A/N – This is a much different chapter than the last one. I hope you all enjoy all the LoVe in this one. Happy New Year to everyone!

As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. Please let me know what you think with a review! I really do love to hear what people are thinking of the story. It makes me more excited to work on it when I get feedback from all of you.

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 18 – Hot Water

Veronica was surprised when she reached the hospital that there didn't seem to be anyone from the media hanging around outside. She was certainly relieved, but given what Leo had told her earlier in the day, she'd expected someone to be there. Of course if it had been more serious than an attack, there would undoubtedly be more coverage. High profile murders in Neptune always seemed to draw a lot of attention.

When she made her way back up to the ICU floor, Veronica realized it was getting close to dinner time. She'd been so busy with the case all afternoon that she hadn't gotten around to eating lunch and her stomach growled as she stepped off the elevator. She glanced around the waiting area and didn't see any one she recognized so went over to the reception desk to see if they had moved Alexis out of the ICU already.

The young woman at the desk looked up with a small smile and asked if she could help her.

"Yes, I was wondering if Alexis Calloway had been moved?" Veronica asked her with a polite smile on her face.

"And your name?" The woman asked as she lifted up a clipboard that was sitting near her.

"Veronica Mars."

"Yes, I see that you are on the list. ID please." Veronica opened her purse to retrieve her driver's license. The nurse looked between her and the card for a moment before handing it back to her. "Mr. Echolls is back with her currently and left a message to ask that you come back when you arrived."

"Oh... Okay." Veronica hadn't actually wanted to go back to her room but reluctantly nodded.

"She's in room 504, second door on the right." The nurse replied with a kind smile.

Veronica nodded and headed back toward the rooms. She took a deep breath and pushed through the door. She slowly walked toward Alexis's room and stood there for a moment before finally getting close enough to reach for the handle and look through the window in the door. She saw Logan was sitting next to the bed holding one of Alexis's hands, with his other arm propped up against the bed with his head resting on his hand.

She didn't want him to realize that seeing him being so distraught and affectionate with Alexis bothered her. She knew Alexis meant a lot to him, but that he was in love with her and not Alexis. It was still hard to see him so worried about her though, and then there was the similarity back to Duncan and Meg that she had tried her hardest not to think about, but those memories just wouldn't stay buried. At least there wasn't any evidence of a secret love child in this situation. She really hoped karma wasn't actually that intent on ruining her life. She thought about just going back to the reception area and waiting for him to come out or her family to return, but she must have accidentally rattled the handle and he turned at the sound. She tried to smile as his eyes reached hers, but knew her expression must have looked hurt or upset. She pushed the door open slightly. "I'll be waiting for you..." She gestured with her head back to the waiting area.

"You can come in Veronica," he said with a slightly concerned look on his face.

She shook her head and turned to go back out. She didn't want him to see her break down because he certainly didn't need to deal with that in top of everything else. She tried telling herself that she wasn't jealous and that he loved her, but that insecure little part of her just wouldn't be completely silent. She had already turned back toward the front and reached up to wipe at her eyes before any tears could fall. She didn't realize that he'd followed her out until his hand gently grabbed her wrist. She stopped but didn't want to look at him, because she didn't want him to see how insecure she felt at that moment. It wasn't fair at all to make him worry about that with everything else going on. He must have already seen it through the window though and pulled her back toward him, turning her and wrapping his arms around her so that her face was buried against his chest.

"I'm sorry," she said in a muffled voice against him as she shook her head slightly.

"Hey, you don't need to apologize at all Veronica." He said softly as he gently stroked her hair. "I know this can't be easy for you either."

She nodded and took a deep breath. "But you have enough to deal with without worrying about me," she said in a shaky voice.

"Honestly I'd be more worried if you were so indifferent towards me that it didn't bother you at all," he replied in a soft compassionate voice.

She let out a soft half laugh half sob sort of sound and looked up at him with a few tears in her eyes. She shook her head and gave him a small smile. "I could never be indifferent about you."

He nodded and tipped his head down toward her and kissed her gently. "I love you so much Veronica," he said softly as the kiss ended.

"I know you do," she replied back barely above a whisper. "I don't know why I let it get to me."

"Because you're human, just like the rest of us," he said in a low voice and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

She heard the door behind her open from the lobby and could hear footsteps coming closer. She kept her face buried against Logan's chest, not really wanting anyone else to see her looking upset.

