Title: Carnival of Hearts
Summary: At Neptune's Fourth of July carnival, winning prizes can be easy. But Jake and Veronica are about to realize winning each other might be even easier.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None, but takes place after S3
Characters/Pairings: V/Jake. Wallace, Mac, Logan and Parker
Word Count: 3926
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.

As usual, it was Veronica's friends who had talked her into joining in on the festivities of Neptune's annual Fourth of July carnival and fireworks show.

Of course originally she hadn't thought she would become a fifth wheel, at least not so soon. Sure the friends who had invited her along to this were Wallace, Mac, Logan and Parker, but even so. They were usually nicer about it when they wanted to go off and do their own things. The least they could have done was let her sit at home and eat her red, white and blue desserts while she watched the fireworks on TV.

After just two rides Veronica watched as Mac linked her arm around Wallace's and took off running in the direction of The Zipper. Parker and Logan were next when Parker spotted the Ferris Wheel with the suspiciously short line.

After a few minutes of wandering and subsequently wondering if her friends would notice if she took the car and went back home, a familiar face caught her attention. Sure seeing him in khakis in place of his usual suits was almost a surprise, but he wasn't a difficult man to recognize.

It had been two years now since Jake Kane had moved back to Neptune and it still amazed him that Veronica had actually been quite civil with him as the time had passed. He often supposed it was because, since the divorce, Celeste hadn't been around to bait her and or that he hadn't given Keith reason to further their own feud. Really, it seemed they had called a silent truce and as long as none of them pushed it, they would be safe to leave the past in the past. Fighting had just proved too be far more exhausting than any of them still needed.

"Looking to help keep your dentist employed?" Veronica asked with a slight smile when she walked up to the man who was looking over one of the candy apple trays.

Turning to the direction of the familiar voice, Jake smiled. "I was thinking about it. Hello to you too, Veronica."

"Mr. Kane," she replied with a nod. "What brings you all the way out to these ever so fair grounds this evening?"

"I thought I might come to see the fireworks since I haven't gotten to for a while," he answered.

"Alone?" No special secretaries?" If she hadn't been so stunned she might have been impressed.

"Not anymore, it would seem," he smiled to her. "How about you? What brings you here tonight?"

"My invisible friends," she answered with a straight face.

"I suppose it's nice to know I'm not the only one who decided they could come here alone," he told her.

"Really I was supposed to be enjoying this spectacle from the sides of my group since coming here this was their idea. But apparently they changed their minds once we got past the gate and now I seem to be flying solo. I was just contemplating payback in the form of leaving them here and just watching the fireworks on TV like I'd wanted to do in the first place."

Jake glanced to her empty hands. "Before indulging in the feast before us?" he asked, indicating to the popcorn, cotton candy, pretzel, ice cream and funnel cake stands in front of them. "That doesn't seem right."

"And how much of said feast have you indulged in tonight?" she shot back, albeit more playfully than anything, as she realized he didn't have anything in his hands either.

"I was about to remedy my own. But then I'm not much for eating alone when I don't have to, so what would you like?"

"Seriously?" She still wasn't quite used to him not sending her on her way or trying to get away from her as quickly as possible. Wow, you bury one hatchet not in someone's back and they're willing to feed you. Who knew? she thought to herself.

"Or you could decide that you still want to go home and have wasted the time and effort of coming out here only to go home, quite literally, empty handed."

"Well if you insist on being logical... I'll take some cotton candy."

Jake agreed with a smile. When she had her pink mound of cotton candy and after he had gotten himself some popcorn, he asked, "Any favorite rides you feel like taking in before the fireworks start?"

"How long do we have?"

Jake glanced to his watch. "About an hour, it looks like."

Veronica glanced around, wondering how many still interested her.

Noting her silence and apparent uncertainty, Jake told her, "Or, we could take in some games. Maybe try winning a prize or two."

"Because I need more stuffed animals," she told him with her infamous sarcastic stare.

Had she really forgotten how long he had known her for? How many times he had brought her and Lilly to similar carnivals when they were kids? It wasn't something he thought about often himself, but this was definitely bringing back memories of giant teddy bears past. Some of which he remembered almost being bigger than the girls themselves back then.

"Okay, how about the ultimate?" she asked him. "The Ferris Wheel?"

"Perfect," he smiled to her.

