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After two years of calling it home, Keith Mars's apartment complex was full to the brim, filled with singles and families squeezing together beyond maximum capacity, as much of the affordable housing in Neptune was rapidly being bought by Kane Software, to be turned into a second campus in Neptune. Such a situation was quickly souring the public favor held by Jake Kane, as the money in from jobs created started losing to the money out from gentrification of the so-called bad part of town.
And in Neptune, Jake Kane in low esteem meant Keith held up high, for (in)famously going up against the Kanes in the attempted murder trial of their daughter. While it cost Keith the position of sheriff, it showed him and his daughter who their true friends (what few they had) were and led to a new job as a private investigator. The reputation Keith had both as a man willing to oppose Jake and a private investigator led to the new tenants coming after him, pestering him to take their case, to find something that would stop him from moving in on their land.
At school, Veronica Mars' reputation as PI junior was no different. While her dad chased after bail jumpers and adulterous spouses, Veronica chased after poker cheaters and the sordid pasts of her classmates' parents. When Keith had turned down everyone asking him to go after Kane Software, their children sought out Veronica to ask the same. It was a late spring morning, before school started, that Weevil came up to her; "Can I stay with you?" he asked.
"What?"
"Jake Kane and his monkeys are buying my grandma's house. Can I stay with you?"
"Of course!"
"Really?"
"No! Weevil, you cannot stay with me. Why would you want to stay with me?"
"Hey, you got that kind of I don't care what nobody thinks of me thing, I like that, I respect that, and there's not enough space for me in the new place my grandma found. Maybe if you could find some dirt on Jake Kane, you could stop him from taking over the whole town."
"Wow, needing a favor and you didn't even tilt your head to convince me. Come on, you know how it's done. Like this, see, and then you go, 'hey,'" Veronica said, demonstrating.
“That’s your move, Veronica. I know I can get you to come around without it.”
And oh boy, loathe as she was to admit, Weevil’s ways were certainly convincing. Each hour between classes and during lunch, Weevil was coming up to Veronica, pestering and pressuring her to take a stance against Jake Kane by using her sneaky sleuth skills to blackmail him into moving his new campus away from Neptune’s residential areas. By the time journalism rolled around, Veronica was at her wits end. While she knew his potential as a gang leader and bully, she had no idea he could be so annoying. She was pretty on the fence about siding against Jake Kane a second time, but there was another option available to her, through her former best friend.
Lilly Kane and Veronica had been the B-est and F-est of BFFs for most of their childhoods. When Abel Koontz attempted to kill her nearly two years ago, she wound up in a coma with no memory of the event. By the time she returned from the hospital, Veronica was living in an apartment and no longer speaking to the rest of their friends. While Lily was never one to follow anyone else, the loyal friendship she once shared with Veronica had eroded, and they were left as sometimes-friendly acquaintances.
As Veronica approached Lily, she was blocked by a gaggle of 09-ers, gossiping about who else but her. Shelly was the first person she heard, "You know she had sex with like a dozen guys at my party last year! What a skank!"
"I know! And she was all over Dick, she's a major bitch."
"I think you're confusing us, Madison," Veronica interrupted, only to be responded to in grimaces and frightened eyes. A reputation for ruthlessness comes in handy. "Look, I'm not going to eat you. I’m also not going to talk to you," and with that she pushed her way to Lily.
"We need to talk."
*
"You need my dad to back off, I need Logan to be my running mate to secure my win as prom queen. So, get him to come around, and we have a deal."
“Why do you need me to go after him, Logan doesn't even talk to me!"
"Hey, you should be grateful you can have me owe you a favor seeing as you already need to cash in. And besides, he's currently in Los Angeles with his dad on some movie set, I don't have the time or energy to get up there."
"Fine. But you better hold up your end."
"Of course. He's staying in the penthouse in the Tower Hotel. Good luck, V."
Veronica spent the rest of class planning her road trip to LA, which she expects to be a 4 hour round trip drive, plus who knows how long spent in traffic if she isn't careful. She finds a beaten down alley on google maps that'll require risking her car over a precarious bridge to get to Logan’s hotel that should save her some wait time and makes a note of the off ramp.
