9:02 P.M., Pacific Daylight Time
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia
Chuck and Sarah stood just beyond the seawall on the coast of Stanley Park. The moon hung low on the eastern horizon, a huge glowing ball of gold in the sky.
Sarah smiled. “Well, how about this,” she said softly. “We’re on a beach, and it’s the full moon rising. You wouldn’t happen to have a blue velvet box in your pocket, would you?”
“Nope,” Chuck replied, with a devious grin.
Sarah’s stomach just about dropped to her feet. “What?”
Six Hours Beforehand
3:00 P.M.
Vancouver
Sarah and Casey were on the videophone, talking to Director Graham about the last few days, and the fact that Sarah and Chuck had figured out exactly what was going on with Casey and Veronica tailing them. Chuck had taken advantage of the opportunity to get Veronica out and talk to her about his residual feelings.
There was a Starbucks a little more than a block from the Renaissance Hotel, and that’s where Chuck and Veronica had gone. Veronica had gotten herself a simple caramel macchiato, whereas Chuck had gone for his usual sugarbomb venti java chip frappucino.
“I don’t know how you can drink those things,” Veronica said, rolling her eyes. “They make my teeth hurt just to think about them.”
“They’re GOOD!” Chuck insisted, sitting down on a stool at the counter overlooking the street. “And, it’ll keep me awake all day!”
“Have you been having problems staying awake?” Veronica asked.
“I haven’t been getting much sleep,” Chuck replied.
Veronica rolled her eyes. “I’m aware.”
Chuck winced. “Sorry,” he said, an apologetic look on his face. “We were both kind of pissed off when we realized the two of you were following us, and we wanted to make you pay for it a little.”
Veronica shook her head. “Yeah, I gathered that once we found out that you knew we were there. There was one, though… Yesterday morning, in Newport… um, you guys woke up and were a little friskier than usual… and I was listening, and, well…”
Chuck looked confused. “I’m not quite sure I get where you’re going with this.”
Veronica clenched her teeth and looked toward the ceiling. “Let’s just say it, uh, got me hot under the collar and drove me to… extraordinary measures.”
Chuck’s eyes went wide and his face turned bright red. “Ohhh,” he said. “My goodness.”
“Yeah, and Casey caught me coming out of the bathroom.”
Chuck clapped a hand to his mouth. “Oh my God,” he muttered. “That is perhaps the most humiliating thing I’ve ever heard.”
Veronica cocked her head and put on a fake smile. “Yeah, how do you think I felt?”
Chuck put both his hands to his face. “I am so sorry,” he said quietly. “That wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t…”
“Yeah, let’s not worry about that,” Veronica said, effectively ending that train of conversation. “What did you want to come down here to talk to me about?”
“Well,” Chuck began uneasily, “I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet, but…”
He pulled the blue velvet box out of his pocket and set it on the table. Veronica sighed. “Yeeeah,” she said slowly. “Watched ya buy it.”
Chuck nodded. “So I assume you know what it’s for.”
Veronica made a face and tapped the side of her head. “I am pretty smart,” she said. “I sort of figured it out.”
“Alright,” Chuck said. “So, then, you understand, I want to ask Sarah to marry me.”
“And you want me to be your best man?!” Veronica said, gleefully sarcastic. “Oh, Chuck, of course!”
Chuck just looked at her. “You’re really making this difficult, you know that?”
“Wow, Chuck, I’m sorry,” Veronica snapped, “but you know, two months ago, I thought you were in love with me. Then you dumped me in the middle of the night, then Sarah comes back from the dead –“
“Don’t, DON’T drag her into this,” Chuck interrupted angrily.
“I don’t have anything against HER,” Veronica shot back. “She came back because she was in love with an incredible guy! I can hardly fault her for THAT. But I can fault YOU. YOU helped her evade arrest, which, by the way, made me look pretty bad with the FBI. YOU ran off to Catalina with her for two fun-filled days of sun and debauchery. And when I finally caught up with you, what did I do? Why, I called up my friend Logan Echolls, who spent FIVE MILLION DOLLARS of his own money to get you and Sarah off the hook!
“After that, did I get so much as a ‘thank you’ or a, a, a ‘I’ll give you a call, we’ll hang out sometime’? NO! You get in a Porsche with Sarah, and BOOM! You’re gone! Director Graham tells me and Casey to get on your ass, and we spend the next three nights listening to the two of you having wild monkey sex in your hotel rooms!”
Veronica’s voice had gotten progressively louder and louder, and she practically shouted the last part. That’s when she realized she was standing up, and people were staring. With a huff, she sat back down.