Really, Veronica was kind of thinking what perfect revenge this could be. The look on her friends' faces at hearing that she ended up enjoying even part of her night without them and instead with Jake Kane was sure to pretty priceless. Especially for those who had known their history.

Once they were in the seat, the wheel raised up a few feet to allow the next pair to get on. A moment after that the giant wheel began its ascend.

The sun had nearly set, the lights to the games and the rides were growing brighter and even Veronica had to admit how shiny and beautiful it all looked. It looked downright happy and amazingly her mood was beginning to match that.

"I think we picked just the right time for this," Jake commented when the wheel climbed just a little higher.

"I'm glad I thought of it then," she grinned.

"You know, for someone who said she didn't want to take in any of the games, you sure seem to be checking out those stands quite a bit right now."

"I'm easily distracted by pretty lights. And I never said I didn't want to partake in the carnival games. I just don't need any souvenirs."

"Because you already have so many from carnivals past or do you just not want a reminder of the company?" He knew what he likely still represented to her and they still had their complicated history. He couldn't really be too insulted if that was her reason.

"If I didn't want a reminder of the company, I wouldn't be on my favorite ride with you. I'm just not one for the cliché, I can win my own prizes if I want them. Though it would help prove my case when I tell Wallace, Logan, Mac and Parker later that I still managed to have some fun here even with them taking off to wherever they ended up after getting me out here."

"In other words you're willing to use me, or rather your time here with me, as a revenge plot," Jake mused, actually enjoying it for a moment.

"And you sound ever so disappointed by that," she grinned back at him, kind of liking how amused he seemed.

"I suppose it's better than taking in these sights and the later fireworks alone."

"You realize you just admitted that being here with me is better than the original plan you had too, right?" she asked, genuinely curious if he knew what he had just told her.

Jake laughed. "Yes. And it's true. Carnivals are better enjoyed with friends."

"So we're friends now?" They had hardly talked about that, but then they hadn't been trading insults for quite a while either. Until then Veronica couldn't have answered where she thought they stood at that point if anyone had asked her.

"I suppose so," he smiled. For a second he saw something change in Veronica's expression. As though maybe she was contemplating that herself, and potentially realizing she couldn't argue it for once.

As the giant wheel continued to make its round, Veronica had to admit she was a little impressed not only by that, but that Jake wasn't bringing up the past, even the good past they had shared before their worlds had turned upside down. Or her father or work or anything else. For that she was soon even willing to share her cotton candy with him as a sort of reward for not making her regret this. In fact, being there with him was really almost feeling normal. Even if it was sunset and they were just coming down from the top of the Ferris Wheel and she was still mesmerized by the twinkling lights below.

"Okay, now, which game stall has the envy-inducing prize you want most?" Jake asked her when the ride had come to an end and they were walking towards the grassy mound for the fireworks. They still had at least twenty minutes before they needed to make it over there to ensure they got decent seats, he was confident he could win her something with plenty of time to spare.

Veronica glanced at a few, almost glad he hadn't forgotten her agreeing to that just those few minutes before. But then, just when she was about to proclaim she had changed her mind and just wanted to get a good seat for the fireworks, she saw something she honestly wanted. She always knew her obsession with ponies would get her in trouble one day and that big, tan plush toy had made that the day.

"How might you be at darts?" she asked, her eyes still locked on what she hoped to soon call her prize.

Ahh, college. "It's been a few years, but I'm sure I can still manage."

Granted, Veronica had been like a daughter to him once. Hell, for almost twenty years he had been left to wonder if she wasn't in fact his daughter. But it had been another few years since then, another few years since the hate and betrayal, and now he had more than his usual incentive to show off. Right then she was a cute girl with a smirk on her lips that proved she was just waiting to see him miss, to know he couldn't be good at everything like the rest of Neptune seemed to believe him to be.

He landed the first with ease and Veronica was a little impressed. She would have figured Jake for more of a pool shark, or even a hell of a poker player, not to mention have spent more of his time partying back in college because he could. But instead he seemed to be a man on a mission and that mission just happened to involve making her happy. The irony was unbelievable, so she chose to instead focus on Jake rather than analyze how wrong or surreal she was supposed to consider this all to be.

