The sun shone brightly through the bedroom window, waking Veronica up and momentarily blinding her. Cringing away, she stretched her naked body beneath the covers to try and jolt herself awake. She turned over, expecting to see the man that she had spent the previous night with, but saw no one. Confused, Veronica slipped out of the bed and wrapped one of the bed sheets around herself.

She peered into the bedroom's bathroom and was not surprised when she saw no one. Before leaving the bedroom, Veronica slipped on a pair of sweats and a tank top. She walked down the off-white hallway. Each wall was covered with small paintings of Californian landscapes: beaches, sunsets, the ocean, poolside lounge chairs, warmth. She passed the linen closet with the white wooden sliding door and then reached the stairway.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, there was still no one to be found. The living room was empty along with the study. The kitchen was empty save for the dirty dishes from the night before and every additional room that Veronica peered into was empty. She wondered whether he had gone outside. He must have.

She went out the back door that led straight to the beach and saw someone standing ankle deep in the ocean while the waves rolled in. Veronica walked to him with a smile on her face and stopped when she was three feet away.

"Hey."

He turned around with a smile on his own face and opened his arms for her to hug him.

Veronica shook her head, "I'm not coming in there Logan."

"Oh?" He walked toward her, his arms still opened, and hugged her, picking her up off of the ground. "I think you'll change your mind," he laughed. Holding her like a damsel in distress, he walked back into the ocean.

"Change my mind? This feels a little out of my control," she replied, worried.

"And that must be killing you inside," Logan said with a kiss to her forehead.

Veronica wrapped her arms around his neck, "please don't drop me."

"Hm. It's just water," he teased.

"Ha," Veronica scoffed. "It's cold water."

"It's not that cold," Logan replied still smiling.

"I beg to differ. Don't drop me ... or I'll-"

"You'll what? Get wet?"

"And angry. Remember: When Veronica is unhappy, everybody is unhappy."

Logan smiled and let go of her for a single moment before catching Veronica again and laughing.

Veronica shot him a dagger-filled look. "You're extremely lucky that you were only joking. You have no idea what I'm capable of. I will ... do something very harmful to you when we're on dry land."

Logan had ceased to listen though. His gaze and attention was focused on the beach. He walked out of the water and put Veronica down on the shore. It was then that she saw what Logan had.

"Duncan?" She looked back at Logan who had already begun walking towards his old friend. Veronica began running, passing Logan until she reached Duncan. "Duncan, what are you doing here? Where's Lilly? You can't be here yet."

"V, I'm here. Are you all right?"

Veronica looked behind Duncan to see a beautiful blonde walking toward the three. "Lilly? How-? I don't understand."

"You look sick, Veronica."

"But you're dead. Lilly. This isn't real," Veronica began to cry. "This can't be real."

"Veronica, are you alright?"

Veronica shook her head and opened her eyes to see Piz looking down upon her.

"Veronica?"

She smiled, "hi."

Piz didn't smile. He looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Not so much now that I'm awake," Veronica joked.

"You were crying."

"What?" Veronica brought her fingers to her face to feel drying tears on her cheeks. "Oh."

"Were you dreaming about something?"

Logan. Duncan."Lilly. M-my friend who was murdered. It just felt really real. And not. It was a weird dream."

"Oh," Piz paused as if unsure of what to say. "It's just-"

"What?" Veronica pressed, concerned at Piz's more-awkward-than-normal state.

He shook his head and smiled, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Embarrassed. But fine," she laughed.

Piz pulled her into a hug.

I'm fine, yes, but confused. A dream is just a dream, right? Then why do I feel like I am cheating?

Veronica grabbed her things and kissed Piz goodbye before rushing off to her class, which she was already late for. She wished that there was a better story that would explain why both she and Piz had been up late, therefore both sleeping through the alarm clock, but in all truth, they had agreed to study for their finals together and it had taken excruciatingly long. Instead of driving home, Veronica decided to sleep over. Simple and innocent.

