Rating: T/M for language and some sexual references.

A/N: I know you guys are infuriated by the mess that has been created and honestly, that was expected. This is still a LoVe story for those of you who are worried and I hope this chapter makes you like Logan more. A lot of you have been stating how horrible Logan has been, which I hundred per cent agree with, but this chapter is meant to show you how much he does in fact care for Veronica and their relationship.

Also, as a writer, could I ask a favour from some of you lovelies? I am in the process of experimenting with a personal lifestyle blog and would love to hear your opinions about my writing style and the content that I centre my writing around. The blog has just been launched - message me if you are interested in reading - and your feedback for the blog, as well as this story, would be very much appreciated. Thank you x

Talks, Begging and Agreements

Veronica was sick, both literally and metaphorically.

After yelling at Duncan for pushing her forcefully into this mess, she had been discharged from the hospital and had made her way back to her messy apartment - alone. After changing into a pair of comfortable pyjama pants and a thin camisole, Veronica began cleaning the mess from when Logan was here earlier; her movements were reserved and leisurely under the influence of the anti-depressants that the doctor's had prescribed her with. Every few minutes she would pause and inhale deeply before carrying on with the monotonous routine of spray, spray, wipe, wipe. However, her routine was interrupted suddenly by a rather loud and aggressive knock at the door. Veronica tucked her dish cloth into the waistband of her trousers before proceeding to the visitor that was now pounding heavily on the doorframe.

"Thank God." Veronica's visitor bombarded into her minimal living room and seized her face with his hands. She sighed loudly, closing the door behind him. Veronica knew her guest wasn't leaving anytime soon. "You're okay, baby, you're okay." His chapped lips placed a peck to her forehead. Veronica could feel his briny tears against her cheeks alongside his shaky touch. His hands were trembling and she placed hers on top of his to stop him from shaking. "What happened when I left here earlier?"

"Logan-" Veronica's voice was barely above a whisper, her warm breathe fanning against Logan's outstretched palms. "What are you doing?" Truthfully, Veronica had expected Logan to call or visit … after everything that had transpired she knew he'd want an explanation regarding Duncan and her visit to the hospital. But, right now, Veronica wasn't entirely sure she wanted to give him one just yet. He had lost the right to demand answers when he'd walked out on her.

"What do you mean?" Logan scoffed dryly. He hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Veronica properly at the hospital and Duncan had been anything but descriptive regarding what had actually landed Veronica in the hospital to begin with. Logan knew waiting around for Duncan to tell him anything was useless. Logan needed to see how Veronica was; he needed to make things right again. "Of course I'm here for you-"

"Stop." Veronica stepped back as if Logan had suddenly zapped her with a bolt of electricity. "Don't do that." She shook her head in disbelief, her frazzled blonde hair swaying beside a tear imprinted blotchy face.

"Don't do what?" Logan took a step forward, reaching for Veronica and once again, she took another step backwards. His heart sunk heavily into his ribcage as she scurried away from him. She looked so small and helpless; it made Logan's heart ache painfully. Veronica's back was pressed tightly against her living room wall and she eyed Logan nervously; if he moved forward again, she had nowhere to run to.

"Don't tell me you're here for me," Veronica folded her arms across her chest, instantaneously feeling anger course through her blood. "Because you weren't today and from here, onwards, you're not going to be." Logan tried to interrupt, her name leaving his lips in a desperate plea that Veronica simply ignored. "Logan, we keep going round in these circles and I think … I think it is due time one of us ended things - properly."

"I know I wasn't here for you and I'm sorry," Logan admitted glumly, his eyes glassing over with the tears he had bottled up at the hospital. He took a slumped seat on the arm of Veronica's couch, his body curving forwards; towards the women that he loved, that he would always love. He knew he had let her down – an uncountable number of times now - and truthfully, Logan didn't know how to make it better. He knew materialistic items were no good - he knew nothing would ever be able to make up for the pain that he had caused Veronica. But, it didn't mean he was done trying to make everything okay. "I should have listened, I should have waited … I should have done a lot of things today that I didn't and … I'm so god damned sorry." Logan was letting his previously reserved tears fall silently. "I want you to be happy and I so desperately want to be the guy who makes you happy-"

"Stop it!" Veronica's anger was at its peak. She was angry at everything and everyone. She was angry at Duncan for intervening in her life, mad at Lily for being so beautiful, mad at herself for falling in love - angry at Logan for making her fall in love with him. "Stop apologising." Veronica ran her fingers through her damp hair. "I'm sorry, Logan, but apologies from you aren't going to do anything for me today … not after everything that's happened."