She took off in her old LeBaron right after school and headed north. The first hour went easy, as she drove past a sunflower field and enjoyed empty streets with school getting out long before most offices. From there, she had to drive through stony mountains the highway wrapped around and exit off onto a less trodden path. It only got worse as she kept moving forward, her car nearly falling off the rickety bridge on her way to the hotel. By the time she reached The Tower, she practically exuded relief. All she had left to do was manipulate her way into Logan's room, hoping to convince the receptionist to let her up. She approached the desk, taking note of the name tag labeling her Drea Gunn, and turned on her best water works.
"Hi Drea, I'm really hoping you can help me out. I'm looking for my boyfriend, Logan, staying here. I told him last week that I thought I might be pregnant, and he took off without saying anything! But then I got my period and I just want to talk to him, clear the air? I just know everything will be okay if I can see him."
"I'm sorry, we here at Tower Hotel pride ourselves on the privacy we are able to extend to our guests, and as such we cannot offer to give you access to any of our guests."
"But like, can't you just phone him? Please? Maybe if I booked a room you could give me access?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, we are fully booked and do not offer the phone numbers of our rooms without our guests' prior consent."
"Eugh! This is ridiculous, thanks anyway," Veronica said, taking note of her surroundings and the nearby service entrance. As soon as Ms. Gunn's back was turned, she'd be able to jimmy her way in and go up to the penthouse.
The stairs she climbed seemed to go on forever, the hotel truly living up to its "Tower" name, and Veronica was already sick of Logan and this trek she had to take for him before even reaching his room. The annoyance she felt held up as she reached his door, and knocked, hoping he was in. Waiting for a moment, she heard grumbles from inside the room before she was greeted by a groggy-eyed Logan answering the door.
"Well if it isn’t Veronica Mars! Here to ask me to prom?”
“Not even if you’re the last single guy at Neptune. Lucky for you, not all us Neptune girls feel the same.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Lilly needs a date and she commissioned me to bring you back home.”
“So why didn’t she come herself? I thought you had retired from being her sidekick.”
“I needed a favor, and she didn’t have time to drive all the way out here.”
“Gee, don’t I feel loved.”
“You should, I’m rescuing you from Los Angeles and Lilly wants you to take her to prom. So, I’m about to leave, and need you to come with me.”
“Wow. Never thought Lilly would be the type to use a middleman to ask someone to prom. Guess people change during the time you’re locked away in a tower.”
“Guess so. Now get on with it. Not like you can expect me to be some kind of princess about this!”
“I kinda can. We used to be friends, Veronica, I know what you used to be like.”
“Then you should also know I’ve changed; now come on. You can’t want to stay in a hotel with your dad longer than you have to.”
That was the argument that convinced Logan to follow Veronica out to her car, and how their road trip home began. Logan had slightly less of a death wish than his driver (what the actual hell was that bridge she drove here on?), and convinced her to go out to the highway, traffic be damned, they had time. And Los Angeles to Neptune in rush hour? Would no doubt be taking it.
The easy companionship the two had once shared was gone entirely, replaced with awkward silences for the first twenty minutes of their trip. With traffic at a classic L.A. standstill, Veronica tried to force her mind to drift to her upcoming finals, next year’s college applications, the music on the radio, really anything other than the man beside her. Logan, meanwhile, seemed to be finding his own groove, tapping his knuckles along to the beat of the music, a concentrated frown plastered on his face.
“When was the last time we hung out like this, just the two of us?” Logan asked, making the move as first to break the silence since getting in the car.
“I don’t know, eighth grade? Sometime before we each had Kanes to please?”
“Come on, there’s gotta be something more recent than that. Remember when we were all going to hang out at mine for Christmas freshman year, and you came over before we found out that Celeste had dragged Duncan and Lilly over to their grandparents? Or what about that project we worked on for, like, history or something fall before last? Plus those times you drove me home when my dad took away my keys and Lilly was too busy with other guys to bother with me?”
“Jeez, Logan. How do you remember all of that?”
“Well I don’t know, Ronnie, maybe it’s just your illustrious personality shining a light through my memories. Or maybe I miss the way things used to be, y’know?”
“Well lucky for you, we’re one step closer to that, already. You’re going to prom with Lilly, just like old times.”
“Come on, Veronica. Us, the group, it was never about Lilly and me. It was you—you were Lilly’s best friend, you were Duncan’s first love, you were the one mediating between us when things go wrong, making snickerdoodles to ease the hurt. Face it, V, you were the glue holding the rest of us together. And when you chose to support your dad going against Jake and the Kanes… you messed it up for the rest of us.”