“Wow,” Chuck said dryly. “Impressive.”
“You should see me when I REALLY get riled up,” Veronica snarked.
“Yeah. Well, here’s the thing, and this is probably gonna get you really riled up. I, uh, I still have a great deal of, um, feelings toward you. I had to talk to you, get them resolved before I could feel comfortable asking Sarah to marry me.”
Veronica clasped her hands to either side of my head. “My GOD!” she said. “You’re insane, you know that?! I can’t handle this shit right now, Chuck! I just can’t! You want to RESOLVE your feelings toward me?”
She leaned in toward him. “Well, resolve THIS, jackass.” Veronica lifted her right hand, slowly extended the middle finger, and then put it right up in Chuck’s face so she could see it.
Then, without a word, she got off of her stool, grabbed her coffee, and stormed out of the Starbucks without a backward glance.
Chuck sighed. “Shit.”
3:15 P.M.
Neptune, California
Logan Echolls was poolside. He had been for most of the day. It was good to be the Balboa County Commissioner.
He was in the process of laying in the sun and gleefully allowing the ultraviolet radiation to turn his skin into one gigantic carcinoma when his phone rang. With a sigh of disgust, he grabbed it off the table next to him and hit the talk button.
“Echolls’ House of Love and Debauchery,” he said. “What’s your pleasure?”
“Dude, I fucked up. I need advice.”
Logan sat up on his chaise lounge. “Why, Charles Bartowski. What did you fuck up? Don’t tell me you have a dead prostitute in your hotel room.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Very funny, Logan,” Chuck replied. “No, I really, really pissed off Veronica.”
Logan smiled. “Ah, my good man, then you should just kiss your nuts good-bye. Men who scorn the Mars usually get verbally castrated in public.”
“Already happened, I think.”
Logan was slightly taken aback. “Wow. What the hell did you say to her?”
“I’m planning on asking Sarah to marry me, but, I’ve got these lingering feelings for Veronica that I wanted to talk to her about first. All did not go as planned, and she called me a jackass and flipped me off in the middle of a Starbucks.”
“Oh, that’s not –“
Logan stopped. “Wait a second. You’re in Vancouver. With Sarah. What the hell is Veronica doing in Vancouver?”
“Work, Logan, and that’s all I can say,” Chuck replied. “And before you even ask, yes, Sarah knew she was here.”
“Okay, I won’t ask any further,” Logan replied. “But otherwise… seriously, the best thing you can do is wait a little while – at least an hour – until she blows off some steam, and then find her and apologize. Sincerely. Don’t lie, don’t BS her. She’ll know, and then you’ll be in even deeper shit. Just be sincere and honest. Trust me. I’ve had to do it, oh, about a million times.”
Chuck sighed again. “Alright. I didn’t even mean to make her angry in the first place. I just wanted to be honest with her.”
“Dude, that’s the thing you’ve got to understand about Veronica Mars,” Logan told him. “She’s a very passionate woman with a very short fuse. You spark that fuse one way, she will blow your mind. You spark it another, she’ll just blow your brains out.”
“So I’ve gathered,” Chuck said wryly. “Okay. So apologize.”
“And be sincere.”
“Yes, Logan.”
“That’s County Supervisor Mr. Echolls to you, bud.”
6:15 P.M.
Chuck had been looking for Veronica all afternoon. He was getting desperate, and upset. He was supposed to be meeting Sarah in the lobby at 6:30. He absolutely wanted to ask her tonight, and he REALLY wanted to talk to Veronica first.
So perhaps it was a stroke of providence that she was sitting in the lobby, working on her laptop when Chuck exited the elevator. Chuck took a deep breath, and walked straight toward her.
“Hey,” he said quietly, approaching her.
She looked up and smiled. “Hi, jackass!”
Chuck’s shoulders slumped, and he bit his lip. “Can we try that again?” he asked. “Hi.”
She sighed and looked at the ground. “Hi, Chuck.”
“Listen,” he started, “I’m sorry about this afternoon. I was, um, a total asshole…”
“Yes, yes, you were.”
“I know I’ve been making your life a little rough lately, and I really wish I hadn’t. I especially wish that Sarah and I hadn’t gone out of our way to make you guys uncomfortable.”
Veronica smiled and looked at the ground. “Veronica,” Chuck continued, “look. Everything I said about having feelings for you aside, I still really, really care about you. You’re an amazing person, and without you, there’s no way I would’ve made it through the few months after I met you.”
Veronica looked up at him and nodded. “You’re probably the most honest, most sincere person I’ve ever met, Chuck,” she said with a smile. Then her smile got bigger. “You talked to Logan, didn’t you?”
