Logan pulled up in the parking lot of Neptune High and killed the engine. He glanced around at the already parked cars in the hopes that Veronica's would be there. She hadn't been in school for two days.

He waited outside her homeroom until everyone was there, sans Veronica and Wallace. He felt a tingle of trepidation slither up his spine as he looked at her empty seat, before he walked across the corridor to his locker. Who the hell could he ask? The first people he thought to ask were Wallace and Duncan. Sadly, he was pretty sure he topped both of their shit lists for one reason or the other. In addition, his estranged best friend seemed too busy going through the motions to notice Veronica was gone. And, after looking for Wallace, he found Veronica's best friend to be as equally absent, just in a different way. After his third attempt to enter the right combination, he slung open the locker door and reached for the flask he kept hidden at the bottom.

Logan unscrewed the cap, lifted it to his mouth and paused, the strong smell of the whiskey tantalising his senses. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip while he thought and with jerky motions screwed the lid back on. With a quick shove, it was buried at the bottom of his locker. There was, after all, no way he could find her while drunk, especially if she didn't want to be found.

He clenched his jaw in frustration. He couldn't continue like this. Every time he let his mind wander, the memory of her hopeless eyes filtered through his memory. He couldn't forget abandoning her, leaving her shattered and alone. His actions only added to her pain that night instead of alleviating it. Guilt gnawed away at him and if he didn't see her soon, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

He was driving across town before he realized he'd made the decision to find her. It was interesting, he mused, how much easier it was to drive when he wasn't buzzed . The thought quickly left his mind when he pulled into her apartment complex next to her car. She was probably inside moping around while he went out of his damn mind worrying about her.

As he clambered up the steps, he noticed immediately the curtains were closed and the lights were off. Logan knocked sharply on the door and waited. He glanced down the concrete walk-way to see if there were any neighbours hanging around; but there was no one.

He walked up to her window and leaned against the middle, with his hand shielding his eyes to peer inside. In vain, he tried to see if there was a gap between the curtains, but they overlapped in a way that made it impossible. No surprise that the Mars' would understand how to keep strangers from seeing inside their small home.

A tingle of fear crept down his spine as he wondered why she wasn't answering. The thought of her possibly hurting herself froze him for a moment. His mother leapt from a bridge to get away from the pain, what if she had done something equally stupid? He tried to shake off the thought, as he frantically pounded on the door.

"Veronica?" he called loudly. "Answer the goddamn door or I'll break it down."

He thumped on the door again with his fist and stepped back waiting for her voice to quell his fear. The image of her body crumpled on the floor with an empty bottle of drugs lying next to her flashed through his mind and there were no more decisions to make. He slammed his weight against the door, and felt a sliver of satisfaction at the sound of the jam cracking as it flew open.

He stepped into her apartment and flicked the light on. The room was empty. He stumbled past a bag of books on his way to her bedroom and shoved his way inside. He noticed a few half empty drawers were hanging open before he quickly checked the other rooms. She wasn't there.

As he stepped back into the kitchen, Logan caught sight of a pad of paper discarded next to the phone and picked it up. 'Nov 28th, AirTran Airways 54. Depart: 7:15am. Arrive in Las Vegas: 9:24,' was scrawled across in Veronica's writing.

He dropped the pad and spun around at a noise from behind him. Veronica was standing in the doorway looking from the busted door to Logan and back again.

"When did you decide to add breaking and entering to your list of crimes?" she asked, in a tired tone. She looked pale and exhausted, her shoulders slumped and a bag by her feet.

He was across the room in a moment, grabbing her arms roughly.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he snarled, punctuating his words by shaking her. "Do you know what I thought when you disappeared like that?"

Veronica twisted herself out of her grip and shoved him away. "God Logan, if I didn't know better, I'd think you actually gave a shit,"

He stared at her for a second, his heart pounding in relief. He had never been so grateful to see anyone in his life, but the words wouldn't seem to come. With her standing in front of him, he was at a loss.

"Now why would you think I cared about trailer trash like you?" he retorted, but the bite wasn't there. Before she could reply to him, he yanked her forward. His hands moved up and down her back, as if he was assuring himself she was real. He breathed in her scent, relived he'd found her before crushing his mouth to hers.

She melted into his embrace, instantly kissing him back. Her lips parted for his tongue, as he tangled one of his hands in her silky hair, the other rested on the small of her back. He moaned as their bodies pressed together which was when he suddenly found himself being violently pushed away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Veronica cried.

"Doing?" he asked with a frown.

"I'm not gonna let you kiss me, be here, and leave." Her face was contorted in anguish and her breath hitched as she bit down on her lip. "I'm not letting you hurt me again."

"You're not the only victim in this situation, Veronica. I'm afraid you're going to hurt me too," he stated in a brief moment of honesty, but a smirk crossed his face, "You always hurt the ones you love."

The grin faded, and nothing was said for a long time as they gazed at each other.

Veronica abruptly sniffed, grabbed his hand, pulled him over to the sofa and sat down. She paused as she waited to see what he would do. For a moment he was stiff, she watched as he eyed the door, but the moment passed and he leaned back, pulling her against him. Veronica went to him gladly, her head resting on his chest the motion of his breathing soothing her.

As his hands travelled through her hair, the longing to love her won out over the desire to get even. Logan decided to break the silence by asking, "Why did you go to Las Vegas?"

A wry smile parted her lips. "Vegas, huh? You gonna join the Mars' Detective Agency, Mr. Echolls?"

The smile faded and her face went slack. "I went to identify my Mom's body. It was her."

His arms tightened in response to her words and he watched her eyes get glassy with tears. She blinked hard, took a deep breath and looked up at him, resolve clear on her face.

"She'd been living under a false name so Dad and I couldn't find her. After clearing that up, I made arrangements for her to be sent to Neptune for burial."

"I'm sorry you went through it alone," Logan said, the double meaning of his words clear to them both. She nodded and turned so she was facing him, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. He leaned forward and kissed her gently and then rested his forehead on hers.

"I'd like to call a truce," Logan stated, thinking of all the accusations she had thrown at him and she nodded, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Truce." she said softly as she snuggled into his arms, "Sounds like a pretty good idea to me."

fin

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