Knock, Knock.

Keith Mars opens the door to his apartment. "Well, hello, Logan. Good to see you," said a cheerful Keith as he resumes sitting at the counter drinking coffee.

"Hello to you to, Mr. Mars," said an equally cheerful Logan carrying a large bag. "How was your summer?"

"Pretty great, actually," Keith said, smiling and nodding to himself remembering the last few months.

"Yeah, well, winning back your town, becoming the Sherriff, and reuniting with Mrs. Fennell probably does a man good."

"That it does. And now that Veronica's home safe, I couldn't be happier," he said truthfully. "And you? Did your world travels bring you happiness?"

"Surfing in Chile was amazing. And when the summer surf died down, Dick and I traveled all over South America. But honestly, this trip, the one from my house to your door this morning has been the one I've been looking forward to the most," he was smiling so sincerely Keith had to smile back.

"Well, she yelled for me to send you her way when she heard you knock—you're welcome to go on back." Keith stopped Logan with a hand on his arm. "But I want you to remember what you just said, how happy you are right now, later today and focus on that. What you're about to hear from her will upset you; it upset me when I found out yesterday. No matter how wrong I think she was, I do think she thought she was doing right. And I guess that counts for something."

The smile that had been hurting Logan's cheeks disappeared. He wanted to ask follow up questions, but he heard Veronica say, "Logan? Is that you? A little help please?" His feet took him towards her without instruction.

A million thoughts raced through his mind as walked the short hallway to her bedroom. What would Keith be mad about that Veronica would have thought was okay? Nothing but fatherly worries of tattoos and piercings were coming to mind. Then Logan's fears took over: Had she gotten back together with Piz? Met someone new? Had Duncan come to visit her? Was she helping him with little Lily? Was she dropping out of school? Could she be pregnant?

He burst through her door forcefully, not stopping to knock.

Veronica was startled, but smiled so brightly at him he forgot the 30 seconds of panic he just experienced.

"Logan!" she said warmly, then looking at the door, she joked, "Your manners are improving."

"Hey, you say 'help' and I move quickly," he said, smiling again, just enjoying the sight of her. He couldn't find anything in her appearance had changed in the last few months—no new piercings, no baby bump. She looked as beautiful as always. Better even, maybe not for any measurable reason, but taking in the real Veronica made him rebuke his imperfect memory. Even in just jeans and a T-shirt she looked great. He caught her working hard to fasten one of her odd trademark vests.

Veronica closed the distance between them instantly, wrapped one arm up around his neck and leaned into him fully, "You always do, don't you? I've missed you, Logan."

"Wow, unexpected show of affection, Veronica. You're really throwing me off my game," he said as he held her tight and kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him with a smirk on her face. "Unexpected, huh? I'll show you unexp—" and her words became garbled as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Logan fiercely for a few seconds, then she relented and enjoyed the familiar feel of him, kissing his lips softly.

Logan was shocked. All summer they had talked and teased and hinted at more to come, but he was sure it was going to be an arduous process. It always was. And yet, he thought he was finally ready to make it stick this time. To make her see that it was time for that too, no matter how things were when she left this summer. He would never completely understand the woman before him—the one his hands were clutching and his lips were responding to, attacking, actually—but in this moment he knew better than to even try to figure her out.

Logan was shocked, but he was also an opportunist. He had planned a day to remind her of all she missed over the summer—the sunshine, the waves, him. Instead, a new plan formed. When Veronica pulled away, happy, but slightly embarrassed, Logan refused to let her go. He would make her remember all that they were without words.

"You call that a greeting," he teased in a whisper close to her ear. Then his lips devoured hers. Fervently, passionately he kissed her and he knew he was on the right track when her breathing became erratic. One hand was in her hair and the other was at her low back pulling her closer to him. She was kissing him with an urgency, a desperation, as though she had not seen him in months—as was true— or as if this would be their last, which she hoped was not the case. When he felt her dip a little, he caught her swiftly with both hands. Her knees always buckled when he was giving it his all.

Minutes passed by. Veronica could not believe she kissed him, that she was still kissing him. Her go-slow-and-see-what-happens plan went right out the window when he walked through her bedroom door. He looked good. Logan always looked good, but today his V shaped torso was even more defined, his skin looked darker, he had sun-streaked hair, and he just looked excited and happy. Veronica knew instantly that she was the one making him smile that cocky, dopey smile and she could only respond by kissing him.

"Logan—" she started as she pulled back from him. "Is this what you planned for our day together?"

"Five more mintues," Logan said as he kissed her lips that were still talking. They simultaneously remembered kissing in the Xterra and Logan miming '5 more minutes.' "Dick's going to wake me up in five more mintues."

Veronica laughed between kisses. "You're not asleep," she whispered. "You're not dreaming."

"Oh, yes I am," he said, eyes still closed, kissing her again. "Except you do have fewer clothes in my dreams." Then his left shoulder stung.

"Ow!" he said, more annoyed than hurt as he finally relented, "Really? Pinching?"

"See? You're awake."

"Okay, so I did have a plan for our day together." Logan said as he let her go, but remained close. "And it wasn't this. I didn't dare hope for this today…"

"Yes?" she prompted, not wanting to talk about their relationship just yet.

"But then you started all of that, and I quickly changed our plans. How does a day in the Presidential Suite of finest hotel in Neptune sound?"

"It sounds presumptuous," she deadpanned. "What's in your bag?"

"Plan B it is, then," Logan said with a smile picking up the bag and putting it on her bed. "But if this is what you needed help with, don't worry, you won't be wearing it," he continued, toying with the two tails of her vest.

"Oh I won't? What do I look like, your Malibu Barbie?"

Logan made a funny face. "I really want to answer that. How far away is your tazer?"

