All I Want For Christmas--fangirlgonewild
Title: All I Want For Christmas
Author:
fangirlgonewild
Word Count: 8, 449
Rating: NC-17 for language and sex
Characters/Pairings: L/V, D/V (just a hint, I swear!)
Summary: Written for the loveathons High Roller Challenge, spoilers up to 3.09. Veronica and Logan spend a little time together at Christmas each year (and poker is always inexplicably involved...odd)
To
starxd_sparrow and
rowanceleste --betas extraordinaire! I worship your speedy awesome crazy grammar prowess!
Author's Note: The first portion is from Veronica's POV, then Logan's POV, then Veronica, then Logan again.
Additionally, the timeline might be a bit confusing at first. The first part is pre-season, the second part is season one (1.10 An Echolls Family Christmas), the thrid part is season two (A little of 2.10 One Angry Veronica--just know Duncan and Veronica are rocky b/c of Meg), and the final part is the season three I imagined for you.
Lilly flopped over onto the floor, flipping her cards so that Veronica could see that, once again, Lilly would lose the hand.
“Lilly! In poker you kind of have to keep your cards to yourself. Come on, play this hand a little close to the vest.”
But Lilly Kane wasn’t the kind to downplay anything and Veronica knew it. Boys, booze, sensuality, she had them in spades and wanted the whole world to know. Like now, when she nibbled lightly on her bottom lip and twirled a lock of hair around her fingers, Lilly might as well be screaming “Take me now, right here on this carpet! Fall for me! Lose to me on purpose to win my heart!”
Incidentally, Lilly lay on Veronica’s bedroom floor practicing seduction for no one as she learned to play poker for Logan. Lynn confirmed the night before that the so-called “First Annual Christmas Card Shark Night” was a go for the night of the Echolls’ Christmas party. Veronica heard through the grapevine, otherwise known as Duncan, that Aaron would be out of town for the holidays, and Logan arranged this little diversion to avoid being shown off all night.
With no husband on her arm, Lynn usually looked to her son for an escort, and Logan didn’t want to play the game of Hollywood Squares that was his parents’ world.
Thus, Logan took it upon himself to throw the “most bitchin’ party ever,” and Lilly, who lacked poker skills altogether, had asked Veronica to teach her to play.
Veronica sighed and glanced over at Lilly, who picked up her cards and grinned like a maniac. “For a girl who can lie with a completely straight face on a whim to her parents you really have to work on your poker face.”
“Oh, come on Veronica Mars! You know that I’ll just wind up blowing on the dice for luck every time Logan snaps his fingers at me. He’s been so possessive lately, maybe it’s time to end it.”
“There are no dice in poker, Lil.”
“Whatever. So…” Lilly trailed off, looking around the room in search of a distraction from the cards before her, “Whatcha gonna wear to the party?”
“That’s still a whole week away.”
“A week,” Lilly began, intoning a kung fu master voice, “is not that long. Much can happen in a week’s time.”
The two fell to the floor laughing, cards forgotten and strewn about.
Yet, a scant seven days later Veronica stood before her closet, wondering what on earth to wear.
Her cell phone buzzed, moving across her desk.Veronica jumped, cursing herself for leaving the stupid thing on vibrate.
“Lilly?”
“You still don’t know, do you?”
“Why you call me with pointless and unclear questions? No, I don’t know.”
“Wear the black corduroy skirt and the red top. The shimmery one, the one that’s all strappy in the back.”
“What? You called me to find out what I was wearing tonight?”
“Looks are very important, Veronica Mars. You want everyone to watch you, and you don’t want to give them a chance to think about the cards on the table.”
“So now you’re a poker expert?”
“Did you know they play it on ESPN? There was this one guy, sort of blonde-ish, he was tall and all rugged-“
“If they play sitting down, how’d you know he was tall? Don’t answer that-let me get ready. I’ll see you there.”
Veronica and her parents pulled in to the Echolls’ driveway just as the party began. When Veronica pushed open the door to the pool house, however, she saw that the 09er crowd had not yet arrived.
Probably still primping-and speaking of, where is our host? Re-applying gel to his hair?
Wandering further into the room, Veronica caught sight of the new card table. Its green felt was unscratched and it came with tiny racks to hold each player’s chips. An unopened deck of cards lay on the rim, and Veronica idly wondered if she’d brought enough money.
“Gonna stack the cards, Mars?”
Veronica turned to find Logan pulling on a dark green sweater, which pushed the carefully messy hairdo he’d constructed down onto his head. Searching to find her voice, Veronica wondered how long he’d be able to surprise her with how delicious he looked.
“Oh, considering it. Trying to decide if a small crime would compromise my good-girl rep, you know.”
“Weighing the consequences, considering the options, that sort of thing, I get it.” Logan swept his eyes down Veronica’s body, adding after a moment’s consideration, “You look good.”
She flushed, but Duncan’s entrance saved her from having to reply.
Three hours later, the party was in full swing, and Logan, who had begun drinking upon Veronica’s arrival, was more than a little tipsy. Lilly lost her money a few hands into play, and was now totally bankrupt. She and Logan apparently were off-again, as they pointedly ignored each other while sober, and Lilly became increasingly more flirtatious as the night wore on.