It wasn't something that she was used to. With Logan she had always hated to leave in the mornings and their nights together were far from innocent. Veronica had Logan on her mind constantly lately in both her conscious and unconscious states of existence. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, Piz couldn't measure up to the man who had once described their love as epic – a claim that she whole-heartedly agreed with. But she and Logan couldn't be together. They just didn't work together, and a relationship shouldn't be as difficult as theirs always seemed to be.

"No one writes songs about the ones that come easy."

Veronica smiled to herself as she walked into her class and took a seat in the back with the slackers as she didn't want to be the point of attention for wandering eyes or an annoyingly alert prof.

The night that Logan had drunkenly told Veronica about what he thought of their relationship definitely caught her off-guard, but she truly did agree. They're story was like a dream or a movie – so unreal, yet it was. That fact couldn't be denied. And neither could their love.

Parker and Logan had broken up after he had beaten up Piz over the sex tape of the latter with Veronica. Of course, it turned out that the sex tape was due to The Castle, Hearst's secret organization, and not Piz.

Veronica's new-found extra-curricular activity of dreaming day and night about Logan had followed shortly after an incident between Logan and Gorya Sorokin in Hearst's food court. Gorya had insulted Veronica who had let the comment slide because of his 'connections'. Logan, however, was not so lenient and, despite Veronica's warning, got into a one-sided fight with Gorya who then went on to promise that Logan would regret his actions.

Regardless of her worry for Logan, Veronica could still be flattered – and perhaps swooned – by the defending of her honour. Right? When he smiled at her before walking away, Veronica felt truly like a girl. She could feel the love for him swell in her heart and didn't care if it was cliché.

Then he apologized to Piz for the smack down that he had laid on him earlier that week, which made her want him more. The way her mind had been jumbled and reorganized caused Veronica to rethink her priorities and regardless of how many times she reordered the list, Logan always seemed to be number one.

The weeks following that incident had been bizarre at best.

After Veronica had placed her vote for her dad as sheriff, she was walking back to her car in the rain when someone had called her name. She turned to the voice's owner and found Clarence Weidman.

"Come with me, Veronica," Clarence said in his deep monotone.

"If you're here, who's going to open Jake Kane's door?"

"Mr. Kane would like to speak with you," Clarence replied, ignoring Veronica's quip.

"Um, I don't think so. I have places to go. People to see. So you can just-"

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. One involves less bodily harm."

"Are you threatening me?"

Clarence didn't reply, but only looked down on Veronica in eerie silence.

Veronica rolled her eyes and gave in, "fine." Clarence began walking toward a parked limo and Veronica followed, unable to push the bad feelings away. Clarence held the door open for her and she climbed in to be met with Jake Kane. Weidman followed.

"Ah, Veronica. How are you?"

"Just perfect. Being threatened and kidnapped were both on my agenda for this afternoon. I wasn't too sure how I could make it happen, but then dear Clarence here showed up and made all my dreams come true."

"No one's kidnapping you, Veronica," Jake Kane replied with a malicious smile.

"And the threatening part?"

Jake shrugged, "that's open to debate. I want to talk to you, Veronica, about the information you have on The Castle."

"I'm not going to tell anyone ... unless you piss me off. You're walking a thin line Mr. Kane."

"I'm the one in charge here, not you. Now listen: that information is very valuable. There's already word that someone in the Hearst Free Press has gotten her hands on a lengthy list of Castle members. I wonder how that happened?"

"I guess she's just lucky," Veronica said with a smile. When she was met with two hard stares, she sighed and continued. "It's not a big deal Mr. Kane. The Castle's secrets are safe with me."

"See, I don't know how well I can trust your word, Veronica. Over the years, you have just become less and less trustworthy. So now I am going to propose a deal."

"The deal has already been made, Jake. There's nothing more to say."

Jake smiled, "oh Veronica, ye have little faith. Here's the deal: I know that you know where Duncan is. You helped him to escape and everyone knows it. You tell me where my son is, and..."

