Thanks to everyone who has reviews, favorited or alerted!
WARNING: this chapter does deal with Madison's murder. you will hear everyone's reaction to her death but you will also hear how it happened. if you don't feel comfortable reading about it skip the first part with Duncan and go straight to Veronica. its not extremely descriptive but it may be disturbing to some.
I dont own vm, I just wish I did
"This is a CNN Special Report. We have just been notified that once again the small community of Neptune California has been hit by tragedy. The body of a 19 year old female was discovered early this morning in the courtyard of Neptune High. The victim has been identified as that of USC student and 2006 Neptune High graduate Madison Sinclair. We will be continuing coverage of this tragedy as any new information comes to us. If you have any information in relation to this case please notify the Neptune police."
Duncan
Earlier that morning
He really hadn't meant to kill her.
He just couldn't stop himself.
And even though he hadn't mean to kill her, he had, and that was the simple truth.
He had hated her just as much as Veronica had, for every shitty thing she had ever done. When he had called her yesterday she was so surprised to hear from him and she agreed to meet him at their old stomping grounds to catch up. She actually seemed really excited to see him.
He figured that she thought she could use him as another opportunity to stick it to Veronica, but that wasn't going to happen, you see Madison was the perfect grand gesture.
She was the person Veronica hated most in the world and he knew that this would get her attention. He figured he would rough Madison up, ruin that pretty face of hers and maybe tape her to the flag poll naked. Pay back for all of her lies and dastardly attempts to take Veronica down, both physically and emotionally.
He really hadn't meant to kill her.
When he got there she was waiting for him, she actually ran over and hugged him and he returned it, but only to make her think he was on the up and up.
Everything was good while they talked about Lilly and Australia, he thought his plan would work.
He'd acquired some GHB earlier and had slipped it in her Diet Coke when she wasn't looking, it still hadn't taken effect but he knew it would soon. He figured if she was drugged she might not be able to point the finger at him. It wouldn't matter anyways of course, by the time the cops would be looking for him, he'd be long gone with Veronica at his side.
But when Madison had started to talk about herself, which of course was her favorite subject, he'd started to get aggravated. She was so fucking caddy and conceited, he had never understood why Dick had stayed with her for so long, for just that reason.
The more she talked, the more anxious he got and then she screwed up.
It was her fault he said to himself and to her afterwards actually, but it was true he thought, she'd brought it on herself. She just had to go and bring Veronica into the conversation.
The first nasty thing she'd said made him mad and before she had even finished the second nasty comment the rage had taken over. Before either of them even knew what had happened, he had his hands around her throat and she couldn't breath.
He hadn't bothered to stop.
It took less than a minute for her to lose consciousness and after that she was dead in fifteen seconds because he had squeezed so hard he had crushed her wind pipe.
He just left her there, he tried to grab any evidence of his presence and just walked away.
Something had snapped in him and it felt good, he felt free.
It was like all the holding back, all the time he had spent controlling his rage had been a waste of time, because the release he felt when she had dropped to the ground was like nothing he had ever experienced before.
He went back to his hotel room to wait for Veronica, he knew she'd be there soon. When she heard the news about Madison she would come to him. She would know he had done it for her, he had rid her life of the parasite that was Madison Sinclair.
He had just one upped Logan, he had done what Logan had never been able to do, never would have even been willing to do.
He really hadn't meant to kill her.
But at that moment he was glad he had.
Apparently remorse was not an emotion he possessed anymore.
Veronica
Oh. My. God.
Nothing.
Have you ever seen 'A Chorus Line'?
Well if you haven't you should, on stage or the movie with Michael Douglas, it doesn't matter, it truly is amazing. But the reason I'm referring to 'A Chorus Line' is because there's a song in it that fits this situation all to well.
There's this character named Diana and she sings this song about a former drama teacher who only focused on improvisations. He would always ask her what she felt when it was her turn and for some reason she just couldn't grasp the concept so she always said she felt nothing. Her inability to do this led to ridicule from her peers and almsot led to her leaving the school, but she didn't, instead she found a new teacher and class and succeeded without him. Later in the song she finds out that he died and she cries when she hears it because once again she feels; nothing.
This was so relevant to how I was feeling in that moment, I felt nothing.
But I was crying, because I felt nothing.
Logan and Wallace were just sitting there in shock, not speaking not moving. But that doesn't even compare to what was going on at the other end of the couch.
Mac had jumped up immediately saying she needed to get home and Dick ran to the bathroom were he had gotten sick and then he ran after Mac. I realized no one other than myself knew why she had left like that.
Logan had pulled me onto his lap when I had started to cry and he continued to hold me tight. It was the only thing he knew how to do at the moment, just hold on.