Logan’s eyes followed Lilly around the room, as she moved from person to person; she stopped to giggle at something Dick said, causing Madison to pull her boyfriend away.
Veronica, meanwhile, now had a surplus of cash. The chip stack in front of her continued to grow, and she now could afford to buy Duncan the latest remake of next year’s Madden NFL game without leaving herself in the red. Or feeling guilty when he gave her (another) piece of jewelry.
Gathering her chips and standing, she threw a look at Duncan that included a swift sidelong glance at his sister. He nodded imperceptibly and stood as well, taking Lilly’s arm and whispering in her ear.
Logan stood as well, wobbling slightly as he moved to cash in his remaining chips. Despite his obvious lack of coherent thought for the last half-hour he’d played, Logan had done well all evening and managed to maintain a sizable pile of chips.
Duncan walked back to Veronica, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.
“I’m gonna take her home before my parents leave. If she’s in bed they won’t check to see if she’s wasted or not--they’ll just be thankful they don’t have to hear her say anything more about poker now that the party’s over.” He glanced at Logan, who now clung to the edge of the bar for support. “You okay man?”
“I’ll take care of him. My mom probably won’t want to leave until your parents do.” Veronica offered.
Duncan left, dragging Lilly after him, and Veronica turned to Logan, who watched her through heavy-lidded eyes. She tilted her head, deciding how best to get him to leave. Opting for the direct approach, she wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged at him until he moved with her toward the door. No one at the party noticed as their host stumbled away from the booze and gambling.
Logan didn’t speak as she guided him toward his room. Numerous games of hide-and-seek, usually initiated to get Lilly and Logan alone in a closet, had taught her the layout of Logan’s home, and the pair skillfully avoided contact with the partygoers entirely.
Stumbling on the stairs, Logan leaned heavier on Veronica, and she turned toward him to take more of his weight.
He smells like…Christmas, all evergreen and peppermint…and whiskey.
She shook her head, pushing away thoughts she’d given up long ago. Lilly and Logan, it was off-again, on-again, but she just couldn’t play that game. A long-dead girlhood crush wasn’t enough to ruin her friendship with Lilly-or her relationship with Duncan. Still, Logan’s chest was warm against her side, and she could hear the steady rhythm of his heart, and-
“This is mine,” Logan slurred, stopping Veronica before she walked right past his door.
Leaving him standing by his dresser for support, Veronica turned down the bed she was positive he hadn’t made.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
Turning, she saw he’d thrown his shirt into the corner of the room and was removing his jeans to reveal Grinch-covered boxers.
“Logan! I’m still in the room!”
“It’s not like you haven’t seen me in swim trunks. Practically the same thing.” He swayed slightly, and Veronica instinctively put out a hand to steady him.
“Uhh-oh, touched my bare chest, Duncan’ll probably kill you.” He paused, gazing at her in a drunken stupor. “And me, for thinking about you.”
Confused, Veronica removed her hand from his side. Logan stumbled to the bed, and she drew the covers up to his neck, tucking them in around him as if he were a small child.
“So pretty, always prettier than Lilly. The prettiest flower prettier than the flower,” Logan intoned, sing-song, as sleep and alcohol clouded his brain.
Veronica sat down on the bed next to him, and he sat up.
“You’re supposed to be going to sleep,” she chided.
Veronica bent toward him to push him back down onto his pillow, and found his hands framing her face very gently.
I should pull away now.
But then his mouth met hers briefly and she was gone. All thought suspended as Logan teased her lips with chaste kisses, putting his arms around her and pulling her forward onto his lap. Unconsciously, Veronica wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into his kisses. His tongue probed at the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth to his sweet flavor, so much like the Christmas smell she couldn’t resist.
And suddenly she could resist. Veronica pulled back, away from him so suddenly, she fell to the floor. Scrambling backwards she ran out of the room, leaving Logan sitting alone in his bed.
Veronica half-ran to the main dining room, eyes frantically searching out her parents. Glancing surreptitiously behind her, she breathed out a sigh of relief, a prayer on her lips-Logan hadn’t followed. She found her father, who cajoled Lianne into making her goodbyes, and the Mars family took their leave.
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Logan was in a lot of pain. His shoulder ached, his backside was bloody, and he could practically feel the scar tissue forming on his skin. Biting back a curse, he pushed himself off his bed and loped to the bathroom.
Turning the water on, he leaned carefully against the tile wall, cursing softly as he pulled the slacks from his legs. He’d already changed for the party, but somehow he doubted that bloodstained pants were the way to go downstairs.
Motherfucker didn’t even wrinkle his suit.
Logan knew his mother hired Keith to look into his father’s stalker, but there had to be something more. Aaron was too wary of Lynn lately, watching her every move as if he expected her to bolt at any moment. This, Logan also knew, would kill his mother-you didn’t leave Aaron Echolls behind, he left you.
As he stepped into the stream of warm water, Logan pondered what Keith might have found that would set his father off so badly. Cursing as the water made contact with his raw skin, he tried to remember what Veronica said when she’d arrived the day before.
Veronica-he’d been thinking less about the words coming out of her mouth and more about her mouth at the time. Her cropped locks that flipped out at the edges had fallen to rest against her shoulders, framing a face that was all at once so familiar and distant.