"You should go get some food," she heard Victor say softly as the footsteps stopped by them. "Nessa and Tyler went back to our hotel room so she could get some rest. We'll call you if there's any change."

"Thanks," Logan replied softly and then she heard the footsteps continue as a door opened and closed quietly.

"Come on," Logan said softly against her hair. "You hungry?"

Veronica felt the half sob half laugh return again and this time it was more on the sob side. What the hell is wrong with me? She nodded her head against his chest. She felt him kiss the top of her head.

"I'm glad I don't need to stop off and have you checked out then. I was going to be worried if you weren't." She finally looked up at him and gave him a sad little smile. "Come on, I have an idea," he continued, taking her hand.

He led her back to the elevator and they rode down to the basement level where he had parked instead of the outside lot that she had used. She thought the basement was only for hospital staff, so he must have pulled some strings to avoid being hassled. She'd regained her composure on the way down and she was feeling a bit better when they finally reached his car. "Leo said Barone talked to a media source about your disagreement with Alexis. I had expected to find some reporters camped out in front of the hospital but there weren't any," she said with a tone of curiosity as they drove out of the basement and she looked over toward the front entrance and could still tell there weren't any reporters there.

Logan gave her a knowing smile. "We have Casey to thank for that," he said in response. Seeing her confused expression he continued on. "Luckily the paper that Matt contacted is partly owned by Gant Publishing. Casey ran into a reporter when he was here earlier and called the paper and had the story canned."

A gratified smile crossed Veronica face in response. Take that Matt Barone!

Veronica finally realized their destination as Logan pulled into the parking lot of the Grand. She gave him an inquisitive look as he was pulling up to the valet. He gave the guy a two minute gesture and turned toward her. "Is this okay? I didn't really feel like going home and we can just relax and order room service here," he said with a pleading look on his face.

She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Thank you," he said softly back as he reached over and squeezed her hand. He climbed out and handed the key to the valet before walking over and helping Veronica out her door. He took her hand with his and led her into the lobby. He looked at the check-in desk then back to her and gave her a decisive look. "Wait here okay?" he instructed with a hopeful look on his face.

She blew out a little breath and shook her head. "Why?" she asked with a suspicious tone.

He tipped his head down and gave her a sheepish grin. She knew exactly why. He wanted to get a suite and she'd argue a regular room was fine. She shook her head again. "Fine... surprise me," she said after a moment with a small grin and took a seat on one of the chairs in the middle of the lobby.

He came back a few minutes later with a card key and more of a smile than she'd seen on him in the last 24 hours. He reached out his hand and pulled her out of the seat then headed for the elevator. She'd noticed the lobby seemed to have been redecorated sometime in the last eight years and when the elevator doors opened she noticed even the interior of the elevator had been changed. The hideous yellow wall decoration had been replaced by a more modern looking light blue design. She wondered how many times she'd ridden in this elevator as they made their way to the penthouse suites.

She took a deep breath as he led her to his old suite. She gave him a small half smile before he opened the door. He lifted the card up and then stopped before he put it through the reader. "Is this okay? I know we had a few bad times here, but we had a lot of good ones too, right?"

She looked at him compassionately and nodded. Good memories, is that what he's hoping to find here? She took another deep breath before she asked what she hoped wouldn't cause an issue. "Did you and Alexis have a lot of good memories here too?"

He looked at her with a small amount of surprise in his expression and then shook his head. "No, I actually moved out before I met her."

"Oh," she said completely taken by surprise. She didn't mean to let that get to her, but she felt tears welling up in her eyes again. He's looking for our good memories not theirs.

He noticed her expression change and pulled her in for a kiss as he swiped the card and pulled her into the room, picking her up and spinning her slightly as they entered the suite. He flipped the lights on and a wave of nostalgia hit her. In some ways the suite felt very familiar but in other ways it was very different too. Gone were all the yellow and orange tones, as well as all the hideous fish statues and decorations. The room had been redone in cool tones of white, sea foam green and blues. There was still a large sectional sofa, but it was white with a softer looking fabric than before.

"It's really beautiful now," Veronica said taking a look around the room. She stopped when her eyes landed on Logan who was staring intently at her.

"You're even more beautiful now too," he said to her in a breathless tone that made her breath hitch.

She gave him a loving smile then stepped back toward him and pressed her lips to his. "We're going to get through this," she said with more confidence than she'd felt since she stood outside of Alexis's hospital just a short while earlier.

