Story: When It All Comes Crashing Down

Author: pigy190

World: Veronica Mars Season 3

Spoilers: Up until Split and Eggs

Disclaimer: It's all Rob Thomas'. I own nothing except the parts that aren't like the show. Though I would still LOVE to own Logan/Jason. Seriously.

Summary: What if the party had happened on the same day Logan saw Veronica ignore his phone call and he didn't have time to confront her before she was drugged and almost raped?

A/N: This is how I see things happening. I tweaked the story line just a little bit to make it fit. I used a lot of the actual events in the show and everything still happens up until Spit and Eggs.

I'm updating this edited. I ran it through spell check, but after re-reading it I realized how many mistakes I made. I really should get a beta... on that note, I am writing a sequel. Should be up sometime today(6/15/10) or tomorrow.

Enjoy.

Watching Veronica put her phone back in her purse and then sit down and start to eat like it was nothing was probably the hardest thing Logan had ever done. She had told him just last night that they were ok, now she's was back to avoiding him as if it were nothing. Sure he probably shouldn't have hired that body guard, but he was tired of being expected to change when Veronica was doing anything.

Logan stood in the doorway to the cafeteria debating whether or not to go over and confront her or not. Finally he decided to wait until later that night when she came over, if she came over. She had told him she was going to so that they could spend time together and start going easier on one another. Go easier on one another. Ha. Logan wasn't sure how on earth he was supposed to "go easier" on her, especially when she treated him like dirt. Ever since Lilly died it seemed Veronica had to go and take Lilly's worst traits and mix them with her own. Now instead of being a sweet, trusting, selfless girl, she was a selfish, untrusting bitch; a complete one eighty from three years prior. Even after Lilly died, sophomore year, she was still okay, until Shelley Pomroy's end of the year party when Beaver raped her.

Logan sighed and left the cafeteria deciding to head home. It wasn't going to do him any good to go to any of his classes. At this rate he wasn't going to be able to pay attention anyways. Maybe Dick would be willing to go surfing until it was time to meet up with Veronica. Dick never passed up a change to skip class and surf. Logan picked up his phone and dialed Dick's number. A few minutes later he got in his car and headed towards the beach.

Dick was already there when Logan arrived. The two men got their surfboards and wetsuits and hit the waves. After an hour of surfing, Dick finally pulled up next to Logan.

"Alright dude, what's going on?" he asked. "You don't skip anymore. Ronnie's going to yell again." Logan laughed bitterly.

"Well, at least then she would be talking to me," Logan said. Dick looked at him quizzically. Logan quickly explained what had happened over the last few days.

"Dude, you hired a bodyguard for Ronnie?" Dick asked amazed. "Even I know that's a bad idea!" Logan huffed angrily.

"Yeah well I don't really care," he said. "I just care about her being safe. There is no way her chasing the rapists is safe."

"Speaking of all things you deem not safe for Veronica, the Pi Sigs are having another party tonight," Dick said. "I'm willing to bet she'll be there. There was some kind of ad in the paper saying the rapist was going to make an appearance at the party and claim another victim." Logan's jaw dropped.

"Veronica is supposed to come over tonight so we can talk and hang out," Logan said. "She didn't say anything about the party."

"Maybe she didn't know it was happening at the time. I just heard about the article on the way over her to meet you," Dick said trying to calm his friend down. "Maybe when you get back to your phone you'll have a messaged from Ronnie trying to get you to go to the party." Logan nodded knowing Dick was wrong. Veronica would never call and ask for his help. After all, she was Veronica.

After another hour of surfing, Dick and Logan decided to call it quits. They paddled to shore and changed back into their regular clothes. Logan checked his phone. To his surprised there were three missed calls and a voicemail from Veronica. He dialed his voicemail.

"Hey Logan, it's Veronica. Sorry I haven't been answering I've been in class or talking to a client every time you called. Listen, the Pi Sigs are having another party tonight and the rapist said he was going to go. I know you're going to be against this, but I'm going. Wallace, Piz, and Mac are coming with me to keep an eye out for any possible victims. If you want you can come with us. We're meeting outside the party at eleven." Logan's grip tightened on the phone.

"Dude you ok?" Dick asked.