He’d wanted Veronica for longer than he cared to admit, even to himself. There were always flashes of something--not of desire, Logan knew what that felt like, he’d desired Lilly and gotten her-but of something less fleeting, more intense. When the Fab Four still existed Veronica trusted him with everything, with secrets and lies and wishes. Logan took what contact he could get with Veronica; how could he have told his best friend’s girlfriend that he wanted her first and most?
Then he’d help break her into a million pieces, and the contact stopped altogether. Now, she would be at his house once more in less than twenty minutes.
He wanted to believe they could start over again, but he wasn’t sure how to make that happen.
Two hours later, he supposed it would begin with her kicking his ass in poker.
Veronica was undoubtedly going to be the winner of tonight’s game. She’d dominated every hand, serious as a pro. Minimal conversation, the longest she’d spoken the entire evening had been her “Whodunnit” monologue exposing Sean’s guilt.
Logan lifted the edge of his cards, inwardly groaning as he saw that, once again, he would not be able to win back his chips. His stockpile perilously low, he glanced at Veronica, whose face remained impassive. She bit her lip, and he wondered if it was a calculated move to raise doubts about her hand. If it was calculated, he didn’t think the effect it had on him was the one she’d anticipated.
“A little impressed, aren’t you?” She said as she swept another pile of chips to her end of the table.
“Okay, I say we take a little break, let the cosmos realign--because obviously something is up.” Logan answered, pushing back from the table.
Duncan moved toward the main house, and Logan followed him, wanting to apologize. Veronica and Weevil lagged behind. When Logan glanced back, he saw Veronica laugh at something Weevil said. She punched him lightly on the arm, and Logan’s stomach flip-flopped. She used to do that to him when he made less-than-polite remarks.
Fifteen minutes later, Logan and Duncan made small talk as they scanned the party from the bar. Logan spotted Veronica and Weevil filling up their plates, and he vaguely wondered if Veronica could still eat two meals and go for dessert.
“So, uh, Veronica can really kill in poker.”
Duncan looked at him oddly.
“Just making conversation, I mean, I never knew that under the blonde hair there lay a card shark.”
“She cleaned up at your last gambling extravaganza, remember?”
Logan tipped his head back in thought. He remembered seeing her briefly before the games began, but that was it.
“I was pretty trashed that night, dude. I think I saw her at the beginning of the party, but the sequence of events gets a bit muddled later in the evening.”
“She put you in bed, man. I left to get Lilly home before my mom saw her all smashed, and Veronica stayed with you to get you upstairs unnoticed. She told me you practically fell over your own feet trying to get into your room.”
Logan shook his head, “Alcohol impairs brain function, I guess. I can’t get any of that.”
Duncan shrugged. A server brushed past the two boys, cutting off what Duncan said and knocking into Logan. Logan’s cry of “Hey!” couldn’t be heard over the bustle of the party, but everything seemed to go silent as Logan saw a knife disappear into his father’s side.
Everything moved in slow motion. Keith Mars appeared and tackled the server, his mother called out for help, and Logan dialed 9-1-1. The next thing he knew he was lying on his stomach by the pool, skimming his hands along the glassy surface as Lamb combed his living room for evidence.
Suddenly he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. Wincing in pain at the pressure on new wounds, Logan turned his head to find Veronica Mars sitting cross-legged next to him.
“Thought you’d gone home with your dad.”
“He decided to go to the hospital with your mom once he’d turned the server over to Lamb.”
“And you stayed why?”
She tilted her head, watching him with wary eyes.
“Always weighing your options, aren’t you, Mars? Don’t you ever give a straight answer anymore?”
“I’m not the only one who keeps secrets.” A small smile tugged at her lips.
Logan sat up, facing her.
“You look pretty tonight. Dolled up for Connor-or is it Weevil who tickles your fancy nowadays?”
He’d meant the words in jest, but she stopped smiling at him and looked down.
“Yeah,” she deadpanned, “guess I’m just a whore. Why did you accept my offer to let me play? I’d have thought you wanted me stripping during breaks in the game. Make the party a little more like Vegas, don’t ya think?”
“I just wanted you to know I thought you looked nice.”
She stared at him, clearly disbelieving him.
“For God’s sake, Veronica! I’m not the devil incarnate. Go away.”
He turned back to the pool, feeling her hesitation about leaving him alone.
Please stay. Please stay.
“I didn’t get my money.”
“Then by all means, let’s get your money.”
He stood cautiously, and noticed her staring at him with a patented P.I. look.
“Yes, Nancy Drew?”
“Did you go surfing or something earlier today?”
“No, why?”
“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
Twisting, he cringed as he saw that blood spots had indeed appeared on his tee shirt. The sweater he’d worn all evening had become too hot, and he’d left it in the pool house when they’d all moved to the dining room.
He strode toward the pool house, looking back at her when he reached the doorway.
“Coming, Mars?”
She was right on his heels, and as she passed by him to move inside he caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelled so good, he had to bite back a moan as he went to the cashbox and started counting out her chips. He handed her a pile of cash, which she folded up without counting and looked him squarely in the face.
She nodded at his shoulder.