He gave her a determined smile and nodded. "I never doubted it, and I didn't want you to either."

She felt those tears threatening to come back again realizing just how much faith he had in her... in them. "I love you Logan Echolls," she said in a quiet voice as she stared into his warm brown eyes.

"And I love you too Veronica Mars. More than anything else in this world. I never want you to doubt that." He reached up and wiped her tears away. "I say we order room service and relax until it gets here and then after we eat we can soak in the giant jacuzzi tub."

She gave him a coy smile. "I'm on to you Echolls. Only the penthouse suites have jacuzzi tubs."

He gave her a wink and headed for the room service menu. "Ah old friend," he said playfully to the menu as he picked it up. "I've certainly missed you."

She laughed and shook her head. "It's not like you don't still order delivery food."

"Yeah, but that doesn't get wheeled in with those fancy metal plate covers."

She laughed at him and smiled. Even if he was hurting inside over Alexis, he at least was finding enough strength to joke a little again.

Once they ordered their food they made their way into his old master suite. Of course it had been redecorated too and the bed upgraded to a very plush king size mattress. They climbed onto it with Logan propping himself up slightly on the pillows and her wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.

"So you're feeling better than you were at the hospital now?" Logan asked softly as he ran his hand up and down her back. She nodded her head against his chest. "Did you want to talk about it?" She shook her head.

He let out a little sigh. "Okay, but you know it's you I love right? I care about her and always will, but I don't love her the way I love you."

She nodded again but didn't say anything.

He moved her body slightly so she had to look up at him. "This conversation has been way too one sided. Can you throw me a bone and talk a little bit, please?" he asked with an eyebrow cocked.

She let out a sigh and gave him a little smile. "I'm sorry. I'm fine."

"But you weren't fine earlier," he pointed out. "I just want you to know that you can talk to me about it." He ran his hand gently across her cheek. "I'm worried what might happen if you bottle things up inside instead of talking about them."

"Really Logan, I'm fine now," she replied in her most convincing tone.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Okay, I won't push you anymore about it, but if you start feeling upset again, will you promise you'll talk to me?" He hesitated and his expression became more troubled than it had been a moment before. He put both hands on either side of her face. "You know how much I love you, and I don't want anything to come between us. I know the situation with Alexis is stressful for both of us and I just want you to feel like you can talk to me about it."

She nodded and leaned up to kiss him gently on the lips. She didn't want to make him feel guilty about his concern for Alexis. He was trying so hard to make sure everything was still okay with them. She knew she shouldn't doubt him at all.

"How about you," she countered back. "Do you want to talk about how you're feeling about all of this?" Even if she still wasn't completely comfortable talking about her feelings and worries, that didn't mean that she couldn't try to be there for him if he wanted to talk about how he was feeling.

He gave her a small smile and ran a hand through her hair, "You sure you feel up to hearing how I'm feeling?" She nodded, hoping that she really was.

He let out a deep breath. "I guess sitting around the hospital most of the afternoon gave me a lot of time to think about things." She nodded in reply. "I think part of the reason I was so devastated by what happened, was because the last time I talked with her we were fighting." He hesitated and sighed before he continued. She noticed now how much regret was in his expression. His voice was a bit quieter too. "You know it was just like Lilly all over again in that regard too. We'd had that horrible fight over me kissing Yolanda and then she was gone." Veronica cringed thinking back to how he'd blamed her for telling Lilly about that. He gave her a knowing look and stroked her cheek and shook his head. He leaned his forehead to hers before spoke quietly again. "That wasn't your fault Veronica." She gave him a sad smile and shook her head. "It wasn't, okay?" She gave him a small half smile and shrugged. His expression became more hopeful. "I also spent my afternoon thinking about how much you mean to me, and wanting there to be no doubt in your mind how I feel about you."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door with their food. He helped her up from the bed and they went out to the main room. He opened the door and a young guy with a hotel uniform pushed the cart in and held out the charge slip for Logan to sign. Logan thanked him and then pushed the cart all the way over to the large couch where they settled down to eat their food.

She was actually relieved to see that he ate quite a bit of his meal given his lack of appetite the prior night and at breakfast. "Did you get lunch, or is this the first thing you've had?" she asked as she watched him eat another bite of the baked potato he'd ordered to go with his steak. He shrugged and gave her a sheepish look. "Well I'm glad you seem to have more of your appetite back now." He nodded and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. He'd at least eaten half of his food before he finally stopped and leaned back on the couch and watched her finish up hers.

