A Lot Less Casper and a Little More Garbo

He kissed Veronica Mars.

Lets repeat that once more with feeling for the slow kids in the back of the classroom:

Logan Echolls. Kissed. Veronica Mars.

And maybe if the tiny, blonde, annoying one were just a social pariah, and just his sworn arch enemy, and just the target of those funny syphilis rumors he started last fall none of this would be an issue. Aside from the fact that no one who currently matters in this world saw him engaged in the act in question, teenage hormones are a powerful thing and he is as much of a slave to those bastards as the next strapping seventeen year-old boy.

Unfortunately for him, Veronica Mars isn’t just those things in this town (as truly ugly as they may be).

First and foremost, she was the B.F.F of his dead girlfriend –

And he kissed her. And he liked it. A lot.

In all honesty, the weeks, and months, and eventual year that followed after Lilly’s death, Logan’s lips found themselves attached to many a cheerleader with a parentless house and a low tolerance for alcohol. It is a pathetic effort on his part to feel anything – even if the sensation is fleeting – other than the pit of despair that had come to beat beneath his sarcastic exterior.

He finds it easy to have a meaningless fuck and he has more “girlfriends” than most men get in a lifetime, but they are relationships of selfish convenience. They want to be able to sit at the popular table when the lunch bell rings, and they wish to be envied when they walk down Neptune High’s hallowed halls on his arm.

He wants a distraction.

Just a moment to not think, and especially about Lilly. So that maybe his world can be a little bit bearable for another day.

But, Veronica, with her irritating beauty, charm, and wit, is the sort of distraction Logan doesn’t need at all. The type that comes with cutesy pet names and the exchanging of stuffed animals. She’s just as vibrant as Lilly was, but with an innocence that intrigues him more so than the bad girl in her. She’s Lilly without the untouchable goddess air. She’s Lilly with a chewy, marshmallow-y center...

Logan dangles his feet off of the Coronado Bridge, with his trusty flask in hand and takes a swig of the eighty proof contents.

“...So, I come all this way...I could be loungin’ on a cloud somewhere, enjoying my time. Instead I drop by to see you and all I’m getting is the cold shoulder.”

He stares at the flask confusedly before emptying it into the ocean without a second thought.

He’s starting to hear things; better lay off that shit.

Logan’s eyes drift sideward and meet head on with a wide, aggravated green pair. He looks at her blankly, and Lilly folds her arms over her chest,

“Do I get a ‘hello’, Lover?”

“Lilly?”

She grins and claps excitedly. “Yay! We have words!” A beat, “Well, a word, and not exactly the word I was looking for, but it’ll do.”She then gestures wildly towards the bridge and the frightening drop below. “Is this really the place where you want to sit and take a load off?” A shake of her head and a ‘tsk’, “You could die, Logan and we both know how much that sucks.”

His mouth opens and closes in a perfect imitation of a fish before he lets out a hollow laugh. “You’ve, got to be kidding me, right?” Logan says directing his attention to the clear sky above him. “My mom just died and now you want to make me insane!” He scoffs, “Just and loving my ass...”

“You’re not crazy, Logan.” Lilly’s seated next to him now – barefoot, legs carelessly swinging back and forth. “Which, I know is a little hard to believe. I’m mean, you’re chatting up a dead girl; therapy would be the next logical step in the normal order of things. Fortunately for you, sweetie...”

She leans in close and the hair on the back of Logan’s neck officially stands at attention.“This is real.” And with a playful frown, Lilly lays her head on his shoulder. “I’m a little bummed you don’t seem happy to see me.”

Out of all of the thoughts swimming around in his head, he decides to give into this bat-shit insane delusion. Figment of his alcohol soaked imagination or not, he is happy to see her; happy to have his nostrils filled with her scent – she always smelled like a goddess ought to smell, a mixture of jasmine and something spicy and wild like cinnamon. Even Lilly’s ghostly presence glitters and as far as the dead go, she’s a lot less Casper and a little more Greta Garbo.

“I’m always happy to see you,” Logan utters with a rueful smile.

Lilly beams. “That’s my boy.”

“So, what, you make a habit of this? Dropping in on people and scaring the living shit out of them?”

“Nope,” she tells him popping the ‘P’. “Only when I’m feeling particularly chatty. Contrary to popular belief, us dead don’t like to hang around watching you guys breathe and have all the corporeal fun.” Sitting up, she adds with a flip of her impeccable hair, “You’re all boring as hell.” A beat, “Except when you’re naked.”

That gets a laugh and Lilly shoots him a mischievous smile to end all mischievous smiles,

“And don’t think that I haven’t seen everyone naked.”

“Never dream of it.”

She makes a face. “Good, old Celeste could stand to pull the Thigh Master out of the closet.”

“...Although, I thought you would’ve drawn the line at your parents...” Logan says raising an eyebrow.

“I’m an equal opportunity peeping tom.” Lilly shrugs and suddenly her beautiful bug eyes grow wider. “You know who you should totally see naked?”

Logan snorts. “Your mother?”

Eyes rolling heavenward she playfully smacks him on the shoulder. “No...well, unless you’ve ever been curious to know if it’s possible to freeze water on someone’s ass. But, seriously, Logan...” she begins with a grin, “you should see Veronica naked. I mean, ‘woah’. Obviously my girl is working out but I don’t know how she finds the time...”

“Veronica?”

He pales. He doesn’t like the look on Lilly’s face – smug and knowing and all around smart-assy and Logan very suddenly regrets pouring his booze into the water. So, this is how he’s going to handle his new found fluffy feelings for Veronica? By conjuring up the ghost of Lilly?

His subconscious is a strange creature.

“What the hell makes you think I’d want to see her naked!” Logan snorts in disgust. “I know it’s been a year, Lilly, but I haven’t developed a desire for crotch rot.”

“Oh, whatever, Logan!” she says, exasperated. “Ray Charles could’ve seen this little development coming. Your verbal assaultage is the equivalent to pulling her hair and running away.” A sigh, “And now, Lover, you know the reason for this visit of mine.”

“Granted, Veronica and I haven’t been at each other’s throats as much as usual – if she were on fire, I might even consider doing her the favor of pissing it out; but that in no way means...”

Off of Lilly’s look, the words die on Logan’s lips and all he can manage is a heavy sigh.

“Riddle me this...” Lilly begins smirking, “what’s 5'3, a hundred and ten pounds, and has blunt trauma to the head?”

He frowns. “That’s not very funny, Lilly.”

“Wasn’t supposed to be.” She shrugs. “It was however, supposed to be a wake up call. In all honesty, Logan, I appreciate this torch you’re still carrying for me but at some point you’ve gotta move on.” Lilly grabs his hand with her own. “And, you’ve gotta realize that it’s okay for you to move on. I swear, you’ll get no wrath from beyond the grave out of me because you wanna see V naked. I mean, with me gone, she’s like the most awesome person on the planet.”

Logan squeezes her hand – practically holding onto it for dear life. “You really think so?” he asks and the smile that breaks out on her face is brighter than the sun,

“When have I ever steered you wrong?”

The two lapse into silence and Logan concentrates on the very real feeling of Lilly’s hand in his. Concentrates on smelling her smell and the memories it brings – good and bad. Concentrates on letting her go, but never forgetting her.

He kissed Veronica Mars.

He liked it. A lot.

And, Logan doesn’t feel guilty about that.

The End.