Another few popped balloons later and the man at the stall was asking Jake what he wanted for "the little lady." For years Veronica had wanted a pony from her father, and now here Jake Kane had won her a toy pony. Oh, that would be a fun conversation if her father ever found out. Maybe she could bribe Wallace with enough Snickerdoodles to claim he had won it for her instead.

Either way the plush pony itself was tacky, she had to admit, but it was still cute and fuzzy and all hers now, and for that Veronica couldn't suppress her smile as Jake placed the overstuffed toy in her hands. For a moment she really did feel like a kid again. Which she was a little thankful for because otherwise she would begin to see that this was almost feeling like a sort of date with Jake and she refused to think any more about that when she realized she wasn't repulsed by that idea. A few years ago, absolutely. But now? Well now she was better off just walking with him towards the mound where they could watch the fireworks.

"Are you sure that's all you want?" Jake asked as he glanced over to a few of the other stalls even as they walked. The last one had been fun, impressing Veronica had been even more fun.

"Yeah, this should make them jealous enough," she answered, keeping her prize under her arm.

"Not even any more food?" They had finished the cotton candy and popcorn back on the Ferris Wheel and he wouldn't have turned down nachos or a funnel cake if she had wanted either.

"If there's something you want, I won't stop you from getting it or winning it or whatever."

Instead Jake just shook his head, deciding she might have the right idea. He might have been hungry, but he wasn't quite that desperate when he thought about it.

Veronica spotted Wallace and Mac when she and Jake found a place to sit. And she only smiled at their clear curiosity when she sat down right beside him. Really she didn't care about making anyone jealous at that point, she just recognized that her friends had decided on somewhat alternate plans for the evening and right then she was pretty satisfied with her own.

"Do you ever get the feeling people are watching you?" he asked her after another moment, more people filing in and picking out their seats.

"Is that a P.I. joke?" she asked, unable to tell if he was kidding.

"No," he answered, almost laughing himself.

But before Veronica could ask what he meant or who might have been staring, she felt a sharp shove and called out in her disapproval.

"Oh, sorry," the young woman told her as she and the group she seemed to be with moved to take their seats.

Veronica didn't recognize anyone in the group, but to her they looked to be high-schoolers. True she had only been out of high school a few years herself, close to five to be exact, but she refused to believe she or her friends (save for maybe Dick) had been that irritating.

"Do you want to move?" she asked Jake, hoping he would say yes.

He looked around, tempted, but realized that not only were they kind of stuck for the moment but at that point there wouldn't be anywhere else with more room.

"I'll take that as a no," she grumbled as that group sat down beside her, the girl who had almost stepped on her now nearly sitting on her.

"Here," he told her as he moved his arm back a little so she could scoot closer to him if she wanted.

Originally Veronica hadn't thought that she would spend even part of her night more or less snuggling with her former enemy, but at least she knew she was less likely to take her anger out on him for once. Also, she couldn't deny that he was hardly the first former enemy she had been in this quite literal position with.

"To answer your question, I most definitely get the feeling people are watching," she told him as she settled close to his side and felt his arm curl around her.

"Well, think about it this way, soon they'll have something else to watch."

He was right and when the fireworks started it was almost easy for them to lose themselves in their own worlds. The fireworks were what they had originally come for, it was the annual Fourth of July celebration and for once they were actually, mostly, in a celebratory mood. And this time they pretty much had each other to thank for that.

Veronica decided she would later blame that for her not minding having to sit so close to Jake, and for getting to find out that he was actually a pretty comfortable human body rest. Of course she knew 'comfortable' wasn't how she was supposed to be thinking of him, but it sure beat a few other adjectives she didn't want invading her brain at the moment. And he did look a lot more relaxed than she could remember seeing him in a while, which she knew to be a good thing.

"What?" he asked when he caught her looking at him a few moments later.

"Nothing," Veronica replied, though still not turning back to watch the show. On the bright side the fireworks seemed to be starting out slowly so neither had to shout to be heard. But she was still wondering how this had managed to happen. How of all the people she could be watching the fireworks with she was there with him and still had yet to think of a single complaint.

Jake didn't believe her, but decided he wouldn't press the issue unless... Another few seconds ticked by and she was still staring up at him with a slightly dazed look on her face. "What?" he asked again, this time beginning to smile, a little nervous at what it could be.

That time Veronica shrugged. "Who would've thought, you know? I'm kind of enjoying this."