"She called to tell me she's going to the party with Wallace, Piz, and Mac. And then told me if I wanted to I could come with them. She didn't ask me, she just suggested it," Logan forced out. Breathing was starting to become difficult.

"Dude its Ronnie. If she suggested you come, it means she wants you to come, just trust and show up," Dick said. Logan nodded not trusting himself to speak.

At ten fifty-five, Logan stood outside of the Pi Sig party waiting for Veronica to show up. Two minutes later she came up flanked by Wallace, Piz, and Mac. Veronica looked at him and Logan hoped the look in her eyes was her happiness to see him. Even if it wasn't he was going to tell himself it was.

"You came," she said smiling softly. Logan nodded.

"Of course," he said.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Piz asked. Logan suppressed a grin, glad he wasn't the only clueless one around. Veronica held out a bunch of coasters.

"Take these. If you see a girl that looks like she might be drugged, dip this in her drink, if it changes colors, she's drugged, if not, she's just drunk and you can call the safe ride home people or let her friends take care of her. If she's drugged, get her home and call me so I can call my dad," she said. "Got it?"

"And what if some fine girl wants to dance with us?" Wallace asked. "Are we allowed to dance?"

"Sure," Veronica said. "But just know that while you're having your moment of fun some poor girl might be getting drugged and raped." Wallace glared at her.

"You take the fun out of everything," he said. Veronica smirked and reached in to her back pocket.

"I got you all presents for coming here tonight," she said handing out fake IDs. Logan took his making a mental note to throw out the one he already had. Veronica's was a thousand times better. "We're all officially twenty one." Wallace and Piz laughed. Mac smiled. Logan was surprised Mac was even here considering the last party she'd been to had been the one where her boyfriend jumped off the roof of the Grande.

They quickly lined up, the boys getting their beer cups, Mac getting her soda cup, and Veronica storming off inside to find Chip Diller to get on his ass about the fake coasters. Logan made a mental note in which direction she was going and stuck with Mac. He knew Veronica could take care of herself for a few minutes, but he wasn't sure about Mac. He was glad he'd decided to stick with Mac when Dick came up to her.

"Mac," he said. "Can I uh, talk to you?" he asked. Mac's eyes grew wide and she looked at Logan. Logan gave his friend the once over before turning back to Mac.

"He's sober," Logan told her. Mac turned back to Dick and nodded. "Text me if you need me," Logan told her. Mac nodded again and let herself be pulled to a quieter place by Dick. Logan had a feeling Dick had a thing for his younger brother's girlfriend, even when Cassidy was still alive. Mac seemed to have the power to get Dick to mature a little in efforts to impress her. The fact that he'd been at the party for an hour and was still sober was a good indication that he didn't want to screw this up. Logan pushed Dick and Mac from his mind and focused on finding Veronica. Everyone had a partner except her. Now that Mac was safe, Logan was starting to worry about Veronica. She hadn't come back to him yet. He headed in the direction she'd gone earlier and found Chip begging a girl not to believe Veronica.

"Where'd she go?" Logan asked Chip.

"She went off that fucking way," he said. "Stupid bitch. I don't know why you would want to find her. Avoiding her is way better." Logan glared at Chip before heading off in the direction Chip had pointed.

An hour later Logan still hadn't caught up to her. He knew she was avoiding him and it was really starting to piss him off. He finally found her when she made an announcement about some girl's cup having GHB in it. She told everyone she'd be on the side of the stage if they had any information. When he got to her some girl was telling her about how the cup didn't belong to the girl they thought it had, but instead the girl's sister who had borrowed her ID. Veronica made a call saying there was a bomb in the Wallace and Piz's dorm and rushed off. Logan followed closely behind making sure not to lose sight of her. He followed her to Piz and Wallace's dorm. By the time he got inside, she was gone. He cursed and started waking up and down random hallways trying to find any sign of her.

