Echolls' Life

Logan is sitting on the patio of the villa he rented enjoying the wonderful view and fresh, cool air when his phone rings. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and sees that it is Casey calling so he depresses the button to accept the call. As he talks to his friend, Veronica comes out the door to the deck holding a coffee/brandy drink she just learned how to make. They just got back from a wonderful dinner after a fun day of sightseeing. She puts his drink in front of him, gives him a quick kiss and sits across from him. They have only been married a week and he has to admit that seeing her wedding band on her finger and hearing someone call her 'Mrs. Echolls' still gives him a small thrill inside.

She sits looking out at the breathtaking view of the ocean and relaxes. Logan's gaze runs up from her bare feet with the red toe nails to her slim, tanned legs, up her body with the multi colored striped halter dress pressed by the breeze off the water to her trim body. She has her light blonde hair in a low pony tail and there are loose tendrils that at times flutter past her cheek.

It turns out that Casey has called to update him on Dick's legal situation. They were able to get the assault charges dropped as the young man who needed surgery agreed not to file charges if his hospital bills and his tuition for the next three years of college were covered. The police officer Dick hit is a union representative and was not willing to overlook the way Dick talked to him and then assaulted him. Dick's mother was able to pressure the DA to agree to drop the charges but the DA was insistent on community service. Logan listens worried when Casey tells him that Dick is very angry and upset. Casey confides that he doesn't think Dick is going to do his community service.

After hanging up, Logan looks over to Veronica and she is looking at him in question. Seeing his upset she asks, "Did something happen in Dick and John's case? I thought the outcome was just a formality."

Sighing a little Logan tells Veronica the situation with the college student and the police officer. Veronica looks down at the table and she picks up her mug of coffee to take a sip but Logan does not miss the smirk that crosses her face when she learns that Dick hit a police union representative. However after she takes a sip of the delicious coffee, she merely comments, "Well, I don't imagine that having to do community service is that out of the ordinary, is it?"

Immediately shaking his head he tells her, "Dick has to do two hundred hours."

Veronica turns her face away from Logan to look out at the wonderful view. She puts her feet up on the next chair and sips her coffee. Surprising her new husband, Veronica has been content to let him direct their honeymoon. She eagerly tried all the new foods, took in the new sights and enjoyed what each place had to offer. This was the most relaxed Logan has ever seen her. She didn't worry about anything. She just went with the flow enjoying each moment to the fullest. She didn't talk about work or anything work related. She focused totally on Logan, their relationship and this precious together time.

Logan is well travelled but this is most he has ever enjoyed travelling. Watching the excitement in her face as she took in the sights and then pulled out her camera and took pictures was wondrous for the young man who wants nothing more than to make the woman he has loved since he was a pre teen happy. Veronica married him and although he knows her commitment hasn't changed, he feels more secure with her now. In his head he knows that a paper will not hold them together but his heart needed her to make the legal and public commitment. Now he is sure that she is his. Call him a caveman, call him unenlightened; but it means the world to him that she understands his insecurities about his ability to sustain a relationship and she is willing to do what is needed for him to feel confident about them.

They haven't talked about Dick's actions at their wedding and it is almost as if they are going to wait until after the honeymoon is over before they discuss it. Veronica's relationship with Dick is adversarial at best and Logan is not sure what she will have to say about Dick bringing Madison to her wedding. Her family and friends will not be happy at Dick's attempt to upset the wedding. The truth is Logan is deeply upset at the man he considers to be family. Before Logan got back with Veronica, Dick was his emergency contact and his next of kin in his will. He trusts him with his life and more importantly, he loves him. He is really disturbed that Dick would deliberately try to hurt Veronica on her wedding day. It is clear that Dick doesn't believe Veronica is good for him but now he has done more than just talk.

When the petite blonde continues to frown, Logan takes the plunge and asks her what she is thinking. After a few second's pause she carefully answers, "I think we can both agree that he is lucky to be a free man after his legal issues last year. Now he has violated his parole, injured an eighteen year old,college student, assaulted a police officer and instead of going to prison, he bought his way out of it."

