Rating: T/M for language and some sexual references.

A/N: I know a lot of you are angry at Logan, trust me, I am too. But, even though Logan's feelings for Lily aren't romantic, like in the show, I wanted them to be really close. Season one Logan loved Lily and I wanted that to be portrayed in this story without the added romance and sex.

Also, Logan's parents aren't neglectful or abusive in this story. He actually has a pretty decent relationship with his parents as of right now.

Personally, I'm not a massive fan of this chapter (sorry) but this is kind of a filler until the very end. This kind of sets a base for what's to come in upcoming chapters.

Anger, Unconscious and Boyfriends

Duncan wasn't the type of person who got angry often. Unlike his sister, Duncan was mellow and easy-going; honestly, he didn't have much to complain about. He'd been raised with a silver spoon in his mouth: he had great friends, a bottomless chasm of money and his parents had let him pursue college football as long as he promised to finish his degree in government and politics. Duncan Kane – in the grand scheme of things – had a good life, a great life. And so, he had no reason to be angry.

However, today, he was.

Duncan was fuming.

When he'd gotten Lily's frantic call about being hurt, he'd lost it. With just a few months separating them in age, Lily and Duncan grew up us bickering friends opposed to brother and sister. And the thought of Lily hurt had turned Duncan into a crazy lunatic. He was certain he had broken multiple laws trying to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Duncan had envisioned the most terrible of scenarios. He had pictured a doctor telling him the awful news about how Lily wouldn't make it or that a freak accident had wiped her memory; Duncan had prepared himself for the worst. He'd walked into the hospital gravely, his hands white and pale – shaking. What Duncan hadn't prepared himself for was Lily sitting in a hospital bed, flirting shamelessly with the assistant doctor.

Mrs Lily Kane-Echolls in true Lily fashion was sat up in her bed, her blonde hair pulled into a stylish braid on the side of her face. The doctor tended to a bandage on her left ankle but truthfully, it looked as if he was purposefully taking his time just so that he could spend more time with the witty and eccentric patient. Every now and again Lily would wince hyperbolically and the doctor would smile his pearly whites at her and gently caress the bare flesh of her shin. She had him putty in her hands, just how she wanted him.

"Duncan!" Lily had gasped when he'd come running through the door. He hadn't even bothered to knock; all that mattered was making sure his sister was safe and healthy. "Look what happened-" She pouted softly, grinning internally at the fact that the doctor was now paying close attention to her glossy pink lips. "I sprained my ankle."

"You … sprained your ankle?" Duncan exaggerated each syllable in disbelief. When he'd spoken to Lily on the phone she'd been crying hysterically as if she'd just found out she was dying; a sprained ankle was not what Duncan was expecting. He was grateful she was okay, but he was furious that she'd made him and Logan panic the way that she had.

"I was in San Diego, right, and I found the cutest shoes to go with my dress for mom and dad's anniversary party-" Lily began rambling on about some designer shoes in the perfect shade of teal and Duncan simply stared at her, his heart rate slowly returning to a relaxed state. "But gosh they were high! And I stumbled which is so unlike me-"

"Lil'?" Duncan interrupted her, his heart rate now slowly increasing back up again as anger fizzled through his blood. "I … I'm going to go check on your release papers." Duncan didn't even wait for Lily to reply or acknowledge his statement; he just left the room, leaving Lily's mouth hanging half open.

Once Duncan was outside the inpatients ward, he had collapsed onto a hard waiting room chair. The uncomfortable material was cold against his skin and he fell forward, his head resting in his hands. Duncan had been sat in that exact same position for about thirty minutes. In that time, Duncan's parents, Logan and Logan's parents had arrived at the hospital. They were all currently in Lily's room comforting her whilst Duncan was supposed to be dealing with any outstanding paper work. But right now, Duncan wasn't sure if he could stomach looking at Lily in the eye. He'd been upset, distraught and then confused and angry. Duncan had thought she was dying … he thought he was going to lose his sister - he just needed to time to let the evening's staccato of emotions sink in.

Once Duncan lifted his head from his hands, he was overwhelmed by the blinding whiteness of the hospital walls. The smell of detergent and baby powder was pungent in the air and he glanced towards the entrance, the warm breeze that was filtering in from outside was strangely inviting. Shafts of the setting sun was sending orange rays across the tiled floors and Duncan got up, ready to step outside for some fresh air before returning to his sister's side. But, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of a girl who – from afar – oddly reminded him of Lily.