Chuck threw his hands up in the air. “Have I no secrets?”
“Well, in the interest of full disclosure…”
“Oh God. Now what?”
Veronica’s smile got very coy just then, and she ducked her head a little. “Do you know what Sarah’s real name is?”
Chuck held up his hand. “No, Veronica. Don’t even go there. I don’t care if you’re an FBI agent, I can’t tell you what her real name is.”
Veronica laughed. “I already know what it is,” she replied. “How do you think we found you guys on Catalina Island?”
“Oh.” Chuck paused. “Okay,” he conceded. “So, where are you going with this?”
“Her name’s Elizabeth Reynolds,” Veronica replied. “Do you remember what I told you my mom’s maiden name was?”
Chuck thought for a moment. “Your mom’s name is… Lianne…”
His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “NO. FREAKING. WAY.”
Veronica nodded and bit her lower lip. “Lianne Reynolds,” she completed for him. “Her cousin, Marcus… they weren’t that terribly close, but she really looked up to him. He lived in Boston… and he had a daughter by the name of Elizabeth about five years before I was born.”
Chuck smacked his hands against his forehead. “You’re Sarah’s COUSIN?!”
Veronica shrugged. “Second cousin. I didn’t connect the dots myself until, oh, about two hours ago. A little research and, bada-bing, bada-boom.”
Chuck shook his head. He felt a little dizzy. “This is… um…”
And that was the point at which the elevator doors opened and Sarah stepped out. She looked stunning.
“Wow,” Chuck breathed, turning toward her. “You look… incredible.”
Sarah smiled. “Well, thank you, Chuck. You look like… well, you look great. Just like you always do.”
He grinned. “You ready to go?”
“Absolutely,” Sarah replied. “Although, I need to talk to… my COUSIN… first.”
Chuck gave Veronica a look of disbelief. “You TOLD her?!”
“Couple of hours ago,” Sarah replied. “I couldn’t believe it.”
“No more!” Chuck groaned. “My head is going to explode!”
“Okay,” Sarah said. “Then go outside while we talk.”
Chuck shook his head and headed toward the door. “I’m surrounded by crazy people,” he muttered as he left.
“So,” Sarah said to Veronica. “You know what Chuck plans on asking me tonight, right?”
“I’m very aware,” Veronica replied. “I won’t lie and say that it’s been the easiest thing for me to deal with, but I’m glad that he’s going to be happy.”
“Well, then… I mean, if you’re okay with it… um, how would you feel about being one of my bridesmaids? I mean, as the only relative I even know about on this side of the country, I would ask you to be my maid of honor, but…”
Sarah sighed. “Ellie Woodcomb has always been really, very kind to me. She accepted me into her family, and she always had the highest hopes for me and Chuck. I more than deserved the fact that she whaled on me when I showed back up, but… I think I owe it to her, and to Chuck, to see if she’d be willing to be the matron of honor.”
Veronica nodded. “I completely understand, Sarah.” Then her face broke into a smile. “And yes, I would be honored.”
She put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Now, I think it’s time for you to go get engaged.”
9:02 P.M., Pacific Daylight Time
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia
That night had been really fun. They’d been to dinner at an incredible Italian restaurant, and spent most of the last half hour exploring Stanley Park.
Now they stood just beyond the seawall on the coast. The moon hung low on the eastern horizon, a huge glowing ball of gold in the sky.
Sarah smiled. “Well, how about this,” she said softly. “We’re on a beach, and it’s the full moon rising. You wouldn’t happen to have a blue velvet box in your pocket, would you?”
“Nope,” Chuck replied, with a devious grin.
Sarah’s stomach just about dropped to her feet. “What?”
Chuck held up his left hand. The moonlight sparkled off the tip of his pinky finger.
She shook her head and laughed – but the laugh was cut off as Chuck slowly bent to one knee. The smile on his face almost glowed in the moonlight. He took her left hand in his right hand, slipped the ring off of his pinky finger, and onto her left ring finger.
“So, Sarah Walker,” he said quietly. “I’ve been thinking for a while now. You know, since, well, since I met you. I have this odd, overwhelming desire to spend the rest of my life with you. These last few days have been the best time of my life, and I really would like for every day to be like that.”
He couldn’t help it. The smile on his face got even bigger. “Sarah, how would you feel about spending the rest of your life with me?”
She smiled back coyly. “You mean…”
“Sarah Walker, will you marry me?”
She nodded, her smile growing to the same size as his. “Absolutely.”
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