"He has to do community service," Logan points out.

Veronica looks him in the eye and snarks, "Well I guess that is better than community soap." Immediately Logan looks upset at her attitude. She adds a little exasperated, "It's not the end of the world. So he has to volunteer. I'm sure that his high-priced lawyer will get him a cushy volunteer job somewhere." Looking him in the eye she says with false pep, "Maybe you can get the hours he spends on the board at the Foundation to count as volunteering."

Immediately defensive, Logan tells her, "Dick has supported the Foundation from the beginning. He has used his contacts in the government to help. He has been invaluable."

"I'm glad he was there and helped you with the Foundation," she quickly tells her husband. Taking a deep breath she adds, "There is a reason that there is an extra charge added if you assault a police officer. They rush into situations where they have to risk their bodies and there has to be a legal deterrent for their protection. Dick is really lucky that his step father has so much power or he would be in jail for violation of his parole. Most judges won't overlook an assault on a police officer."

"Your compassion for your fellow human being is underwhelming," Logan snaps.

A little pissed she tells him, "Oh so now I am the one who is uncaring." She puts her feet down from the chair across from her and stands up abruptly. She looks at her husband and tells him sarcastically, "If I am a bitch because I am not broken up that Dick might have to do some community service, then cuff me officer, book me for being a bitch." She picks up her mug and pushes her chair into its place at the table.

Logan immediately feels badly. He shouldn't have said she wasn't compassionate. Of course she can identify with the police officer who had to go to the hospital when Dick fought him. She has probably had colleagues injured by suspects. Before he can apologize she walks quickly into the open door of the villa to put her mug into the sink.

Logan gets up from his chair and follows her into the small but luxurious kitchen. He sees her over by the sink and walks over putting his hands on her shoulders from behind and says, "Veronica, I don't think you are uncaring. I am just frustrated about this whole situation and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry."

He feels her take a deep breath and let it out. She looks over her shoulder at her husband and suggests, "Why don't we relax in the hot tub before we go to bed?" She adds enticing, "I could try out one of the new bikinis I bought."

He is relieved that they don't have to talk about Dick now. Smiling genuinely he agrees, "You had me at hot tub." She laughs and turns to wrap her arms around him in a sweet hug. Logan wraps his arms around her and puts his chin on her head. He and Veronica almost got into a fight over Dick. This is going to be a difficult conversation once they are home. He doesn't know what to say to Veronica about Dick's behavior at their wedding and he doesn't really know what to say to Dick and John when he gets back to LA. He has been refusing both their calls. Right now he wants to focus on Veronica and savor their time together away from their responsibilities.

A week later, Mr. and Mrs. Logan Echolls arrive home. The press are there to greet the tanned and relaxed couple as they get off their private jet. They are escorted into the waiting car without comment. When they arrive at their mansion, Logan helps Veronica out of the car and then without warning lifts her and carries her bridal style over the threshold. She laughs and wraps her arms around her husband's neck kissing him.

Logan is sitting in the seating area at the back of their mansion watching the sunset and drinking a glass of wine with his new wife when his phone rings. He pulls it out of the pocket of his shorts and sees that it is Dick calling again. Logan presses ignore and puts the phone back in his pocket. He looks over and sees Veronica looking at him with an obvious question in her eyes. He explains, "I don't want to talk about Dick or to Dick tonight." Leaning over he picks up her hand and kisses it stating, "Tonight is the last night we have together before we have to let the real world back in."

Smiling gently at him she squeezes his hand and says suggestively, "That sounds good to me. Tonight we can rechristen our bedroom as a married couple and tomorrow we can start answering the phones again."

Meeting her gaze he agrees, "You read my mind." He lifts his wine glass and says, "To us."

She gently clinks his glass with hers and agrees, "To us."

The next morning Veronica goes back to work. She is greeted by a tanned Phil and the rest of her team who are busy with a few cases but are concentrating on compiling information on a new serial killer who preys on older, recently widowed women. She spends the morning updating herself on the information so far.