There was a click and Veronica turned to Clarence Weidman to see him holding a revolver.

"...you won't have to deal with us any longer. You refuse, and I will have to leave you here with my dear friend."

"Mr. Kane, I have no idea where Duncan is. I literally swear on my life."

"Veronica, come on now. Who do you think you are dealing with?"

"I-I did help Duncan to escape with baby Lilly, but-"

"Lilly?"

"Yes. Duncan renamed his baby, Lilly."

Jake seemed momentarily touched but continued as if nothing had occurred. "You're saying you helped him flee the country, but you don't know where he is? How is that possible Veronica?"

"He wouldn't tell me where he was going. I mean, he couldn't tell me. He knew it would do me no good. I helped set things up, helped to get the feds on the wrong track. He said that after Mexico, he would get on a plane and fall off of the radar. Duncan did everything else – he made the fake passports and created a whole new identity of his own, not letting me in on the secrets even a little bit. I helped him to Mexico and that's it. That's all I know."

"You couldn't have done this all alone, who else was involved?"

"A friend of Duncan's, I think. I don't know who. Duncan set it all up, like I said. He did everything else. Well ... unless you count Sheriff Lamb but I'm certain that he had no idea that he was helping the boy that he was trying to catch."

"Why should I believe you, Veronica?"

"Because belief and forgiveness is the Christian thing to do?" Veronica offered.

"It's too bad I'm not much of a Christian," Jake sighed. "I don't believe you Miss Mars, but I have things to do today-"

"Other girls to try and intimidate?"

"Just know that I will be watching you, Veronica. One slip up, and Clarence will have to take care of you," Jake continued, completely ignoring Veronica.

Clarence opened the limo door and climbed out, holding it open for Veronica, who then scrambled quickly out, heart pounding. "I'll be seeing you, Mars."

"Only at night," Veronica replied with a smile and walked off quickly to her silver Saturn Hybrid. On the surface, she remained calm and collected as she drove listening to Cupid's Chokeholdon the radio, but underneath, her heart continued to beat faster than any human's should. She shouldn't have been feeling so nervous, but it was something that just couldn't be helped. Clarence Weidman was a very intimidating man after all.

The weeks leading up to present day had involved numerous 'surprise' encounters with Clarence Weidman as well as Jake Kane. Veronica's guess was that those run-ins weren't by accident. They kept their promise about keeping their eyes on Veronica and it wasn't a pleasant piece of knowledge to have.

That was basically the "bizarre" that the past weeks had entailed. It was at least in competition for the title of 'most bizarre'.

A few days ago, Veronica had a run-in with Dick Casablancas that was both awkward and uncomfortable, mostly for the former.

Dick was visibly coming apart at the seams. He was definitely crossing into dangerous territory with the amount of alcohol that he was consuming. It was rare to see Dick's hand free of a bottle, can, or flask. It was probably safe to assume that this had to do with the return of Big Dick.

Veronica was in her car after her last class on Friday, about to leave for home to get ready for the night that Piz had made her promise to partake in. She was about to pull out when there was a tap at her window. It was Dick. She rolled down the window, "what, Dick?"

"Are you busy? Or, like, in a rush?"

Veronica sighed. She really didn't want to have any sort of conversation with Dick, but she had a lot of time before her and Piz's date. "No, why?"

"Can we talk? Walk and talk?" Dick said in what seemed to have a hint of a slur.

"O-kay, but lose the drink, Dick." Veronica took off her seat belt and opened the door, getting out while Dick contemplated her request. "I'm not going to talk with you if you're drinking."

Dick then chugged the contents of the flask and handed it to Veronica. She rolled her eyes and through it under her car seat before slamming the door.

The two started walking – well, Veronica walked while Dick seemed to stumble along – in an uncomfortable silence until Veronica decided that she didn't like it. "What did you want to talk about, Dick?"

"Uh," Dick pointed to a bench under a tree and started walking with Veronica following.