“Yeah, alright. So maybe this really is all my fault. But I’m not going to take back standing by my dad. And I’m not sure what you want from me now.”
“Who says I want anything from you? Maybe I’m just reminiscing.”
“Got it.” Veronica let out a sigh, unsure how to move forward with this. Maybe Logan was right to say she was the one keeping the fab four together, but that doesn’t mean it was her fault they fell apart. When a girl almost dies, it kind of seems like the situation that you take blame out of. Or, maybe ascribe it to the professed (attempted) murderer. Not out on a girl who was just trying to do right by the only parent she had left. “Besides, if I was such a pivotal part of our gang, why did you work so hard to kick me out of it?”
“It was supposed to be us against the world. I guess when you sided with your dad in the trial, it felt like you abandoned us first.”
“God, Logan. Then I guess it is all my fault we’re not friends anymore. But I’m pretty sure Duncan is still your best friend, and Lilly’s about to be your girlfriend again. So all you’re really missing is me—and it sounds like you’re better off without me anyway.”
“Well, no one’s ever said life’s not easier without Veronica Mars around.”
And damn if that didn’t sting; the worst part being just how true it rang. Veronica Mars, always making a mess of things. Veronica Mars, snooping in people’s business. Never afraid to cross the line to claim her revenge.
“Yeah, okay, Logan. I get it, I ruin everything. Want me to pull a U-ie and just drop you off at your hotel? That make things easy enough for you?”
“Ah, you caught me. Maybe I just like things hard.”
Veronica spluttered. “Excuse me?”
Logan rubbed at the back of his neck. “Not quite what I meant princess, but if it’s what works for you…”
“I think you shutting up now is what works for me.”
“Ooh feisty! Getting hangry there, Ronnie?”
“Feels like I’m always hungry, but I’m only ever hangry when I’m with you.”
“Aw, I’m special. Come on, there was a sign for a pasta place at the next exit. At least I think it’s a pasta place.”
Questions starting bouncing around Veronica’s head, was it really worth the time to stop for dinner? Would it be worth continuing this aggravation? Not to mention--“Never thought you’d be one to suggest pasta for dinner.”
“Yeah, well. You like it.”
Veronica pulled off at the next exit.
*
Veronica and Logan sat facing each other at Papa Rossi’s, plates of lasagna and chicken scampi sitting between them. They seemed to have reached an unspoken truce over dinner, between Logan’s suggesting her favorite and Veronica following Logan’s ask to stop. Nevertheless, they were still trying to figure out this new dynamic, being with each other without casting digs at one another.
“I see your appetite hasn’t changed.” Well, without deep and cutting digs, anyway.
“Sure hasn’t. Guess it matches your charming personality.”
“Wow charming—me, really?”
“Of course, charming. How else do you think you pull all the ladies?”
“See here I thought it was my deep brown eyes.”
“Hmm. Sounds like the kind of thing someone with charm would say.”
“You got me there, Veronica Mars. Now how is it you manage?”
“Funny enough, it seems all I have to do is show up and rumors of swim team dance in people’s heads.”
“Just rumors, really?”
“Hey, you’ve seen me play never have I ever. Pretty sure you know better than most how reputations can get inflated.”
“Still saving yourself for Duncan the donut?”
“No. Not Duncan.”
“But you are saving myself?”
“Are you trying to see if you have a shot?”
“And if I said I am?”
“Then you’re going to have to try harder than that.”
“Oh I’ll come at you harder, alright. Why Veronica, what magnificent eyes you have. And what incredible smile.”
“I’m sorry, in this scenario am I the girl you’re wooing or the wolf that ate your grandma?”
Logan laughed at that. “Please Veronica, if anything you’re the sheep in wolf’s clothing.”
“Excuse you! I am a wolf, and besides that doesn’t even make sense. Why would a sheep need to put on wolf’s clothing?”
“You tell me. Maybe you needed to sneak around for one your investigations.”
“You been keeping tabs on me, Logan?”
“As if anyone hasn’t heard of the bathroom deals you get down with.”
“Wow, you sure know how to make a girl feel like a prostitute.”
“It’s the charm.”
“Oh it’s something alright.” Veronica admitted with a smile. She was still licking the fork from her lasagna, waiting for Logan to finish what little he had left, when she picked off to go to the bathroom before the rest of their drive.
