A/N: Here's chapter fourteen finally. It's been a long time coming, I know. I actually just got my folder of finished chapters back from where I left them at home when I went to school for the semester. This has been written for months, and I apologize for not posting this before now. Good news, chapter fifteen—the last chapter as of right now, I may do an epilogue, but I'm not sure if I will yet—is written and will be typed up as soon as I have this chapter posted. This will be coming to a close really, really soon. For those of you still reading and who have been from the beginning, thank you for sticking with it. I know I've been dragging on this story to the nth degree. Anyway, here's chapter fourteen. Enjoy! Vote in the poll! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Chapter Fourteen

Love Can Carry You All the Way Home

They had been on the road home for awhile and they were nearing their last stop before the final stretch back to Neptune. Although Veronica felt confident that, after all that had happened in the past week or so with Logan, returning home wouldn't be a return to the pain and heartbreak of before, there was still something sad about having to go back. Spending all that time alone with Logan had been fun and light heated, and she didn't want to change once they were back amongst their friends and families. With that hanging over her head, this drive lacked the flirty banter of the trip away from Neptune. Instead the car was filled with the silence of quiet contemplation.

"It's going to be okay, Veronica," Logan said finally.

"I know," Veronica said. "I just want this to be my life. Not some fantasy that I have to leave behind to go back to my real life."

"This isn't a fantasy," Logan frowned, "This is real. Don't ever think it isn't."

"No, that's not it," Veronica shook her head. "I like this: it being just you and me. It's hard for me to show how I feel or talk to people about, anything that means anything, but it's never been that way with you. It would be so much simpler if it was just you and me."

"It's going to be different when we get back to Neptune. We'll have to deal with everyone else again, but no matter what, it's going to be me and you, Veronica. Always you and me, no matter what comes our way."

"Are you going to feel the same about me when we're home?" Veronica asked, her voice only a fraction louder than a whisper.

"Of course I am, Veronica," Logan answered without hesitation. "Do you know how I know that?"

"How?"

"Because Neptune may be where we live, but the thing that makes it home is you. So whether we're in Neptune or a thousand miles away, I'm going to feel the same."

A smile formed on Veronica's lips, "You are so cheesy. I would never have suspected you to bring out the sappy romantic stuff."

"Only when it comes to you Ronnie," Logan smiled back. "And at least it's not a line. I really mean it."

"I know you do," Veronica said softly and reached over to run a hand through his hair, "I feel the same way."

"Good," Logan grabbed her hand before she could return it to her lap and laced his fingers with hers. "Now that we have that all cleared up, can we put some music on and enjoy the rest of our trip."

O-o-O

It wasn't until they pulled into the parking lot of the same hotel they had stayed their first night in that Veronica realized how close they were to being back in Neptune. This really was their last night of complete liberation. They had to savor these last hours of freedom. Even as her mind grasped onto that thought, she continued to tell herself that it was going to be alright. It was going to. It had to be.

Logan pulled out his wallet before they had even stepped into the office. He raised a dismissive hand to Veronica's ready to be voiced complaints before they left her mouth. He smirked, "It's the last time, I swear."

"Why do I not believe you?" Veronica shook her head.

"Because I have every intention of spoiling you every chance I get, despite any agreements I may have made to the contrary," Logan answered casually. "What can I say? It's how I was raised. It's ingrained into my DNA."

"I didn't know there was a gene for obnoxious excessive spending of inexhaustible wealth," Veronica allowed Logan to put his arm around her shoulders as they approached the counter.

"I'm sure I'm not the first person to use it as an excuse," Logan shrugged, laughing lightly.

The man behind the counter looked up as they arrived in front of him. After a split second of assessment, his eyes lit up in recognition. "I remember you two. How was your trip?"

"Good," Logan answered. "We'd like a room."

"Well, we have vacancies, but I'm sorry to tell you, the only rooms we have available have only one bed," the man said.

Veronica and Logan looked at each other and then back at the man. Veronica smiled, "Actually, that sounds fine."

The man smiled and angled a pointed glance toward Logan, "A very good trip then, I would imagine."

"You could say that," Logan grinned.

