A/N: This is a scene that occurred to me as I was writing Scourging Fire, Blazing Soul. I even thought about using it in a sequel, but realized I needed to finish the high school years before even contemplating writing about the college years. I couldn't bear to erase it, so I decided to publish it in its raw form. Enjoy. I originally published it under "Flashes in a Pan," but decided to finish it, so separated it.

Logan kept his eyes roving through the party, making sure he was at the perfect spot to see when she walked in the door. It was difficult to keep track of her in a crowd because of her tininess, but it was the least he could do for his best friend.

"…love it! Don't you agree?"

"You know it," he responded absently to his girlfriend.

"Have you even been listening to me, Logan?"

"No."

"Wow, thanks a lot."

He swung his gaze to the tall blonde at his side and gave her his patented sheepish grin combined with a ducked head. Veronica always said it worked wonders on the female libido and as he saw the irritation melt from Parker's eyes, he realized she was right as usual.

"I'm sorry Sugarpuss, just waiting for Ronnie and Mac. They said they'd be here about ten." Logan checked his watch with a frown. "It's almost eleven."

"I'm so excited to finally meet them after hearing so much about them."

"Just don't let them sucker you into a video game tournament. Dick still hasn't lived down the humiliation of losing."

"Where is Dick tonight?"

"His mom's in town and she's took Dick, Cass, and Ryan out to dinner."

"Is Cass finally going to come out and tell her Ryan's his boyfriend?"

"Ronnie's been pushing him to tell his mom, but you know how stubborn Cass is."

"Actually I don't," his girlfriend muttered under her breath loathe to bring up the fact yet again that she hadn't met any of his closest friends except Dick, which didn't really count since he'd run into them while they were out on a date one night, and only good manners had forced Logan to introduce them.

True they'd only been dating about three months, but he'd already met her circle, and each time she came back to the sorority house, the girls asked if she'd met his friends. The glances the girls exchanged merely exacerbated the uneasiness she felt too; she'd always heard a girl wasn't really a girlfriend unless she knew his "bros." True it was part of a comedy sketch she'd seen on television, but it struck a chord in her insecure heart.

"Ronnie! Mac! Over here!"

Parker adjusted her shirt and smoothed any flyaways before turning to greet the two. To her gaping dismay, "Ronnie" turned out to be a short hot Tinkerbell type, and "Mac" a sloe-eyed brunet with magenta streaks.

"So sorry we're late, Logan. The pixie here just had to have one more slice before we left."

"Hey! I didn't get to eat much earlier so I was hungry."

"Uh huh. When aren't you?" Logan teased with a smirk. He grabbed Ronnie by the waist and towed her closer. "Parker this is my best friend Veronica Mars and the weird emo girl is Cindy MacKenzie."

"Mac will do. No one but no one calls me Cindy."

Ronnie nodded from Logan's loose embrace. "She's legendary down at the Sheriff's office for that."

"Oh please, like you don't have your own infamous exploits?"

"Whatevs. Parker, nice to finally meet you! Logan has told me so much about you." Ronnie stepped forward and enthusiastically shook his stunned girlfriend's hand. Their whizzing conversation had flown over her head, and she was still in shock at the extreme prettiness of Logan's "best friend."

"Uh…yah…hi."

"So is this party banging or what? What a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?" Ronnie threw her hands over head and did a cute butt swivel, the miniskirt she wore accentuating her toned thighs.

"You let her have sugar, Mac."

"You try and keep her away from the dessert, Echolls. They had chocolate," she confessed with a deep dark voice, as if imparting state's secrets.

"Jesus, you might as well let her mainline sugar. Fan-fuckin-tastic. You're on bitch patrol when she comes down off her high."

"You do realize I'm standing right here and can hear you?" Ronnie stood with her hands on her hips and a playful scowl on her face.

Logan whipped his arm away and ducked behind Parker, using her as a human shield. "Not the hanger, Mommy. Not the hanger."

"This is what I get for letting him watch Mommy Dearest."

"You're the one who wanted to watch the classics."

"Only 'cause I was keeping your ass company; you're worse than a five-year-old when you're sick. And I couldn't bear to watch Evil Dead again."

"Baby, when were you sick? I could've come over and kept you company," Parker interjected, determined to be a contributing member in this conversation.

Logan shrugged. "Oh, it was when you were in Aspen with your folks during Spring Break."

"I thought you said you were going surfing with the boys."

"Eh, our plans fell through, and then Ronnie came back into town, so I figured it I might as well get some Martian time."

"Wasn't funny in high school, and still not funny now, Dobie."

"I'm totally a pit bull. Right Mac?"

Mac turned from watching the other party-goers, used to the banter between her two friends. She saw neither Veronica or Logan seemed to notice Parker getting more and more agitated. She was being excluded and clearly didn't like it.

"If pit bulls were kinda girly, sure."

"Well, I think you're too pretty to be a pittie, baby. You're more like a German Shepherd."

"Yah, Logan, you're totally a Shepherd," Ronnie snarked, her lips quivering with repressed humor. Sensing movement at her side, she grinned up at the tall lanky boy emerging from the crowd. "Dante, you made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it," he winked, bending down to press a quick kiss on Mac's cheek. "Hey Logan."

The other boy threw out a careless wave. "Dante, this is Parker. Parker, Mac's flava of the month."

"Do I get to be Rocky Road at least?"

"Nah, Logan's got that cornered. You're more Chunky Monkey."

"I'm not fat!"

"You're fat where it counts," Mac joked, enjoying the light blush dusting his high cheekbones.

Veronica and Logan laughed uproariously while Parker just looked confused. Mac felt a little bad for her, since she didn't get their inside jokes, but knew there was no hope for it. She gave the lithe blond another three months at most before she was out the door; Logan's other women never lasted longer than six because they couldn't stand the competition.

Even now, Logan had his arm casually slung around Veronica's shoulders while his girlfriend stood next to them fuming. He never noticed any other girls, even the ones he brought, when he was near his best friend.

Mac snorted quietly at the misnomer.

Love of his life would be a better title, but she knew her two friends were willfully blind to the deeper connection between them because they were terrified of losing each other. Both were horrible in relationships, Veronica burning through boys almost as fast as Logan through girls, but mostly because the others were substitutes for what they wanted most. They'd been best friends for so long, they were stuck in the friend zone and didn't have enough courage to find a way out.

"Wanna dance Logan?" Parker's mouth was pursed in a seductive pout, her chest subtly thrust forward. Mac wanted to tell her to stop trying so hard, but she'd given up warning the girls because they never believed her; at least until he broke the fifth date in a row because Ronnie wanted to hang out, or because she needed his help, or just because she existed.

"Nah, but you go ahead," he urged, his head turned towards the petite blond tucked into his side. "I haven't seen Ronnie in a while and we should catch up."

Mac pressed her face into her boyfriend's chest so no one could see her rolling her eyes in exasperation. She knew for a fact Logan had flown up to Palo Alto three weekends ago to visit Veronica at Stanford because she couldn't afford to come down to Neptune; if that wasn't enough, she also knew they texted or talked nearly every day, so what they could possibly need to "catch up" on was a mystery.

Sighing, knowing she needed to be the one, Mac tapped Dante and signaled with her eyes. He understood, a freaky thing in itself, and announced he was getting a drink before melting back into the crowd. Neither Veronica or Logan noticed, caught in their insular bubble, so Mac grabbed Parker's hand and dragged her to the dance floor to have the talk.

Just another casualty of the Friend Zone.