Veronica parked her car in front of her father's house; glancing down the sidewalk towards the front door, she wrinkled her nose. They weren't teenagers anymore, but there was still the same anxiety about having Logan over for dinner that she felt all those years ago, the first time they tried this exercise.

"Think he still has a rifle with a spotting scope?" Logan teased, looking out the passenger side window towards the house.

"We aren't making out in the car." Veronica sighed, turning off the car engine and glancing back at the house.

"Yet." He chuckled, leaning over to steal a quick kiss from her.

As he retreated, Veronica rolled her eyes. They were both thirty years-old, and yet there was a teenage giddiness that seemed to come out of nowhere, tickling her belly from the first moment she saw him. Maybe that's why she felt like she was caught doing something unseemly when her father called the hotel room.

"This is ridiculous. We're both adults." She muttered. "We're just going to go in there and have a nice, civilized meal with my father. Like grown-ups."

Logan shrugged. "I am the Mayor now. Can't get much more grown-up than that."

A small snort preceded Veronica's laugh and she shook her head. Reaching for the door, she let out another deep exhale. "Come on, Mr. Mayor – let's go have dinner."

Walking around the front of the car, Veronica met Logan on the sidewalk. He had the luxury of being able to change out of his suit and was now in a pair of khakis and a dark grey button-down shirt – another outfit that Veronica had deemed to be very 'grown-up' as she watched him get dressed through the glass doors as she quickly showered. Offering the crook of his arm to her, he grinned down at her. Sliding her arm through his, she moved closer to him, returning his smile as they walked up to the front door.

Their feet barely hit the porch landing when the door opened – Keith Mars' face held in a firm, tight frown.

"You're late. The lasagne's cold."

Ignoring him, Veronica let go of Logan's arm and walked over to her father, kissing him on the cheek. "Please – like you've never been late for dinner in your life. And the lasagne is probably at the point where it won't burn my tongue off when I bite into it."

Keith's frown cracked slightly as the corner of his mouth twitched, trying not to reveal a smile. Hugging her quickly, he kissed the side of her head. "But I was expecting you to help me make it. How will I know if I used too much cheese or not enoughsalt?"

Walking past Keith into the living room, Veronica turned just in time to see Keith offer his hand to Logan, shaking it as he winked at him. Pursing her lips, she quickly realized her father was going to have fun with this situation – maybe even at her expense.

"Your doctor told you to cut out salt a while ago, so I hope that's all light cheese and no salt in there." She stated, dropping her purse near the end of the couch.

"I know what that doctor said, and I say you can't make a proper lasagne without full-fat cheese." Keith held on to the doorknob, glancing out onto the porch and back to her. "Where are your bags? I thought you were staying here tonight then going back to L.A.?"

Veronica's mouth opened but no sound came out. Glancing between Logan and Keith, her eyes went wide as heat rose in her cheeks, realizing she just assumed she was going back to the hotel with Logan later.

"I...they're in the car...but I..."

Closing the door, Keith waved his hand in the air with a chuckle. "That's alright, Veronica - you don't have to explain anything to me. I don't care where you sleep. It just means I don't have to pull out the couch for you later."

Coming to stand next to Veronica, Logan's hand naturally fell to rest on her lower back and a tingle of warmth ran up her spine. She had never really been forthcoming with her father about any of the men she dated – and over the years only two others had been deemed good enough to meet him. This was all new territory for her.

"I'll make sure she doesn't end up on a park bench at the beach, sir." Logan chimed in.

"Good man." Pointing his finger at Logan, Keith finally cracked a wide grin. "Now that all of the sleeping arrangements are settled, let's eat."

Slightly dumbfounded, Veronica kept glancing from Logan to Keith, a frown wrinkling her brow. This was not the conversation she expected from her father at all. It took Logan's hand giving her a slight push to move her before Veronica even realized that Keith was leading them through the archway near the front door and into the small dining room where all the food sat with tinfoil covering it on top of the round wooden table. The second Keith pulled the covering off the large lasagne, Veronica's mouth began to water and she closed her eyes to inhale the wonderful scent that filled the room, forgetting all about her embarrassment.