I hated her. I really did.
She'd made my life miserable for years, but I had never wished her dead. That was too harsh, maybe a botched boob job, but never death.
I just sat there wondering, who could have done such a thing?
Logan
Oh. My. God.
I just froze.
I had hated her.
For everything she had ever done, but mostly for almost taking Ronnie from me forever.
So I just stared at Veronica and held her in my arms. That was all I knew how to do these days, just hold on to the love of my life, because if this proves anything its that life is short.
So that's what I was thinking in that moment. There was no sadness for the dead girl, just the need to hold on to what I had.
And then there was the question...
Who could have done such a thing?
Wallace
Oh. My. God.
I had hated her.
She was always such a bitch to V. She was the reason she had been raped, the reason her and Logan had broken up the last time. Hell, I even partly blamed the sex tape on her too. If she had never slept with Logan, then him and V never would have broken up and she never would have hooked up with Piz, so the tape wouldn't have happened.
So I just sat there in silence and felt numb.
This was one of those things where you realize how short life really is and it made me grateful for my family, for my friends.
So I sat there feeling numb and grateful for everyone I had in my life.
But I couldn't help but think.
Who could have done such a thing?
Dick
Oh. My. God.
I had never loved her.
I knew that, she knew that, everyone knew that.
But she was my only long term girlfriend, well, until now. So when they said her name my heart went to my stomach and I had to run to the bathroom so I wouldn't get sick all over the floor.
I had hated her. I had only started to recently, but I did.
She was a terrible person and most of the time she had treated me like shit. But we had been together for a long time and she was part of my life whether I liked it or not.
I'd never told anyone, but we had broken up because of Veronica.
We weren't even friends at the time but I'd gotten tired of Madison talking so much shit, so I'd ended it. And yes, I am aware that it makes me a hypocrite because I talked tons of shit about Ronnie, but whatever, it's different when someone else is saying it.
Madison never knew why and she told people she had ended it, by that point I couldn't have cared less what she said and to who.
When I came back to the living room I remembered that Mac had run out the door so I followed her. When I saw her I yelled her name and she stopped. I didn't understand why she was so upset so I just hugged her and brought her back to the room. She said she needed to get home and I told her I would go with her as soon as everyone had recovered from the initial shock.
As we walked back to the suite I wondered to myself.
Who could have done such a thing?
Mac
Oh. My. God.
I hadn't really known her.
I just hated her because my friends hated her.
Well that and the fact she was never once nice to me, of course the fact that she was living the life I was supposed to have had didn't help either.
I love my parents, don't get me wrong, but I'd always wondered what if?
So I jumped up when Dick ran to empty his stomach and said I needed to get home. My parents would hear soon, If they hadn't already and I needed to be there for them.
How do you approach something like that? How do you tell your parents that you've known about something like that for almost three years? How do you help them to deal with the fact that their biological daughter is dead, but the daughter they raised is still alive and kicking? I guess I was about to find out.
Dick caught up to me before I made it to the elevator and hugged me, I realized he didn't know. He said he'd go with me to my parents after everyone had gotten over the shock and I said ok.
But I couldn't stop thinking...
Who could have done such a thing?
Duncan
He'd heard the report.
She would be there soon.
She would know immediately.
He just knew she would.
Maybe they all would.
All he had to do was wait.
After all, who else could do such a thing?
Veronica
When Mac and Dick got back to the room no one said anything. That's what it was like for another half hour, or maybe longer I didn't know, it was just no one knew what to say.
When someone dies everyone reacts differently and we were all dealing with the information in our own way. Some of the reactions were unusual, others expected.
Logan was the first to break the silence. "Mac? Why did you need to get home?" He was confused as to her reaction, she'd hardly known Madison after all.
She didn't say anything, so I spoke to her. "Mac, do you want me to tell him?"
She finally found her voice. "Yes, please, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with my parents."
So I told them all about digging up the dirt for Mac and what I had discovered. Surprised was an understatement considering the look on everyone's face, but nobody said anything. I think maybe because it didn't matter. This information was just that….information and it in no way changed anything. It just gave a little clarity to Mac's reaction, it didn't change who she was or who Madison had been.
We sat there awhile longer and then finally started to discuss what could have happened, who could have done it. We didn't talk about what each of us was feeling, that was private and we didn't need to go there.
No one could figure it out though, which when I look back its kind of funny. How did we not see it? How did I not see it? But the plain and simple truth was that we hadn't and god how I wish we had.
After an hour of this Dick took Mac to her parents, they had called her and told her she needed to come home. She said they sounded really upset and she wasn't looking forward to the impending conversation.
