CHAPTER 9: The Innocence of Love

Disclaimer: I don't own VM if I did then Logan and Veronica wouldn't have broken up at all along with Lilly and Cassidy would still be alive.

*Thoughts are in italics*
-So this chapter is kind of like 2.21 "Happy Go Lucky" This starts right after the end of last Chapter

-Lilly's Point of View-
"When?" was all I was able to say. I can't believe that they are actually granting him a retrial. I mean technically it was consensual but I wasn't in my right mind at the time. Plus everything he did to Logan. He should be rotting in prison. Plus why did we have to get the call tonight. I was really ready to enjoy my evening but instead of us all going on our different dates we were now sitting around the dining room table at my house trying to figure out what was going on. So it really didn't concern anyone but me, Logan, and Ronnie but our friends wanted to be there for us. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Veronica's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered. "Oh hey Cliff…. Yeah we heard…. Mr. Lavoie called Logan….. Oh great I was kind of expecting it…. Yeah thanks Cliff. Bye."
"So what's going on?" Cassie asked her as she hung up her phone.
"I don't want to do this again." Veronica said to Logan not really hearing Cassie's question.
"What did Cliff have to tell you?" he asked her.
"Well where he is my lawyer on record they let him know about the retrial." She started. "But they also told him that there is a very high chance that I will have to testify against your dad again." She said. I already know why she is worried. How could she not be after how we treated her last time?
"Veronica we aren't going to turn our backs on you." I tell her. "It won't happen again."
"No, I understand that you have to do this." Logan tells her. "I could never be mad about it again. The last year without him has been the best year of my life."
"I just don't want you both to hate me. I don't want any of you to hate me." She says. I now realize that when we turned on her last time, everyone at this table except Mac and Wallace went against her as well.
"Not going to be happening Ronnie." I hear Dick speak up "You will forever be stuck with us. We aren't going to leave you now."
"Thanks Dick. That really means a lot." She says. "Okay then I guess that I better start getting prepared to go against the great and powerful Aaron Echolls again."

-Mac's Point of View-
"This trial is messing everyone up." I tell Cassidy as we sit out in the drive way at my house. "I don't think I have ever seen Veronica so out of it before."
"I have." He says barely loud enough for me to hear him. "Let's not think about it now" he tells me as he tightens his grip on my hand.
"Well can we talk about how much I am going to miss you?" I ask him as I lean of the seat and start to kiss him. I guess things start getting to heated for him because he pulls away quickly.
"Okay Mac attack you have to go. It's past your curfew." He tells me. "And as much as I love this we don't want your parents to get upset."
"Alright." I say kind of confused. "Well I am still going to miss you tonight. I have kind of gotten used to you being next to me when I wake up."
"I know what you mean. I will see you in a few hours?" he asked.
"Yeah exactly 7 hours." I tell him as I look at my watch and see it's midnight. I give him another quick kiss and get out of his car. As he pulls out of the drive I start to wonder if there is something wrong with me.

-Cassidy's Point of View-
You really have to get a hold of yourself Cassidy. I mean you can say that you are nothing like Dick all you want but even after 3 months of dating and even sharing a bed for 6 nights, most teenage boys don't push away their girlfriends. You know it's not because of her curfew. It's your fault you are messed up. "Shut up!" I yell out load in my car. I have to stop thinking about this so much. Mac doesn't seem too worried about it. "Oh great, I guess the party is here tonight." I notice that Logan's SUV is in the driveway.
"Hey Logan." I say as I walk into the house. At least it's just Logan and he doesn't even seem to be getting drunk just sitting there. "Not that I care, but why are you hanging out on our couch when you have a full pool house to yourself?"
"I had to get away from the house. I couldn't stay in the pool house tonight anyway. Too much like the one at my old house. You know the one where my father used to take Lilly." He replies.
"I see. So where's Dick?" I asked just assuming that he caught ride home with Logan when I didn't see his truck in the drive.
"Well you see he and Lilly were making out pretty heavily when I left." Logan tells me. "It would seem that he has taken a page right out of my father's hand book and is getting involved with Lilly."
"Dick and Lilly?" I say slightly confused. "I can honestly say I didn't see that one coming. Anyway you know where everything is. I am going to bed. Later Logan." I say as I run up the stairs to my room.

