Chapter Two

Once he was gone, Veronica sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed her temples and leaned back against the counter, a single solitary tear silently trailing its way down her cheek. She swiped at it impatiently and wondered how her life had come to this. A few minutes before, she'd been ecstatic, at the top of her game, and now, she felt like she'd hit an all time low.

She was restless and dissatisfied whether she wanted to admit it or not. She'd been telling herself for years that she was simply doing what was necessary. She'd focused on a goal that would allow her to continue to develop her already finely honed sense of justice while staying out of physical danger. Her choices were selfless in nature, even noble, she thought. She'd purposely distanced herself from those she loved as an extra safeguard for them in spite of the occasionally crippling loneliness that it sometimes entailed.

If she were being truthful with herself, her relationship with Piz was a concession of sorts. It had become too painful for her to try to maintain contact with Wallace, Mac, and her dad while still keeping her distance. One of them had apparently told Piz where and how to find her when he'd moved to New York. She'd been grateful for his appearance and didn't hesitate when he'd suggested they find a place to split rent together since prices were so high and they were both just starting out.

He had become a buffer for her, of sorts, relaying messages and information from her to their mutual friends and even, on occasion, to her dad. At the same time, he allowed her some comfort from home without being a constant reminder of what and who she was missing. Without so much as a discussion about it, they'd slipped back into the easy relationship they'd had at Hearst before that fateful day when her world had ended, yet again.

Before her thoughts could travel too far down the road that always led to heartache and pain, the sound of the door brought her back to the present. She shook her head to clear it and wiped at her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together before Piz was able to see the mess that she'd become the moment he was gone.

Forcing a smile, she peeked her head around the corner and reached for the bag he'd brought back with him. "That was fast," she said smoothly, keeping the focus on him while not allowing time to let his gaze really settle on her. She was back in the kitchen and busying herself with the beer and bread in a heartbeat, making sure that he wouldn't have the opportunity to see that anything had been amiss.

"No line," he replied to her with a quirked half-smile. She glanced at him as he reached for one of the six pack that she'd set on the counter less than two feet from him. Popping it open before he moved to sit on a stool on the other side of the center island from her, he asked in a teasing tone, "Miss me while I was gone?"

"Not a bit," she answered airily in a way that should have had him wondering if she meant it or not. Things weren't like that between her and Piz, though, she thought. He never seemed to worry about anything. That fact annoyed her more often than she'd like to admit and caused her to frown.

She poured a bottle of beer into the stew pot and finished putting in the already chopped veggies before turning the heat to medium so that their dinner could warm to a simmer. When she finished, she grabbed a beer of her own before realizing that he was watching her contentedly. In light of her previous thoughts, having his rapt attention on her was irksome in that moment and she couldn't help but ask a little brusquely, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Nope," he said simply, unruffled by her words, a stupid smile that both endeared him to her and grated on her nerves glued to his face, "Just enjoying the view."

"Is that so?" she answered haughtily, tossing a wet dish rag at him before she went to grab herself a seat on the couch, curling her legs under her. Getting comfortable, she tucked herself into the corner where she could place her right elbow on the armrest. In the hand attached to the arm that belonged to that elbow was her beer, already half gone in just two swigs.

He came to join her in the living room and she watched him warily as he entered. She saw him as he seemed to realize something was off with her and didn't object when he decided to sit in the recliner across from her rather than taking a seat beside her. He then appeared to study her as he slowly sipped his ale.

She squirmed under his scrutiny and looked away before asking defensively, "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to stare?"

He refused to take her bait. She was about to make another snarky remark when she saw him pick up the day's mail that was sitting on the coffee table. When he leaned over to pick it up and thumb through it, she decided to let things drop. She was wondering what exactly had her so irritated with him when he saw something that caught his eye and said, "Hey, what's this?"

Glancing over as if trying to read the return address, Veronica shrugged and said, "I don't know. I haven't looked through it yet. What is it?"

Piz turned the green envelope around for her so that she could see the green and gold address label in the top left corner. Veronica looked at him as if he were an idiot and shook her head, shrugging again as she said impatiently, "I can't read it from here. What's it say?"

"Neptune High," Piz responded, reaching it in her direction so she could take it from him.

Veronica's eyes widened in horror and she immediately snatched the correspondence from him with her left hand, narrowly managing to not slosh her beer onto herself or the couch in her rush. She set the beer down on the coffee table and held the card tentatively with both hands, willing them not to tremble as she tried to get through opening it without having a breakdown.

Piz sat back and watched her, his elbows on his knees and his beer between his hands. "What is it?" he prompted when she didn't say anything.

"I don't know," Veronica responded, her voice sounding distant and echo-y, almost like it belonged to a ghost.

"So open it and find out!" Piz said lightly as if it were all a big joke.

Running her finger along the flap, Veronica inhaled sharply and yanked her hand back as she cursed sharply. Feeling sheepish, she mumbled, "Paper cut..."

Chuckling, Piz rose just enough to take the envelope from her. He sat back and finished opening it before reading aloud, "Neptune High's Class of 2006 would like to invite you to its ten year reunion. Festivities will be held at Neptune Alum's own 09er Club on the 10th of September, 2016 at 7pm. Please check in upon your arrival and feel free to bring a guest."

Almost before he'd finished reading, Veronica said quickly, "I'm not going." She then reached over and tried to take the card back from him so she could rip it to shreds and pretend it had never existed.

He kept it from her and held it out of reach,"What's this?" he quipped, "Veronica Mars is afraid to attend her own high school reunion?"

"Stop it, Piz," she responded irritably as she moved closer, determined to get it back from him and make it disappear.

"Stop what?" he asked as he stood, still easily holding it out of her reach before adding with a laugh, "You realize that I've read it already and whether you get hold of it or not, I know when it is and can still bug you about it even without the actual invite, right?"

Veronica grumbled, so pissed off at him now that she actually kicked him in the shin. This caused him to hop on one foot and reach toward his leg with one hand while the other still held the card above his head.

"Ow!" he yelped, "Real mature, Veronica!"

"Me mature?!" she cried indignantly, "I'm not the one playing 'keep away' with a stupid folded piece of scrap paper!"

"If that's all it is to you then why'd you kick me in the shin?!" Piz demanded as he finally handed it to her before she could climb up him like some sort of sloth in a tree.

"You were being a pain in the ass," she answered as she snatched it back and dropped with a thud back to her seat on the couch, unable to immediately make herself destroy the card as she'd intended.

Piz, too, sat back down, rubbing his shin as he shook his head and grimaced, "So let me get this straight. You hold in your hand a valid reason to go visit your two best friends whom you haven't seen in YEARS and you're just gonna pass it up like that?" When he said 'that', he snapped his fingers and shook his head, adding, "I just don't get you sometimes, Veronica. You're so badass in everything else and yet in this you're gonna be a total wuss. What the hell?!"

Biting her lower lip, Veronica decided that to make him leave the subject alone, she was going to have to do something cruel in order to be kind. Leveling a pointed and piercing blue-eyed gaze at him, she said one word that she knew would remind him exactly what HE risked were she ever to return to Neptune: "Logan."