“What are you going to do about bandaging that?”
“Nothing, it’s just a scrape.”
“Because the eyes you grew in the back of your head that can see through fabric told you that?”
“Leave it alone, Veronica. It’s not like you care much about my pain.”
“Your dark and twisty pain. Feeling a bit emo, Logan? Thinking about dying your hair black to match your tormented inner soul?”
She reached for the hem of his shirt, but he stopped her from pulling it over his head.
“Stop it.”
“Why don’t you want to take care of it? You’re bleeding, for God’s sake!”
“Fine. You want to fix it? Kiss it better? Here!” He pulled off the shirt in one fluid motion. “Fix it Veronica! Tell me everything is gonna be okay.”
Her mouth was caught in an open ‘oh!’ and he knew it probably looked pretty bad. Turning away from her, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. The whip marks were clearly visible across his back, dried blood pebbling the scratches. He knew from experience that it looked worse than it was.
Her voice was low, dangerous even.
“Who did this to you, Logan?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
He turned back to her, saw her hand at her throat, her eyes filled with tears.
She would try to protect him if he let her. She cared enough to do that.
“Veronica, look, it’s fine. Just go. You don’t want to get mixed up in this.”
She didn’t move.
“What if I do?”
“I don’t want you mixed up in this, okay?”
She turned, leaving him alone in the pool house. His emotions were running rampant. He wanted her to stay, he wanted her to go, and she was gone. Falling onto the couch, he lay staring at the fire.
Cool fingers brushed his wounded shoulder, his eyes snapped open to see Veronica kneeling beside the couch, ointment in her hand.
“I told you to go.”
He wanted it to sound harsh, ungrateful and unfeeling, but it wasn’t.
“I told you I wanted to stay.”
A look of concentration on her face, she covered his skin with soft cotton bandages she’d found inside the house. Pulling him up to a sitting position, she handed him a shirt from his room.
“The pants with the blood on them are soaking in the sink-I found them sitting outside your bathroom when I got this.” Veronica said, gesturing to the ointment.
He nodded, and she sat down next to him.
“How long?”
He didn’t answer, mesmerized by the sight of her on the couch before him. He’d wished for a new beginning and here it was.
“Logan, how long?”
He leaned into her, surprising both himself and Veronica. She froze for a moment, then responded to his touch, parting her lips slightly. He put his hands on her shoulders, sliding them up to cup her neck and pull her closer.
She tasted amazing, like lip gloss and sweet wine, and he wanted so badly to believe that she wanted him too, that the pulse he could feel racing under his fingertips was for him, because of him.
She pulled back, looking at him, shaking her head slightly. Logan knew if he gave her time to think about this she’d run.
So he didn’t give her time to think about it.
His mouth crushed down on hers like she was the only woman left in the world. Hungry, demanding kisses, which she met with teeth and tongue. Fisting his hands in her hair, Logan tilted her head back, giving him access to her neck. She twisted in pleasure when he bit down gently by her ear. Experimentally, he ran his tongue along the spot, hearing her cry out and wondering if he’d been the first to find this place on Veronica Mars, this erogenous zone that made her shriek with pleasure.
His hands slid to her waist as she wound her fingers through his hair, teasing his chest with soft kisses and licks. Logan tugged at her hemline, moving his hands under the barrier of the soft fabric, up to a bra he could feel was made of lace.
Then she stopped, pushing suddenly at his chest. She leapt off the couch, grabbing her backpack and slamming the door as she left. Sitting in silence for only a moment, Logan gave chase, catching her as she opened the door to her car.
“Veronica, stop!”
“You told me to go not so long ago, Echolls. Make up your mind.”
She faced him, the car door between their bodies.
“I’m not doing this again.”
Again?
“Doing what?”
“You can’t kiss me and ignore me; I’m not a toy for you to play with when you’re sad and lonely!”
“What are you-“
“Your last ‘Poker Party,’ you asshole. When I tucked you into bed and you started going on about flowers and Lilly, and then suddenly we were lip-locked. I was sitting there wondering if it meant something, wondering how to tell Duncan I’m leaving him, and then you didn’t even have the decency to calla nd apologize!”
Flushed and angry, she slammed the door and shoved him away from her car. Standing before the most beautiful pissed off girl he’d ever seen, Logan tried to process what she’d just said.
“Oh my God, you don’t remember it, do you?”
She turned away from him, shaking her head in disgust.
“Leaving Duncan?” he managed.
“I bet on you, and it didn’t pay off. I distanced myself from Duncan, I wanted to make it easier on him when I broke his heart. But you never called…”
She looked at him again, tears in her eyes.
“You never called, and I knew it meant nothing to you. Then you were back with Lilly and I was left wondering why my heart won’t mend when I had the best guy in the world wanting to know why I was never around!”
“But-you and Duncan-“
She cut him off, her voice rising steadily.
“Then Duncan was gone, and Lilly said I was better off, then Lilly was gone and I was left with you, but you didn’t just leave me, you ran over me with a train-“
“I’m so-“
“Sorry doesn’t begin to cover it, Logan. Just stay the fuck away from me.”
She turned and left him standing alone in the night.
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yeah, livejournal cut me off...so go to part two for the smut!