"You want to talk about trees? Sorry, Dick, I can't say I know too much on the subject. Benches on the other hand..." Veronica said sarcastically.

Dick slumped down on the bench in reply and laid his head back; Veronica sat politely next to him, waiting for what he would say. He was very different – not the quick-to-insult guy that he usually was. The change made Veronica alert, so as to not be caught off-guard by whatever he wanted to talk to her about.

Dick groaned and brought his head back to focus on Veronica, "hey Veronica."

After a moment of unsure silence, Veronica replied, "hey Dick."

"Veronica," he slurred as his last drink seemed to be setting in. "I wan'ed to say sorry."

She was confused. Other than being a jackass to she and everyone else for the entire time that she had known him, she couldn't really think of anything that he needed apologize for. "Sorry for what, Dick? You haven't done anything."

"Yeah. It's my fault that Beav-" he paused and looked down, ashamed. "It's my fault that Cassidy brought you on the roof. What he did to you... And killed all those people. It's all me."

Veronica shook her head, "Dick, you couldn't have known that Cassidy could have the strength to kill so many people. It wasn't your fault. Woody-"

"How could I have not known that pervert was- I was always a horrible brother. I should have been the one who he was pointing the gun at. Me and my dad always tormented him. What that sicko did was only a drop in the waterfall of a shit life that Cassidy had. Everything he did was because of me."

"You just said that it was you and your dad. You would never have done any of that if he hadn't started it. It's his fault, Dick, not yours."

Dick smiled sardonically, "no." He had tears in his eyes and was definitely falling apart.

Veronica felt herself getting emotional. She didn't realize how much she cared for Dick as a friend. He always seemed to be so together in his messed up way. He wasn't someone that she often found herself considering a friend, but she could do worse. Seeing him so torn up and weak was a blow to the heart. "Dick, listen to me. Cassidy was unstable... mentally. You could not have changed his decision to murder all of those people. And you couldn't have known that he would have the will to rape me. I don't hold you accountable for anything. I swear."

Dick had his head in his hands and there was silence for a few minutes. When he looked at her again, his eyes were red, showing that he had been crying. When he spoke, his voice sounded dry and it was quiet, "he raped you?"

Veronica stuttered, unsure of what to say at first. "Sorry," she finally whispered. "I thought you knew. I thought Logan told you."

"When?" Dick asked, his voice back to normal volume. He seemed to only need confirmation of what he already knew.

Veronica wanted to lie. If she told him that it was at Shelly Pomroy's end of year party, he would only have something more to blame himself for. But where else could it have happened where Veronica would remain silent? "It was at... Shelly Pomroy's party." Dick sighed and let his head fall into his hands again. "But Dick, that wasn't your fault either. It was Cassidy's choice-"

"Cassidy never had a choice, Veronica!" Dick shouted suddenly, causing Veronica to jump and passersby to stare. "I called the shots. I made him do what he did. I should be the one who jumped off the roof."

Veronica shook her head, "Dick, no. Don't say that."

"Did you try to stop him from jumping?"

Veronica shook her head slowly. "I thought he had just killed my dad. I couldn't- Logan did. He tried."

"Not very hard though," he whispered bitterly.

"I'm sorry Dick."

"Don't- don't you apologize, Veronica. I don't want to- I just-" Dick sighed. "I want my flask back." He stood up and began walking in a somewhat crooked line back to Veronica's car. He was stopped in his tracks when he flung his head back mid-step and lost his balance, falling sideways onto the soft grass where he remained, eyes closed.

Veronica walked up to Dick's body and looked down at him as people stared at the man who seemed to have collapsed, "Dick?"

"Hm?" He replied weakly.

"People are staring."

"Mm."

Veronica sat next to Dick on the grass and spoke quietly, "you need to get up. I'm going to take you back to the hotel."

"No thanks, Mars. I'll just hang out here."

Veronica stood, "come on."