After what seemed like an eternity he heard a scream followed by two people running. The noises were coming from the other side of the dorms. Logan cursed again and ran toward her. He came up on the hallway and heard voices. He quickly ducked out of sight. He heard Veronica tell Moe, the RA, that Mercer was the rapist. Logan felt rage course through his veins. Mercer. His friend. The guy he'd asked Veronica to clear. Mercer was the rapist. Logan listened as Moe got Veronica to go into his room and then come back out a few minutes later. As soon as Mercer's footsteps died away, Logan went to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Cursing he went back to his hiding spot and called Keith Mars explaining the situation quickly and quietly. Keith assured him he was on the way. Right after they hung up, Logan heard footsteps coming back up the hall. He peered around the corner and saw Moe leading Mercer to Moe's room. Mercer had a huge blood spot on his leg and was limping. Logan hoped it hurt like hell and that Veronica had caused the damage. He waited until the two boys opened the door before sneaking over. Before he got to the door he heard Veronica blow the rape whistle and Mercer came back out. To Logan's surprise, Parker came out of a different room.

"Logan? Mercer?" she asked. Mercer spun around eyes widening in fear when he saw Logan there. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Mercer has Veronica," Logan said. "He's the rapist." Mercer started towards Parker who immediately yelled rape at the top of her lungs. The doors flew open and people poured into the hallway.

"What's going on, Parker?" one of the guys asked. "Did you yell rape?" Parker nodded her eyes glazed with tears.

"Mercer," Moe said sounding panicked. "What do we do?"

"Nothing," Mercer said. "Shut up and get back in your room, Moe." Mercer started toward the exit only to remember it was blocked by Logan.

"I trusted you," Logan snarled. "I got Veronica to clear you of the rape charges." Mercer laughed. The doors burst open behind Logan.

"Where's Veronica?" Keith asked. Logan pointed to Moe's room. Keith and Parker rushed into the room to make sure Veronica was okay.

"You are under arrest for the rape of four girls and the attempted rape of two others. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you by the courts," Lamb said cuffing Mercer as Sacks cuffed Moe.

"We'll call for an ambulance for Veronica," Lamb said to Logan. Logan nodded and watched as Lamb escorted his friend out of the building. As soon as they were gone he ran into Moe's room to Veronica.

"Ronnie?" Logan asked Veronica turned her head in his direction.

"Lo-ann?" she slurred. Logan felt tears well up in his eyes. He dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her into his arms

"You shouldn't have come here alone," he whispered into her hair. "You should have called me." Veronica didn't say anything else. Logan rocked her until the ambulance came to pick her up.

"She just needs to come in so we can give her the medication," the paramedic said. Keith nodded.

"I know," he said. The Paramedic nodded and they loaded Veronica into the ambulance. Logan watched as they drove off with a drugged Veronica for the second time in as many weeks.

When he got home he fell into bed and finally let himself cry.

Two days later Veronica finally called him and asked him to come over. Her dad was going back to work and she still didn't feel comfortable driving. Logan showered quickly before heading over to her house. When he got there he let himself in. She was sitting on the couch wrapped in blankets.

"Hey," he said. Veronica smiled at him.

"I hear I have you to thank for rescuing me," she said. Logan nodded not trusting himself to speak. There was a long, pregnant silence.

"Thank you," she finally said not looking at him.

"Thank you?" he asked in disbelief. "That's all you have to say?"

"What else am I supposed to say?" she asked. Logan finally exploded.

"What about I'm sorry for ignoring your calls all the time and lying about the reason? What about I'm sorry I didn't call and ask for you to come with me like I know I should have? What about can you forgive me for not trusting you and almost getting raped? What about I'm sorry I'm such a selfish, hypocritical bitch?" he snapped. Veronica stared at him tears welling up in her eyes.

"Did you even for one second take the time to look around and make sure I wasn't standing where I could see you when you ignored my calls? Did you for one second even think about calling me when you found out where the girl lived? Was anything okay when you said it was or was that all a lie too? You keep getting onto me for lying to you or omitting details I don't think are too important yet you blatantly lie to me all the time. I haven't said anything about it because I love you, Veronica, but I can't do this anymore. This relationship is more destructive than mine and Lilly's was. At least with Lilly I knew she cared about me on some level, with you I'm not even sure anymore. I'm not always going to be there to save you, Veronica, and you won't let me hire someone that can be there to always save you. And I can't do this anymore, Ronnie. I know we said we'd go easy on each other, but I can't. You said you aren't built to trust, yet you trust Mac, Wallace, and even Piz. Well, I'm not built to stand by and watch the people I love put themselves in danger." he finally finished breathing heavily. Veronica had tears running down her cheeks. Logan was shocked. Veronica Mars does not cry in public. Ever.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're right." Logan stared at her in shock. Out of all of the possible reactions she could have had, this was not what he'd been expecting. Anger maybe; Sarcasm maybe; Indifference maybe; But not tears and an admission to having been wrong.