Her blonde tresses were wild and thick, draping across her face as she, like Duncan just had minutes ago, held her head in her hands. Duncan could hear her light sniffles and sobs, the sounds practically non-existent as she muffled them against the material of her pencil skirt. In her sophisticated attire, the girl looked so out of place at the hospital. But the thing that drew Duncan to her was her biker boot adorned feet. It was as if she'd frantically thrown on the first pairs of shoes she could find before leaving the house. It ignited a sense of curiosity within Duncan. If she chose to dress the way that she did, willingly, then Duncan wanted to get know her and if she'd just spontaneously thrown them on, he wanted to know why. "Excuse me, are you all right?" Duncan took the vacant seat beside her, his shoulder brushing against hers as he sat down.

The blonde stranger lifted herself out of the cocoon of hair and arm that she had created for herself. Her hair stuck out in wild directions and her blue eyes were red and puffy. She looked helpless and heart wrenchingly sad, a sight that pulled at Duncan's heart strings a little. He didn't like seeing people in pain.

"Duncan Kane?" She questioned as she wiped at her tears clumsily with the back of her hand. Duncan wasn't all that surprised when she'd recognised him. Frankly, all of Neptune knew who he was; he'd been in tabloids and papers since he was an adolescent. On the other hand, Duncan was highly surprised when he recognised who the girl was.

"Veronica Mars?" Veronica's sadness quickly manifested into puzzlement. She didn't live under a rock; of course she knew who Duncan Kane was. She just didn't know how Duncan knew who she was. Logan hadn't told anyone about his relationship with Veronica and other than through Logan, Veronica had no tie to Duncan.

"You know who I am?" Veronica's eyebrows quirked up with an evident sense of curiosity.

"Yeah," Duncan looked down at his hands sheepishly. "I know … about you and-" Duncan didn't really want to say Logan out loud and truthfully, he didn't need to. Veronica knew exactly what he was referring to - Duncan knew about her and Logan's relationship.

"How?" Veronica just about choked the answer out in shock. The only reason she was in the situation that she was, was because of Logan and Lily's desire to keep their families satisfied. If Duncan knew about her relationship with Logan and was seemingly okay with it, why were Logan and Lily playing along with their scam of a marriage?

Duncan began telling Veronica about how he figured out that she was in a romantic relationship with Logan. From the get go, Duncan had figured out that Lily and Logan's marriage was a sham. Lily wasn't born for commitment. She had this saying "why eat plain old vanilla every day when there is a world of flavours out there." Lily couldn't settle down with just one person; she lived for change and spontaneity. Marriage, to her, was boring … pointless. Also, Logan and Duncan had grown up together and it didn't take a detective to see the changes in Logan's behaviour recently. He'd grown increasingly cryptic and secretive over the past couple of years and a bored Duncan had decided to follow him one night. Duncan had followed him straight to Veronica's apartment.

Everything seemed to make sense to Duncan then.

"Logan's life has always lacked purpose." Duncan told Veronica, his body posture rotating so that he was now facing her completely. "He skated through most of school, wasn't really interested in much other than surfing. But, when I saw him that one night with you, I started seeing the positive changes in him. He was smiling more, he'd get out of bed early like he had a sense of direction," Within months of dating Veronica, Logan had confessed to his dad that he was interested in writing. Logan had enjoyed his English Literature class and Aaron had pushed him towards screen play writing. Currently, Logan was working under some of the biggest names in the writing business. "It seemed as if he was trying to be a better man, trying to make you proud of him. It's then that I realised that you were good for him. I don't really know you that well but in a way, I feel like I do. You've been a driving force in his life and as his best friend, I can only say thank you for helping him through the mess that he stupidly created."

As Duncan spoke, Veronica started to cry again. Duncan was only trying to be nice and make her feel better but he spoke so highly of their relationship and none of it felt honest, not when Logan had just walked out on her when she'd needed him.

"Don't thank me for helping Logan." Veronica smiled, an equal amount of cynicism and regret lacing her voice. "I broke up with him today."

"Oh." The sound left Duncan's mouth and he mentally cursed at himself. He had just spent a good proportion of time talking about how perfect and made for each the couple were. The thought of them being separated hadn't even occurred to him. "I'm so sorry." Duncan leaned forward and used his knuckles to brush away her tears gingerly.

"Veronica Mars for Doctor Abrams?" A nurse called from the receptionists' desk and then suddenly Duncan remembered that they were in a hospital. Before Duncan had stopped to talk to Veronica, she had been sat in a waiting room balling her eyes out.