He quirked his eyebrow at her, "How about you, did you eat anything after breakfast?"

She gave him a guilty look and shook her head. "I was so busy working that I sort of forgot about getting lunch."

He smiled knowingly at her. "You seemed a bit more voracious than you normally do, which is saying a lot for you."

She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head as he smirked at her. He took a deep breath and his expression became serious again. "So tell me how things on the case went this afternoon."

She swallowed her last bite of dinner and nodded. "We talked with Matt, Mike and Tommy this afternoon." Logan nodded for her to continue. "Matt doesn't actually have an alibi for the time that she was attacked. He said he was out running, but with how close they live to each other, he could have easily run from his place over to hers and attacked her then ran back home. We're having the other deputies check with a neighbor he said he talked to when he returned to corroborate that and see if anything seemed suspicious about how he was acting."

Logan let out a small sigh. "If he did this as some sort of way to get back at me…" She squeezed his hand as he trailed off.

"I really hope that's not what happened too." She gave him a comforting look. "Mike said something interesting when we talked to him. He said she mentioned something about a 'bad penny' coming back into her life. He didn't know anything specific about the person though. Just that it was someone who she thought she'd seen the last of, but they had turned up again. Any idea who that could have been?"

Logan looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I wonder if she could have meant Kennedy since they ran into each other at Growlers that first time a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, but wondered if there could have been someone else. Did she know Kennedy before you dated her?"

Logan nodded slowly. "Yeah, Kennedy went to Hearst too. She was in the same class that I first met Alexis in." He looked a bit sheepish before he continued. "She'd invited me to a few parties before I started dating Alexis."

Veronica looked at him thoughtfully. "Tommy said that he thought Kennedy didn't like Alexis even before you had dated Kennedy after you broke off your engagement. Do you think it could have gone back to what happened at Hearst?"

Logan nodded again. "Yeah, I would say that Kennedy wasn't thrilled when I started dating Alexis." He looked nervously down at his hands.

Veronica recognized that look. "It's okay Logan, it was a long time ago. I'm not going to judge you for something that happened that long ago."

He looked back up at her with a regretful expression. "I guess we did fool around at some of the parties I went to with her, and then I met Alexis and well… you know the rest of that. So I could understand why Kennedy never liked her." He paused a moment, obviously not really comfortable with having to admit his past transgressions. "But I never saw Kennedy act out at all back then about it. It wasn't until we ran into each other after I'd broken up with Alexis and formally dated that I realized she could be a bit irrational and vindictive. If she'd been like that when I first knew her at Hearst, I wouldn't have dated her later."

Veronica gave him an understanding look and nodded. "I'm still not really sure what motive she'd have now for going over and attacking her. Obviously she was mad when she got punched at Growlers Saturday night, but would that have really been enough to provoke her to go over to her house. The attack was likely not premeditated since the weapon was something at Alexis's house. The bad penny comment could certainly apply to her if they'd had issues when they were both at Hearst, then later when you dated her, and then running into her again at Growlers a few weeks ago. But there may not even be any connection between the 'bad penny' and the attack. Mike said she didn't seem worried about the person, just annoyed that they were around again."

"Knowing Kennedy better now than I did before, I could certainly see her over reacting and letting an argument with Alexis escalate. I would have expected it would have been over Tommy, but you said earlier she was with Gavin, so that doesn't make as much sense as a reason now." Veronica nodded in agreement. Logan's expression became a bit uncomfortable again. "I take it you confirmed Mike and Alexis were doing more than just playing racquetball?"

Veronica shrugged, "He didn't come out and say it, but his reaction to everything strongly suggested it."

"Do you think his wife could have found out and gone after Alexis?" Logan asked curiously.

"Well she certainly wasn't the friendliest of people when I talked to her, so I could imagine she wouldn't be very nice if she found out her husband had something inappropriate going on with Alexis. We still need to check on her alibi. You've met her right? She mentioned seeing us together at the Art show at Hearst, so I thought you must have met before."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, a couple of times. Mostly at events like that when she was there with Mike. I didn't pick up anything off about her, though I really didn't talk with her much either. How about Mike himself? Could he have done it? What if Alexis planned to tell his wife or something?"

Veronica shook her head. "No he has a pretty sound alibi, though we still need to validate it, but he was with clients all afternoon and evening. I don't think we'll find anything off there."

