A/N: This chapter is dedicated to one some of my favorite movies and tv shows (aside from Veronica Mars, natch).

Beach Blanket Bingo

"Do we have to go to the beach?" I winced at the whine in my throat, but didn't back down. "It'll ruin the Pursuit Special."

"Sure, way to throw me under the bus, Ronnie."

"Hey, Max, not my fault you're a gimp and need the wheels."

"Harsh, Ronnie, harsh." Unfortunately true, however, since Max was born with severe cerebral palsy that affected both sides of his body so he was forced to use hand crutches just to walk, though recently he'd upgraded to a sweet motorized scooter (the aforementioned Pursuit). It's a wonder he's the intelligent smack-talking wiseass I know and love given the chances the doctors gave him initially; his mama never gave up.

Good for me too since he's saved my ass on more than one occasion due to his mad keyboarding skills.

"Nah, we'll stay on the boardwalk, don't need to sand up the bitch's wheels."

I stared first at Weevil, then over at Max, and threw my hands up in the air. "Seriously, what's with everyone's obsession with the fucking beach?"

"Everyone?" they chorused together in annoying sing-song voices.

"Uh...well…"

"Did our little delinquent make nicey-nice with the locals, even dare I say it, make a friend?"

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands, leaning against the couch. "Not necessarily on purpose. It was more out of self-defense; this chick won't leave me alone!"

The day after the "home-wrecking incident" as it became known, Logan was still MIA at school, but Lily wasn't. Damn girl came up to me after second period and insisted on walking with me to my locker, so by tardy bell everyone in the damn school knew I was Lily Kane's new bestest friend and forgiven for my part in the It couple's breakup. Apparently she did this every year, befriending someone new, than dropping them once she was distracted by something shiny.

Bets on my chances for lasting until Homecoming were dismal. I was tempted to put my own marker down just for the cash I could win, but somehow I doubted the bookies would let me in on the action.

Weevil and Max didn't share my pain and laughed their damn fool heads off while I fumed ineffectually. I can remember the days when people feared my gaze, but these two jackals knew me too well to be scared of me; at least most of the time.

"Fine, you won't stop laughing so you don't deserve my cookies!" I jumped off the couch and headed across the room to the small kitchenette to grab the plate. My threat sobered them right away, especially when I held the cookies over the trash.

"No wait! We were laughing with you, V."

"I wasn't laughing."

"'Cause you have no sense of humor."

"This plate is really heavy…I feel it slipping."

"The only reason we wanna go to the beach is I hear the ones in Neptune are the best."

"No, Weevil, it's more like you wanna scope out the chicks."

"Who me? You know I love my Maria. She does it for me."

"Like an STD," I muttered under my breath. The chick was toxic.

He cupped a hand over his ear. "What? I surely didn't hear you mocking my girl. You know how I get when people mock my girl." The menacing frown pulling at the distinctive web tattoo at the corner of his temple might've been more convincing if I didn't spot the laughter in his brown eyes.

When others look at Weevil, they see a stout tattooed former Mexican gangbanger; when I look at him, I see my friend with more heart and integrity in one finger than most anyone I've ever met. Of course, he is pretty hot with his mocha brown skin, bald head, and lashes I'd kill to have, but we'd already decided there was nothing between us but friendship.

Of course the four year age difference and possible jail sentence for statutory rape also helped decide us.

"Fine, I'll go to the fucking beach, but I refuse to get into a bikini."

Max grinned at my capitulation, but Weevil didn't. "You can hardly see the scars anymore, V. No one would notice the difference."

I growled low in my throat, an almost animalistic sound, and he put his hands up to show he was backing off. No one, not even my two closest friends, ever got to talk to me about the scars.

Mercifully he changed the subject. "How's the tat? Were you able to keep it from itching?"

I twisted and raised my shirt a bit so he could check out the newly added touches to his masterpiece etched into the skin canvas of my back. Max whistled when he saw the new addition.

"Damn man, I think she's the best you've ever done."

I grinned when he cringed as he played back his own words. "I…uh…mean…"

We both laughed at him and the tension was completely broken.

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Dog Beach was crowded with sun-worshippers and surfers, a normal Saturday morning, but fortunately we weren't down on the sand, but safely tucked away at Java Hut on the boardwalk. The veranda faced the water, so we had the view and caffeine, which made it the perfect spot in my book.

"Nope, there's no way you're saying Stargate: SG-1 was better than Battlestar Galatica!" Max's scandalized expression made me sputter with laughter.

"Of course it was! Ben Browder was so much hotter than either Jamie Bamber or Tahmoh Penikett."

"Woman, you need a lesson in proper sci-fi. You watch it for the storyline, not the hottest jet jockey!"

"Manito, you know this is a losing battle, right? She's a chick, so she can't follow the complexities of the story, so she's gotta get her some eye-candy."

"Well, that and I think Farscape was superior by far. Didn't go into all that god crap like Galactica and wasn't as cheesy as Atlantis." I threw my hands up over my head like a boxing champ when Weevil merely snorted and Max was too flabbergasted to respond.

"Yah, that's right, I said it!" I bounced out of my chair and did the booty shake while hopping up and down like a fool, but if a girl can't be foolish with her friends, then when?

"Veronica?"

I straightened with a swift mental groan and cursed my luck. With Weevil and Max watching me in stuptified silence, I plastered a fake wide smile on my face before turning and facing the last person in the world I wanted to see.