"Okay." Logan whispered with a light nod of his head. "No more apologies." Logan decided, in that moment, that he was going to do everything Veronica's way from here on out; anything in his power to placate her and make her happy. "Just … just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it, tell me how to make things better."

"I … I don't think you can do anything." Veronica shrugged, her words catalysing her own influx of salty tears. If Logan had asked her that question a year ago, Veronica would have had a snappy answer … even if he'd asked her that question the day before, Veronica could have told him what she wanted. What Veronica wanted was normality. She wanted a serious relationship – a boyfriend – a husband, some day, a family, eventually. Veronica wanted a normal adult relationship and frankly, she knew she couldn't have that with Logan, not when he was still hell bent on maintaining his sham of a marriage to Lilly.

"Veronica-" Logan's voice was desperate now. He was begging her to let him fix things.

"No, Logan, I needed you today and yet again, Lily came first." Logan acknowledged how much it hurt to hear when Veronica spoke the truth. She wasn't lying or altering the truth, she was right. Logan for the umpteenth time had put Lily before Veronica when he shouldn't have. Lily had been Lily, over-exaggerating about her injury but, Veronica … he should have known something was significantly wrong. He had just had tunnel vision after Duncan's frantic call, he hadn't even bothered to check if Veronica was okay before skipping out on her.

It was one of Logan's many mistakes of the day.

"I know-"

"But that's just it, you don't know, Logan!" Veronica threw her arms about as she spoke. She wanted Logan to understand the consequences of his actions earlier and she needed him to know the truth. Veronica needed Logan to know how gravely his actions had hurt her and how he had royally screwed up the fundamentals of their relationship. "I thought I was pregnant, Logan!"

Silence instantly pursued after Veronica made the declaration that shook Logan's world. She had obviously caught him off guard and he alternated between looking her in the eye and then looking down at her stomach. In her flimsy camisole, Veronica's flat stomach was exactly that, flat … but, it didn't stop Logan from glancing at it. He hadn't expected this, at all. And, the seriousness of the situation made Logan all the more upset. Veronica had had a pregnancy scare and he'd walked out on her … He had left her all alone with big a weight of uncertainty on her shoulders, just so he could watch Lily flirt with her doctor. The thought made Logan physically sick. How had he let this happen? How had he been that guy?

"What?" After minutes of shocked silence, Logan muttered the one word syllable.

"The symptoms were there," Veronica's queasiness, the fever, throwing up; it had all added up to equal a pregnant Veronica, at least that's what she had thought before. "And I wanted to make sure before I jumped to any massive conclusions, so, I booked an appointment at the hospital." Veronica couldn't believe this all had happened in one day; it felt like a lifetime ago. This morning, her and Logan were having issues, yes, but … not like this. "I … wanted you to come with me-"

"And I left." Logan placed his head in his hands as he crumbled. His sobs were loud and uncensored and Veronica couldn't do anything but watch. And then suddenly, Logan snapped his head upwards; he had forgotten to get an answer to the large pending question at hand – was he going to be a father? "Are you?" He questioned, his eyes fixated on her stomach once again. "Are you … are we pregnant?"

"No." Before Veronica said yes or no, Logan wasn't sure what he wanted to hear when she answered the question. He had never thought about having children because he had never previously met someone who had made him think about such a commitment. And when he had finally met the girl who he wanted commitment with, he couldn't give her it, not completely. So, the conversation of children had never arisen in Logan's life. However, as Veronica said the word no, Logan found himself warming to the idea of children. He couldn't deny that Veronica's denial of a pregnancy crushed his fleeting thoughts of a little baby girl with Veronica's eyes and his hair; the sound of childish laughter descending like a lost ocean wave.

"I'm sor-" Before Logan could apologise again, he stopped himself. He looked at the broken sight of Veronica and he couldn't help himself. He mustered all of the strength in him and strode towards her. Veronica, through her tears, watched him curiously. She watched silently as he stalked towards her and she watched as he wrapped his bulky arms around her tiny frame. Regardless of what he had made her feel today, Veronica still felt safe in his arms. Wrapped in Logan's arms, it was just the two of them. There was no drama or no paparazzi, no meddling parents or fake wives. When they were together – alone – they were just them – hopelessly in love.

Minutes or even hours could have passed as the two stood together in the quiet of Veronica's apartment. Logan with his head buried in her hair and his arms encircling her body. Veronica with her arms limp by her side and her cheek pressed tightly against the aggressive beating of his heart.