Logan nodded again. "You said you talked to Tommy too?"

Veronica gave him a little smile and nodded back. "Yeah, and met Kennedy's dad too."

A small smile crossed Logan's face. "Reggie's a pretty good guy. I'm glad he didn't get too upset with me when things didn't work out with me and Kennedy."

Veronica narrowed her eyes at him slightly and nodded, though kept her tone light. "Yeah, I guess that was good for you." Upsetting someone who looked like an ex-professional boxer probably wouldn't be the smartest thing in the world. She paused a moment before she continued. "Tommy was apparently at the gym during the attack. We're getting some video surveillance to validate that, but I'm not expecting it to show anything other than what he told us. The only other suspects he pointed to were Casey and Kennedy."

Logan rolled his eyes slightly. "Figures he'd try to point the blame at Casey."

"Yeah, I'm glad he was in San Francisco when it happened, so we won't have to worry about proving his innocence too." She grimaced slightly as she spoke realizing that probably didn't come out quite like she'd intended. She noticed a quick flash of worry cross Logan's face. She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Hey, no one thinks you did it either. Other than Barone and he's just an ass."

Logan's expression became a bit troubled. "Wouldn't be the first time I was falsely accused of something."

Veronica shook her head and scooted closer to him. "Hey, didn't you promise me a soak in the luxurious Jacuzzi tub?"

His face lit up a little bit at her question and he nodded. She leaned up and kissed him for a moment before he stood up. "I'll go and start getting it ready."

As he disappeared into the master suite again, she headed out toward the balcony. She leaned against the railing and looked out over Neptune. She remembered so many times that they'd sat out on the balcony and watched the sun set into the Pacific. Even though some of their worst times had happened in this suite, so had some of their best. She hadn't heard him come up behind her since she'd left the door open. She startled slightly as he walked up and put his arms around her and nuzzled his face into her neck, placing soft kisses there.

"You know I still remember the time we…" she turned to look at him as he waggled his eyebrows and gestured with his head to the outdoor couch.

A small blush crept across her face and she shook her head with a shy smile on her face. "Yeah, before you told me about 'Lonely Telescope Guy'!" She narrowed her eyes and poked him in the side.

Logan gave her a petulant look. "Hey, I really didn't know about him until after that night. I swear." His expression became more leering. "Like I'd want anyone else to see you naked besides me."

She smiled and gave him a little head shake. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. "Ready to join me in the tub?" he asked with a bashful smile.

Her smile became more lascivious and she nodded and took his hand, leading him back inside. She let out a happy little sigh as she walked into the bathroom and discovered he'd turned the lights down low and lit some candles that were in the bathroom. She turned and gave him a content smile and leaned up for a kiss. He set his cell phone on the counter and pressed the screen. Music started coming through the speakers that were in the bathroom that he'd synched his phone to while he was waiting for the tub to fill. Her breath caught for a moment when she realized he'd set it up to play Mike Doughty's 'I Hear the Bells' song that they'd been listening to when he'd given her his 'epic' speech at the alterna-prom. He gave her a loving look and reached up and grazed her cheek with his fingers before he leaned down and kissed her again.

They got undressed and then climbed into the tub with Logan sitting behind her. He pulled her up tight against his chest and moved her hair to the side so he could kiss her neck and shoulder. He ran his hands from her shoulders, down her sides to hug her around the waist and then he rested his head on her shoulder. The jets and hot water were extremely relaxing and neither said anything for a while, just enjoying the silent companionship and closeness of each other. Veronica had her hands on his thighs and gently ran them slowly up and down his legs. After sitting quietly for a while, Logan finally spoke again.

"I ran into Emily earlier today. She was on the ICU floor transferring a patient to the pediatrics floor and I saw her when I went to get a cup of coffee." Logan shared.

"Oh that reminds me that I ran into her this morning too and forgot to tell you. Of course she wanted you to know she was sorry about all this." Veronica replied.

She felt Logan nod his head against her shoulder. "Yeah, that's basically what she told me too."

"I finally realized today that she reminds me a lot of Meg." Veronica said quietly.

She felt Logan nod his head again. "I didn't really think about it when we were dating, but now that you mention it, you're right. They'd both do anything to help people and would never be judgmental or mean." He was quiet for a moment, perhaps putting some pieces together. He finally spoke a bit quieter than before. "Is that what you were upset about earlier? That Alexis reminds you of the situation with Duncan and Meg?"