Author:
fangirlgonewild
Word Count: 8, 449
Rating: NC-17 for language and sex
Characters/Pairings: L/V, D/V (just a hint, I swear!)
Summary: Written for the loveathons High Roller Challenge, spoilers up to 3.09. Veronica and Logan spend a little time together at Christmas each year (and poker is always inexplicably involved...odd)
To
starxd_sparrow and
rowanceleste --betas extraordinaire! I worship your speedy awesome crazy grammar prowess!
Author's Note: The first portion is from Veronica's POV, then Logan's POV, then Veronica, then Logan again.
Additionally, the timeline might be a bit confusing at first. The first part is pre-season, the second part is season one (1.10 An Echolls Family Christmas), the thrid part is season two (A little of 2.10 One Angry Veronica--just know Duncan and Veronica are rocky b/c of Meg), and the final part is the season three I imagined for you.
Lilly flopped over onto the floor, flipping her cards so that Veronica could see that, once again, Lilly would lose the hand.
“Lilly! In poker you kind of have to keep your cards to yourself. Come on, play this hand a little close to the vest.”
But Lilly Kane wasn’t the kind to downplay anything and Veronica knew it. Boys, booze, sensuality, she had them in spades and wanted the whole world to know. Like now, when she nibbled lightly on her bottom lip and twirled a lock of hair around her fingers, Lilly might as well be screaming “Take me now, right here on this carpet! Fall for me! Lose to me on purpose to win my heart!”
Incidentally, Lilly lay on Veronica’s bedroom floor practicing seduction for no one as she learned to play poker for Logan. Lynn confirmed the night before that the so-called “First Annual Christmas Card Shark Night” was a go for the night of the Echolls’ Christmas party. Veronica heard through the grapevine, otherwise known as Duncan, that Aaron would be out of town for the holidays, and Logan arranged this little diversion to avoid being shown off all night.
With no husband on her arm, Lynn usually looked to her son for an escort, and Logan didn’t want to play the game of Hollywood Squares that was his parents’ world.
Thus, Logan took it upon himself to throw the “most bitchin’ party ever,” and Lilly, who lacked poker skills altogether, had asked Veronica to teach her to play.
Veronica sighed and glanced over at Lilly, who picked up her cards and grinned like a maniac. “For a girl who can lie with a completely straight face on a whim to her parents you really have to work on your poker face.”
“Oh, come on Veronica Mars! You know that I’ll just wind up blowing on the dice for luck every time Logan snaps his fingers at me. He’s been so possessive lately, maybe it’s time to end it.”
“There are no dice in poker, Lil.”
“Whatever. So…” Lilly trailed off, looking around the room in search of a distraction from the cards before her, “Whatcha gonna wear to the party?”
“That’s still a whole week away.”
“A week,” Lilly began, intoning a kung fu master voice, “is not that long. Much can happen in a week’s time.”
The two fell to the floor laughing, cards forgotten and strewn about.
Yet, a scant seven days later Veronica stood before her closet, wondering what on earth to wear.
Her cell phone buzzed, moving across her desk.Veronica jumped, cursing herself for leaving the stupid thing on vibrate.
“Lilly?”
“You still don’t know, do you?”
“Why you call me with pointless and unclear questions? No, I don’t know.”
“Wear the black corduroy skirt and the red top. The shimmery one, the one that’s all strappy in the back.”
“What? You called me to find out what I was wearing tonight?”
“Looks are very important, Veronica Mars. You want everyone to watch you, and you don’t want to give them a chance to think about the cards on the table.”
“So now you’re a poker expert?”
“Did you know they play it on ESPN? There was this one guy, sort of blonde-ish, he was tall and all rugged-“
“If they play sitting down, how’d you know he was tall? Don’t answer that-let me get ready. I’ll see you there.”
Veronica and her parents pulled in to the Echolls’ driveway just as the party began. When Veronica pushed open the door to the pool house, however, she saw that the 09er crowd had not yet arrived.
Probably still primping-and speaking of, where is our host? Re-applying gel to his hair?
Wandering further into the room, Veronica caught sight of the new card table. Its green felt was unscratched and it came with tiny racks to hold each player’s chips. An unopened deck of cards lay on the rim, and Veronica idly wondered if she’d brought enough money.
“Gonna stack the cards, Mars?”
Veronica turned to find Logan pulling on a dark green sweater, which pushed the carefully messy hairdo he’d constructed down onto his head. Searching to find her voice, Veronica wondered how long he’d be able to surprise her with how delicious he looked.
“Oh, considering it. Trying to decide if a small crime would compromise my good-girl rep, you know.”
“Weighing the consequences, considering the options, that sort of thing, I get it.” Logan swept his eyes down Veronica’s body, adding after a moment’s consideration, “You look good.”
She flushed, but Duncan’s entrance saved her from having to reply.
Three hours later, the party was in full swing, and Logan, who had begun drinking upon Veronica’s arrival, was more than a little tipsy. Lilly lost her money a few hands into play, and was now totally bankrupt. She and Logan apparently were off-again, as they pointedly ignored each other while sober, and Lilly became increasingly more flirtatious as the night wore on.