Logan gets up with Veronica and after she leaves, he goes into his office and catches up on phone messages and emails. In the afternoon he heads to the Foundation office to meet with Irene. He also has a meeting scheduled with one of the editors Casey recommended to help him with his book idea. Between meetings, he gets a call from Dick. After a short hesitation, he depresses the answer button. "Hey glad you are back," he hears his friend's booming voice, "The waves are good now. Why don't we meet at Willow Beach?"

There is a short silence and Logan tells his long time friend, "Right now is not a good time,"

Dick sensing the anger behind Logan's statement says, "Veronica isn't still being a bitch about me asking Maddie to your wedding, is she?"

"No, she's not mad," Logan comments meaningfully.

Either purposefully or truly unaware, Dick forges ahead, "Well good. It wasn't that big a deal. You didn't have to make me leave. The waves were awesome."

Pissed that his friend is trying to minimize his actions, Logan abruptly asks, "What happened to your promise to be on your best behavior at my wedding?"

Defensive, Dick maintains, "I didn't do anything wrong."

He is stopped by Logan who firmly points out, "If you actually thought bringing Madison was OK, why did you hide her until the ceremony?" He carries on before Dick can talk, "No, you knew it would upset Veronica and you wanted to hurt her. That will never be OK with me."

There is an awkward pause and then Dick points out, "It wasn't that big a deal."

Logan carries on, the anger clear in his voice, "I wanted you there because you are one of my best friends but you couldn't even behave for ceremony. Thirty minutes, an hour tops and then your duties for my wedding would have been over and you could have enjoyed the sun and surf. You couldn't even do that for me."

Dick tells Logan he ran into Madison and he didn't have a date so he invited her. Logan in obvious disbelief questions, "The Madison you haven't seen in years? This from the guy who can 'get any girl he wants'?"

Dick recognizes his own words thrown back at him and he can tell that Logan doesn't believe him. He knew Logan would be mad that he upset Veronica on her wedding day but he never doubted that Logan would forgive him. They are like brothers. The door to Logan's office opens and he sees his next appointment has arrived. He quickly says, "I have to go, my appointment is here." After a short pause he tells his best friend, "I am not OK with what you did." He says a quick goodbye and hangs up leaving Dick shocked on the other end. Honestly he doesn't know what to say to make Dick understand how betrayed and angry he feels. Although he hasn't talked to John, he knows John was aware that Dick planned and brought Madison to his wedding. Logan sighs and smiles at the editor assigned to help him with his new project.

A couple of hours later he gets a call from Casey who tells him he got tickets to an evening at a comedy club on Friday night. Logan is definitely interested and he tells Casey that he will get back to him after he talks to Veronica. Casey happy Logan is back, talks with him a few minutes and then they hang up.

In the late afternoon, Logan gets an excited call from his agent. The movie is set to open and of course he needs to be at the premieres. Logan is unimpressed that he has to attend the premieres but he is happy that the movie will be out soon. His name will appear in the credits and if the movie is successful, he will have an easier time getting movie scripts in the future.

Logan calls the woman who used to help his mother get ready for important occasions and asks her who he should take Veronica to for her dresses for the premieres. She gives him advice and talks about accessories. Logan thanks her and promises her he will keep in touch. Logan's next call is to the designer for Veronica and then to the gentlemen who fits his tuxes. He will need at least two new ones. Finally he calls his mother's favorite jeweler. He tells him about the premieres and asks if he can design a couple of necklace and earring sets after he sees Veronica's dresses. He is assured it will be no problem if he is given a month's notice and Logan is pleased with the conversation.

Veronica comes into the mansion and when she walks into the kitchen she sees Logan setting the table for supper. He sees her and comes over to kiss her hello and tells her that Mrs. H. left chicken breasts and a rice pilaf.

Hungry the tiny blonde takes a deep breath savoring the wonderful scent, "I'll wash up if you are ready to eat," she tells him eagerly. He smiles as he is used to her need to eat every few hours.

