The Daughters Kane
By Misha

Disclaimer- I don't own anything to do with "Veronica Mars", I really wish I did, but I don't. It belongs to Rob Thomas and the UPN. I'm not making any money off of this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- This is another AU piece, again a full-length one. In this, Jake is Veronica's father and he and Lianne married when the kids were small, so the three of them are raised together. It's kind of weird and was just me playing with an idea. In this story, Lilly's a year older than Veronica and Duncan and she never died, but she and Veronica don't get along either. In fact, that's going to be a big part of this. The story's set in Veronica's Junior Year and after the first few chapters will start taking some events from the show, but not all obviously. I play along with all the personalities, figuring out what that one major change would do to all the characters, and I think it turned out okay. Anyway, I like the results. Well, that's all for now, enjoy!

Pairings- Veronica/Casey, Duncan/Meg, Jake/Lianne, Logan/Lilly.

Summery- Veronica Kane has the perfect life. The perfect parents, the perfect brother, the perfect boyfriend, the only problem in her life? Her sister, Lilly.

Spoilers- Everything and nothing. It's an AU, but I do draw from the show, so...

Rating- PG-13

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Part One- Just Another Monday Morning

Veronica Kane stood in her bedroom, getting ready for school. She double-checked her appearance and after a moment decided that she looked good, so she finished and headed downstairs.

The rest of her family was already in the kitchen. That family consisted of her father, Jake Kane, her mother, Lianne, and her two half-siblings, Lilly and Duncan.

Lilly and Duncan were the result of Jake's first marriage, while Veronica herself was the product of an affair between Jake and his high school sweetheart, Lianne, who had both been married to other people at the time of her birth. The affair had continued until they had finally wed when Veronica was five, after Lianne's husband had been killed and Jake had divorced his first wife.

"Good morning sweetheart." Jake greeted as Veronica took her seat at the table.

"Morning Daddy." Veronica said with a smile.

"There's a big football game this week." Jake commented, returning her smile.

"Yeah, us cheerleaders have been practicing extra hard." Veronica told him, as she buttered her toast. "I think we'll be ready though."

Veronica was a member of the Neptune High Cheerleading squad, this was her first year on the squad since it was limited to Junior and Seniors. She'd been on Pep Squad for her first two years of high school though and this was a pretty natural progression.

"I'm sure you will." Jake agreed with a smile. "We'll be there, cheering you on, of course."

Veronica laughed at the pun, they'd be 'cheering' on her cheering.

"Of course, you will." Lilly, who at eighteen was a year older than Veronica, "we all know how much of a doting father you are. At least when it comes to one of your daughters."

There was strained silence following Lilly's remark.

"Well, Dad never has the chance to come support you." Veronica commented acidly. "What activities are you in, Lilly?"

Lilly shot her a glare. "School spirit's not really my thing."

She got up from the table, without acknowledging any of the others and walked away.

Veronica sighed, life with Lilly was always like that. To say her and her older sister didn't get along was an understatement, Lilly seemed to resent the closeness between Jake and Veronica, but as far as Veronica could see Lilly never made any effort to have that same kind of relationship with their father.

"We should get going to school." Duncan, who was the same age as Veronica and a much calmer personality than Lilly, commented. "I'm sure Lilly's already taken the Jeep, so that means we're going to have to ride together."

The three Kane children shared two vehicles between them, though the way it usually worked out was that Lilly took off with one and Veronica and Duncan, who got along great, shared the other.

"No problem." Veronica said with a smile. "Just let me grab my books and we can head out."

---

Lilly took the long way to school.

Well, really she just drove around aimlessly. She just needed to work off steam.

As always in their house, breakfast was the Veronica show. But then, that was life in the Kane household.

Neither Duncan, the heir to all Jake's dreams and ambitions, or Veronica, the apple of Daddy's eye, could do anything wrong. While Lilly, the extra baggage, could do no right.

At home, Lilly always felt like she was the outsider.

Duncan and Veronica were the best of friends, you'd think they were twins instead of half-siblings, and neither of them got along that well with Lilly. Lilly knew in her father's eyes that she came up a very short second compared to Veronica and Lianne wasn't even her mother, so why would she like Lilly best? Celeste, Lilly's real mother, had been dead for nine years now, since two years after the divorce and Jake's quick remarriage, but it wasn't much of a loss. Celeste, had never liked her daughter, and had had no problems making sure Lilly knew it.

No, home and family weren't words that had much warmth or fondness for Lilly.

It wasn't even that different at school. All three Kane children were amongst the most popular kids at school, a clique called the 09ers, but Lilly knew that almost everyone liked her brother and sister better than they liked her.

She had her friends, yes, but most of the girls in their social circle despised her. She knew the names they called her behind her back, bitch and slut. She knew that Veronica and her annoying friends were the ones making most of the catty remarks.

She tried not to care, but she did.

Still, since she couldn't stop the rumors, she was going to live up to them. Lilly was determined to be what everyone already thought that she was.

---

"Do you need the car after school?" Duncan asked as he and Veronica arrived at Neptune High. "Because I have some stuff I have to do and then I have a date with Meg tonight."

Veronica paused. "I don't know." She told him. "I have cheerleading practice, but I might be able to get a ride home with one of the other girls."

Duncan nodded. "Well, let me know at lunch."

"I will." Veronica promised, as she and Duncan separated.

Veronica continued onto her locker and sighed when she got close, because leaning up against it, waiting for her, was Casey Gant, her on-again, off-again boyfriend.

Veronica closed her eyes for a second. She was crazy about Casey, but their relationship had an unhealthy pattern. They'd be together and be happy for a while, then Casey's obnoxious jackass side would inevitably rear it's ugly head and she'd breakup with him, then he'd charm her and win her back, only for it to happen all over again.

It always happened and at the moment they were off-again. She'd broken up with Casey three weeks earlier, because she just hadn't been able to take it any longer, but ever since he'd been trying his best to make them 'on' again.

"Hey, baby." He greeted her with a smile.

"Hey, Casey." Veronica said with a reluctant smile.

"Any chance of you going out with me tonight?" Casey asked, as she deposited her books in her locker.

Veronica paused, thinking about it. She missed Casey, she always did when they were apart. "Well, that depends, can you pick me up after cheerleading practice?" She asked with a slight smile. "Duncan wants the car."

"And, as usual, Lilly's claimed the other one, right?" Casey asked knowingly.

"Of course." Veronica told him with a sigh. "She was in true Lilly form this morning, being bitchy just because Daddy mentioned that they'd be going to watch me cheer this weekend."

Casey made a face. "That sounds like your sister all right. Sure, I'll pick you up, but you really should ask your father for another car so that you and Duncan aren't forced to always share."

"Then, you wouldn't get to play chauffeur." Veronica reminded him, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

With that kiss, she and Casey were officially back together. That was how it always worked for her and Casey, the breakups were big things, the reunions weren't. They just kinda happened.

"There is that." Casey agreed with a grin as they walked down the hall together, his arm wrapped around her waist. He leaned down and gave her another quick kiss, then deposited her at the door of her class and headed down the hall.