Chapter 22: Tough Love, and Going Home

"Veronica honey, you know I love you right?" Keith said as he looked at his daughter who was laying on her bed listening to the same horrible music she had listened to in high school when she and Weevil fought. Veronica nodded her head as she turned down the music. "Of course." "Then you won't take it personal if I tell you turn this crap off and go home?" Veronica sat up and glared at him. "I thought this was my home." Keith sighed as he walked further into the room. "It is Veronica and it will always be your home, but you need to go to your other home. To Eli." She didn't say anything as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"He's a mess Veronica, he comes into work late and leaves later. I don't think he's shaved in days and I'm including his head in this. I haven't seen him eat either…this is destroying the both of you." Keith said shaking his head he sat beside her. "I know what you're going through now is hard sweetie, but you need him and he needs you." "You don't know anything." Veronica said softly and he nodded in agreement. "I know only as much as either of you will tell me. So either talk to me about this or go talk to him." Keith stood up and looked at her hands on his hips, he knew that the situation had to do with Veronica's miscarriage and that she would take time to recover and he hated being tough with her but sometimes it was the only way his daughter responded.

"Everything is different now." Veronica said looking at her lap, it was a moment of weakness than his daughter very rarely showed. "Of course things are different now Veronica, you just went through a very traumatic event." Keith said as he wrapped his arm around her in a one-sided hug. "No one should ever have to lose a child, but you did Veronica." Keith paused for a moment. "You both did, Eli lost that baby too and you should be grieving together." She sucked in a shaky breath and ducked her head into his chest. "It's so hard daddy, every day it's like a weight and I just." He nodded his head.

"I know you push, because you're afraid to let someone that close to you." Veronica nodded her head. "You can't keep those walls up forever Veronica, Eli is a good man who loves you and I'd be willing to guess that he'll wait for you. But no man can wait forever." Keith hugged her once more before he pulled away to look at her. "You still love him right?" At his question you would have thought he grew a second head. "Of course I do, how can you even ask me that?" Veronica said feeling defensive all of a sudden.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Keith said as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Go home to your man Veronica and talk to him. Talk this out." Standing up straight he headed out of her room and into the kitchen, once upon a time he would have been thrilled if Eli and Veronica never spoke to each other again; but times had changed and all he wanted now was for both of them to get their shit together and work things out. If only so he could go into the office and not have to worry about his receptionist scaring away the future clients.

Keith made himself a coffee and was just stilling down to watch the evening news when his daughter finally re-emerged, hair wet and dressed in fresh clothes. "Thank's dad." Veronica mumbled as she made a beeline for her keys. "Anytime honey, what about your things?" He asked noticing she was leaving minus the duffel bag she'd come in with. "I'll be back for it later." Keith nodded his head. "Alright, and honey. Drive safe."

Home

Veronica knew she had made the right choice to come home the moment she pulled into the driveway, Weevil's car was sitting in its usual spot but there was a layer of grime on it that told a bigger story than one might think. His car was one of the things he loved and Weevil had always taken good care of it; but it wasn't the only thing that been neglected since she went running to her dad's almost two weeks ago, the lawn was grown over as well. Licking her lips she hesitantly got out of her car and made the short walk up the path to the front door. Keys in hand she paused at the door before knocking, which was stupid…she still lived there had the keys and could just walk right in but after the way she had left Veronica wasn't sure she was still welcome.

Veronica wasn't sure how long she waited for him to come to the door, but she knocked three times before moving to lean against one of the support beams staring off into the street. "Lose your key?" Was the first thing out of his mouth when he finally came to the door; Veronica turned and looked at him, he had his arm braced against the frame and was staring at her. Her first thought went to the fact that her father had been telling the truth, Weevil had at least a week's worth of growth on his face and probably closer to three on his head, the fuzz growing in was new but she kind of liked it.

Shaking her head Veronica finally found her voice. "Wasn't sure if I was still welcome." Weevil made a face but moved out-of-the-way to allow her in. "Should have tried the locks to see." There was no anger in his voice which was slightly unsettling since he had every right to be upset with her. Veronica looked around the house, a couple of pizza boxes sat on the table along with an empty 2L bottle of coke. "Weevil…Eli." He turned to look at her, a dark brow raised and a scowl on his face. "What Veronica? Did you come to get the rest of your things?"

"I came to talk…if you want me to move out at the end of it then I'll get my things."

"So talk."

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry that I bailed out when it got tough…" Veronica wrung her hands together as she tried to find the right words for everything she had to say.

"I should have talked to you, instead of bottling everything up and letting it eat at me." She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "I tried to work through it on my own and I pushed you away." Weevil nodded his head.

"I needed you too, V." Veronica nodded her head. "I know, and I was horrible to you."

Weevil ran his hand over his head as he sighed. "I don't want us to be over Eli, I don't want this to end us." Saying it made her realize how much she wanted to make sure he knew that she wasn't just giving up.

"You walked out Veronica, just left. You haven't returned my calls or texts." Veronica nodded her head. "I know." And she felt horrible for it. "I wasn't ready to deal with it, with everything…" But she was now, the talk her father had given her was still ringing in her head.

"I'm ready now, I'm ready to work through this." Veronica looked up meeting his gaze, hating the way he was keeping his face neutral. "Can we do this together?"

He was hesitating, she could feel it and the pain she felt from it was like a stab in the heart. But she deserved it. "I should go…"

"Stop." Weevil moved so he was standing closer to her. "I told you I'd wait V. If you're finally going to stop pushing me away so we can work this out then I am standing right here. But it's going to take some time for me to just get over the fact that you walked out on me."

Veronica nodded her head. "I understand."

"No more running Veronica, you want this, want us…we deal with shit as it happens." He didn't need to say or else, it hung in the air like a knife.

"No more running." Veronica said in agreement as she stepped in closer to him wanting to reach out and touch him.

"Welcome home." Weevil said as he pulled her into his arms holding her tightly against his hard chest, her arms went around his waist holding him in return, when he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his whiskers brushed her skin and she chuckled before reaching up and running her fingers over his face.

"Not sure how I feel about the new look." Veronica said as she moved to run her fingers over the hair on his head. "Yeah…I haven't had the motivation to shave." Veronica nodded her head. "Your dad told me to shave or be prepared for a couple of weeks of stake outs at the Camelot…"

Veronica chuckled softly. "Scaring the clients again?" She teased and he shrugged against her. "No more than usual. But I'll get rid of it." Weevil said as he let her go, this time he visibly took in her appearance a frown on his face.

"Have you been eating?" He asked reaching out and running his hand over her side. "A little." He nodded letting her go completely. "Are you hungry? I could probably find something to whip up." Veronica shrugged. "I could eat…"

Weevil nodded and looked around the kitchen and dining room. "I…just let me tidy up a bit." Stopping him Veronica offered him a soft smile. "How about we get started on the working together? I tidy up and you can find us something to eat."

Silently he seemed to think about her offer before nodding his head. "Alright." Together they worked in silence, there was still a lot they had to talk about, to work out; but this was a good start as they worked in unison him scrapping together something to eat with what food was still in the house and her tidying it up. The way they fell back into a comfortable routine didn't escape her attention, she'd know a long time ago that the relationship she had with him was rare…now they just had to work at taking down the walls that had been built up again.