During supper Logan updates Veronica on the news about the movie premieres and she smiles happily knowing how important this movie is to Logan's career. She meets his gaze, "I am so excited for you. Everyone is going to love the dialogue between Jeff and Roxanne."

He smiles pleased she believes in him and is excited for him. He tells her about finding a designer who has a petite collection and ordering new tuxes for himself. Frowning Veronica asks, "How many premieres am I going to?"

Logan merely tells his new wife, "I need you there V." He discusses the dates and how he has arranged for his jet to take them to the première in New York. Veronica notes the dates in her phone and sends an email to her boss asking for the day off if it is not on a weekend. Logan watches her deeply touched at her instant willingness to be there for him.

After supper is over, Logan and Veronica settle into the couch in the living room. Logan broaches the subject they have both been avoiding, "We should talk about Dick bringing Madison to our wedding."

"There is nothing to discuss," she quietly tells him, "Dick is like a brother to you and not everyone gets along with their in-laws." She looks down at her hands and to Logan's surprise doesn't say anything else.

Confused Logan reaches over and puts his hand over hers and questions, "I am not sure what you are saying."

She squeezes his hand and then looks up at him, "I am really glad that you made Dick and Madison leave. It would have..." she pauses while she searches for a word to explain her feelings and finally continues, "diminished the ceremony for me to have her there." She bites her lip and then tells him, "I know you looked after me and I love you for it."

Immediately he lifts her hand to his lips and kisses it telling her, "You are the most important person in my life."

She smiles a little at him and agrees, "I know." After a pause she reassures him, "Don't worry about Dick. He can't do much to me now the wedding is over."

The tall young man is taken aback at the wording, "You sound like you expect him to try and hurt you."

"Well," she tries to explain, "he hates me and he doesn't want us to be together so I don't imagine he will all of a sudden be positive about me."

Logan feels the need to defend his friend and challenges, "What about how negative you are to him?"

A look of surprise and then hurt cross her face before she masks them and looks down. He feels badly at hurting her but the problems with Dick aren't one hundred percent Dick's fault. Veronica has to accept that she is partially to blame for the negative feelings between them.

She takes a deep breath and looks up at her husband, "Look, Dick and I have a very bad history but since we got back together I have not said anything bad to him."

"You physically threw him on the patio at one of my parties, " he points out and then immediately wishes he hadn't.

His petite wife has morphed from hurt to angry, "After he loudly told everyone in earshot that I was a money-grubbing slut who spread my legs for you." Logan visibly grimaces. He hadn't heard that part of their argument. Veronica stands and challenges, "I was wrong to react to his taunts. I should have had more self control. Tell me one other time I said or did anything the least bit negative to Dick or any of your friends."

Trying to defuse the situation, Logan quietly starts, "It isn't about that.."

He is interrupted by her, "Yes it is. I have been very careful not to react to whatever your friends say to me and about me. I am trying to make things easier for you."

"It hasn't been easy for me," he points out, "None of my friends get along with you. I feel like I am in the middle."

For a split second Veronica reacts like he physically slapped her and then she wraps her arms around her abdomen in a defensive posture. "I see," she murmurs quietly.

Upset he stands as well and tries to explain, "That didn't come out right. What I meant was things would be easier if you didn't have such a negative history with my friends." He steps towards her and stops when she backs away.

Without meeting his gaze she suggests, "It is probably a good idea to stop where we are. We can both think about things and talk once we have had more time to think..."

Logan notices that her voice trails off as if she doesn't know what more to say. For the first time in their new relationship, Logan is unsure what would be best. This discussion is going badly and Veronica is clearly upset. The question is will waiting make things worse or better? The decision is taken out of his hands when she abruptly turns and leaves the room stating, "I am going to have a soak in the tub before I go to bed. I am pretty tired." She is gone before he formulates what he should say. After a few minutes thought, Logan elects to go to his office and work on the suggestions that the new editor made for the first chapter of his book. By the time he gets upstairs, she has finished her bath and is asleep. He crawls quietly into bed beside her, puts his arm around her and settles to sleep.

