A/N: Here's chapter eight! I know it's been awhile, but I've had trouble with my internet. I also have two more chapters already written. So that's good. There's some weird transitions from trivial to serious conversations in this chappie, but I don't know it works I guess. It's not my best but it's an update, right? Also, look for a quote(s) from an actual episode of VMars. I'm pretty sure it's very recognizable, like the most known from the show. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac
Disclaimer: I don't own VMars.
Chapter Eight
You Call It Fun, I Call It Therapy
After days of driving, Veronica had deemed a location suitable to settle down in. They got a hotel room toward the center of town. Veronica finally bullied her way into paying for part of it. They got settled into the new room and while Veronica went to change, Logan walked back down to the office to get some directions.
"So, buddy, what have you got to do for fun in this town?" Logan asked, leaning against the front desk.
"Um," the guy looked flustered, "There's the mall and the movie theater. Not much else unfortunately."
Logan smiled, "That'll be fine. As long as there is food and water and shelter, I think we'll be able to survive with minimal entertainment."
"I tell myself that everyday," the guy murmured.
When Logan returned to room, Veronica had claimed a bed and was sitting on it crossed-legged as she flicked through the television channels. Logan hopped up onto the bed next to her. She rolled her eyes and clicked the TV off.
"Come on Ronnie. Up and at 'em," Logan exclaimed, "We're going to go buy you something pretty."
"What?" Veronica questioned as Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed with him.
"We're only here a couple days. So with the limited resources I've been provided with, we're going to have a fun day out," Logan explained. "Starting with taking Daddy's credit card to the mall and buying everything in sight."
"Won't your Dad notice when you start charging up a storm?" Veronica grabbed her purse and followed him out of the room.
"If you've noticed, the only person to even make an attempt at finding out my whereabouts is Duncan. Besides, as long as I'm not doing anything to sully his flawless reputation, he couldn't care less what I do," Logan responded. "So, if you're satisfied, your carriage awaits, my dear."
"I don't think I've ever seen a canary yellow carriage before," Veronica said as she climbed into the passenger seat.
"There's a first thing for everything."
Logan got into the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking stall. Using the acquired directions, Logan completed the short drive to the mall. It took him awhile to find a parking space. He traveled up and down the rows until Veronica pointed out a car that was leaving. Logan flipped on his blinker and once the space was unoccupied, he pulled in. Veronica hopped out and joined Logan at the other side of the car, before they set off toward the mall.
"So what are we buying?" Veronica asked.
"I said before, we're buying something for you," Logan answered.
"No, no, no!" Veronica put her hands up. "You want to max out your father's charge card, that's your deal. Leave me out of it."
Logan stooped and put his hands on his hips, forcing Veronica to turn around to see him, "What could I buy that I don't already have, in excess?"
"Good point," Veronica conceded. "Still, I don't want you to buy me anything. You've already paid for two nights of hotels. I couldn't take anything else."
"Nonsense, Ronnie," Logan replied. "I insist."
"Logan," Veronica shook her head.
Logan stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulders as he guided her into the crowded mall. "Just wait until you see all the sparkly, pretty, expensive things—you'll change your tune real quick."
"I doubt that," Veronica countered.
"You're probably right," Logan said simply.
"I'm not Lilly."
"Thank God!" Logan exclaimed, "If you were Lilly, I would probably be pulling my hair out by now. She's a great friend and all, but the girl drives me crazy."
"I meant that you couldn't distract me with glitter and designer labels," Veronica replied. "It's pointless to even try."
Logan pulled her into the first clothing store they came to, "Veronica, I like spending my father's money. It's like…therapy, and it would make me feel even better if you let me spend the money on you."
"Are you sure?" Veronica bit her lip as they came to the women's section.
"Yes. I'm like those aggravatingly spoiled teenage girls that go on shopping sprees for three thousand dollar shoes every time something doesn't go their way," Logan shrugged as he browsed a rack.
"So you're Shelley Pomeroy," Veronica chuckled, and at Logan's displeased frown she added, "Or would you rather I had said Madison Sinclair?"
"I'll stick with Shelley," Logan said. "The idea of having to see Dick naked on a regular basis, I have to say it, makes me feel bad for Madison sometimes."
Veronica laughed, "And thank my lucky stars that I'm not her."
"My point exactly," Logan agreed, as he pulled a dress off the rack, "This is cute. What size are you? XXS?"
Veronica pushed him playfully and pulled the same dress off the rack in her size, "Hilarious."
"I thought so."
Thirty minutes later, they had gathered a good assortment of clothes for Veronica to try on. Logan sat on a cushioned chair outside, while she went into a fitting room. She modeled each outfit for him, pulling some silly poses. Logan would laugh and send some sarcastic comment her way. Veronica would roll her eyes and send something equally sarcastic right back at him. This continued until Veronica was down to the very last thing to try on. It was the first dress Logan had pulled off the rack. It was red with a black flocked overlay.
Veronica pulled off her previous outfit and hung it back up on the hangers. Then she carefully pulled the dress off its hanger and over her head. She pulled the zipper, on the side, up to the clasp. A quick turn in front o f the mirror later, to see how it looked on her reflection, and she was ready to show Logan. She opened the door to the fitting room and stepped out. She did a small turn for Logan, and waited for him to say something.
