The first thing I've written in a good long while. My Veronica Mars obsession started up again a few days ago when I bought the first season DVD set. I always was a huge LoVe fan. I'm also a bit of an insomniac. Insomnia generally results in random one shot ficlets.

This is supposed to take place during s01e15, Ruskie Business. Logan just discovered that the person using the credit cards that belonged to his deceased mom is actually his sister Trina. This story is Veronica's point of view of everything.

What do you do when a constant in your life abruptly ceases to be constant? How do you deal when you're forced to question something that you've always accepted as a cold, hard fact?

Logan Echolls had been a constant in my life as long as I'd lived in Neptune. Always a jerk, even to the ones he was close to. He was moody and tempermental. He'd attacked me in countless ways, even before Lilly's death. Over the past year, I'd go as far as to say that he'd become unbearable. I'd always chalked that up to a disagreeable personality type; that maybe his DNA just got stuck in perpetual jackass mode.

Now I'm having to rethink my judgments and relearn what I always thought were undeniable truths.

I knew from the start that Logan's search for his mom was just a fragile situation waiting to happen. But how do you tell someone something like that? How are you supposed to point out to a person how deluded they are and how desperate they've become? I never had the heart to do that, although it is part of my job. I couldn't bring myself to crush the faint spark of hope Logan had found.

My silence landed us somewhere I never would've expected just a couple days before. Now, we sit in a hotel lobby with his head buried in my shoulder. His entire body shakes with the force of his sobs. I want to get him out of the hotel. People are watching and this feels much too intimate for that. Even I feel uncomfortable witnessing it, but he's drawn me into his grief. He holds me close, his arms encircle me completely. It's almost like he thinks that I can take some of the pain away if he can just pull me close enough.

I wish I could. As cheesy as it sounds, my heart aches on his behalf. At least I still have a shot at tracking down my mom. He's finally realized that his is gone for good. Money and motivation aren't going to bring her back.

I kiss him gently on the top of the head and whisper, "Come on, Logan. Let's get outside."

Numbly, he trails along after me as I lead him through the parking lot and towards his car. He's grasping my hand tightly in his. I get the feeling that I'm his last tether to the real world. At least, for right now. In a few hours, the first wave of grief will roll away and he'll understand that he'll get through it. He'll survive and he won't need me to help him along. But for now, he needs someone. Who am I to leave him alone in his state?

Unlocking his car, I usher him into the backseat and slide in next to him. Immediately, he clings to me again. I rub his back soothingly. It's awhile before I notice that his sobs have calmed. He's breathing easier. It seems that the initial bout of shock has passed.

"Thank you, Veronica," he says solemnly, trying to catch my eye.

I look away, saying nothing in response. I just continue to hold onto him. The realization hits me like an anvil. I need someone too. And somewhere in the back of my mind, a thought lurks unbidden. As much as I want him to move on with his life, I wish he'd need someone just a bit longer. Moreover, I wish he'd need me rather than just a someone.