Dick held his arms up for Veronica to pull him up with. She sighed and rolled her eyes but grabbed hold of both his hands and pulled. He did absolutely nothing, remaining as dead weight. "Dick, you have to do at least half of the work."

"I'm a spoiled rich brat, I don't have to do any work, remember?" He replied with his eyes still closed.

"You won't get your flask back at this rate. I'm leaving," Veronica said, and she walked back to her Saturn.

Again, she was in her car and the ignition was turned on. She waited a few moments before starting to pull away. She hit the brakes hard when a loud bang came from behind the vehicle. Veronica put it in to park after looking to see Dick stumbling to her driver's window. "Give me my flask. Please."

"Get in the car, Dick. I'm taking you home."

Dick opened his mouth to protest but seemed to think better of it and wobbled over to the passenger side, falling inside the car. As soon as she got in, Dick reclined the chair and passed out. She was stuck buckling his seat belt. People seemed to have nothing to do that day and were therefore watching the spectacle intently as they walked by. It was like high school again. Veronica knew what they were probably thinking, seeing her hanging out with Dick Casablancas, buckling his seat belt. Perhaps getting a little cozy? The possibilities that entered people's minds were endless and Veronica didn't think twice about it before pulling out and driving to the Neptune Grand.

She found a spot on the street in front of the hotel and parked while Dick snored obnoxiously. The radio quietly played Justin Timberlake as Veronica pulled out her cell phone and dialled Logan's number. She hadn't seen him alone since the beating that he gave Gorya Sorokin. After having the numerous dreams – some very steamy – Veronica was unsure as to whether or not she could face Logan. But Dick seemed to be pulling a Sleeping 'Beauty' and her tiny stature would not be able to support his weight. Unfortunately, Logan didn't pick up. Trying several times more, she eventually gave up and tried to wake Dick up. She turned on the radio and blasted Britney Spears' Piece of Me. Dick jumped awake to a smiling Veronica.

Dick smiled lopsided, "what up Ronnie?"

"You're home!" Veronica replied in mock excitement.

Dick stretched, "oh." After a moment of staring from Veronica, he unbuckled his seat belt with some difficulty and opened the door. He short of fell from the vehicle while Veronica slipped his flask into her bag and got out of the car herself. Veronica walked with a mis-stepping Dick to the hotel. She was going to make sure that he got into his room and didn't take a detour to the bar.

They reached Dick and Logan's room and Veronica used the former's key card to unlock the door as his own hand was ridiculously unsteady. She opened it and walked in to see a destroyed room.

"Uh, Dick?" Veronica said to the guy still standing in the hall. Dick walked into the room with a "whoa."

"Crazy late afternoon party? Pre-Pre-gaming?"

"Nah. The place was clean when I left. I make sure of that. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, right?"

"Well Logan's favourite number is six-six-six." Veronica walked over a pile of dead flowers and glass that could only have been a vase full of dead flowers at one point. The rest of the suite could be seen in all its destroyed glory; everything that had been on a table or shelf was now on the floor, most of which was broken. The couch and its pillows were shredded – stuffing littered the floor.

Dick hobbled over to his bedroom, which had its doors closed. "It's all good in here." Veronica followed and peaked in to see the spotless room – something that she would never peg Dick for. Maids were probably the best bet.

Veronica then walked to the other side of the suite to Logan's room, which had its doors closed as well. She opened the door slowly. This room had nothing on Dick's. It was just as full of destruction as the rest of the suite save for Dick's room and Veronica could barely open the door fully with all the junk in front of it. "Logan?"

She squeezed through the opening, trying to see if he was in there. Water from the bath tub tap could be heard flowing. Veronica walked to the bathroom door and knocked. "Logan?" She called again. Dick had followed her and collapsed on Logan's bed to wait for him. When there was no answer, Veronica tried the door, which was unlocked. She slowly opened it to see a floor with spots of red liquid, assumingly blood, and a half naked bloody and bruised Logan Echolls slumped in the bath tub, eyes closed.