Coming back from the restroom, Veronica saw Logan had moved from their table to stand by the exit door, his ridiculously dyed hair shining brighter with a halo of sunlight coming through the windows illuminating it.
“Check’s covered. Ready to go home?”
*
Veronica pulled off the highway and into Neptune, Logan beside her in a food-induced bliss that put him to sleep as soon as they were back on a moving highway. Veronica felt surprised at just how not-awful the past few hours had been. While her legs were already starting to feel sore from every flight of stairs she climbed, and her eyes had grown tired looking at the road all evening, the company made up for much of the inconvenience. She had never felt that Logan and her were really friends, they were just two people who happened to orbit the same sun. Finding out Logan didn’t see it that way, Logan saw her as the one bringing everyone together, was surprising enough by itself, but it was made even more so when combined with the way that they could still get along. “Still,” as if they had ever gotten along like they had tonight. Their ability to talk openly and honestly with each other, put everything on the table, and still laugh about nothings afterward was unmatched. Veronica hadn’t felt this comfortable talking to anyone since before Lilly’s accident, if ever. She certainly wasn’t this comfortable talking to Duncan—with him, real talk felt forced, laughter even more so. Lilly was the opposite; she’d never needed to force a conversation in her life. And talking with her was fun, but it was surface level—amazing gossip here, an epic pep talk there, but if you had conflict, you’d better forget about it and pray Lilly did the same. She wasn’t one to work through things. Logan was different. He faced things head on. He wasn’t afraid of calling shit out, of asking the questions Veronica didn’t want to answer. But the most different thing about him was that he knew how to let things drop, granting her unspoken forgiveness as he suggested pasta for dinner, not unlike the easy way he forgave Lilly constantly and without question.
And now Logan was going to do it again, get back with Lilly when she does nothing to amend for her actions, when it doubtful she’ll even stay faithful to Logan the duration of prom. He deserved more than that, Veronica thought. If he’s going to prom, it should be with someone who cares about him, and not about the confidence he’ll add to her queen campaign. Someone who gets Logan, who can give and take right there with him. Someone like her.
*
Balloons covered the walls of the hotel ballroom, a mix of gold and matte black to marry the cheesiness of high school prom with the discerning taste of the 09-ers. The dj stood spinning at the front of their miniature stage, making easy the flow between Britney, Mariah, and Timberlake. Chaperones stood at the perimeter of the room, leaving students safe to grind as long as they stuck in their hard to penetrate bubbles.
It was prom night, and Veronica was showing up with Weevil of all people. She wanted to go, he needed an alibi to cover him for the plans he had with the PCH-ers later that night, it worked for them. She knew going with him would feel weird, but she was not expecting the level of attention she drew. People kept coming up to her, first it was Mandy, then Meg, then Norris, expressing their gratitude in the role she had in reclaiming Neptune beyond the 90909 zip from Kane’s expansion. Veronica wasn’t quite sure what Lilly held over her father to convince him to change plans, but she kept to her word. One prom date in exchange for Jake to move on to other sites for his expansion. Recent rumor said he was considering a satellite campus in the Silicon Valley, playing neighbor to the rest of the big names in tech. After spending the past year and a half as an outcast, her sudden onset of admirers was disorienting, but not altogether unpleasant.
As the music turned soft and slow, the dance circle broke up into couples, giving Veronica easy sight of her target. Lilly's head was resting on Logan's shoulder, her hands inching down his back, Logan holding tight around her waist. The sight was enough to put a stone in Veronica's throat, questioning whether she had any right for what she planned to do in the first place. After all, she wasn’t interested in prom to see who would be crowned or for that sweet, sweet quality time with a biker she already saw too much of. No, she was here to see whether the spark she felt with Logan was mutual. To let him know he deserves better than someone who only treats him as arm candy. But sudden doubt stirred in her chest, urging Veronica to turn her gaze from the happy couple, but like a train-wreck, she couldn't look away. She was drawn to the way they stood, Logan keeping Lilly as much at arm’s length as she would let him. The way Lilly was draping herself all over Logan, and yet her eyes were targeted further into the dance room, as if she didn’t care about her dance partner at all. Logan's eyes more wandering than focused, but still not directed at his supposed paramour. It wasn't exactly her style, but Veronica chose to find hope in it. Hope that maybe she was here for a reason, that she wasn't misreading the feelings shared over their drive, wasn't being stupid about showing up here.
