be here, pining for your return." Veronica grins and sprints up stairs to her room.
After everything, Veronica doesn't make it to Logan's party until nearly nine. He has a three hour head start on her, so she is fairly sure she'll find him expertly soused. She's getting dismissive glances from the 09ers, which is a new and unpleasant experience. She'd been routinely ignored as Lilly's shadow, but she'd never actually noticed how much they disliked her. She had believed her friendships were genuine, but that had been foolish. Nothing about the 90909 district is genuine.
Veronica stands uncertainly, twisting her hands together and subconsciously smoothing her hands over the full skirt of her sundress. It's white and virginal, and Lilly told her specifically never to wear it, but she's not really in the mood to listen to Lilly tonight. Technically, she is invited to this party. But of course, that was as Duncan's plus one and Logan's close friend. Given her rapidly shifting social position, Veronica is fairly certain she'll be unwelcome, more so if Logan has been expounding on his ludicrous theory that she was in on Lilly's deception.
Veronica grabs a can of soda from a galvanized tub of ice and looks for Logan in the watery blue light thrown out by the pool. Veronica had never been impressed by the wealth and grandeur of her rich friends, but as she begins to make a mental checklist of all the secluded corners where Logan might be tucked away, she really begins to hate the ostentatious place. If he doesn't want to be found, he could be hiding anywhere. This is disheartening, because she isn't really planning to make a night of this.
As she scans the pool deck her gaze alights on Duncan, his arm wrapped around the waist of a girl she doesn't know, some impressionable freshman. Duncan is whispering in the girl's ear, something insipidly charming obviously, because the girl blushes prettily. Veronica can feel an unpleasant burn rising in the back of her throat and turns from the scene. She feels a tap on her shoulder and turns to a smiling Meg Manning. Finally, a friendly face. Veronica breaks out in a grateful smile. "Veronica!" says Meg, surprised. "I didn't think you'd be here!"
Veronica's smile dims, and Meg rushes to explain. "I only meant that it's a pleasant surprise!" Meg is trying to remain upbeat, but she feels compelled to warn her friend. "It's just with Duncan, and then the new stuff with Lilly and Logan…" "New stuff?" Veronica parrots back, her voice clipped. She frankly hadn't expected news to travel quite so quickly, but given her cool reception, this revelation isn't exactly a shock. "Shelly says she talked to Lilly, that Lilly wasn't coming tonight because she didn't want to deal with you. She said that you were the reason Logan and she broke up this time, "Meg says it with an incredulous smile, dismissing the silly rumor, but she falters when Veronica simply shakes her head tiredly.
Dick sees this exchange from his position by the bar, watching the curled lips of the other party guests as they regard Veronica with distaste. Madison is grinning smugly, punctuating her conversation with Carrie and Caitlin with disdainful flicks of her head towards Veronica. He doesn't really know why Madison hates Veronica, but she is the only consistent pussy he can count on getting, so hating the people she hates and taunting the poor souls she taunts is an extraordinarily small price to pay for semi-regular sex. Madison had always put on a tolerant public face when Veronica was protected by the aura of the Fab Four, but she had railed endlessly when it was just her and Dick. Dick started to hate Veronica a little too, identifying her as an agent of the evil force of cockblock. Madison never put out once she was wound up in such a foul mood.
And now Veronica was clearly being shut out. When Dick had arrived, Logan was wearing the blackest expression Dick had ever seen. Logan didn't want to talk about it, which was good, as Dick hadn't even offered. Did it look like he'd grown a uterus in seventh period? Clearly, Logan and Lilly were on the outs again, but this time Veronica was somehow intimately involved. Or else they had discovered what she'd done to Duncan, and it had been horrible. While Logan might have distanced himself for Duncan's sake, he wouldn't have frozen her out this way for anything but the most heinous crimes. And Lilly would surely forgive Veronica anything, but she's skipping this party – Lilly Kane skipping a party!- specifically to avoid Veronica.
The collected 09ers are absolutely slathering to find out what Veronica has done, but despite all her many crimes, Lilly, Logan, and Duncan aren't talking. Which isn't to say there isn't speculation. Shelly, serving in her self-designated role as Lilly's emissary, whispers her suspicions about Veronica's purported purity. Madison scoffs at that because everyone knows how frigid Veronica is. Clearly, Veronica had stolen something from the Kane house. The little townie klepto is probably Ebay-ing her way through anything not nailed down. But in the end, her crime doesn't matter. She is entirely Other. She doesn't belong, and allowing her to forget that was a huge mistake on the part of her betters.
So when the opportunity presents itself, Dick pushes Veronica into the pool. She's no more than two feet from the pool edge, her back to the gathering crowds as she gazes out over the pool and surrounding patio. Meg sees that something bad is about to happen as she observes Dick's approach over Veronica's shoulder, but she is too slow to prevent the inevitable. When he turns back from his mission, the glee on Madison's face tells him he's probably earned himself a handjob, minimum. Everybody laughs, and Enbom claps him on the back. Dick grins widely, happy to have secured his position as the undisputed wit of the party, and strides off to claim his prize from Madison.
