Just Maybe
Title: Just Maybe
Author: Diane
Original Fic: Breathe Again
What if: What if Logan didn’t let Veronica walk out of the gym?
Pairing: Logan/Veronica
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: Makes specific reference of a scene in episode 2x17 so everything up to then just to be on the safe side.
Summary: An alternative take on the Logan/Veronica scene during the Sadie Hawkins dance.
Author’s Note: This is my re-write for the challenge at vm_whatif.
Holding her in his arms, Logan felt himself breathe…really breathe for the first time in a long while and his hands applied a little more pressure to her hips, needing to reassure himself that this was actually happening and wasn’t just another figment of his overactive imagination.
His lips tugged upwards in a smirk when he caught sight of Gia pouting from across the room and he felt like he should thank her for her inane and incredibly annoying chattering which he knew was the only reason for him currently being on the dance floor with the object of his affections. He knew only too well that Veronica could envision how he was going to answer the brunette’s question hence her swift action for getting him away from her.
The feel of his ex-girlfriend’s gentle hands locked around the back of his neck was something he didn’t think he’d be experiencing…well, ever again if he was being totally honest. Where at first he could feel the tension in her arms, as the song continued to play he felt them relax around him and her fingers actually began to stroke back and forth along his skin. He was suddenly reminded of a summer that seemed a million years ago; a time when her blunt fingernails would dig into the back of his neck as she held him tightly to her while his lips kissed her mouth and throat before they worked their way south.
Logan looked down and caught Veronica watching him and their eyes locked for a moment before she averted her gaze and looked to the side, watching her fellow classmates with their dates.
He wanted to say something…anything but his mind was a complete blank. Okay, that technically wasn’t true. There were a thousand things he wanted to say but he just didn’t know how to vocalize them. His usual snark and biting wit which he found usually helped at times like these seemed to have deserted him in that moment.
As their bodies swayed to the music, he was mentally calculating roughly how long he had left with her before the song ended and she disentangled herself from him; returning to her task that evening of snapping all of the seemingly happy couples that were surrounding them. So busy doing that was he that he missed it when she moved a step closer to him but he didn’t miss the slight tightening of her arms or the way her fingers were now running through the short hair at the nape of his neck. It took all of his willpower not to release the moan he could feel building in his throat at her ministrations.
When their eyes locked again, Veronica didn’t look away. Instead, she kept her eyes firmly trained on his and he watched as her lips curved up into what he could only describe as a soft smile. Her blue eyes, which for a while now had held an icy disdain for him, appeared warmer than usual and he felt that familiar tug in his chest. Without realising he was doing it, his hands moved from her hips to wrap around her waist and he pulled her in closer. He waited for her rebuke but it didn’t come and he released a quiet sigh of relief.
Veronica tilted her head back slightly and pushing herself up onto the balls of her feet, she brought her mouth close to Logan’s ear whereupon she whispered, “I’ve missed you.”
He wanted to repeat the words to her, letting her know that he felt the same but his mouth was dry and the words just wouldn’t come. The song began to fade, telling him and everyone else that it was coming to an end and he could feel a well of panic begin to rise. If he didn’t say something and soon he knew she was going to walk away thinking this didn’t mean anything to him and she couldn’t be more wrong. It meant everything.
Opening his mouth to speak, he was surprised when Veronica placed her fingertips over his lips and prevented him from saying anything.
“It’s okay,” she said quietly, pausing for a moment before continuing, “I know.”
His heart thumped wildly in his chest as he scrambled to say something but again, he was coming up blank. What the hell is happening to me, he asked himself. What was it about Veronica Mars that had the ability to render him speechless at the most inopportune times when, at the very least, he usually had something biting and acerbic to come back at her with.
It was almost like she could read his mind when her smile turned into a smirk and she teased, “Cat got your tongue?”
He laughed, relieved that he had finally managed to make a sound. “Nope, but you can have it if you want?” he threw back and was pleased when a light blush coloured her cheeks.
“Really?” she asked, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised.
Logan felt a flicker of heat run through him at her playful tone and he felt the urge to press his lips against hers and kiss her the way he’d wanted to kiss her for months. Their bathroom, the one she made good use of with her trusty ‘Out of Order’ sign, wasn’t that far away and he wondered how she would take it if he suggested using it to continue this discussion. From the teasing twinkle in her eyes, he guessed she wouldn’t be completely adverse to his suggestion. “Sure, since I seem to remember you having a fondness for that particular…”
“Right,” she quickly interjected, cutting him off.
Her laugh reassured him that he hadn’t got her back up like was so often the case with them. There were still times when he wasn’t sure just how far to push the envelope and he was reminded once again of all the mean and hurtful things he said and did to her not so long ago.
Their faces had somehow moved even closer together and it wasn’t going to take much for either one of them to close the small gap separating them.
“So, do you want it?” Logan teased, watching the clear blue of her eyes darken that little bit more.
“Maybe…” Veronica’s breathing had gotten a little heavier too, he noticed as he took in everything about her.
