Kings Among Runaway - Chapter Thirteen (Veronica/Logan) PG-13
“Can I stay here with you for a bit?”
Veronica was still shaking softly, as she had been since she’d climbed into the passenger seat of Wallace’s car, explaining with a glance that she could not drive herself. Her car would be fine for the night until she could explain things to Logan and have him and Wallace come pick it up. Because she knew she wouldn’t be able to come back.
And she was far from ready to explain this to Logan, who was waiting for her to come pick him up after her “outing with Wallace.”
“Of course.” Wallace killed the engine and got out of the car, even coming around and opening her door for her. As soon as she was on her feet, she threw her arms around him.
“Thank you for being there,” she whispered, her voice shaky and untrustworthy. Tears had been stinging the backs of her eyelids since they’d left Lilly in the hallway, and they begun to trickle over as Wallace slowly hugged her back. “I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise, Wallace. He was going to… I’ve never seen him like that.”
Wallace’s voice was unsteady, his body tense and uncomfortable from this show of emotion, but he gently patted Veronica’s back nonetheless. “The almighty Veronica Mars didn’t need me there,” he assured her gently. “You were a minute and a half from Chuck Norris-ing him right out the window.”
She hiccupped a laugh and pulled back, running a finger under her moist eyes. “Damn straight,” she muttered, “but I am just fine with giving you the credit.”
. . .
Later, she wouldn’t know why she did it. Standing in Wallace’s bathroom, staring at the streaky mess of makeup and the long, mottled mess of her hair, it seemed perfectly logical, but later, when everyone would ask what she was thinking, all she would be able to do was shrug.
Wallace’s mother’s brush had calmed down the riotous frizz and tangles that her fight with Duncan had caused, but she still pictured Lilly, her fingers brushing the blunt tips of the hair that Veronica had spent years growing out. And suddenly her own reflection haunted her, a blatant reminder of the person she had wanted so badly to be.
The scissors were in the medicine cabinet, lodged behind perfume and shaving cream on the top shelf. Veronica’s fingers shook as she sliced through the first chunk of her hair, leaving it hanging just below her shoulders. And then it was a little easier to slice through the next, and the next. And then it was gone, and her head even felt lighter without the weight of Lilly pulling on her loose ends.
She held the remnants of her hair in her fist, clutching the ponytail she had once loved before shoving it into the trash. She was done with that girl. Lilly Kane had murdered her.
. . .
Wallace was the first to panic, shocked by the uneven dimensions of her new hair, but she held up her steady fingers to him and he rolled his eyes and shrugged.
“You are the craziest person I have ever met, by far, Veronica,” Wallace told her. “If cutting your hair fixes your jitters, I will not ask… more than one question.” Veronica raised an eyebrow. “You know it’s like a wave in the back there, right? You’re going to a real salon too, right?”
Veronica laughed, assuring him with a nod.
. . .
Wallace took her by SuperClips before driving her to Logan’s. She’d tell him everything that happened, but he didn’t need to think she’d gotten into a fight with some hedge clippers on top of everything else. When all was done, her hair jutted out in jagged layers past her chin, and even Veronica didn’t recognize herself at first glance.
“It’s perfect,” she told the hairstylist, passing her the last of the food money her father had given her for the week. She and Logan would have to live with leftovers for the night, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t care much for food once she’d explained her whereabouts to him.
Wallace dropped her off at the end of Logan’s driveway, his eyes scanning her as she reached for the door handle.
“Vee,” he told her gently, and Veronica turned at the sound of his voice. “I’m here whenever you need me. Always, okay?”
Veronica smiled, timid and soft, but genuine. “You’re the best BFF ever. I won’t ever need you for something like that again. I promise.”
Wallace nodded. “Well, I’m here if you ever do,” he assured her. “So just… try to explain it in a way that doesn’t make your boyfriend come to kill me, alright?”
Veronica laughed, giving Wallace an awkward hug across the center console before she climbed out of the car.
She found Logan in his pool house, passed out next to a paused game of Grand Theft Auto, and the soft sound of his snoring made her want to curl up beside him. Instead, she ran her finger slowly down his arm, smiling as the goose bumps covered the trail she left.