"What do you think?" Veronica asked when he remained silent.
Logan had to pick his jaw up off the floor. "It looks great on you," he sputtered out.
Veronica smiled, "Thank you."
Logan stood up and walked over to her, "This is the last one?"
"Yeah," Veronica nodded.
"Well I say we buy all of it," Logan clapped his hands.
"No, no way," Veronica refused, beginning to head back into the fitting room. "I couldn't…"
Logan caught hold of the hem of the dress's skirt, and pulled her back toward him, "Well then at least this dress then."
Veronica sighed, "I can live with that."
Veronica changed back into her own clothes and put the dress on the hanger. She joined Logan at the register and the woman there took the dress from her. Veronica hadn't looked at the tag on the dress, and she refused to listen to the price as they were rung up. If Logan insisted on spending money on her that was one thing, but she did not want to know to what extent he was spending money on her. That would only make her feel guilty. Once the dress was bagged, had been paid for and was ready to go, they headed out of the store.
"You want something to eat?" Logan asked, looking around for a map kiosk. "I'm sure there's a food court somewhere in this place."
"Sure," Veronica responded.
"Come here," Logan took her hand and pulled her over to the map he had spotted. Veronica tried to ignore the fact that it had to be the fiftieth time he had purposely held her hand.
Once they located the food court on the map, they headed in that direction down the mall. It didn't seem that Logan noticed that the entire time he had a grip on Veronica's hand. However, Veronica was keenly aware. She couldn't pull away, not that she wanted to at all. It felt nice, comforting almost. She supposed it should be weird, because this was Logan Echolls, one of her closest friends. Yet it wasn't. Oddly enough, it felt right—like the way they had been flirting since the beginning of the trip. Did that mean something?
Veronica's internal debate over the answer to that question was interrupted by their arrival at the food court, "Well, Logan, what should we have?"
"Well we have corndogs, hamburgers, cheap imitation sushi, Chinese, Mexican and pizza," Logan responded, "What sounds good to you?"
"I'll stick with what I know," Veronica said. "Pizza."
"Pizza, it is." Logan nodded.
They ordered a couple slices and found an empty table near the center of the food court. While they were eating, Logan breached the subject of seeing a movie. "What do you think about seeing a movie? The guy gave me directions to a theater too."
"That sounds fine," Veronica nodded and took a big sip off her drink. "I haven't been to the movies for awhile."
"Yeah," Logan agreed, "I think the last time I went was when we went with Lilly and Duncan to see that god-awful chick flick."
"Hey, we only made you go to that one because you and Duncan had dragged us to that stupid kung fu movie the week before. I mean, subtitles…that's totally lame," Veronica countered.
"You just didn't appreciate the artistic effect of the action sequences," Logan shrugged.
"And you're just too much of an insensitive chauvinistic pig to appreciate an epic romance," Veronica reciprocated.
Logan shook his head, his expression serious. "I appreciate the idea of an epic romance, but those kinds of movies aren't reality. An epic romance in real life would be something spanning years, continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. That sort of thing. You and I both know nothing in real life is as peachy keen as it is in the movies."
"Come on. Ruined lives? Bloodshed? You really think relationships should be that hard?" Veronica frowned.
"No one writes songs about the ones that come easy," Logan said simply.
Veronica nodded, "I guess you're right about that."
"I don't know," Logan replied, sitting back in his seat. "It's only that I've seen life throw some really crappy stuff my way, yours too. I can't imagine love being any easier. Look at what my parents made of it, and the Kanes, and your parents. They all had love and see what it got them? Absolutely nothing, except heartache and a whole lot of dysfunction. I don't know love to go any other way."
"It has to be better than what our parents have. It's hard to believe love was even what they had to begin with. Either way, I'm not going to give up because my mother couldn't remain faithful to a man who loved her with all his heart. I'm going to do better because of it," Veronica took a deep breath, "I'm going to learn from their mistakes."
"It's easy to say that, not so easy to do that," Logan responded after a moment of silence.
Veronica shrugged, "A girl can try."
Logan sat watching her intently for a moment. Veronica began to fidget under his intense gaze. Finally, he looked away, standing and gathering up his trash. Veronica did the same and followed him to the trashcan. With the trash discarded, they began to head back through the mall. Veronica frowned, unable to understand what had made Logan stay silent.
"You went quiet," Veronica stated.
"Huh?"
"You went quiet," Veronica repeated. "Is something wrong?"
"I was just thinking, you know. I thought I had been through hell, and then I learned all that you had gone through…I can't imagine living with that uncertainty. But what you said just now about not giving up…It amazes me that with everything you've been through that you can still have that kind of hope for the future."
"You don't have hope?" Veronica asked.
"I hadn't for a long time," Logan answered, "but I'm starting to for the first time in awhile."
"I think maybe we did this at exactly the right time," Veronica murmured.
"I think so too," Logan agreed. "Okay, enough of that. Let's go catch a flick."
A/N2: I'm sure you found the quote(s). It was pretty obvious. I just had to throw the epic speech in there, because it fit. I used the word epic once and then I was like this would be a perfect time to get that speech into an AU. Anyway, review! Thanks! Next chapter is the movie! –Mac