It took one phone call to ruin his life, but Piz wasn't surprised.
He never was when it concerned Logan Echolls; the man had a way of ruining everything good. He was like Midas, except instead of turning everything to gold, he turned it to shit.
"You're leaving?"
Veronica didn't turn at his question, her attention focused on packing. "Yeah, Logan needs my help."
That was it; the only explanation he received from his girlfriend of four years.
Logan needs my help.
Sadly he didn't need more from her because it really was all he needed to know. Their first attempt at a relationship fell apart after Logan assaulted him based simply upon an erroneous conclusion; Piz was a forgiving person, but even he couldn't understand how Veronica was able to move past that, especially since Piz wasn't guilty as Logan has assumed. It didn't matter she never went back to her ex because Piz had seen that fiery look between them, the silent conversation he wasn't privy to, or the explanations he never received. It was tied up with their past, the Neptune trauma he'd read about but would never understand because he hadn't lived it. Wallace and Mac didn't have words for him whenever he asked, so he'd swallowed his questions and lived on a hope that died in the aftermath of that single look.
Fast forward three years, he ran into Veronica on the streets of New York of all places, and realized there was a glimmer of possibility when she was as beautiful and interesting as he pretended to forget. Even better, she'd changed and wasn't the gung-ho girl detective he'd originally fallen for, but a gentler version. More a "Ronnie" than "Veronica Mars." Piz couldn't deny the thrill at meeting the girl who giggled at his jokes and arched into his touch without the hint of tension he'd seen the first time around. Their lives and careers were neatly dovetailed and he'd foolishly ignored the warning voice whispering in the back of his head: a nice boy from Beaverton, OR didn't get the girl. Or more specifically, this girl.
Sighing deeply, he dropped onto their bed next to her open suitcase, and rubbed a hand across his forehead.
"Would you have told me where you were going before you got there if I hadn't come home?"
Veronica stopped her frantic movements, brow wrinkled. "What's that supposed to mean?'
"Did you forget we had dinner plans?" For their anniversary. Piz watched her face closely, waiting for comprehension to fill her.
"Oh, yeah," she shrugged. "Sorry, I should've called to cancel but I was too busy trying to figure out the logistics of getting to Neptune and everything."
Pain struck deep and true as Piz realized she really didn't remember the purpose of their plans. He was fiercely aware of the box secreted in the inner pocket of his tailored jacket. It felt much heavier than it should've given the relative lightness of its contents.
"Why does Logan need you? He can't get a high-priced lawyer out there?"
The words were hardly out of his mouth before he perceived his mistake. While Piz hadn't understood the Logan-n-Veronica show, he had understood she was fiercely protective of it regardless of how their relationship had ended. He knew she hadn't seen or talked to him in ten years, but it wouldn't make a difference. The dark blue eyes flayed him where he sat as the sensuous lips he loved screwed up into a tight frown. "I'm not going out there to defend him in court, Piz." He winced at the pronunciation of his name. Only Veronica could make the syllable of his nickname into a curse. "I'm going there to prove he didn't do it."
Of course she was.
Veronica zipped the suitcase closed and Piz wondered if she heard the finality of the gesture like he did.