Title: Mutual
Author: Brendan/brencon
Pairings/Characters: Logan/Veronica, ensemble, VD, Logan/Lilly
Word Count: 1,431
Rating: PG-13, so far.
Summary: What if Logan and Veronica got together before everything went to hell?
Spoilers: Set pre-series, but will include some season one stuff soon
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas and the nice people at the CW
Authors Note: Thanks to LoVeGrl for the beta, italics represent Veronica's thoughts and/or voiceovers.
Rushing to her locker, Veronica grabbed a hair brush and lip gloss and ran to the girl's bathroom just as the classrooms were beginning to empty out. She quickly dragged the brush through her hair and reapplied the lip gloss to her lips. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought that she looked fit to showing herself to the student body.
She tossed the lip gloss and brush in her locker and made her way to the quad. Knowing Duncan, he would've already ordered her the manicotti.
Veronica wondered what exactly was wrong with him lately. Or her, as the case may be. She tried to reason to herself that whatever had happened to him had not come as a result of something she had said or did.
She hoped.
Walking into the sunny grounds of Neptune High, she made her way to the 09er table. Sure enough, an empty seat remained between Lilly and Duncan, her seat.
She quickly said hello to her best friend, trying not to look in the direction of Logan, who was seated to her BFF's left. She took the container that Duncan offered her and quietly thanked him before digging in.
Yay, Italian!
She reached for the last Skist on the table. At the same moment, Logan stretched for the bottle. Their fingers touched and it was as if sparks ran through them both. Veronica blushed and Logan smirked.
"Take it." He said, pushing it towards her. She blushed even deeper, yet smiled in his direction as a thank you. Lilly noticed the interaction between the two, but chose not to comment on it. Instead, she leaned forward and began gossiping with Madison Sinclair about some hot guy she saw at Dog Beach over the weekend.
Veronica opened the drink and drank twice before placing it on the table, and finished off her lunch. She felt eyes on her. She wasn't sure if they were Duncan's. She didn't dare look at Logan. Duncan was busy talking to Casey about his latest soccer win.
Of course it had to be Logan.
Veronica glanced in his direction and their eyes met. Again, that spark ran through her. It was then that Duncan got to his feet.
"Where're you going?" Veronica asked, once she realised the seat beside her was vacant.
"I have to talk to the coach about something." Duncan replied, before lifting his back pack and jogging inside. He was gone before Veronica got a chance to say goodbye.
What's wrong with you lately Duncan?
"So Ronnie, doing anything special this evening?" Logan asked, having gotten up and taken Duncan's empty seat beside her.
"Feasting with the folks and study."
"It's only the second week of school, and you're already studying?"
"It's important, Logan. I want to go to Stanford, so I need the grades." Veronica replied before taking another drink.
She saw his hand disappear under the table from the corner of her eye and wondered where it was going.
When she felt it on her knee, she blushed a bright shade of red and looked at him with a 'deer in the head lights' look.
He just smiled.
"What about, instead of the study thing, you come over to my place and we do the movie thing?" He offered, lightly squeezing her knee.
Veronica squirmed, in fear of Lilly paying attention to them and in joy at feeling this close to Logan. She had to stop herself with all her might from turning in her seat and kissing Logan right there and then in the quad.
"S-Sure." Veronica replied, looping her right leg around his left. She slid over on the bench and placed her hand on the one that was on her knee. "Could you give me a ride home too? Dad's working late and Mom's… she was feeling sick this morning."
Seeing the look on Veronica's face, Logan knotted his fingers with hers beneath the lunch table and gave her a comforting squeeze.
"That I can do. We can pick up the DVD's then as well, okay?"
"Good idea."
As Veronica separated her leg from his, Logan leaned forward, using his free hand to grab the Skist.
"Everything OK?" He whispered
Veronica turned to her right and smiled quickly at him.
"Uh huh, all fine." She said, while her eyes showed what she really felt. Sorrow.
Suddenly, Lilly sat back in her seat. Veronica's hand fell from Logan's so fast that Logan had a look of hurt on his face, but he quickly plastered a smile to his lips.
"Oh, where'd the Donut run off to?"
Veronica felt Logan slide further to the right before she answered.
"He said something about meeting with the coach."
"Huh," Lilly started, before flipping her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. ", well, anyway, did you hear? Conner Larkin's going to be shooting a new film right here in Neptune! How cool is that? God, he's so hot."
Veronica shot a look at Logan, to catch his reaction, but his mask was still firmly in place.
"Lilly." Veronica warned.
"What?" Lilly asked. Veronica pointed with her head in Logan's direction. "Oh, lover boy over there knows that I love him! Don't you, sweetie?" Lilly said, twirling a stray strand of her hair around her index fingers.
Veronica turned her eyes to Logan and saw the muscles in his face clench as Lilly continued nattering on about using her 'womanly charms' to 'snare him in her trap' because 'not one man on this God given green earth could resist the Fabulous Lilly Kane!".
It came as no surprise to Veronica that, when the end-of-lunch bell rang out, Logan shot to his feet and stormed in to the building.
Veronica followed him in and saw him leaning against his locker, the knuckles on his right hand starting to bleed. She assumed he'd punched the locker beside his, because there were flecks of blood on it as well. But what made her heart ache were the tears that she saw forming in his eyes.
She reached out to caress his check before realising where exactly she was. Instead, she used the movement to take his bleeding hand in hers.
"Come with me. We have to get this cleaned up."
As she dragged him along to the nurse's office, Veronica heard Logan sniffle some. When they reached the office, it was empty. They entered the office, taking care to lock the door from the inside; she then took Logan to the sink and ran the cold water.
"Put your hand under it." She instructed, while searching through the cub boards for paper towels. When she finally found them, Logan had cleaned away the dried blood and had grabbed the chair from the nurse's desk and relaxed into the comforting leather.
Veronica took his cut hand in hers tenderly and saw that the cuts were just nicks. She used the paper towels to dab his knuckle gently, not wanting to hurt him more.
"How's that feel now?" She questioned.
"Better, I guess."
Again, Veronica felt eyes on her. Being this close to Logan again in such a small space was making her blood boil.
One moment she was dabbing his fingers, the next his mouth was on hers and her hands had snaked around his neck. Logan's kissing was fierce. Veronica could feel his desperation, his need. She tried to comfort him as much as she could. Again, his hands found themselves in her hair as her hands rested on her lower back, steadying herself against his body.
When oxygen became an issue, Logan pulled back and took a deep breathe. His hands fell to her cheeks, which he held caressingly… lovingly even. And it made her smile bright when he did too.
"Hmm, who knew some groping and kissing in a nurse's office would make me forget about my bitch of a girlfriend?" Logan mused, even as he began to lean down and kiss her again.
It was these small, touching gestures that made Veronica fall for him. And fall she did. Hard.
And it was in that moment that she realised that she did love him. And the corners of her lips tugged up into smile against Logan's face. Veronica felt Logan disentangle his hands from her hair and end the kiss for a second time. Only this time, she groaned at the loss.
Logan smirked as he watched her eyes slowly open again, a look of content, of pure happiness firmly on her face.
And that was when they heard the key turn in the lock.