He wakes the next morning to find Veronica already gone to work. When she gets home from work, she sits quietly at the kitchen counter pushing her food around her plate. She doesn't bring up their disagreement and when Logan tries, she holds up her hand and interjects, "I actually don't want to talk about your 09er and Hearst friends right now."

A little shocked at her tone, Logan points out, "We need to talk about the problems between you and my friends and we really should talk about Dick bringing Madison to our wedding."

She immediately shakes her head and tells him, "I have a massive headache from all the paperwork I read at work today and tomorrow I have to start interviews."

Unsure if he should push the subject or not, he looks at her closely. She is pale and she looks exhausted. He asks, "Can I get you some Tylenol or something?"

"I took some," she tells him. Pushing her uneaten plate away she stands and says, "I'm going to go and lie down."

Looking at the clock Logan sees it is only 7pm. He goes over and gently takes her arm and ushers her into the living room. He gets her to sit on the couch and he sits beside her. Reaching over he picks up a remote and selects some quiet music. Putting the remote down, he turns back towards the tired agent. Gently he reaches over and grasps her shoulders turning her away from him. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her back against him. She sinks into his warmth closing her eyes and letting a breath out in relaxation. After a few seconds, Logan reaches up with both hands and begins to gently massage her scalp and when her head falls forward, he caresses her neck.

After a few minutes of her husband's ministrations, Veronica just leans her head back into his warm, broad chest and keeps her eyes closed. Logan wraps his arms around her and is content to let her relax and listen to the soft music.

After a while Veronica realizes that her headache has dissipated. Without opening her eyes she tells her husband, "Thank you, I feel so much better."

Logan elects to let any serious discussion go tonight. He just holds her and they both relax with Logan looking out the window at the wonderful view and Veronica resting with her eyes closed. She is so touched at how he looks after her and Logan loves that he can look after her. He knows that interviewing the victims' families is one of the hardest parts of her job and he can see she is not looking forward to tomorrow.

Friday night they have a really enjoyable time with Casey and Vanessa. She is a strong and confident woman who is focused on her career. It is clear that she likes Casey and he, of course, likes her but Veronica sees that they are not in love; they are just convenient. For her part, Vanessa watching Logan and Veronica sees that they are together because they are in love. Like most couples their age, they are both focused on their careers but there is a definite shared focus between them. Talking to Vanessa, Veronica learns that she went into business law avoiding criminal law entirely. She has a lot of student loans to pay off and right now she is working her way up her law firm handling the legal needs of large corporate clients like Gant Publishing. Contract law is a better fit for her. She works long hours but she can have a real life someday. To Logan and Casey's surprise, the two women get in a girly discussion about hair styles, clothes for work and travel. They both expected them to talk about criminal law and perhaps the difficulties of being a woman in a man dominated profession. Logan breaking a conversation with Casey about Veronica's reaction to the places they went on their honeymoon, hears his wife telling Vanessa about the great clothes shop she and Mac found. He smiles. Veronica still surprises him sometimes when she is an ordinary girl. He likes when she gets the chance to just be her and doesn't have a lot of walls up. At the end of the evening, Veronica and Vanessa have exchanged numbers and they both have to admit that the comedy club was fun. The comedians entertained the crowd for three hours and the food was delicious. It was a relaxing night.

Saturday afternoon and evening, Logan and Veronica went over to Mac's condo. She was having a barbecue, pool party. Wallace, her co workers, friends and family were invited. Although her condo is not large, one of the perks of the living in the building is the spacious, well decorated pool, hot tub and seating area on the roof with its stunning view of the city. At night the lights were turned on and it was a great area to entertain. Logan and Veronica arrived to find the party in full swing. There were people in the pool, hot tub and the music was loud. Wisely Mac had her father manning the grill and her mother helped her get the food preparation done. Logan's phone rang and he moved to a quiet area to answer while Veronica wasted no time heading over to greet her best girl and guy friends.

Logan following a few minutes later sees his tanned, beautiful wife already perusing the food options. He comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and teases, "I knew I would find you at the buffet."

She turns her head and smiles up at him agreeing, "I'm hungry."