She laughed at him, "Too close for you to finish that thought. So you brought me something to wear?"

"Uh, huh. Check it out."

"Water shoes….sunscreen….shorts….a two-piece… and a purple tank top with a unicorn!" she said as she took each piece out of the bag.

"Thanks, Logan, but you didn't have to do this. I have beach clothes, you know."

"Beach clothes? No, no, those aren't beach clothes. That's windsurfing attire," he said with a smile. "See? The shorts have a place for the harness. But we could get you a wetsuit, too, if you'd rather."

Veronica looked pale all of a sudden. She sat down on her bed and said, "Logan, I can't."

"Sure you can," he encouraged, "I know you've had your struggles with surfing, so I thought this would be a good first step. You're athletic—you'll catch on in no time. Plus, I thought it'd be a good first day back for us. We'll get to be outside, hang out all day and work on learning something new for both of us."

"No, Logan. I mean I can't do it."

Logan looked hurt. He really had put a lot of thought into their day. He even had a picnic packed in his vehicle. "So what? Something came up? The kiss freaked you out? What do you mean you can't do it?"

She knew she had hurt him. She knew she was about to hurt him even more. Veronica took his hands as he sat down on the bed beside him.

"I wasn't planning on getting into this yet, but it looks like it can't wait. I can't windsurf because I had shoulder surgery."

"What? When? I never knew you did anything to your shoulder."

"It was this summer," she started.

"You had shoulder surgery this summer? In Virginia?"

She nodded yes.

He replied quietly, "How come you never told me? We talked almost every day," he looked as though he had been slapped in the face. "Is this what your dad meant? You didn't tell your dad either?"

"Wait, Logan, there's more. I had shoulder surgery after I was attacked. I dislocated my shoulder tying to get away from a guy who was holding me at gunpoint ."

"WHAT? Veronica! What it the hell-"

"They shot him in the head, he dropped and I was free," she said very quickly. She wanted to get through all the details and let him know she was okay, "I wasn't supposed to be helping the FBI with a drug case in the field, but it just happened. When some guys working for a Mexican drug ring found my wire, they knew the police or somebody was close by. One of them tried to use me as a shield as he took off. The FBI was right there, so they captured the other guys they didn't shoot. They got me to a hospital in minutes, but the manual reduction didn't take, so the doctors surgically repaired my shoulder."

Logan was speechless. His mind raced with questions, but he couldn't overcome how upset he was that she had kept this a secret for so long.

"Veronica, you're lucky you weren't killed," he said after about several minutes of silence.

"I know," she said sounding truly thankful.

"So you're okay now?"

"Yes," Veronica said as she scooted closer to him. But Logan jumped away from her.

"When did this happen?" he asked stone-faced, staring at the ground.

"My surgery was 10 weeks ago, about a week after the incident."

"Your FBI internship was only 12 weeks. This happened on your second week at the FBI?" He couldn't believe any of this. His mind was a blur replaying the words she said: attacked, shield, shot, wire, dislocated, surgery. Nothing made any sense.

"I know, right? They weren't lying about that Rookie curse," she replied lightly, hoping to make him smile.

He couldn't take it anymore. How could she think any of this was funny? "I cannot believe you didn't tell me any of this," he said sadly and walked out the door.

"That girl's a piece of work," Logan told Keith with venom as he walked through the apartment toward the door.

"Yes, but at least she's all in one piece," said Keith. Their eyes met for a second and Logan nodded once in agreement. Then he exited.

Veronica hurriedly put some shoes on and found her sling. She grabbed Logan's beach bag and ran out of the apartment saying, "I'll be back later, Dad!"

Logan was backing out of a parking spot, looking over his shoulder. When he finished reversing, he shifted his eyes forward and found a disheveled Veronica holding her hands up for him to stop.

He slammed on the brakes immediately, but he wasn't ready to talk to her about this. He honked the horn of his Land Rover, hoping she would get the point. She was blocking his only exit.

When she didn't move, but started talking, Logan rolled down his window and turned off the radio.

"Move, Veronica!" he yelled.

"Well, that's a little more like it!" she yelled back. "I've been bracing for your yelling about this all summer and you just run away!"

"Don't you dare make this about me!" he screamed at her, revving his engine. She still stood perfectly still, both knowing he could never hurt her.

"What? You're going to kiss me like that and then leave?"

"What? You're going to lie to me all summer and expect me to stay?"

"Can I tell you the whole story?" she asked, only marginally softer.

"You've had 11 weeks! I've just been blind-sided. No, I don't want to talk about this now."

"So, you don't even want to hang out today? You don't want to be with me?"

Logan thought about this. He had been waiting for this day since, well, just like Dick said, 'since he busted up that Gory kid in the cafeteria.' He thought of Keith telling him to 'remember this moment' just a few minutes ago when he came in smiling like a fool. He thought about her kiss.

Logan sighed then reached over and opened the passenger door. Veronica hesitated for a second, thinking it might be a trick to get her out of the way, then he would drive off. But she climbed into his car, shut the door, and started to fasten her seat belt, all without the car peeling out.

When she struggled to reach across herself for the belt with her left hand, Logan placed her left hand in her lap. He reached across her body for the seatbelt and clicked it into place. While he was still so close, Veronica smiled at him for the sweet gesture and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Hey, no more of that," Logan said, "If we're going to talk about this summer at all today, you can't be distracting me anymore. I'm on to your tactics." She looked hurt as he said this. He continued, "So, it was your right shoulder?"

She nods yes. "Logan, listen—"

"Absolutely not." He says with one hand up pleading her to stop. The other hand is massaging his forehead, as though he has a headache. " I will not listen to anything for awhile. Can I please just have a little time to process?"

"Sure. Where are we going?"

"I've got an idea."