“I missed you,” he whispered softly, his fingers coming up to find hers. His eyes opened… then opened wider as he caught sight of her. “What the hell?” His face was shocked, his head cocked sideways in question as his fingers brushed the blunt edges of Veronica’s hair. “This is new.”
“Good new or bad new?” Veronica asked softly.
“Strange new,” he answered after a moment, sitting up slightly to examine her. “But give me ten minutes to adjust and it’ll be good.” He paused for a moment, still watching her. Gently, he pulled her face down to his, softly kissing her before whispering, “You look so much more corruptible now.” She laughed, her lips still brushing his. Then he added, “Why the change?”
She pulled back. “You’ll probably want to sit up for this,” she warned him. “There are going to be many places where you’re angry, mostly with me. Let me finish before you completely freak out?”
A wary look covered Logan’s face, and he pushed himself up so he faced Veronica. “I’ll try.”
She started with the note, and he frequently burst out throughout her retelling. She let him rant and scream and pace, and picked up the story half a dozen times as he controlled his temper. When she got to the part where Duncan threw her down, she thought his face might erupt from the rage she saw bubbling in his eyes.
“Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?” His hands were skimming her everywhere, finding the finger-shaped bruises on her arms and wrists before pulling himself back and shaking with the force of his fury. “I’m going to kill him.”
Veronica leapt to her feet, her hands finding his arms and holding him in the fiercest grip she could manage. “He didn’t do anything. Wallace got there in no time. I got him really good for you already. He didn’t even move to come after us. It’s over. I needed him to know that.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“You would’ve killed him if you’d walked in on that.”
“Again,” he reminded her. “I’ve already seen it once.”
She flushed at the reminder, having completely forgotten about Shelly’s party. “Never again,” she promised him.
“Damn straight,” he told her. “I should’ve been there.”
“I didn’t think it would be like this,” she told him. “I’ve never seen him like that before. He just… lost it.”
“You know, this still doesn’t explain this.” Logan plucked at the ends of Veronica’s hair.
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “Well, I was sick of being Lilly’s prodigy.” She spat the words like venom and Logan’s eyebrows rose.
“Those sound like Lilly’s words.”
“That would be them exactly,” Veronica told him. “And I just… I saw it for the first time. I looked at myself and I saw her, and it made me sick. I don’t want to be her anymore. I’m so sick of her world and her schemes and her rules. I just… it was like I could feel her there before. And now she’s gone.”
Logan ran his fingers through her hair, a slow smile spreading over his face. “You know, this is definitely good new.”
. . .
Lilly pushed her brother’s door open to find him sprawled out on his bed in the dark, lit with the glow of his muted television.
“Mom’s pissed that you didn’t come to dinner,” Lilly informed him. “And that you had Veronica over earlier.”
He dropped his head to the side, meeting Lilly’s eyes with the corner of his own. “You told her?”
“No, new housekeeper told her.” Lilly shook her head. “I mean, as much as I would love to be the cause of Celeste’s near imminent coronary” - Lilly crossed her fingers with an overdone look of glee - “I don’t want her doing anything stupid like banning Veronica from the house.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that she won’t need to be concerned about Veronica anymore anyway.” Duncan balled his fists then forcefully pulled his fingers through his hair. “What the hell was I thinking, Lilly?”
Lilly shrugged. “If she says anything about it, tell them you had an attack.”
“I don’t remember when I have attacks. This was all me.”
“They don’t know that,” Lilly told him. “Besides, you really think that Veronica’s going to run to her highly overprotective dad because you threw her down on the bed.”
Duncan shook his head. “She was scared enough to have her friend waiting.” He sighed. “She obviously thinks I’m a monster. Who knows what she would do now?”
"Veronica won’t do anything,” Lilly said surely. “And when Logan proves to be the same old dog he’s always been, she’ll be running right back to us.”
“And if he used all his dog days on you?” Duncan asked. “Because face it, Lil, even before they came out about it, he wasn’t plowing through the freshmen like he normally does on your little sojourns.”
Lilly laughed. “Logan’s a mess, Duncan. He can clean himself up really nice for a while, but eventually he always goes back to self-destruct.”