He dutifully picks up a plate and follows her along the buffet table resigned to eating first thing. He knows they slept in after arriving home late and they had a late breakfast/early brunch. The food looks great. Logan decides on a steak while Veronica opts for a marinated chicken breast.

They go over and sit at a table with Wallace and his date. The talk is lively as Wallace brought the same date to their wedding so the group feels comfortable together. Logan finishes first and heads over to the bar to get them all a refill. Logan turns from the bar and sees that Mac is standing beside him. He greets her and although she smiles at him, she has a calculating gleam in her eyes. The tall, young man looks at her cautiously. Her intent is not long coming as she says, "Look around the crowd here today."

Unsure what she wants to tell him, Logan dutifully looks around. He sees Mac's biological parents, the table with Wallace, his girlfriend and Veronica and a few tables of people who he assumes Mac works with. There are a few people enjoying the pool and a group playing shuffleboard. He looks back at Mac in question. She leans in closer and says, "If you were to go and sit at any table at this party away from Veronica, I think most everyone would treat you respectfully even though they may have heard and read a lot of less than positive things about you over the years."

Logan meets Mac's gaze. He easily reads that Mac is upset with him. He guesses, "You are upset with Dick's actions at my wedding."

"Dick is a total asshole to anyone who is not you or his other friends. I don't like him and if I never see him again, I wouldn't lose sleep over it," she tells him bluntly. "However my point is, when Veronica goes out with your 09er or Hearst College friends, she can't just sit anywhere she wants and know they will talk respectfully to her." She changes the subject slightly, "Logan, the delightful guys from Pi Sig offended and upset a lot of people. Don't you think it is telling that most of the students had no trouble believing that the Pi Sigs could have been responsible for the rapes?"

"They weren't involved in the rapes," Logan immediately comes to his friends' defense.

A little exasperated, Mac points out, "Because Veronica cleared them. Hearst College would have thrown them under the bus and of course the Sheriff's department would have never solved the rapes."

Logan looks a little taken aback by her tone and words. She sighs and gets to her point, "The reality is, it isn't just Veronica who dislikes your friends," Mac spits out. She says plainly, "I don't like being around them. I don't like how they talk about people. They aren't better than everyone else; they just act like they are."

Logan stands there shocked. Mac has never talked to him to bluntly before. She seems to deflate and she says, "I can see this was a waste of time. I shouldn't have talked to you about it. You don't see them like most other people do." She picks up a drink and takes it over to her father who is still manning the grill. Logan watches her walk off and then heads over to sit with Veronica.

Veronica sitting with Wallace notices that the discussion between Mac and Logan is not friendly. Mac is visibly upset and Logan is standing very stiffly. When she goes to stand and go over there, Wallace puts his hand on her arm stopping her. She looks at him and he tells her quietly, "You should stay out of it."

Now alarmed Veronica looks closely at Wallace and asks, "Do you know what they are talking about?"

Her best guy friend meets her gaze and points out, "Mac is your best friend and she is upset with how Dick acts towards you. Now he tried to disrupt your wedding."

Unsure, Veronica looks at Wallace and asks, "Don't you think that is between Logan and me?"

He immediately nods but says, "Logan has to protect you from his friends but you don't have to protect Logan from us. We will treat him with respect but we will let him know if he upsets us."

She stays sitting but Wallace can read on her face that she is not sure about Mac and Logan having a heated conversation. To Veronica's relief, Mac leaves the conversation and goes over to talk to her father. Logan comes back to the table and delivers their next drinks. Wallace immediately starts a conversation about possibly going out to see his brother play basketball when the team plays against SDSU. "It's a tournament so I was thinking we could stay at a hotel downtown and hit a few nightclubs."

Veronica is game and Logan mentions that he would like to see Daryl play adding, "I guess we will see if he is as good as he says he is."

Wallace laughs in agreement and then changes the topic to a new project he is working on. Veronica is interested and pleased to learn that Wallace is taking on more responsibility at work. She asks Wallace's girlfriend, Stephanie about how the presentation she was talking about in Hawaii went. Stephanie is happy it is over and talks about how her power point wouldn't start up and she was worried before the presentation started that she was going to have to wing it. Logan and Wallace sympathize both having their own stories about problems during important meetings.

