I've been teasing this story for so long on Tumblr; hopefully it lives up to all those Sunday Sixes! Many of you have read the original version of this chapter so you know it's not long but trust me, they get longer after this. The story itself is complete and will be posted every Saturday through April 2017.

I have had a great deal of assistance working on this over the last year and thank Irislim and KMD0107 for all of their time and input. I truly appreciate both of you.

September 4, 2007

It was the first day of school and already, Veronica was hiding. She'd parked the Saturn between a monster truck and a full-sized van—who's going to Hearst these days anyway?—hoping they would obscure her smaller SUV from view. She'd made her way cautiously to the center of campus, avoiding the Food Court, the pathway that led to Greek Row, and any other hangout spots she could think of.

Her Sociology class started in ten minutes and she didn't want to get there early enough to risk bumping into Logan. Veronica was well aware of his position on their relationship and she had no interest in hearing it again. A little distance seemed like the best idea until they could both calm down. She'd been given some advice and, with no better ideas, had taken it, putting her thoughts about their situation in writing since actual physical contact had been a disaster.

She'd written him a letter and made her arguments, all without fear of the conversation becoming an unproductive snarkfest or worse, an emotional quagmire. She'd dropped the letter in the mail to him a few days earlier but with the Labor Day holiday, Veronica thought she should give him another couple of days before she attempted to talk to him again. In the meantime, she continued to practice avoidance by pretending to read all the new semester postings on the kiosk two buildings away from her class, moving slowly around the wooden structure whenever she spied someone she recognized walking in her general direction. She had returned from Virginia a little over a week earlier. Her conversation about "What I did this summer" with her father had gone better than expected but she'd only had one actual encounter with Logan since returning to California and it had gone explosively wrong, hence her current desire to stay out of his eyeshot for a while.

A glance at her phone showed she had five minutes until class should start and a three-minute walk to get there. She hurried through the crowd, keeping her eyes open for anyone who might try to engage her in conversation. As she entered the Sociology building, she played the same game she had with her car and deliberately positioned herself behind a football player, or at least someone sized like a football player, to continue to maintain her low profile. Veronica congratulated herself on her forethought as she thought she identified the back of Logan's head further down the hallway. She ducked into her classroom and breathed a sigh of relief. She should be safe here for the next ninety minutes. She looked around the classroom to confirm and smiled when she found her most loyal confidante, other than her dad, of course, sitting on the opposite side of the room. She grinned, waved, and made her way around the circled desks.

"Q! So glad to see you this morning."

"Bond! I was starting to wonder about you. You're usually the early to class type."

"Not right now. I'm practicing my unpredictability. Trying to avoid awkward conversations right now, you know. The middle of campus is not the place to hash this out with him."

"I'm really not sure you need to practice unpredictability. Seems to me you've pretty much nailed that one. But, good call, he was outside the room earlier. Dick too."

"Ugh, Dick too? I'm extra glad now that I'm wily."

"I really hope you guys can work this out soon. I know that you'd rather I not get directly involved but all this drama is really wearing thin."

"I know but it's for your own good. You've still got a business with him; I don't want that to be compromised by our issues." Veronica dropped her head onto the desktop and banged it in frustration. She laced her fingers across the back of her head and was still for a moment before sitting upright again and meeting Mac's concerned eyes. "I'm also really sorry that you're ending up as the lone member of the Veronica support network since Wallace is still pissed at me. He told me at the start of the summer that he would be over the Piz break-up by now but it seems like no such luck."

Mac smiled sympathetically. "Well, if stupid Piz hadn't decided to transfer to NYU, things would probably be different." Veronica knew this was old news but she couldn't stop talking about the various messy situations that made up her life now.

"Yeah, so now Wallace is blaming me for having to break in a new roommate. Honestly, he never should have thought we were going to be a long-term thing. Piz followed me around despite my having a boyfriend for the better part of the year and then he pushed himself in as a rebound guy. No one in their right mind would do something like that and think a lasting relationship was going to come out of it. Hell, Wallace told me himself that he knew we were a bad idea."

"I think Wallace is still nursing his illusions about the whole thing. He'll settle down pretty soon, once things chill with you and Logan."

"I don't think chill will ever be the way to describe me and Logan."

"You know what I mean." Mac gave her a look that felt like a reprimand before turning to focus on the professor who had just entered the room.

"Welcome to Sociology 216, Family and Society. This class meets your General Education requirement for the Social Sciences and is a lower division requirement for both the Sociology and Human Development majors. I'm Professor Williamson; I've been a member of the Sociology Department at Hearst since 2003 and I am an alumnus of Stanford's Psychology and Sociology Departm..."

"Excuse me, I need to see Veronica Mars."

The familiar voice drawled through the room and Veronica groaned. Damn it, what is he doing? She raised her eyebrows and shook her head wearily at Mac who was glaring at the door with a venom that should have been lethal. No such luck.

Veronica looked at the professor apologetically and stood to face the intruder.

"Dick. I'm in class. What do you want?"

He pushed his way between the desks so he was in the open section at the center of the circle of desks. The smirk on his face and the gleam in his eyes were actually a little frightening. Veronica glanced nervously at Mac again and then back up at Dick.

"Well?"

He threw a thick stack of paperwork down on the desktop in front of her and sneered. "You've been served." His eyes landed on Mac, apparently noticing her for the first time, and he blanched. "Mackster." He then turned and left the way he came.

Veronica dropped back into her chair and sat silently with her hands pressed to her face, staring down at the papers lying in front of her.

Superior Court of California, County of Neptune.
Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.
Petitioner: Logan Echolls/Husband.
Respondent: Veronica Mars/Wife.