Disclaimer: All rights to Riverdale and its characters belong to their rightful owners.
Summary: A series of one-shots based around different pairings. Trigger warnings, drug use and some adult themes. Will feature Varchie, Cheronica, Vughead and Bughead with maybe some others too- summary of each one-shot and the pairing will be at the start of each story.
Title: Kiss Me Sweetly
Chaos Theory (Cheronica)
Summary: Riverdale- a perfect post-card town by day, and a drug-ridden party haven by night- a fact that Veronica and Cheryl have gotten all too familiar with in the last year. WARNING- adult themes and drug misuse.
It had been a year since Archie had left, taking with him both Betty and the majority of Veronica's heart. She sighed heavily, running her hand through the soft red curls that splayed across her chest. The jingle-jangle had mostly worn off now, yet she still felt the blood running through her veins, her heart beating fast at each and every touch. She wasn't sure how she had gotten to this point. Except that was a lie, she knew why- through heartbreak. She knew that was why she swapped mimosas for absinthe, swizzles for jingle-jangle and the memories of dear old Archiekins for meaningless nights with Cheryl Bombshell.
The light of the moon cut through the curtains, leaving a dim and hazy sheet along the polished wooden floor of their penthouse apartment. The air was thick with an intense silence, so thick Veronica thought you may be able to pierce it with a knife. She chewed her lip solemnly, debating what to say; debating what she could say. This was the problem with jingle, after the intense high, after the kisses broken by drunken laughter, after the passionate tearing of clothes, there was the agonizing low. This time it was different. This time the silence was broken by a soft and gentle sob. Cheryl pulled herself away and wiped her smudged mascara from her eyes.
"Ronnie..." Her voice quivered as she spoke. "I...I can't do this anymore." Veronica nodded silently. A month after Archie left she and Cheryl had raised hell in the nightclubs of Riverdale, shooting spirits and burning a hole in daddy's pocket. They had gotten close, and soon that closeness had led to something more. Six months after Archie left, she and Cheryl had begun to throw away their worries along with their clothes, burying their primal fears in each other's kisses. Despite their year together she had never forgotten that the rose which had blossomed also had to wither. "Say something...please?"
"There's nothing to say, C. We were a distraction for one another, nothing more. It's not the end of the world." Veronica bit back tears. Perhaps that was how she saw it a few months ago, but now? Now things had changed. She knew it in the way her pulse raced at the slightest touch of her soft pale skin. She knew it in the way her smile made her feel light and weightless. They had been through hell together, and that wasn't meaningless at all.
"That's the problem, Veronica. Maybe that's how you see it but me? God I'm tired of pretending that I don't smile when I see you walk through the door. I'm tired of pretending that I sleep in your t-shirts just because they're comfortable. I'm tired of hiding the fact that when I see you in the morning, and your hair is stuck up and you're dancing around the kitchen, I can't look away." Her voice softened suddenly. "The way I feel about you... its agony pretending that it means nothing to me... that you mean nothing to me." A tear slid down her cheek as she spoke. "I'm not trying to be the bad person, Ronnie... but what we're doing is dangerous." Veronica smiled silently and lifter her eyes to meet Cheryl's. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and in that moment she saw novels in her eyes.
"I don't think you have the capacity to be a bad person, C." She sighed as she moved a little closer to her, their lips now inches away.
"Don't..." Cheryl whispered, her voice quivering at the sensation of Veronica's breath against her skin. "Ronnie, please." She spoke with pleading tones, but Veronica sensed something in her words. It was something deep and urgent. "It's... It's cruel of you." Veronica dropped her gaze and leant back against the bed. Her heart pounded in her chest, rattling against her ribcage furious with passion.
"It's not, Cheryl." She said, keeping her eyes low and focused on her perfectly manicured hands. "Do you remember when we saw each other after me and Arch split?" She raised her pleading eyes and smiled. "I said that I too was ready for chaos and you said that I didn't know what chaos was... do you remember that?" Cheryl nodded silently, her eyes filling with salty tears. "You were right, I didn't. Now though? Now I do." A bitter laugh escaped Cheryl's lips as she stood and instinctively pulled one of Veronica's t-shirts over her head.
"Of course you do. Chaos is all you know now, V. We drink and we do drugs and we sleep together, and when we wake up we forget it all happened until the next time we do it. That's chaotic, right? In fact it's a complete and utter mind-fuck!" Her voice seemed angry and hurt, but it was her face that cut Veronica to the core. Tears made delicate tracks down her cheeks and her eyes pleaded with her to stop. With an exasperated sigh, Veronica rose yet she could not bring herself to face the hurt that she had caused. Her eyes stung as mascara dripped from them and slowly fell to the floor in tiny, sorrowful puddles.
"No!" She shouted, finally turning to Cheryl. Her body was a slender silhouette against the curtains but she could see the pain on her face. "It's you, Cheryl. It's the way you make me feel. It makes me do things, stupid, horrible things because I'm so afraid of loving you. So I push you away, and I hurt you and I use you because I know that I... I'm not good for you. I'm not good for anybody..." Her body slumped onto the bed, defeated. More and more tears strode furiously down her face as she pushed her hair back, breathing in deep, shaking sobs. "...and I wish that I could be. Because being with you is the most wonderful, most perfect dream." She paused, searching for a button to rewind time so that she could fix everything that she had broken. "I'm a terrible person, Cheryl and I always have been but... I'm sorry." Her voice broke and her hands shook violently. Through the darkness, a slender arm reached around her shoulders and pulled her back into a warm embrace. She listened to the sound of her heart beating softly and hers began to slow until they beat in sync with each other. Each touch on her skin was electric.
"You're not terrible Ronnie, you're human... and I want to see where this can go but you have to promise me something." Veronica sighed with relief and pulled her closer, already knowing what she wanted.
"I promise, I promise I'm done. No more drinking, no more jingle, I'm done. Please, I just need you." Cheryl pulled away and gently wiped the tears from her now soaked face, pulling her closer and pressing their lips together. Her lips lingered on hers for the sweetest moment. It was the most innocent of kisses. It was the kind that made time a fleeting and unimportant concept. Veronica gently lay her head on Cheryl's chest as she ran her slim fingers through her hair.
"Cheryl?" She mumbled, tracing circles on her toned waist. "I thought that Archie had taken my heart with him when he left." She felt Cheryl's heart drop at the sound of his name. "But he didn't, because it's right here with you. It's always been with you." She dropped soft kisses onto her neck as she nuzzled deeper into her scent before closing her eyes and falling asleep to the rhythmic comfort of her heartbeat. She didn't need the drugs anymore because she had her. And she was completely addicted to her.
I have never written a Cheronica piece before but I do think that they're adorable so I thought I'd give it a go! It's also the first time I've written in years so please go easy on me. Hope you liked it, leave a comment of which pairing you'd like to see next! Much love – N