Their lips were a mere hair’s breadth away when he noticed someone standing to the side of them and turning his head to look at them, he had a ready scowl fixed on his face which didn’t lessen when he saw who the person was.
Veronica looked at Logan with a confused expression on her face before she, too, turned her head to the side to see what he was looking at.
“What?”
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“And you’re what, asking my permission?”
Veronica lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing at Logan’s sarcastic question.
Gia shook her head. “No, I just need you to watch the desk while I’m gone,” she replied.
Sighing and mumbling something under his breath, he said, “Fine. Could you just give me a minute or is this, like, an emergency?”
“I’ll wait over by the desk,” the brunette told him before turning on her heel and making her way back through the crowded dance floor.
Veronica’s hands were no longer wrapped around Logan and he acutely felt the loss of her warmth.
“I’d guess you’d better go and…”
“Yeah. Thanks for, uh, rescuing me from her by the way,” he quipped, his smirk back in place.
“It was my pleasure.”
“Was it now?”
“Bad choice of words,” she replied playfully.
“No, I think those were exactly the words you wanted to use.”
“Ah, I guess you’ll never know.”
They stood there in silence for a minute or two before he finally plucked up the courage to ask her what he’d been wanting to ask ever since she asked him to dance. “Can I call you sometime?”
Thinking about it for a split second, she smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
“Okay. I’d better--”
She nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”
“Yeah, you will.”
Logan watched as she took a few steps away from him and when she stopped and turned back to face him, he was worried she was going to take back what she’d just said.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Just try to ignore Gia.”
He laughed before answering, “Easier said than done, Mars.”
“Believe me, I know.”
Once again, he watched her walk away but before she was completely out of his line of vision, an idea popped into his head and he felt the corners of his lips curve upwards. Pulling his cell phone from out of his pants pocket, he quickly scrolled through his address book and hit the call button.
From across the gym, Veronica was checking her camera when she heard her cell phone ring and checking the screen, she smiled at the name that was flashing at her. Hitting the button to answer the call, she spoke into the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey. Is it too soon for me to be calling?” Logan asked as he watched her with her back to him. His nerves were on edge as he waited for her to reply.
Turning, she spotted him standing in the exact same spot that she’d left him just a moment ago. “No, although I have to say, I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon.”
“Me either,” he confessed quietly.
“What?” The music currently playing was fast and seemed even louder than it had previously.
“I said, me either,” he said, raising his voice.
Veronica tried to lip read from where she was standing but it was no good. The colourful strobe lighting wasn’t helping matters either and raising her free hand, she crooked her forefinger and beckoned him over. As she watched him approach, she didn’t even attempt to stop her eyes from looking him up and down.
Logan ended the call with Veronica and watched as she did the same. Before he knew it, they had made their way out of the gymnasium and were standing in a corner of the corridor where it was easier for them to talk.
“Sorry about that, I couldn’t hear what you were saying on the phone,” she told him.
“Yeah, it was stupid of me to call you--”
“No, it wasn’t stupid,” she quickly reassured him.
“In there,” he finished and he watched her cheeks flush slightly.
“Oh.” Veronica coughed to clear her throat and then asked, “So, uh, why were you calling me?”
“I… You said it was okay to call you and I figured why not now. I was just wondering if you were doing anything once you’d finished here for the night ‘cos I thought maybe we could get some coffee or something. If you’re free, that is.” Logan shifted on his feet. Right at that second he felt the same way he had the very first time he’d asked a girl out all those years ago now. For the second time that night but the millionth time since they’d first kissed at the Camelot, he asked himself just what it was about this tiny slip of a girl that had the ability to make him feel like an inexperienced schoolboy.
“Coffee sounds good,” she told him with a smile. “And I could go for some cake, too.”
“Sure.”
“Uh, what about Gia?”
“Huh? What about her?”
Well, you haven’t been back to the desk to take over from her so she can go to the bathroom…”
Logan laughed. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“I’m sure she hasn’t,” Veronica quipped. “How about you go take care of that while I snap some more photos and I’ll meet you over there in a little while?”
“Sure, but don’t be too long,” he said before adding, “If Gia asks me what I really think of her again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold back this time.”
Mock-sighing, she replied, “Fine, I’ll come rescue you if I see her lips moving.”
“Make sure you do.”
They stood there for a moment simply looking at each other before they both felt the need to look away.
“So, I’d better get back in there before I find a puddle under the desk.”
“Yeah, nice image by the way,” she teased.
Neither of them made any attempt to move and the only reason they did was when a group of their fellow students walked past them and pulled them out of their thoughts.
“Thanks, you know, for calling me.”
“No problem. I’ll see you in a while, then?”
“Yeah, you will.”
They shared one last look and smile before they both made their way back into the gym and reluctantly separated.
Watching him take a seat at the desk, Veronica smirked when she caught his eye as Gia huffed and puffed at him before she stood up to no doubt visit the bathroom. She had no idea what was going to happen between herself and Logan but she was definitely looking forward to finding out.
Fin