Logan’s eyes followed Lilly around the room, as she moved from person to person; she stopped to giggle at something Dick said, causing Madison to pull her boyfriend away.
Veronica, meanwhile, now had a surplus of cash. The chip stack in front of her continued to grow, and she now could afford to buy Duncan the latest remake of next year’s Madden NFL game without leaving herself in the red. Or feeling guilty when he gave her (another) piece of jewelry.
Gathering her chips and standing, she threw a look at Duncan that included a swift sidelong glance at his sister. He nodded imperceptibly and stood as well, taking Lilly’s arm and whispering in her ear.
Logan stood as well, wobbling slightly as he moved to cash in his remaining chips. Despite his obvious lack of coherent thought for the last half-hour he’d played, Logan had done well all evening and managed to maintain a sizable pile of chips.
Duncan walked back to Veronica, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.
“I’m gonna take her home before my parents leave. If she’s in bed they won’t check to see if she’s wasted or not--they’ll just be thankful they don’t have to hear her say anything more about poker now that the party’s over.” He glanced at Logan, who now clung to the edge of the bar for support. “You okay man?”
“I’ll take care of him. My mom probably won’t want to leave until your parents do.” Veronica offered.
Duncan left, dragging Lilly after him, and Veronica turned to Logan, who watched her through heavy-lidded eyes. She tilted her head, deciding how best to get him to leave. Opting for the direct approach, she wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged at him until he moved with her toward the door. No one at the party noticed as their host stumbled away from the booze and gambling.
Logan didn’t speak as she guided him toward his room. Numerous games of hide-and-seek, usually initiated to get Lilly and Logan alone in a closet, had taught her the layout of Logan’s home, and the pair skillfully avoided contact with the partygoers entirely.
Stumbling on the stairs, Logan leaned heavier on Veronica, and she turned toward him to take more of his weight.
He smells like…Christmas, all evergreen and peppermint…and whiskey.
She shook her head, pushing away thoughts she’d given up long ago. Lilly and Logan, it was off-again, on-again, but she just couldn’t play that game. A long-dead girlhood crush wasn’t enough to ruin her friendship with Lilly-or her relationship with Duncan. Still, Logan’s chest was warm against her side, and she could hear the steady rhythm of his heart, and-
“This is mine,” Logan slurred, stopping Veronica before she walked right past his door.
Leaving him standing by his dresser for support, Veronica turned down the bed she was positive he hadn’t made.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
Turning, she saw he’d thrown his shirt into the corner of the room and was removing his jeans to reveal Grinch-covered boxers.
“Logan! I’m still in the room!”
“It’s not like you haven’t seen me in swim trunks. Practically the same thing.” He swayed slightly, and Veronica instinctively put out a hand to steady him.
“Uhh-oh, touched my bare chest, Duncan’ll probably kill you.” He paused, gazing at her in a drunken stupor. “And me, for thinking about you.”
Confused, Veronica removed her hand from his side. Logan stumbled to the bed, and she drew the covers up to his neck, tucking them in around him as if he were a small child.
“So pretty, always prettier than Lilly. The prettiest flower prettier than the flower,” Logan intoned, sing-song, as sleep and alcohol clouded his brain.
Veronica sat down on the bed next to him, and he sat up.
“You’re supposed to be going to sleep,” she chided.
Veronica bent toward him to push him back down onto his pillow, and found his hands framing her face very gently.
I should pull away now.
But then his mouth met hers briefly and she was gone. All thought suspended as Logan teased her lips with chaste kisses, putting his arms around her and pulling her forward onto his lap. Unconsciously, Veronica wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into his kisses. His tongue probed at the seam of her lips and she opened her mouth to his sweet flavor, so much like the Christmas smell she couldn’t resist.
And suddenly she could resist. Veronica pulled back, away from him so suddenly, she fell to the floor. Scrambling backwards she ran out of the room, leaving Logan sitting alone in his bed.
Veronica half-ran to the main dining room, eyes frantically searching out her parents. Glancing surreptitiously behind her, she breathed out a sigh of relief, a prayer on her lips-Logan hadn’t followed. She found her father, who cajoled Lianne into making her goodbyes, and the Mars family took their leave.
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Logan was in a lot of pain. His shoulder ached, his backside was bloody, and he could practically feel the scar tissue forming on his skin. Biting back a curse, he pushed himself off his bed and loped to the bathroom.
Turning the water on, he leaned carefully against the tile wall, cursing softly as he pulled the slacks from his legs. He’d already changed for the party, but somehow he doubted that bloodstained pants were the way to go downstairs.
Motherfucker didn’t even wrinkle his suit.
Logan knew his mother hired Keith to look into his father’s stalker, but there had to be something more. Aaron was too wary of Lynn lately, watching her every move as if he expected her to bolt at any moment. This, Logan also knew, would kill his mother-you didn’t leave Aaron Echolls behind, he left you.
As he stepped into the stream of warm water, Logan pondered what Keith might have found that would set his father off so badly. Cursing as the water made contact with his raw skin, he tried to remember what Veronica said when she’d arrived the day before.
Veronica-he’d been thinking less about the words coming out of her mouth and more about her mouth at the time. Her cropped locks that flipped out at the edges had fallen to rest against her shoulders, framing a face that was all at once so familiar and distant.