Jake nodded. "So am I," he replied, his smile never completely fading even when he turned his attention back to the display above of them.

Veronica felt him hold her a little closer a moment after that, and again she didn't feel the want to move. Maybe this was dangerous territory, or at least nearing it, but she really didn't have it in her to care at that point. He could have blown her off when she first ran into him, but instead he had been warm and downright friendly.

She couldn't claim it was starting to feel like the old days, this was definitely something else. Something more. Something better. Something that had her enjoying the fact he was touching her and that if she were any closer to him she would literally be in his lap.

Hoots and hollers were soon coming from all around them as the fireworks picked up, four and five bursts at a time exploding above, in nearly every color of the rainbow. Finally Veronica decided, that for at least as long as she could, she would put everything else out of her mind and actually enjoy the fireworks she had come for. She would let enjoying them from Jake's side be secondary.

When the spectacle ended and most of the former onlookers began to stand, stretch and file out to leave, Jake and Veronica took a moment before deciding to follow their leads. Still, Veronica's feeling that someone was watching them returned almost instantly when they stood.

Sure enough, her friends were giving her their quizzical stares again and that time Veronica didn't really care. She had come to this thing to have fun and she had managed that. It just hadn't been with her original group.

"How are you going to break it to them?" Jake asked her when he followed her gaze.

"That I had fun tonight?" she asked, not quite sure what he meant.

"Or that you had fun with me?"

"Simple. You wanted to hang out with me tonight and I found in my heart to let you tag along."

"Oh, is that what this was? You letting me tag along?"

"Absolutely," she answered with a smirk. "And speaking of letting you tag along, since this carnival isn't wrapping up just yet, how about we go get back to it?"

"I won't be keeping you out past curfew, will I?" he smirked in return.

At that Veronica took hold of one of Jake's hands and pulled him in the direction she wanted to go.

"You know, this is almost seeming like you don't want tonight to end just yet," he told her, enjoying that idea himself.

"How often do we get to come out here?" she asked, knowing deflection would be her friend this time around.

"Because we always have work or other things to occupy our time?"

"Exactly. All work and no play and all that. Now, we have a night where we can play, so I figure we may as well enjoy it while we can."

Not needing any more convincing than that, Jake just smiled and let Veronica lead him to which ever game she had in mind next.

Twenty minutes later they had taken in about half the rides, another two games and even some more of that ever so healthy carnival food. That was also when Veronica heard that she was getting a text.

"Time to call it a night?" he asked when he saw her read it.

"No. They're just letting me know they haven't left yet," she replied as she typed her message back, basically letting them know she hadn't stranded them like she had originally considered. And then she heard his words repeat in her mind. "Was that an implication that you don't want tonight to end just yet either?"

"Yeah. Yeah it was. So, where to now?"

Turning to face him, standing just in front of him, Veronica answered, "How about somewhere we haven't really been before?"

Curious what she could mean by that, he asked, "Where might that be?"

"I'm not sure I really want to say it loud enough for others, especially certain others, to hear," she told him as she glanced around.

Smiling, he bent down towards her. "Better?"

"Much." In a second her hand was to the back of his neck and she was pressing her lips hard against his. So she might have been thinking about it ever since they had been on the Ferris Wheel, sue her. And she couldn't deny that she was impressed how sure he seemed as he kissed her back, feeling one of his hands in her hair as he held her even closer.

Onlookers be damned, she was a Mars and he was a Kane. If history had taught them anything it was that it was only going to be a matter of time before they ended up like this.

When they finally parted, both nearly panting for air, Jake told her, "I guess I can take that as yes you'd want to do this again some time."

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I'm blaming the fireworks, just so you know."

"I'll remember to pick some up for next time then," he smirked before he moved in to kiss her again.

By the time Veronica had rejoined her friends and they had all decided to call it a night, Veronica had managed to escape without any questions about how she had kept busy after the fireworks. And with any luck they hadn't seen it for themselves.

Everybody makes out with their former best friend's and or ex-boyfriend's father once in a while, right?

Veronica was sure if she just kept repeating that in her mind that she could make herself believe that it wasn't so uncommon after all. It wasn't like she had accepted Jake's invasion to take her on what one might call a real date for that weekend or anything...

Only she had. And she had liked kissing him. In fact, right then, her only disappointment was that the upcoming weekend was nearly a week away.

The End