Veronica shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to lie, but not really wanting to discuss it either. She felt him move his head and then place a kiss on her shoulder. "I promise you this is nothing like that. I'm nothing like Duncan and what's going on is nothing like that."

She let out a sigh. "I know you're nothing like Duncan and that you would never be as deceptive as he was…" She trailed off and didn't say anymore.

Logan let out a small sigh. "But? I'm sensing there's a 'but' there." He kissed her shoulder again trying to reassure her that he wasn't mad and that everything was okay so she'd keep talking.

"But… but you care a lot about her, just like Duncan cared about Meg." Veronica continued in a small voice.

Logan kissed her again on the shoulder. "And if it was Wallace in a coma in the hospital, don't you think you'd be as concerned and upset as I am about Alexis?"

She sighed and shook her head slightly, "Of course but… but I wasn't engaged to marry Wallace either."

"Veronica that was over three years ago. We're friends now, so I'm concerned about her as a very close friend."

Veronica let out a small sigh. Although up until a few months ago that was 'friends with benefits'. "I know and I'm trying to be understanding about it all."

"I know you are," he said softly and shifted her so she was sitting on his leg and turned so he could see her face. "But I don't want you to have any doubts about my feelings for you, or to be confused about my feelings for her." He reached up and brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, getting them slightly wet in the process. "Like I told you even all those years ago, I only want you."

Her expression turned soft and she gave him a small half smile and nodded. He cupped her cheek with his hand and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I love you Veronica."

She nodded slowly. "I know, and I love you too."

They sat in the tub for a little while longer, then finally climbed out and slipped into two of the big fluffy white hotel robes. They walked back out to the bed and sat on it again, cuddling together as they leaned up against the headboard.

"Were you going back to the hospital again tonight?" Veronica asked. She thought there was still at least another hour for visiting time.

He gave her a concerned look and nodded. "Is that okay with you?" She nodded and did her best to not show any concern in her expression. Logan gave her a small half smile. "I mostly wanted to go back and check in on Vanessa again if she's back. And to see how Victor and Maggie are doing too. I guess I feel like I need to be there more for them, than for her actually, since you know…" The 'she probably can't even tell' was left unsaid, but Veronica knew what he meant.

Veronica nodded. "How was Vanessa doing earlier?"

Logan's expression became troubled again and he let out a sigh. "She's of course taking it extremely hard. The possibility of losing Alexis after they already lost Jackson has just been devastating for all of them."

Veronica nodded in understanding. "I'm sure they appreciate you being there for them."

He looked at her intently, "And I appreciate you being here for me." He kissed her deeply, and then leaned back so he could look at her again. He had a serious expression on his face as he kept gazing into her brilliant blue eyes.

After he just sat there staring at her for a minute, Veronica got a little uncomfortable. "Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?" She asked a bit jokingly to lighten the mood.

He let out a small sigh, and his lips quirked up slightly. "No. I just really want to ask you something, but I know you'll freak out and then tell me it's just because of all the drama that's happened in the last 24 hours."

It took her only a second before she realized what he was talking about. Her breath caught in her chest and she felt a panicky feeling course through her. Her eyes opened wide and she shook her head quickly. He put his hands on either side of her face and rested his forehead against hers. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "I won't… not yet."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm just…" she paused, not exactly sure the best way to say what she was feeling.

"I know," he said as he kissed her nose. "You're not ready for that yet. Just know, that's how much you mean to me though, okay?"

She nodded and opened her eyes again, looking intently at him. "I know. And I do love you."

His lips quirked up in a small smile. "I know you do. I don't want to rush you. I'm sure we'll figure out when the right time is."

She nodded again and pressed her lips to his. "Yeah, we will," she said softly as their lips separated. They sat their quietly for a little while longer with their arms wrapped around each other.

"I should probably head back over to the hospital for a little while before it's too late," he finally said breaking the silence.

Veronica nodded in response. "Are we checking out then?" she asked looking around the room.

He shrugged and gave her a mischevious grin. "How about we stay here tonight? You could run home and get some clothes and stuff, and then we could meet back here when I'm done at the hospital."

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "I think that sounds like a fabulous idea."