A few minutes later they were letting themselves into their room for the night. Without really dwelling on the fact that there was only one bed—which amounted to not looking at the king sized bed that took up most of the room—Veronica changed for bed while Logan went to take a shower. Once she was changed, Veronica climbed onto the bed and waited for Logan to emerge from the bathroom. She smoothed her hands through her hair as she tried to talk herself down from the anxiety attack she felt coming on. She told herself that she was being ridiculous. It wasn't that big of a deal to sleep in the same bed as Logan. She had nothing to worry about and she repeated that to herself over and over as she tried to get comfortable against the starchy hotel pillows.

When Logan exited the bathroom, he paused at the foot of the bed. His eyes traveled over the bed and its occupant. He swallowed thickly and opened his mouth to say something. Yet no sound came out and he struggled to find words.

Veronica's voice saved him the trouble. She voiced the same thought she had been trying to use to convince herself to calm down, "It's not like it's the first time we've shared a bed on this trip."

"Yeah," Logan nodded sheepishly, "but that time was an accident and before—"

"Before," Veronica agreed.

"I wouldn't try anything," Logan said. "You know that right?"

Veronica nodded.

"I mean, we just sorted out our feelings for each other. I wouldn't want to rush into anything."

"Of course not," Veronica said, before smiling lightly, "Besides we ought to wait until I have my pep squad uniform handy—since you like me in it so much."

Logan laughed softly as the tension eased out of the room. He sat down on the edge of the bed and slid up to sit next to Veronica. "I like you just fine out of it."

Veronica leaned into him. Her face was just a few inches from his as she said, "That would be the idea, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know whose influence I should thank more for that comment: mine or Lilly's," Logan smirked, before leaning down to close the distance between their lips. When he pulled away, he added, "But either way, I like it."

Veronica smiled as she curled against Logan's side and he wrapped an arm around her. She sighed, "Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we hadn't made that promise to each other when we were thirteen?"

Logan remained quiet so Veronica continued.

"We wouldn't have gotten as close as we did. Maybe we wouldn't be close at all. We would have ended up with different people. I might not have refused Duncan and you might have surrendered to Lilly's seductions—who knows what disasters those relationships could have led to."

Logan tightened his hold on Veronica, "I think we still would have ended up together somehow."

"But it wouldn't be the same. We wouldn't trust each other the way we do. It wouldn't be like this," Veronica said quietly.

"No," Logan agreed. "It wouldn't be like this."

"We have hope because of each other. The future looks brighter, doesn't it?" Veronica asked and Logan nodded his confirmation. "We wouldn't have that if I hadn't been a pushy thirteen year old who couldn't take no for an answer."

"I loved that about thirteen year old you," Logan smiled, "You were the first person, the only person actually, to not accept the brush off at face value. Everyone else in Neptune, Duncan and Lilly included, would probably prefer a lie, even when they know it's a lie, because they'd rather not be bothered by an unsavory truth. The fact that you were different was almost a guarantee that I would inevitably fall for you."

Logan pressed a kiss to Veronica's hair. They settled in against the pillows and took a few quiet moments to get comfortable. Veronica took in a deep breath and let Logan tuck her head under his chin. She hadn't felt as peaceful as she did in that moment in a very long time. She didn't want to disrupt it for anything, but she supposed there were things she should say before she talked herself out of it.

"I'm going to have to tell Lilly and Duncan about the affair, aren't I?" Veronica said against Logan's chest. She could feel Logan's voice rumble in his chest before the words left his lips.

"Well, Lilly's going to want an explanation about the test results and she's likely to see right through anything that isn't the complete truth," Logan answered, "and if you tell her, she's going to tell Duncan sooner or later."

"I never wanted them to suffer the same misery I felt knowing that about my mother," Veronica said.

"Maybe it's unavoidable now."

"Maybe," Veronica nodded. "Will you be there when I tell them?"

"I'll be there for you whenever you need me," Logan responded.

"It's easier when you're not the only one with the secret. Holding it all in by myself wasn't good for me," Veronica sighed. "It will be a burden off my shoulders to tell them."

"Maybe going back won't be as bad as we keep thinking it's going to be."

"If we face it together," Veronica said.

"If we face it together," Logan repeated and with a deep breath slid down to lay on the bed, pulling Veronica with him.

Even as they cuddled together under the blankets, they didn't go to sleep. Even though Veronica was tired enough to sleep for days, she didn't want to close her eye. It was their last night of freedom and she wanted to savor every moment. So she talked and listened as Logan spoke, and when there was nothing left to say she sought out his lips with her own. They had to return to the lives they left behind the next day, but that night was theirs.