On the way home, Veronica looks over and sees that Logan is introspective. She tries, "A penny for your thoughts?"

He shakes his head and teases, "You may be overpaying."

Smiling she says, "Maybe."

He takes her hand and tells her, "Mac is upset with me. She said some things that are making me think."

"I saw that your conversation by the bar looked a little heated," Veronica mentions.

Nodding Logan tells Veronica the gist of the conversation. He adds, "She told me that my friends are pretentious rich assholes and that you are not the only one who dislikes them." He pauses and tells her, "I guess I don't see them that way."

Shaking her head she says, "If you and I weren't dating, I wouldn't have anything to do with your friends and they wouldn't want anything to do with me. I don't run in their circle." She pauses and gathers her thoughts for a few seconds before she talks about how she deals with so much conflict at work between her boss wanting things down on a timeline, forensic rules and the different personalities of the other agents. She tells him how many victim's families are angry, hurt and confused. Veronica meets Logan's gaze and talks how she has become much better at handling personal attacks and she has learned when to make something an issue and when to let it go. "I honestly don't worry about your friends. I was a bitch to them in high school and college but that was a long time ago." Pausing she talks about how she didn't go after the Pi Sigs. They got put on probation because of their actions, not mine. I showed the board with their 'banging women' game to the Dean partly because it is sexist and partly because two guys listed me as someone they had sex with. It pissed me off because it wasn't true and I was dating you at the time. They involved me; I didn't go looking to get them."

Logan nods because Dick did warn him that Veronica's name was on the board a few times. Veronica seeing Logan is listening, carries on, "They were implicated in the Hearst rapes. Sadly they didn't care that one of their own might be a rapist; they were worried that the college might punish them. I went after the evidence and proved they weren't involved in the rapes and I could have just let them sink."

Nodding Logan agrees, "I know Ronnie. However you did it in your usual 'take no prisoner' style and they were upset."

It is Veronica's turn to agree, "I did." After a short pause Veronica tells her new husband, "The truth is, they act entitled and it is pretty offensive to most people." Finally after a short pause she adds, "I didn't like it when you, Lil and Duncan acted like that when we were young. I still don't like it when your friends act like because they were born wealthy, they can be disrespectful to others and it's OK."

The tall young man knows that Veronica has a point. She had tried to rein the Fab 4 in when they acted superior. Sighing Logan tells her, "Mac made it clear that you are not the only one who thinks my friends are offensive." He adds, "The problem is she made it sound like I reined you in but I let my friends talk badly about you. I don't sit idly by; I have talked to them."

Immediately she reassures him, "I know." She tentatively asks, "Do you think that they would be negative towards any girl you dated that didn't have money?"

Logan has to admit that they would be suspicious of any girl he dated that didn't have her own wealth. He frowns a little and tells her, "You have a point. It is probably not just your past with them and the fact that I have reacted badly to our breakups in the past."

"Look, we can't change the past and you can't change how your friends act, " she points out. "Really, most of them are fine. Let's just leave things for now. You can't change their opinion of me and I am fine with seeing them. Plus you can still do things with them as a group, " Veronica suggests.

Logan brushes a tendril of hair away from her face and asks, "What about Dick's attempt to hurt you and our relationship?"

Shrugging she says, "Honestly I think there is too much between us for us to ever be friends." She takes a deep breath and lets it out before she finishes, "I think the best you can hope for is we tolerate each other for your sake." She takes his face in her hands and tells him openly, "I will do my best to get along with him. I am glad that you have good friends who are there for you."

"Thank you,' he leans in to kiss her. Sadly he has to agree with her. It doesn't look like they will ever get along. He is grateful that Veronica is willing to overlook Dick's actions at their wedding. He is smart enough to know that many women would refuse to ever see Dick again. He is touched that she is putting his wants first because he can't see giving up his best friend over this.