He’d wanted Veronica for longer than he cared to admit, even to himself. There were always flashes of something--not of desire, Logan knew what that felt like, he’d desired Lilly and gotten her-but of something less fleeting, more intense. When the Fab Four still existed Veronica trusted him with everything, with secrets and lies and wishes. Logan took what contact he could get with Veronica; how could he have told his best friend’s girlfriend that he wanted her first and most?
Then he’d help break her into a million pieces, and the contact stopped altogether. Now, she would be at his house once more in less than twenty minutes.
He wanted to believe they could start over again, but he wasn’t sure how to make that happen.
Two hours later, he supposed it would begin with her kicking his ass in poker.
Veronica was undoubtedly going to be the winner of tonight’s game. She’d dominated every hand, serious as a pro. Minimal conversation, the longest she’d spoken the entire evening had been her “Whodunnit” monologue exposing Sean’s guilt.
Logan lifted the edge of his cards, inwardly groaning as he saw that, once again, he would not be able to win back his chips. His stockpile perilously low, he glanced at Veronica, whose face remained impassive. She bit her lip, and he wondered if it was a calculated move to raise doubts about her hand. If it was calculated, he didn’t think the effect it had on him was the one she’d anticipated.
“A little impressed, aren’t you?” She said as she swept another pile of chips to her end of the table.
“Okay, I say we take a little break, let the cosmos realign--because obviously something is up.” Logan answered, pushing back from the table.
Duncan moved toward the main house, and Logan followed him, wanting to apologize. Veronica and Weevil lagged behind. When Logan glanced back, he saw Veronica laugh at something Weevil said. She punched him lightly on the arm, and Logan’s stomach flip-flopped. She used to do that to him when he made less-than-polite remarks.
Fifteen minutes later, Logan and Duncan made small talk as they scanned the party from the bar. Logan spotted Veronica and Weevil filling up their plates, and he vaguely wondered if Veronica could still eat two meals and go for dessert.
“So, uh, Veronica can really kill in poker.”
Duncan looked at him oddly.
“Just making conversation, I mean, I never knew that under the blonde hair there lay a card shark.”
“She cleaned up at your last gambling extravaganza, remember?”
Logan tipped his head back in thought. He remembered seeing her briefly before the games began, but that was it.
“I was pretty trashed that night, dude. I think I saw her at the beginning of the party, but the sequence of events gets a bit muddled later in the evening.”
“She put you in bed, man. I left to get Lilly home before my mom saw her all smashed, and Veronica stayed with you to get you upstairs unnoticed. She told me you practically fell over your own feet trying to get into your room.”
Logan shook his head, “Alcohol impairs brain function, I guess. I can’t get any of that.”
Duncan shrugged. A server brushed past the two boys, cutting off what Duncan said and knocking into Logan. Logan’s cry of “Hey!” couldn’t be heard over the bustle of the party, but everything seemed to go silent as Logan saw a knife disappear into his father’s side.
Everything moved in slow motion. Keith Mars appeared and tackled the server, his mother called out for help, and Logan dialed 9-1-1. The next thing he knew he was lying on his stomach by the pool, skimming his hands along the glassy surface as Lamb combed his living room for evidence.
Suddenly he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. Wincing in pain at the pressure on new wounds, Logan turned his head to find Veronica Mars sitting cross-legged next to him.
“Thought you’d gone home with your dad.”
“He decided to go to the hospital with your mom once he’d turned the server over to Lamb.”
“And you stayed why?”
She tilted her head, watching him with wary eyes.
“Always weighing your options, aren’t you, Mars? Don’t you ever give a straight answer anymore?”
“I’m not the only one who keeps secrets.” A small smile tugged at her lips.
Logan sat up, facing her.
“You look pretty tonight. Dolled up for Connor-or is it Weevil who tickles your fancy nowadays?”
He’d meant the words in jest, but she stopped smiling at him and looked down.
“Yeah,” she deadpanned, “guess I’m just a whore. Why did you accept my offer to let me play? I’d have thought you wanted me stripping during breaks in the game. Make the party a little more like Vegas, don’t ya think?”
“I just wanted you to know I thought you looked nice.”
She stared at him, clearly disbelieving him.
“For God’s sake, Veronica! I’m not the devil incarnate. Go away.”
He turned back to the pool, feeling her hesitation about leaving him alone.
Please stay. Please stay.
“I didn’t get my money.”
“Then by all means, let’s get your money.”
He stood cautiously, and noticed her staring at him with a patented P.I. look.
“Yes, Nancy Drew?”
“Did you go surfing or something earlier today?”
“No, why?”
“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
Twisting, he cringed as he saw that blood spots had indeed appeared on his tee shirt. The sweater he’d worn all evening had become too hot, and he’d left it in the pool house when they’d all moved to the dining room.
He strode toward the pool house, looking back at her when he reached the doorway.
“Coming, Mars?”
She was right on his heels, and as she passed by him to move inside he caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelled so good, he had to bite back a moan as he went to the cashbox and started counting out her chips. He handed her a pile of cash, which she folded up without counting and looked him squarely in the face.
She nodded at his shoulder.
“What are you going to do about bandaging that?”