-Veronica's Point of View-
Oh there is Logan. I say to myself as I pulled into the parking lot at the school.
"Hey you." I say to him as I park next to his SUV. "Where were you this morning?" I ask as I give him a quick kiss
"I spent the night at Dick's." He said. "I couldn't be in the pool house last night and I just needed to get away."
"That's funny because when I went to get a pair of jeans out of Lilly's closet this morning I found Dick in all his glory in my sister's bed." I tell him as I can see his face cringe.
"Oh joy. That had to be awkward." He tells me as he grabs my books from me and we start to walk toward the door.
"Hey Logan have you seen Dick this morning?" Cassidy came up to ask Logan. "I went to wake him up this morning and he wasn't there. "
"I think I can answer that for you Beaver." I tell him. "Your brother was naked in my sister's bed this morning." I can see the look on his face go from disgust to laugher in the matter of just a few seconds.
"Oh so all of his fantasies have come true." I hear Cassidy mumble under his breath.
"What fantasies?" I ask not too sure I want to know.
"He's had a thing for Lilly for years. I think it was because he could never get her. "He tells us as he starts to laugh for real this time.
"What's so funny?" Mac comes up and asked as she slips her hand into Cassidy's. "Am I missing something?"
"I found Dick naked in Lilly's bed this morning." I say between fits of laughter. "And Beaver was just telling us that it was one of Dick's life goals."
"Your brother really is shallow?" Mac asked as she too started to laugh uncontrollably.
"Anyway on a saner note." Mac starts. "We better get to the class before we end up in the principal's office."
"Oh about the plans did we decide we are going to take the Yacht for our senior trip." I ask just to get my mind off of everything else.
"I didn't really get a chance to talk to Dick about it but what the heck, Beaver you could give us permission." Logan says as he turns to Cassidy. "I mean it's your family's yacht so you have just as much power over it at Dick."
"Sure why not." He replies just as the bell rings and we all went off in our different ways.

-Logan's Point of View-
Just another couple of hours and this will all be over. I sit in the courthouse thinking this over and over again. I can't believe that the courts actually allowed a retrial for him. There is no way that they are going to release him. I don't know what's more painful, having to see him again or having to watch Veronica go through testifying again. We had a long talk about it last night when we couldn't sleep. I actually made it back to the pool house and I was about to doze off when I heard her sneak in.

