A/N: Well, hello update. Lol. I don't even attempt to say this is that great of a chapter, but I finally finished what I had started so long ago. Hopefully finishing this chapter will help get me back into this story. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own VMars

Chapter Seven

Playful Banter and Meaningful Conversation

The next morning, they were back on the road. They had checked out a couple hours before their scheduled check-out time and were already miles and miles away, by the time noon came around. It was Veronica's turn behind the wheel and she drove cautiously. She wasn't used to having so much car to work with.

"I cannot believe you talked me into taking this giant, yellow monstrosity." Veronica replied, her distaste for his car evident in her tone of voice.

"As if I would trust your rusting, piece of junk. It wouldn't have made it out of your driveway before it broke down." Logan scoffed from the passenger seat. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but a glance in his direction sold her his playful smirk.

"It's better than lumbering around in a car that puts Big Bird to shame." Veronica shot back.

Logan chuckled to himself, "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? Then we can test that theory…"

They had eased into a mindless, unconscious stream of playful banter. A clear sign that they had grown both comfortable and content with the other's presence. Since they had gotten up that morning they had been casually debating about everything: their driving skills, the awful color of Logan's Xterra, their taste in music. It was all done with a smile on each of their faces. In fact, if it wasn't for the light-hearted laughter and smiles he was producing, Logan would have been irritating—easily irritating. Instead, Veronica was actually having a lot of fun.

"About ready to stop for lunch?" Veronica asked, starting to scope out an off ramp that had somewhere they could get food from.

"Ready when you are." Logan chimed, sitting up straighter. He pointed at a sign through the window. "There, restaurants. Exit one-half mile."

"Okay, cause I'm starved." Veronica smiled.

Veronica took the next exit and the next thing they knew they were set up at a table, scanning the menu. Logan sat down his menu once he had decided on a meal. He took to watching Veronica's expression change as she examined each item on the menu. He noticed the slight cringe when she came across something she didn't like, or looked unappetizing. He noticed the contemplative look she got when she found something she would consider ordering, and the way she shook her head a little when she decided 'no.' Ultimately, he found the expression she took on when she decided exactly what she wanted.

Logan's concentration was broken when Veronica's eyes came up and met his. She frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just watching you." Logan shrugged. "You know you make a weird face when you don't like something."

Veronica blushed, "I do?"

"Yep, I never noticed before. It's kind of cute." Logan smiled as well, laughing with her.

Veronica lowered her eyes before putting down her menu, shyly saying, "I think I know what I want."

"Good, I'll catch the waitress the next time she comes around."

Within the next hour they had eaten and gotten back on the road. They were hunting out a city to stay in for the next couple days. Logan wanted to head for another coastal city. Veronica wanted to head in land. They had argued about it for a good hour in their playful way before Logan had switched on the radio full blast drowning out Veronica's most recent response. Her smirked as her mouth fell open.

She reached out and spun the volume down to a low murmur. "That was rude."

"That's me, psychotic jackass." Logan responded, chuckling lightly. "So here's the deal. One, it's my car. Two, I'm driving. And three, I can be very persuasive."

Veronica's eyes widened at his suggestive tone. She made sure she looked unperturbed before she quirked an eyebrow and replied, "And?"

"I basically have control over where we're going whether you like it or not." Logan answered. "And I actually enjoy living by a beach. So I say coast, and look at that coast it is."

"I think you've underestimated just how persuasive I can be." Veronica matched his tone from earlier.

Logan's head jerked to the side to glance at her. His expression was undeterminable behind his sunglasses but Veronica caught the smirk that appeared as he turned back to the road. "I never knew you were so feisty, Ronnie."

"Then you must not know me very well." Veronica countered.

"Maybe this trip can serve more than one purpose then." Logan raised an eyebrow.

Veronica laughed, "In your dreams, Echolls, in your dreams."

"Then I'll sleep soundly tonight." Logan drawled, his lips curled into a wide smile.

Part of Veronica was telling her that she should feel strange about the way their conversation was going, but the other part of her—the part that felt free and at peace—was having the time of her life. And she didn't want it to end—even if it seemed like one of her closest friends was flirting with her, and she was flirting right back. She knew it was all in good fun. It wasn't like it was going to go anywhere.

"Fine Veronica." Logan eventually conceded after another twenty minutes or so of bickering over a destination. "We'll stick to the in land. I wouldn't want to upset the Great Mars any further."

"Ha, Ha. Funny." Veronica rolled her eyes.

They spent the better part of the afternoon on the road—stopping only briefly for a restroom break and dinner. As the sun began to go down the came across the first small town for miles. The signs coming up to the exit confirmed there was a hotel ahead. Once again, Logan paid for their room despite Veronica's offer to pay her share. And as such they found themselves in a similar position as the previous night—laying in the dark on their respective beds.

"I have to ask Veronica," Logan spoke up suddenly, "because I want to be sure. Do you want to talk about it?"

There was no need to elaborate on what he meant by it. Veronica sat up so she could look at Logan, "Do you?"

"I don't know." Logan answered, "I just don't want to bring it up if there was supposed to be some unspoken agreement to not bring it up."

"I've always tried to be honest with you on the subject. I don't know if there's much more I can tell you that you don't already know."

"It's wonderful being away from it all, it is. But what are we going to do when we have to go back?" Logan asked.

"To be honest with you, I don't know. I really don't know. It's just nice to be able to pretend that, that part of my life doesn't exist and that my world consists of this trip and you." Veronica answered, "It's easier not to think of it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I think it is." Logan nodded, "I only have one question, if you don't mind."

"No, if you don't mind allowing me one in return." Veronica responded.

Logan agreed, "The situation with, not knowing who is your biological father is…how are you handling that?"

"There's a company that does paternity tests. I sent in samples for one. By the time we're back I should have the results in the mail." Veronica said, "I know that my Dad is my Dad. He raised me and loved me all my life. Matching genetic code is no substitute for what Keith Mars has been to me. I have no doubt in my mind that these results will change nothing. What hurts is how hurt my Dad would be if he wasn't…And it hurts that my mother could do that to him. He doesn't deserve it."

"Your Dad is a great guy." Logan agreed. "I'm really sorry Veronica and I hope everything turns out as it should."

"Don't apologize for her." Veronica whispered, "I won't apologize for what your father has done. I still think you should tell someone. He deserves to be punished for what he's put you through."

"Yeah, well. Who would believe that Aaron Echolls the down-to-Earth, family-man could do such a thing?" Logan scoffed.

"I do." Veronica said sincerely, "And my Dad would. That's what matters, isn't it? So the rest of America might not…but what do they matter to you?"

"It doesn't matter anyway." Logan shrugged. "We'll graduate and I'll be really free. I can go off on my own merry way, develop a drinking problem a la my mother's family tradition to dull the pain, spend thousands of dollars on therapy, make a brief stint in rehab and use the rest of my life trying not to repeat the cycle."

"You don't really think it's going to be like that do you?"

"I don't know," Logan answered, "I guess I could come to terms with it eventually if I've got people like you to keep me grounded."

Veronica smiled. "I'll be here."

"Always?" Logan inquired a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Veronica was frozen by the heaviness of the words she was about to speak but she managed a nod and, "Of course."

A part of Logan that had been constricted by his situation relaxed, "Good, because I'll be here for you too." Then he turned to look at her again, "You had a question for me?"

"I think you answered it." Veronica replied, then lay back down, eyes settling on the ceiling. "You answered it."