“Nothing, it’s just a scrape.”
“Because the eyes you grew in the back of your head that can see through fabric told you that?”
“Leave it alone, Veronica. It’s not like you care much about my pain.”
“Your dark and twisty pain. Feeling a bit emo, Logan? Thinking about dying your hair black to match your tormented inner soul?”
She reached for the hem of his shirt, but he stopped her from pulling it over his head.
“Stop it.”
“Why don’t you want to take care of it? You’re bleeding, for God’s sake!”
“Fine. You want to fix it? Kiss it better? Here!” He pulled off the shirt in one fluid motion. “Fix it Veronica! Tell me everything is gonna be okay.”
Her mouth was caught in an open ‘oh!’ and he knew it probably looked pretty bad. Turning away from her, he caught sight of himself in the mirror. The whip marks were clearly visible across his back, dried blood pebbling the scratches. He knew from experience that it looked worse than it was.
Her voice was low, dangerous even.
“Who did this to you, Logan?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
He turned back to her, saw her hand at her throat, her eyes filled with tears.
She would try to protect him if he let her. She cared enough to do that.
“Veronica, look, it’s fine. Just go. You don’t want to get mixed up in this.”
She didn’t move.
“What if I do?”
“I don’t want you mixed up in this, okay?”
She turned, leaving him alone in the pool house. His emotions were running rampant. He wanted her to stay, he wanted her to go, and she was gone. Falling onto the couch, he lay staring at the fire.
Cool fingers brushed his wounded shoulder, his eyes snapped open to see Veronica kneeling beside the couch, ointment in her hand.
“I told you to go.”
He wanted it to sound harsh, ungrateful and unfeeling, but it wasn’t.
“I told you I wanted to stay.”
A look of concentration on her face, she covered his skin with soft cotton bandages she’d found inside the house. Pulling him up to a sitting position, she handed him a shirt from his room.
“The pants with the blood on them are soaking in the sink-I found them sitting outside your bathroom when I got this.” Veronica said, gesturing to the ointment.
He nodded, and she sat down next to him.
“How long?”
He didn’t answer, mesmerized by the sight of her on the couch before him. He’d wished for a new beginning and here it was.
“Logan, how long?”
He leaned into her, surprising both himself and Veronica. She froze for a moment, then responded to his touch, parting her lips slightly. He put his hands on her shoulders, sliding them up to cup her neck and pull her closer.
She tasted amazing, like lip gloss and sweet wine, and he wanted so badly to believe that she wanted him too, that the pulse he could feel racing under his fingertips was for him, because of him.
She pulled back, looking at him, shaking her head slightly. Logan knew if he gave her time to think about this she’d run.
So he didn’t give her time to think about it.
His mouth crushed down on hers like she was the only woman left in the world. Hungry, demanding kisses, which she met with teeth and tongue. Fisting his hands in her hair, Logan tilted her head back, giving him access to her neck. She twisted in pleasure when he bit down gently by her ear. Experimentally, he ran his tongue along the spot, hearing her cry out and wondering if he’d been the first to find this place on Veronica Mars, this erogenous zone that made her shriek with pleasure.
His hands slid to her waist as she wound her fingers through his hair, teasing his chest with soft kisses and licks. Logan tugged at her hemline, moving his hands under the barrier of the soft fabric, up to a bra he could feel was made of lace.
Then she stopped, pushing suddenly at his chest. She leapt off the couch, grabbing her backpack and slamming the door as she left. Sitting in silence for only a moment, Logan gave chase, catching her as she opened the door to her car.
“Veronica, stop!”
“You told me to go not so long ago, Echolls. Make up your mind.”
She faced him, the car door between their bodies.
“I’m not doing this again.”
Again?
“Doing what?”
“You can’t kiss me and ignore me; I’m not a toy for you to play with when you’re sad and lonely!”
“What are you-“
“Your last ‘Poker Party,’ you asshole. When I tucked you into bed and you started going on about flowers and Lilly, and then suddenly we were lip-locked. I was sitting there wondering if it meant something, wondering how to tell Duncan I’m leaving him, and then you didn’t even have the decency to calla nd apologize!”
Flushed and angry, she slammed the door and shoved him away from her car. Standing before the most beautiful pissed off girl he’d ever seen, Logan tried to process what she’d just said.
“Oh my God, you don’t remember it, do you?”
She turned away from him, shaking her head in disgust.
“Leaving Duncan?” he managed.
“I bet on you, and it didn’t pay off. I distanced myself from Duncan, I wanted to make it easier on him when I broke his heart. But you never called…”
She looked at him again, tears in her eyes.
“You never called, and I knew it meant nothing to you. Then you were back with Lilly and I was left wondering why my heart won’t mend when I had the best guy in the world wanting to know why I was never around!”
“But-you and Duncan-“
She cut him off, her voice rising steadily.
“Then Duncan was gone, and Lilly said I was better off, then Lilly was gone and I was left with you, but you didn’t just leave me, you ran over me with a train-“
“I’m so-“
“Sorry doesn’t begin to cover it, Logan. Just stay the fuck away from me.”
She turned and left him standing alone in the night.
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yeah, livejournal cut me off...so go to part two for the smut!