Veronica flails a little in the water before she finds her feet and heads toward the ladder. Meg is crouching down and offering her hand, but Veronica's grip is slippery. Meg grabs in panic at the bodice of Veronica's sundress as Veronica starts to fall back, and the delicate strap pops free, unceremoniously dumping Veronica back into the water. Another round of laughter washes over the crowd, and Meg looks apologetic as she puts her hand out again. Veronica waves her off and hauls herself out of the water.
As she wipes pool water out of her eyes, Veronica sees a flash of movement from an upstairs window in her peripheral vision. Wringing the water out of her hair, Veronica strides purposefully towards the house. With each step, the water in her shoes squelches, and she grimaces in discomfort and embarrassment. She has to push through the crowd past the bar, and she gets several loud squawks from disgruntled, and now slightly damp, 09er girls. As she climbs the stairs, she can hear muffled giggles and a sudden flurry of activity. Apparently her entrance is expected. She feels the crowd behind her stalk towards the stairwell, already salivating for her duel with Logan.
When she reaches the tops of the landing, she sees Logan seated on a low couch and wrapped around Yolanda, enthusiastically examining her back teeth with his tongue and determinedly ignoring his former friend. Veronica pokes Logan's shoulder, but he continues to ignore her. However, Yolanda senses his tension and opens her eyes. She separates from Logan's kiss with an audible pop and rubs the back of her hand across her mouth self-consciously. Logan looks back and forth between the two girls, his gaze bleary and annoyed.
"Logan, can I talk to you? I just need…" she pauses, taking in the way his eyes won't properly focus and the way the tightly corded tendons in his neck pop. She sighs, "You're completely wasted." Veronica crosses her arms over her chest, and her hands wrapped tightly around her elbows. The arctic chill of the impeccably well air-conditioned Echolls Mansion has finally penetrated her laser-focused sense of purpose, and she tapes her foot impatiently on the carpet, hoping to conceal her shiver. She attempts to look stern, but she's come here to take care of him, and her concern leaks through.
Her crossed arms pull the bodice of her dress tightly across her chest, and the dunking in the pool has made the thin white fabric almost see through. Logan's mouth goes dry at the sharp points of her nipples as they press against the muslin. One of Logan's problems, he is realizing, is the ease with which he confuses anger and desire. He shakes his head, baiting, "I don't think you're qualified to tell me when I've had enough. Then again, maybe Mommy Dearest has given you some pointers..." At that, Veronica stills for one moment, aghast, but then huffs into action, grappling with him.
She leans into him, offering her thin frame to support his weight and trying vainly to lift him, but he pushes her off. If it weren't so annoying, it'd be almost cute the way she thinks she can move him. "Come on now Ronnie, fair is fair. You let Lilly have her fun, now it's my turn," Logan says with a cold chuckle. He looks at her, almost clearly, and says thoughtfully, "Why'd you go and ruin a good thing? So jealous of me and Lilly, just because you couldn't hold on to the Donut. I guess nobody can be happy if Ronnie's not happy. When'd you get so petty Mars?" Closing her eyes, she rolls her neck in a loose circle, trying to displace some of that tension. When she opens her eyes again, all warmth is gone. All he sees is anger and acceptance and defeat.
She grabs Yolanda by the wrist and hauls her a short way off. Yolanda is completely unfamiliar with this side of Veronica, and she goes directly into damage control. "Logan told me he and Lilly broke up, I would never…" Veronica cuts her off with a sharp motion of her hand, "Whatever. Believe me, I don't care." Veronica grabs Yolanda's hand and places Logan's keys in her palm. Yolanda goggles, "How did you get these?" Veronica smirks coolly, "I lifted them off him during our little wrestling match there." But just as quickly as the smile came, it's gone. "He's in for the night. If he's about to pass out, you get him to the pool house. There is Gatorade in the mini-fridge behind the bar and ibuprofen under the sink in the bathroom. He's an asshole when he's hungover so you should probably clear out before he wakes up." She gives Yolanda a tight smile, "Good luck."
Yolanda just nods her open-mouthed assent, and Veronica turns on her heel. "Bye Veronica" Logan calls after her as she pauses for a moment in her escape, "And remember, 'Betrayal is the only truth that sticks - Arthur Miller.'" Veronica step falters a little, but she is on the move again. A small wave of catcalls follows her, but she makes no sign she notices. And when Yolanda and Logan stumble drunkenly into the pool house together, they are followed by several pairs of sharp eyes. Blearily pounding at the keys of her Blackberry, Caitlin Ford makes a phone call.
A/N 3: As always, reviews and concrit deeply appreciated!