She rode with him back to the hospital to get her car, then said a quick good bye and headed back to their house to pack some clothes for both of them. She tried not to let his almost-proposal freak her out too much, but it wasn't something she could just forget about either. He was likely right that with everything going on with Alexis, he was probably even more worried about something happening to Veronica and overreacting a bit. She wasn't terribly surprised that he'd thought of it given other conversations they'd had since she'd been back, but she wasn't prepared for the anxiety she'd felt when he'd gotten so close to actually asking. She knew she loved him and things were going really well this time around. Maybe part of her was worried that this stability and happiness wouldn't last forever. She had to remind herself that they'd both changed a lot in the eight years that she was away though and that they were communicating really well with each other now. She was a little worried about whether her reaction bothered him. He didn't seem to be upset about it when it happened, but she couldn't imagine that having her react the way she did was comforting to him.

She made it back to the hotel a little before 9, and expected him to be there shortly after since visiting hours were usually over at 9. She'd debated about putting on some sexy lingerie when she was waiting for him, but given the circumstances she didn't really think that was appropriate. She knew he was still really upset about Alexis, which was understandable, and it seemed this evening was more about comfort and closeness than anything else. She decided she'd wait to see what his mood was like when he got to the hotel before she changed into anything else. She got a text at about 9:15 that said he would be leaving the hospital soon and that she should order some dessert for them from room service. She glanced over the menu and saw that their dessert selections hadn't changed much in the last eight years and that they still had the decadent chocolate cake that she'd loved and the oreo cheesecake that Logan loved.

She'd flipped on the TV while she waited for Logan and heard a knock at the door. She went to open it expecting it to be room service and was surprised to find Logan standing there looking at her. She gave him a confused look, not sure why he just didn't use the card key he had.

He smirked at her. "I just wanted to see what it was like to be the one on the other side of the door." She gave him a warm smile and he walked through the threshold and wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up and kissed her, kicking the door shut as he came into the room. He pressed her against the wall kissing her passionately.

Apparently, my freak out earlier didn't phase him as much as I worried it might. She moaned lightly as he continued to kiss her against the wall. He finally picked her up and carried her over to the couch and laid her down, continuing to kiss her as he did. He was about to climb on the couch next to her when there was a knock at the door.

"Ummm…" she said hesitantly. "That would be our dessert."

He smiled and nodded and gave her a quick peck on the lips before he went over to get the door.

About thirty minutes later they were relaxed on the couch having finished their desserts. Veronica looked over at him with a satisfied smile. He leaned toward her so he could kiss her and run his hand through her hair. She took a deep breath before she finally spoke. "One year," she said.

He tilted his head and gave her a confused look. She ran her hand over his cheeks, and then tangled her fingers into his hair. "Ask me again in one year, and I promise I won't freak out then, okay?"

He smiled and she could hear him take a deep breath as he leaned in and kissed her again. "I can't promise I can wait that long, but I'll try," he said playfully before kissing her again. "I guess I'll just have to continue to deal with you freaking out with the hope that you might not need a year and that I can wear you down sooner than that. I think that's a risk I'm willing to take." He gave her a mischievous smile and pressed his lips to hers again. "I love you so much Veronica. I'd happily wait as long as it takes you to finally say yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop asking you every once in awhile."

She shook her head lovingly at him. "You're impossible sometimes you know that?"

He nodded and smirked at her. "And tonight didn't count as an official proposal." He gave her a little wink. "At least not yet…"

It was her turn to tilt her head in confusion. He slowly climbed off the couch and got down on one knee as he grabbed her hand. Her eyes popped open wide again as he gave her an intense smile.

"Veronica Mars… will you… join me in the bedroom?" He smirked and gave her a little wink.

She chuckled nervously and shook her head at him. "You're just impossible!" she finally said after a moment and pushed slightly on his chest. He leaned toward her and kissed her again before picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom.

After lying on the bed kissing and cuddling for a little while, she finally got up and changed into a night gown before climbing back into bed next to him. He pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead. "Am I going to be in big trouble if the best part of tonight is the cuddling?" he asked with a slightly embarrassed tone.

She shook her head and ran her fingers through his hair. "You've had a really long day. I can give you a break for tonight."

He let out a big yawn and scooted down into the bed and pulled her closer to him. "I love you Veronica," he said softly as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too Logan," she said as she squeezed him a bit tighter. She felt him drift off to sleep a short while later. She hoped that he would sleep better than the night before. She tipped her head up so she could place a kiss on his cheek, watching him sleeping for a few minutes before she scooted back down and closed her eyes. She didn't last much longer, falling asleep with thoughts of how much he really did love her on her mind.