The song began fading out, replaced by another party tune, and with it came couples crashing back together, reforming amoebas of sweaty bodies dancing on top of each other. This was Veronica's chance. Swaying her body to the beat and leaving Weevil behind, she danced her way into the center group circle, bumping elbows past the likes of Dick and Madison, Duncan and Meg, basically any couple with even half an eye on a crown. While Lily's reign as senior queen was undisputed, especially with Logan on her arms, the prize for junior princess was an open field, with hefty competition. Veronica reached within a couple feet of the happy (or were they?) couple, Lilly grinding against Logan's front, Logan bobbing his head to the music but otherwise seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. Doubt reigned in Veronica's mind once more, as she questioned if their shared time could really change anything. So what if they've proved they can still get along? So what that they still enjoy each other and their banter was better than ever? That stuff was easy, this was complicated. Hierarchies and politics and social discourse, Neptune teenagers giving New York socialites a run for their money as far as complicated relationships went. Nevertheless, Veronica was now at arm’s length from Logan; it was too late to fall back.
Veronica hadn’t fully thought out what she was supposed to do here—shout an objection? Wait for Logan to take notice of her, ditch Lilly, and move towards her instead? While the easy option, it felt wrong. It wasn’t like them, for her to sit and wait. And it wouldn’t be like Logan, to leave Lilly when she said she needed him, even if she only said it by proxy. No, she needed to be the one to bust in there. Veronica Mars, never making it easy.
This, this thing she had with Logan. The way it was aggravating for them to be around each other, and somehow so much worse for them to be apart. When they were kids, they were kitty corners in the fab four, not so much friends as they were connected. As they were part of the same group. That’s how Veronica thought it was, anyway. But Logan remembered it differently. Logan thought she was the glue. Logan thought she was worth remembering all the times they hung out. So now it was Veronica’s turn to step up, to be the one showing Logan that she cares about him, too. That maybe she used to be blind to their relationship, to the way they maybe gravitated to each other, the intimacy that allowed only them to throw the jabs and jeers that sting the most and get away with it, but she wasn’t going to keep her eyes closed to it anymore. There was something between the two of them, and it was worth standing up for.
Veronica tried dancing along with the sweaty crowd, trying to blend in and find a way to reach Logan without a scene. The sticky, sexy sound of one song rolled in to the fist pumping beat of another and Veronica used the quick break between Lilly and Logan’s bodies to grab on to him.
“Wow, Lills, pulling me back already?”
“Not quite.”
“Veronica. What—what are you doing here? Thought school dances weren’t your scene since you took up chopped hair and combat boots.”
“Yeah, well. You like them.”
“Do I? Here I thought I was only here to be Lilly’s date, and now I get the honor of another girl pursuing my affections. Yippee for me!”
“It’s the brown eyes. They pulled me in.”
“They’ll do that.”
“Logan, I—”
“Veronica! What are you doing here?” Lilly butts in.
“Enjoying the prom, same as everyone else.”
“Really? Because it seemed like you were trying to steal my date. Is that how it seemed to you, Logan?”
“Can’t steal something you don’t have. You said we were running mates, not dates.”
“Running mates with benefits. That is, if you don’t ditch me for our little princess here.”
“Ooh, tempting! But I think it’s time to see what’s behind door number 2, so how bout it, Monty Hall?”
“Yeah Veronica? How about it?”
Veronica wasn’t sure what to say. Already nervous about bringing this up to Logan, she was even less clear about it with Lilly in the audience. But, maybe this wasn’t something she needed to say. Maybe this was something she needed to do.
Without letting herself think too hard about it, Veronica leant forward and brushed her lips against Logan’s. His lips felt moist in a way she wasn’t expecting but still wasn’t quite surprised by. They were nice. She pulled back quickly, but before she knew it Logan’s soft hand was around her wrist, pulling her back close to him; his other hand reaching up to cup the back of her neck and next thing she knew they were kissing again. This time it wasn’t a brush of the lips, sweet and soft. This was hot and deep and passionate. It was transformative; the kind of kiss that could change everything.
“So. That was good,” Logan admitted. “Maybe we should do that more often.”
“I love you,” Veronica responded in a moment of adrenaline-filled honesty. It was crazy, and she nearly wanted to take it back, but before she could, Logan was gaping, surprise and adoration filling his face.
“Really?”
“Really, really.”
And with that confession out of the way, they were leaning back into each other, eager to make up for the time they hadn’t realized they’d lost.