A/N: So, here is the conclusion of all of that. This is the last "chapter" but I will be putting up an epilogue. Thanks for all of the support you guys. You are amazing, even with all of the hate I've been getting. I get it, it's okay. With the several rewrites of the last chapter, came several rewrites of this one lol. Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Trying

"Hey Lilly," Veronica began, speaking to the headstone of her oldest friend, "I'm sorry I haven't come by as often as I used to." Right after Lilly died, she had spent a lot of time in the cemetery, everyone else had exiled her. "I hope you're enjoying it up there in heaven. I just miss you sometimes; you always knew what to do."

She let the tears fall freely now, her emotions getting the better of her. Though, she wasn't sure if they were from Logan or Lilly or a mixture of both, she wasn't sure if she would admit to either. "Veronica..." she heard Lilly's disapproving voice in her head, "do you really think Logan would date Parker behind your back? Think about it."

Lilly was right. Logan was always a one woman kind of guy. He would never even look at someone else when he was in a relationship. It was always Lilly cheating on Logan, dumping him and picking him up, never the other way around. Of course Logan wasn't dating Parker on the side. It just wasn't like him. "Ah, now you're getting somewhere," she heard Lilly's voice say.

That still didn't add up. Maybe he wanted to date Parker and she was in the way? "Veronica..." came Lilly's voice again, "Logan just spent the last four months fighting for a relationship with you. Do you really think he's going to throw all of that away for Parker?" Lilly had a point there. Logan had been more than understanding about the terms she had given him. He was trying so hard and she was the one standing in the way at every step. "That's it," Lilly said, "He's yours. He's always been yours. He's always going to be yours, just let him."

Veronica knew then that Lilly was finished talking to her, even if it was her own sub-conscience manifesting itself in the form of Lilly's voice. She had been wrong, of course Logan didn't want Parker. That was absurd, and now she's probably ruined her chance with Logan. Veronica stood with a start, having to go find Logan and fix things.

She didn't have to go far because as soon as she turned to walk down the path, she literally bumped into Logan. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, not looking up and momentarily forgetting where she was. Then it hit her, "Logan? What are you doing here?"

His eyes lit up, "Looking for you. Can we talk?" he asked, looking back towards his car, not really wanting to have this conversation in the cemetery.

"I think that's a good idea," she replied, allowing him to lead her out of the cemetery. He drove for a ways before pulling up to the beach. The sky was just getting to that point at dusk when it was painted with all of the colors and the water sparkled.

He pulled a blanket out of the back of his car before leading her on to the beach to sit. "Parker told me what she said to you," he began.

"I saw you with her today, on the quad. She was hugging you," Veronica recalled, wanting to be sure that what she saw was nothing.

He nodded, "I told her that she needed fix it and she saw that I was upset about what... happened and hugged me. You have to know that I never told her to say any of that. She made it up." He paused and fidgeted with the edge of the blanket for a moment, " I asked Parker, Wallace and Mac for help on something, well Parker really, since Mac and Wallace didn't want to get involved. I wanted to surprise you, but you're... well... a detective and it's kind of hard to surprise you. And I asked her to kind of throw you off the trail if you suspected anything, and she took it a little too far."

Veronica nodded and let him continue. "I did go out of town for a few days. I should have told you, but I honestly didn't expect to be gone for so long." He paused and pulled a small box out of his pocket, "I went to New York to get this. This wasn't the way I wanted to give this to you, but it's as good of a time as any." He handed over the small, velvet covered box and watched her open it.

Her eyes went wide, but she wasn't smiling, "Logan..?" she questioned, not understanding the gesture.

He shook his head, "Not an engagement ring, a promise ring. I want you to be my girlfriend, Veronica, and I want the whole world to know that you belong to me. Of course, I was going to do this in a much fancier setting, but this is more... us. While I can't promise I won't ever screw up again, because we both know that would be a lie, I can promise that I'm not going anywhere. I promise to work at this relationship, putting the time and effort into it, because this, you, us is important to me. I promise that I plan to one day replace that ring with an even bigger one when I ask you to marry me. Not today, probably not even this year, but one day."

Then he saw it, her smile, happy tears running down her face as she put the box aside and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close for a passionate kiss. Breaking away with the need for air, she handed the ring box back to him so he could put the ring on her finger himself. It was a nice ring, simple, but sparkly, and he had designed it himself, which is why he went to New York. Of course, what he designed had taken longer to assemble than predicted, so he was hung up there a few extra days.

After a long night of "celebrating" their new status as official, they walked hand-in-hand into the cafeteria to meet up with their friends for breakfast. Veronica just happened to use her left hand to open the bottle of juice on her tray, giving the table a good look at her ring. "Oh My God! Did you guys..?" Parker started screaming, looking between the two of them.

Logan shook his head, "No, we're just official now. Veronica is my girlfriend. I do say, I like the sound of that," he said with a smile before leaning in and placing a light kiss on Veronica's lips.

"I'm pretty sure that rock is larger than my car," Mac commented, thinking of her green bug. "You do realize you're going to have to get her a bigger one when you propose, right?"

Logan nodded with a smile, glad their friends had faith in their relationship. Their friends. He liked the sound of that too, that he could so easily consider Veronica's friends his own. "So, sugarpuss, what would you like to do today after class?" he asked, when they left breakfast so he could walk her to her class.

"Maybe we could... uh... celebrate some more? I'd really like to try out that hot tub," she said, gently squeezing his hand for good measure.

He smiled. Could his sweet, innocent Veronica be suggesting middle-of-the-day sex in a hot tub, which happened to be outside on the deck at his beach house? Very public. Logan's eyes widened. He could definitely get used to spending the rest of his life like this. He leaned in and kissed her before promising to meet her outside of that classroom when her class was finished. Logan, of course, would not be able to pay attention during his class at all, thinking of all the ways they could spend the afternoon together. "You know, you still have a pretty big pile of presents at my house that you haven't opened yet and I'm pretty sure there are a few fun things in there that you might want to see."

Veronica playfully hit him before giving him one final kiss outside of her class, "I have to go, and we'll see about those presents. I don't think I ever got around to properly thanking you for that party either." Logan waited until she went inside the classroom before walking to his own class. Sure, he would probably be a few minutes late, but it would be worth it. Veronica was always worth it.

A/N: So, there you have it folks. They got back together. I guess you'll have to wait for the epilogue to see if they stay together. Reviews make me less evil lol jk I need to stop begging. Im worse than a puppy.