"The symptoms I've been experiencing… they are for General Anxiety Disorder." Veronica mumbled against the soft material of Logan's shirt. Logan was all most startled by her voice and he entangled his hands in her hair, stroking absentmindedly as she spoke. "I missed work today, I've been feeling sick … money is tight sometimes, us, my past – doctors think I've been dealing with the anxiety for a while." Veronica didn't discuss her past much, she had never gotten into too much detail regarding her relationship with her family and Logan had respected her wishes for privacy. He didn't probe for more because he knew it had been bad. Something had gone seriously wrong and Veronica had had to move out and start a life on her own. A clean slate. But, starting over didn't necessarily mean forgetting.

"I haven't made your life any easier." Logan admitted quietly.

"I just … I can't do this to myself anymore, Logan." Veronica pulled away slowly and she saw pure panic envelope Logan's features. In response to his outstretched eyes and quivering lip, she let his hands rest against her hips. His long fingers splayed out like webs against her skin, his thumbs rubbing ginger circles into the thread of exposed skin between her top and the waist line of her pants. "You and I, we've tried … over and over and I can't keep putting myself through this. I have to get myself through college and I need to work and I can't afford do any of that if I'm in the hospital stressing about an unlikely future between us."

"I know you told me not to but, please let me say how sorry I am," Logan warned Veronica as he apologised yet again. "Because I am truly sorry. I know my words won't change what I've done but, nevertheless, they need to be said. I'm the one responsible for this and I can't take that, I can't take that I'm the one who hurt you because, all I want to do is protect you." Veronica could see the honesty blaze in her eyes and she smiled softly. She didn't doubt that Logan loved her … she simply knew that that love wasn't enough for her and Logan to survive because outside forces were proving to be stronger. "I want you to trust me."

"I do." Veronica squeezed Logan's biceps as if reassuring him. "But, I think it's time for me to concentrate on myself for a while." Veronica had a magnitude of ambitions to fulfil; she had goals and dreams for herself and she had decided that it was due time she gave herself some well-deserved time and care. "Get more involved at school, take some extra shifts at work … reduce my stress levels-"

"I understand." And Logan did, understand. Veronica's ambitious drive was one of the many reasons he adored her. "Look, I know I kind of forced Lily's idea on you at the hospital but, I do still want you to move in with me." Veronica's face contorted and her eyebrows shot upwards; had nothing of what she had said registered within Logan? "We don't have to be … involved … if you don't want to be but, if you're staying at my house, it means the money spent on your rent can be put into your college fund, you won't have to do the extra shifts at work and the free time that you get can be focused on societies at Hearst and taking care of your health." Logan paused to tuck a strand of Veronica's hair behind her ear. "Your health … and your happiness are all that matter to me."

"Logan, I don't know … I mean with Lily and Duncan there-"

"I pieced two and two together, you know." Logan added at the mention of his best friend. Logan had had an epiphany whilst he was driving from the hospital to Veronica's house. Logan knew Duncan more than he knew himself and it hadn't taken Logan long to figure out what his friend was up to. "I've known Duncan my whole life, I can see when he's up to something. I never doubted you or our relationship; I knew his declaration to the family was just a ploy to get me to fight for you-" Logan left his sentence loose ended.

"And?" Veronica trailed off, pushing for Logan to respond.

"It worked." Logan knew what he needed to do, it didn't matter if Veronica and he made it out as a couple on the other end … it was something he should have done a long time ago. "Move in with me, please." Logan lowered his face to Veronica's level, the tip of his nose rubbing gently against hers. "Let me take care of you."

"I can't." Veronica shook her head no, her nose bobbing backwards and forwards against Logan's now. Logan smiled a toothy grin at the notion, loving how intimate their current position felt. "It'll be too hard … how am I meant to focus on me or moving on when all I can see is you and Lily together, in person-"

"You won't be seeing me and Lily together." Logan responded back in a hurry. "Because me and Lily aren't together-"

"I know, I know. Fake marriage, you don't love her, it's for the press, for the parents blah, blah, blah but, I'm a virtual stranger, Logan; she's not going to let me in on the secret relationship that you and she have spent year's building. You two are going to have to act like a couple in front of me-" And, Veronica didn't like the sound of that. It didn't matter what her circumstances were with Logan, she still loved him and Lily was still going to be partially to blame for Veronica's sticky and painful relationship status.

"Move in with me." Logan asked again, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Logan-"

"I'm going to end things with Lily, officially." Logan finally admitted the thing that made Veronica's heart swell. She stared back at him in disbelief because this scenario had never arisen between the two. Every time Veronica mentioned ending Lily and Logan's agreement, Logan would outright refuse. "If a break from us is what you want, I'm fine with that but … I can't keep doing this anymore either. Seeing you in that hospital bed, hearing about how much pain I caused you … I need to be the man that I was raised to be and do what's right by you." Logan tried once again as he saw that his words had finally sunken into Veronica's confused brain. "Move in with me, Veronica Mars."

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Veronica spoke again.

"Yes."