Why was she here, at the hospital - alone?

"Veronica-" Veronica placed a hand on Duncan's shoulder, using him as a support system as she picked herself up off the chair. She'd practically cried out all of the liquid that she had drank in the day and her stomach was empty, making it virtually impossible to do anything without feeling pain or severe nausea. Duncan held her hand as he helped her, noticing how fragile and frail she looked when standing up. "Why are you at the hospital?" Duncan wasn't sure if his question was too forward or too evasive but Veronica didn't look too good and if she was in fact alone at the hospital and something was wrong, Duncan knew Logan wouldn't forgive him if he left her there on her own.

"I …" Veronica clutched at her stomach as she doubled over in pain. She'd only known Duncan for a fraction of an hour and she wasn't exactly sure why she was confiding in him; maybe it was because she really had nobody else to confide in or that Duncan was the closest thing she had to Logan. "I think … I think I might be pregnant."

As the words came out of Veronica's mouth, all of a sudden, everything became too real for her. She could be having a baby on her own, a child that would never be able to have a proper family, a child that would forever spend their life hiding who their real father was. Her body began to sway weightlessly until Duncan grasped at her arms, stopping her from falling face down onto the floor. Veronica was barely conscious when she felt Duncan pick her up like a child, his loud voice screaming for help.

And then, everything went black.

"Help!" Duncan yelled to everybody as he felt Veronica's head slump against his bicep. He looked down to see her blue eyes shut tightly, her face now drastically pale and colourless. "Somebody help her!" With Veronica's lifeless body in his hands, Duncan rushed past the entrance doors and towards the multiple doctors that were on duty in the inpatients ward. "I need some help!" Duncan repeated the mantra loudly, multiple people turning in his direction.

Logan and his family had been in Lily's room when they'd heard Duncan's horrified voice. At first it had been distant and then it was growing increasingly louder. Both the Echolls' and the Kane's glanced at each other warily before sprinting out of the room, leaving Lily alone and utterly confused. They clambered out of the room, practically shoving one another until they spotted a distressed Duncan. Duncan was too worried to even notice the look of absolute shock on Logan's face as he registered who Duncan was holding.

Once Logan had gotten to the hospital and realised that Lily was more than okay, all he wanted to do was run back to Veronica's side. There had been a finality to her voice when she'd said "we're done!" and Logan couldn't help but chastise himself for running out on her the way that he had. He had gone to her apartment early to rectify the hurt he had caused her … only to cause her some more. It was then that Logan had decided that he was going to have to grovel in order to win Veronica over again. And honestly, he didn't mind … grovelling, that was. If begging on his knees is what got Veronica back, Logan was more than happy to do it. He'd run to the moon and back if it made up for all of the pain that he'd caused her.

"Sir, we are going to have to ask you to fill out her medical forms and then explain what happened." A doctor, who had just finished tending to a child with a bruised knee cap, ushered Duncan over to a spot with a free bed. The spot was small and was only cornered off from the open reception by a flimsy green curtain. Duncan placed Veronica's body down and his family swarmed to his side, multiple questions sitting on their tongues.

"Duncan, son, what's going on?" Jake placed a hand against Duncan's stiff shoulder. "Who is this girl?"

"This is Veronica," Duncan looked down at Veronica and then inconspicuously looked over at his best friend. It was as if Logan had been hit by a tonne of bricks, he was rooted to the spot that he was in. His body was rigid and reserved, his eyes not wavering from Veronica.

And then, unexpectedly, Duncan was angry again. Logan had clearly messed up one of the only good things in his life and Duncan couldn't control himself. Logan got everything that he wanted handed to him; he didn't have to study in order to pass his exams, didn't have to work hard to make it the top of his field … he didn't even have to date a girl before he married her. Logan had always gotten the easy way out and clearly, taking the easy way out had taken a heavy toll on Veronica. From Duncan's point of view, Veronica was an innocent bystander whose life had drastically uprooted because of the stupidity of Lily and Logan.

Before Duncan could logically consider the aftermath of what he was about to do, the words were slipping out of his mouth. "Veronica's my girlfriend."

This time, Duncan saw Logan's expression. His eyes were darkened, all most black now, and Duncan smiled knowingly to himself.

In that moment he had decided - he was going to reunite Logan and Veronica, but only after teaching Lily and Logan a well-deserved lesson.