FLASHBACK

"You still awake?" I hear her ask as she slips into my bed.
"Yep." I tell her "Can't sleep, I keep thinking about what we are going to be going through tomorrow."
"Logan I wish you didn't have to be there. I don't know if I am going to be able to handle it when you have to tell them again all of the things that he did to you." I hear her say I can tell by her voice that she is starting to cry.
"It will be okay. It's in the past. All that's left of that time now are the bitter memories." I say.
"Yeah and these." She says as she runs her fingers over different scars on my arms and chest. "Like this scar from when he would decide to use you to put out cigarettes." she mumbles as I feel a tear fall onto the tiny half-moon scar where my dad had burned me with a cigarette when I was 8. I roll over onto my side to look at her. I had to get her to calm down. If she completely lost it I wouldn't be able to stop myself from being even more pissed at my father when I saw him tomorrow. "Or all of these" she says as she sits up and leans over me and runs her hand down my back. Stopping to feel every scar from the beatings I would receive. Before what I knew what was happening she was on the other side of me and started to kiss every scar down my back. "I wish that I could take away all the pain that you ever experienced at his hands." She tells me.
"Veronica you aren't responsible for how abusive my father was to me." I Say as I roll over to look at her.
"No but if it weren't for me you would never have to face him in court." She says as I wipe a tear from her face.
"Ronnie, if it weren't for you there is no telling how much more abuse I could have taken. I was getting to the point that I would fight back when he came after me. Who's to say that he wouldn't have completely cracked and killed me?" I point out. I know the minute the words leave my mouth that it was the worst thing I could say. She would never be able to fall asleep now. So I do the only thing I can think of. I wrap my arms around her small frame and just let her cry it out. "I love you Veronica. You have saved me in more ways than you will ever know." I tell her as I kiss her forehead. "You know that right?"
END FLASHBACK
I know that she is up there telling the truth and doing what she has to, because in her mind this was protecting me and Lilly. I know that she has to pull courage from everywhere she could. When they asked her about why she had confronted my father, offering to have sex with him to I almost lost it. What the hell does he think he's doing? What is that going to prove? He's on trial for statutory rape and now he's say that Veronica came to him. I was starting to lose my temper and Dick and Lilly could tell because the next thing I know Lilly reaches over and grabs my fist and just holds my hand. I know going off on him in a court full of people wasn't going to prove anything and would probably just help him in his case. I am pulled from my thoughts as I hear the judge pound the gavel and announce that court would resume when the verdict was announced.
"You did great Ronnie." I tell her as she meets us in the Hall outside the courtroom. "Are you okay?"
"No." She tells me. I know that she is not only thrown by what the lawyer asked her but also because of our conversation from last night.
"Hey V you did great." I hear Lilly say as she grabs a hold of her hand. "We will get through this. I promise."
"You don't actually think that they would release him?" Dick asks "Do you?"
"We can always hope not." Lilly says. "I think that the streets of Neptune are safer without him."
"As much as I would like to believe that the jury in there is honest, they're not." I point out. "I mean how would you like to be on the jury that releases the famed movie star Aaron Echolls. No I think sadly as much as I enjoy the money and the glam of being the son of a super star. It's going to be the same thing that gets him out of jail."
"Excuse me the jury is back with the verdict." I hear the bailiff peek around the door to let us all know.
"Well here goes nothing." Veronica says as she grabs my hand and we make our way back into the courtroom.
"On the counts of Child abuse reported after the fact we find: Not Guilty." I hear the first judgment read and I already know that my sleazy father is going to walk.
"On the count of statutory rapewe find: Not Guilty" and with than my father is a freeman once again. As he is shaking hands with his lawyer I already know that this isn't going to be good. We all get up and walk out of the courthouse. I start to wonder where is he going to go I sold the house. I sold all of his stuff I could get my hands on. Before we make it all the way out of the courthouse I feel someone grab my arm. I automatically know who it is.
"Let go of me." I turn to my father. A free man for less than 5 minutes and he is already got his hands on me.
"No I think that you and I are going to have a talk about lying." He tells me as he tries to pull me from Veronica. Before I can comprehend what is happening Veronica has pulled my arm away from him and is on the attack.
"You have no right to touch him. He maybe your son by blood but the minute you got locked up he became an Emancipated minor and is now 18. So I suggest you don't ever put your hands on him again." She said to him and then she started to walk away pulling me with her. "Come on."
We don't make it far before he has ahold of Veronica's arm and is starting to drag her back. "You don't talk to me like that you little bitch. I don't…." he didn't have a chance to finish because the next thing I knew he was on the ground after Lilly used the Taser on him.
"You keep your grimy hands off of my sister you bastard." I hear Lilly yell as I see my father stand up
"You used to let me have my hands all over you Lilly. You were such a perfect little Slut" he said and then was on the ground again. This time from Dick serving him with a punch. Before he got up again we were all in my Xterra and began to drive away.
_
-Duncan's Point of View-
"I will be right back. "I tell Meg as I run out of the room and toward the elevator. "I am going to go see if the mail has gotten to the front desk yet."
We had been living in the Grand for a few months now and I were both starting to get used to its benefits. Just as the elevator opened I see someone I had hoped to never see out of jail again.
"Well hello Duncan." I hear him say coldly. "I didn't realize that you were staying here."
"Yeah my girlfriend, my daughter and I are living here. Why are you here Mr. Echolls?" I ask I knew the trail had been today but I couldn't make it because Faith and Meg both seemed to have the stomach bug this morning so I had chosen to stay home and take care of my girls. I hadn't heard from Logan all morning so I just had assumed that everything went well. Or he hasn't had a chance to call yet.
"Oh I heard that you had a baby." He said acting like nothing had ever happened. "Do you have any pictures of her?"
"We aren't doing this. I asked you why you were here." I said starting to get angry.
"Well seeing as I have no house left because my son decided to sale it I need a place to stay." He answered me. Before I can even think I get back on the elevator and rush up to the Pent House. I bust open the door to the room and quickly start gathering things.
"Duncan what's wrong?" She asks from the bedroom door holding Faith. "Duncan." She says my name again.
"He's going to be living here. We have to get you and Faith away from here. It's not safe." I tell her knowing that I am not making much sense.
"Duncan!" She yells as she grabs my arm with her free hand. "What's going on? Who is going to be living here?"
"I just ran into Aaron Echolls in the lobby, they released him." I say as I see her start to understand what I am talking about.
"I'll call the guys and see if they can get over here and help us move back in with your sisters." She says as she puts Faith in her playpen and walks into the bedroom.
"I'm not going to let him hurt you sweetie." I tell my daughter as I kneel down next to the playpen. "Daddy won't let him near you."

AN okay so there is chapter 9. Chapter 10 should be a little lighter and not so serious.