"Ironically, the last time I made this lasagne was for Logan too." Keith remarked as he continued to uncover the dishes. "But I knew he was coming over that time."

Logan scratched at his beard as he took a seat, avoiding Veronica's questioning stare as she sat down beside him. "Yeah – I guess you're right, Keith. That was almost six months ago."

"Okay. What am I missing? Did you two become BFF's while I was gone?" She paused for a moment, considering what she wanted more – to dig into the lasagne or hear the story.

"How do I put this..." Clasping his hands together, Logan pressed his lips to his knuckles, as if lost in a thought. "Looking into Duncan's finances was not the only thing I hired your father for – he also did all the background checks on my staff, just to make sure everyone was on the up-and-up."

"Okaaaayyyy..." Veronica said as she reached over to serve herself a large helping of lasagne.

"Except when I asked him to check out some suspicious behaviour at my campaign office, what he found was that my girlfriend at the time, Julie, was sleeping with my publicist – Rebecca - in the office, after hours." Logan shook his head, his eyes darting from Veronica to Keith and back.

Veronica jerked in surprise, the lasagne falling off the spatula and landing in a messy pile on her plate with a large splat sound, little drops of tomato sauce splattering on her white blouse. "Shit. Sorry. There's a lot to unpack in that sentence."

Leaning back in his chair, Logan laughed, his hands coming to rest behind his head. "Tell me about it. So instead of just telling me, Keith made me dinner before sliding those incriminating photos over to my side of the table."

"I just figured, a nice meal would take the edge off the news just a bit." Keith lowered himself into this chair, chuckling.

"That it did." Logan nodded. "Plus, I had some great leftovers to eat while I packed up my belongings from the house and left."

Dropping the spatula back in the pan, Veronica's appetite suddenly disappeared. "House?"

"We lived together for three years." His eyes focusing on Veronica, a soft smile twisted on his lips. "Why? Did you actually think I lived at the Grande all this time?"

Like tiny Tetris pieces dropping in her brain, Veronica began to connect things together, forming a larger picture of Logan as he was now. She remembered seeing something about a girlfriend in earlier articles about his campaign, but didn't see any photos or mention at his swearing in, or at any events she found him attending after he became mayor. In her mind, Veronica just chalked it up to being a girlfriend and not the girlfriend.

"Quite honestly, I don't know what I thought. I mean, I did all this research and we talked about your campaign and the Kane family, and I think head is just trying to wrap itself around the fact that I'm sitting here with you and we aren't teenagers anymore."

His hand slid under the table to rest on hers and he leaned closer, his dark eyes smiling at her. "I know we aren't – isn't it great."

Veronica's heart swelled with emotion. All the things she knew now that she didn't know when she was a freshman in college – all the experiences she had, the loves, the trials, the adventures, the work – for a moment she felt like it all came down to this exact moment that led her back to him. To them.

Squeezing his fingers, she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. "Yes. It's pretty great."

The high pitched sound of metal knocking against glass made Veronica turn, glancing across the table as Keith put his butter knife back down on the table with a deep sigh. "I'm okay with the fact that you two are back to having sleepovers, but could I just ask that you keep the kissing to a minimum in front of me, please?"

A deep blush spread past Logan's beard all the way to his hairline as he pulled back from Veronica, his eyes staying on his empty plate. "No problem, Keith."

Picking up her fork, Veronica scooped up a large piece of lasagne, watching the heat rise as he brought it towards her mouth. "I dunno if I can make that promise, Dad."

Keith rolled his eyes, pointing his fork at her from across the table. "Then this will be the last lasagne I make for you. Logan, you'll just have to come over by yourself next time, if your girlfriend over there can't mind her manners."

Letting out a snort of laughter, Logan reached over to help himself to the food. "Duly noted."

Veronica's eyes narrowed as she continued to chew, glancing between the two men at the table. If this is how the dinner was going to progress tonight, she was in for a very interesting evening.