Wallace stuck around, his mom was still off with my dad and he just wanted to be around people, so we turned off the news and put on a movie. We were trying to find normality in an abnormal situation and that's hard to do. But we were doing the best we could.
We had hated her.
And now she was gone.
And I still felt nothing.
Duncan
7PM the same day
She still hadn't come.
How was that possible? She had to have heard by then, he was positive
Maybe she was playing detective again.
Maybe it wasn't as obvious as he thought.
He was getting impatient.
If she didn't come to him by tomorrow night he would go to her.
He wouldn't wait much longer.
Logan
Logan's suite
8PM the same day
Mac and Dick walked in the door around 7:45.
None of us had moved really, we had just spent the day watching movies and enjoying each other's presence.
Ronnie and I had retreated to the bedroom twice, the first time right after Dick and Mac had left, then again about and hour before they came home.
We both just needed to feel alive, to feel each other I guess and it was the best way we knew how.
All of the information had finally sunk in and things were getting back to normal. Because the truth is that none of us were going to truly mourn Madison, we had no reason to. We had all just had that moment of 'oh my god someone we know just died' and that was it, our lives were going to go on regardless. I know that's cold but it's the truth and I am all about the truth these days.
Mac and Dick had brought food again, nobody had eaten since the morning so we all dug in. Ronnie was so hungry I think she ate twice as much as the rest of us put together. At least I knew that some things never changed.
After we were done she decided it was time to ask Mac about the parentals. "So how did it go?"
Mac looked at her with a weird expression. "Well it went better than I thought it would. I told them straight out what I knew and they weren't even surprised."
"Really?" I said, thinking that was weird.
"Um yeah. They said they knew I would figure it out eventually. They actually said they had expected it when I became friends with Veronica, I guess her reputation preceeded her."
That made everyone laugh, if there was one thing Veronica was famous for it was being nosy, apparently even the adults in Neptune knew that. Veronica interrupted the laughter. "So they weren't mad you didn't tell them."
"No, they just said they wished I had told them sooner that I knew. But they made sure that I knew how much they loved me, that Madison may have been their biological daughter which meant that they loved her, but I was their true daughter, the one that they had raised. They're pretty upset still."
Dick decided to jump in then. "Logan, Mac's gonna stay here for awhile, give her parents some time for everything to sink in. Is that cool with you?"
"Sure, she's more than welcome. Besides, Ronnie has been practically living here for the last few days, so what's one more. Wallace if you want to stay here you're more than welcome as well."
"I think I'll do that man. But I do have to go home tomorrow and start packing."
"Wallace you don't leave for another 3 days, act like a normal person and pack the day before." Said Veronica.
"Um, no, I'd rather be prepared thank you."
Veronica seemed to mull that over a little before speaking again. "You know, actually, I should maybe go home for a little while tomorrow too." I looked at her and couldn't hide my disappointment. "Not to stay Logan, I'm just starting to run out of clothes. I just want to grab some stuff."
"Oh, ok." I responded obviously relieved and then Mac spoke again.
"Well I need to head over to my parents again tomorrow so we can do the breakfast thing and then why don't we all leave at the same time." Everyone agreed and we finished eating and started another movie.
Mac and Dick went to bed around 11, Wallace fell asleep shortly after that and that's when Ronnie and I followed their cue and retreated to my bedroom.
Veronica
Logan's bedroom
3AM
This time I was watching him sleep.
Not to be creepy, like he would say, but because there was something I wanted to talk to him about, I just didn't know how to approach it. I finally decided I just needed to come out with it, so I rolled over on top of him waking him up instantly.
He smiled, I knew what he was thinking, I was thinking it too, but I wanted to talk first. He slid his hands under the sheet right over my back and grabbed my ass pulling me up along his chest and then he grabbed my legs and pushed me up so I was sitting up straddling him. I needed to stop him before I forgot why I woke him up.
"Whoa there cowboy." He looked confused, he's so cute when he is confused.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, of course not. I just want to talk to you about something first, then we can do whatever you want."
He sat up with me still straddling him and pulled my legs around so that they were wrapped around his waist and I was more comfortable. There we were again, another naked late night conversation, I could get used to this.
"So you wanna talk huh? About what? Our 'hypothetical' children?" He said with a joking smile
I was so not even close to ready for that conversation, 'hypothetical' or not. "No. But it does concern both of us."
"Ok, well I'm waiting impatiently here." And he was, I could feel his 'impatience' against my inner thigh, I needed to make this quick.
"So my dad is coming home soon, which means he'll be expecting me at home."
His smile died down a little, he didn't want me to leave, that was good. "Keep going."