"What?" Logan asked.

"You're right," she said in a stronger voice. "Ever since Lilly died..." she trailed off. "It's harder to trust you than it is to trust Mac, Wallace, and Piz," she admitted. "You turned the entire school against me. You were my friend and you abandoned me when I needed you the most. And then things got better, or I thought they did. We had a good relationship, but you had to turn back into the obligatory psychotic jackass and wreck havoc on Neptune and then turn on me when I started dating Duncan again. Then, as soon as Duncan was out of the picture, you gave a wonderful speech at Alterna-Prom, only to call Kendall when I freaked out because I wasn't expecting anything civilized from you. So yeah, I have trouble believing that you're not going to turn on me again as soon as things go wrong, but I'm trying, Logan, I really am!" Logan took a step towards her.

"Do you love me?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. He took another step in her direction.

"Say it," he commanded softly. Veronica froze. "Say it." Veronica opened her mouth.

"I..." she said. "I..." Logan clenched his teeth and fought the tears.

"That's what I thought," he said sadly. He walked back to the door. He turned one last time to look at her. "I really do love you, Veronica. I really hope one day you find a guy that makes you happy. Someone you can say 'I love you' to." He started to open the door.

"Logan, wait!" Veronica said. Logan turned back. She was standing up and wobbling dangerously.

"What?" he asked.

"I really do," she said. "I just can't say it." He turned to leave again. "Just wait damn it!" Logan shook his head.

"There's no point," he said softly. He opened the door. "Good-bye, Veronica."

"DAMN IT YOU JERK, I LOVE YOU," Veronica screamed. Logan froze. Before he could respond he heard Veronica crash to the ground. He slammed the door shut and crossed the room in two strides. Gently, he leaned down and scooped her into his arms.

"What did you say?" he asked amazed. Veronica stared at him, still crying.

"I love you," she whispered, the tears coming harder. "You can leave now."

"Why would I leave now?" he asked confused.

"Because everyone I say that to leaves," she said. "The only person who hasn't is my Dad." Logan kissed her forehead and carried her into her bedroom.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ronnie," he said. "I love you." Veronica buried her head against his chest and smiled. He laid her down on her bed and got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked fear dripping from ever letter. Logan smiled reassuringly at her.

"I'm just going to go get you some water," he said. "I'll be right back." She nodded eyes wide. Logan quickly got her the water and came back. She was lying in the exact same position. He saw her visibly relax as soon as he walked through the door.

"Here," he said. "Drink." She attempted to take the glass, almost dropping it. Logan caught it and brought it to her lips, letting her tilt the glass. After she had taken a few sips, Logan put the glass on the table and laid down next to her, pulling her into his arms. She immediately curled against him.

"Ronnie?" he whispered. He felt her smile at the nickname.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Take me or your dad or someone else with you when you go on stakeouts or do any kinds of hands on PI work." He felt Veronica tense. "I'm not asking you to stop. I'm just asking you to be safe. If something happens to you, I can't deal with it. I can't lose you, Ronnie. I just-" Veronica put her finger over his lips cutting him off.

"I promise."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're right." Logan smiled and squeezed her gently. They were quiet for a minute before Veronica spoke up again.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me something?" Logan grinned.

"Anything."

"Don't ever leave me." Logan tightened his grip on her. For the first time in three years she sounded like the Veronica before Lilly's death. For the first time in three years, her walls were down.

"I promise."

"Good. Because I can't lose you either." Logan buried his face in her hair.

"Never." he promised.

When Keith came home four hours later, he found the two still curled up in Veronica's bed. He thought of kicking Logan out until he saw the tear tracks on both teen's faces. Keith smiled softly; he hoped this meant the two were going to be able to work through their problems, because as much as it killed him to admit it, Logan was perfect for Veronica. Their relationship was one of a kind. Epic.

A/N: And it's over. I'm thinking of writing a sequel. It all depends on how the reviews are. So please please review! J