"I don't want to live there anymore Logan."
"What are you trying to say Ronnie?" He still looked a little confused, but he was smiling again.
This was big, I'm never the one to initiate this stuff. But I kept reminding myself that this was part of changing and growing up, but most of all this was what I wanted. "I'm trying to say that I want to live with you. Here or somewhere else, it doesn't matter. Just as long as it is with you…."
Before I could finish his lips were on mine, I took that as a definite yes and when he pulled away he was smiling from ear to ear.
"Veronica I would be willing to live in a cardboard box as long as it was with you. So yes, yes, yes! I want to live with you...Did you want to stay here? Or I could buy a house. What do you want to do? Its your choice."
A happy Logan is one of my favorite sights. He just gets so giddy and childlike and it makes me happy just watching him. But I didn't want to go over details until my dad came home, so I stopped him.
"We can discuss details later, I'm just glad you agreed."
"You thought I'd say no? Are you crazy? I can't wait to wake up next to you every morning."
He kissed me after he said it, so I responded simply. "Likewise." And then I kissed him back.
"So, how about we celebrate?" And with that he lifted me up and slid himself inside me.
We were done talking.
Logan
When we woke up in the morning everything felt good again. We were all in happy moods and had gotten past the previous days events. We ate in the living room while joking with each other and around 9AM I got a call from a doctor in Australia.
I'd forgotten that I'd spoken to him the other day about Duncan's medical records. I'd offered to pay for them but he'd wanted time to consider my offer, which was pretty substantial. He'd made up his mind and was willing to sell them to me so I gave him the fax number to The Grand and asked him to fax them ASAP, he agreed to do so.
When we were all ready to go we headed to the lobby. Dick had decided to stay behind and catch up on some sleep, apparently he hadn't been getting much lately. He had looked right at Mac when he had said it and she just blushed, I had chosen not to comment. I was going to go with Ronnie to her house and Mac was going to drop Wallace off at home so he could pack before she headed to her own home.
The four of us were on our way out the door when we were stopped by Tina at the front desk, my faxes were starting to arrive. I was going to come back for them later but Ronnie told me to stay and Mac offered to drop her off at home first. I knew I wouldnt be too far behind them so I agreed.
Before she left I pulled her to me. "So, how about a kiss for your soon to be live-in 'hypothetical' fiancé."
I smiled and she replied. "Anything for my soon to be live-in 'hypothetical' fiancé." And then she kissed me.
"I'll be 10 minutes behind you ok?"
"Ok."
As she started to walk away I stopped her. "Hey, you know I love you, right?"
She turned around and smiled. "Sure do! But not as much as I love you." With that she walked out the door to join our friends as I stood there waiting for the rest of the faxes.
Life was good.
Duncan
Physically ill.
That was the best way to describe how Duncan felt as he watched the vomit inducing love scene in front of him.
He'd been in the hotel bar, had been since around midnight. It was amazing what you could get with enough money, no ID check and a bartender that was willing to stay open all night was one thing.
He'd had a rough night, she'd never come and he was starting to get mad. He couldn't believe she hadn't come yet, she had to have figured it by now.
But when he saw her in the lobby he realized she hadn't and his anger started to rise again.
Not only was she not running to him, but she was still with Logan, happy and smiling.
After what he had done for her, after his grand gesture that had far surpassed anything Logan had ever done for her.
No this wasn't right, it wasn't ok, he was mad.
So he moved closer trying to hear what was being said. He heard a few words, something about faxes and Mac dropping Veronica off and Logan being 10 minutes behind him.
The I love you's almost made him sick.
But it was one word that pushed him over the edge before the nausea had even surfaced.
It was the word that made him follow her and her friends out to the parking lot and wait for them to leave before he made sure to delay Logan by more than 10 minutes and then take off after them.
Fiancé?
No. Absolutely. Not.
He would never let that happen.
It was him or no one.
He just needed to prove it to her, whether she liked it or not.
so what did you think? Review please!
Authors note: i wanted to let you know why i wrote this chapter the way i did. i felt it was important to show how everybody reacted to Madison's murder. and some of you who read this might think they got over it to soon. but there is a passage I wrote for logan in this that explains why.
"Because the truth is that none of us were going to truly mourn Madison. We had no reason to. We had all just had that moment of 'oh my god someone we know just died.' and that was it. Our lives were going to go on regardless. I know that's cold but it's the truth. And I am all about the truth these days."
that says it all. i didn't feel it would have been realistic for them to be devastated over her death. and honestly if they had done this in the show, i think they would have approached it the same way. i couldn't imagine veronica jumping in to solve this case.