The club, and the boys, had been easy to find. Compared to New York, they weren't good, but Veronica didn't need good. She just needed available. She needed a dj who could drop a decent beat (he couldn't, not really, but a continuous loop of top 40 songs wasn't too hard to fuck up) and for everyone to back the fuck off and let her dance.

It wasn't too much to ask, was it? She thought as she pushed away yet another large hand trying to circle her waist. Just a simple night out and someone vaguely attractive to bring her illegal drinks every once in awhile?

She supposed beggars couldn't be choosers. The boys were nice to look at, after all. Where Sabby had picked them up she didn't know, but between songs she'd gathered that they were college students, fraternity pledges still in town for summer classes. She hadn't talked to them much beyond that. They had names, probably, but she didn't care to remember them. They were serving their purpose, and that was what mattered.

Only...

Veronica took a break from dancing to slide rather ungracefully into a booth. Her sweaty skin stuck to the cheap vinyl backing, and she could still feel the pounding bass like an undercurrent in her own pulse. She caught the eye of one of the boys and held up her hand, miming a drink. Luckily, he got the hint. She didn't regard his intelligence too highly, but she appreciated how he simply nodded and headed for the bar. He was probably a decent guy when she wasn't feeling like such a bitch.

She opened her purse and pulled out her phone, more from habit than anything else, and was surprised to see three missed calls, one voicemail, and two texts. All from Betty. She didn't intend on calling or listening or replying or engaging in any way, but she couldn't help but read the texts when they were right there on her lock screen.

Betty:

Where did you go?

Betty:

Be safe.

God fucking dammit.

Why couldn't the girl just leave her alone. That's what she'd said, right? 'I can't be around you right now.' Veronica could still see the cold and closed expression on Betty's face as she'd spat the words at her. Like she was worthless. Like she, Veronica Lodge, wasn't as good as some dumb blonde from some dumb small town in the middle of-

fUCK

Her face fell into her hands. She couldn't do it. She wanted to feel that righteous anger, to let go of whatever hold Betty had on her, but she couldn't. Because Betty wasn't dumb, Betty was worried about her. Betty sent texts to check up on her roommate even though she was mad at her. She could feel anger at Casper, for provoking her and being an overall dick, could hate him a little for how he'd been able to get under her skin so quickly. She could even hate herself, a little bit, for letting him. But she couldn't hate Betty.

It was like some sort of strange superpower that made her unhateable. Being angry at her would have been like kicking a puppy. No matter her faults, Veronica just didn't have it in her.

It was a strange thing to have to accept about herself. She wasn't sure she was even ready to, yet.

'Went out drinking with Sabby. Back later.' She knew Betty wouldn't be happy about the insinuation that she was drinking because of their fight, but she was four drinks in and she wasn't happy about it either. She sent the message before she could second-guess anything.

Luckily, the boy had returned with her drink. Veronica didn't need to know what was in it; she threw it back easily, throat moving around the stinging liquid. Vodka of some sort, cheap in a way she wasn't used to. It seemed fitting.

She wasn't nearly drunk enough, although not for lack of trying. It was just that the boys seemed to think they could stay and talk with her after each drink they brought, or tried to drag her out on the dance floor.

This had been a mistake.

She thought it would help, a night clubbing with her friends, alcohol and music and pretty people. It always had before. But doing what she had always done, here, only invited the comparison to her nights in New York, and the college town couldn't hope to measure up. It just left her homesick instead.

She fought her way over to Sabby, who was grinding on the dance floor with a muscular blonde.

"This is boring. I'm going home." She yelled in her ear.

Even in the dim light of the club she could make out Sabrina's rolling eyes.

"What the fuck is wrong with you V? You drag us out on a Friday night to a club in a city where walking in a circle is considered a dance, and now you want to blow us off? I had a date!"

"You did? What about Harvey?"

"He's not here, is he? And he hasn't even called me all week." She shrugged, hand running back up the boys arm.

Veronica thought she might hate Sabrina a little bit, too.

"I'm getting an Uber back. Tell Sis I'm leaving."

"Whatever." Sabrina was already turning back around.

The night had cooled considerably when she stepped outside, and she'd wished she'd brought a jacket. No way she was going back inside, though. There was no reason to ruin a good storm out. She'd keep the bouncer company instead. Or maybe…? She eyed a group of guys smoking cigarettes and talking softly on the street corner, but quickly dismissed the idea of bumming a smoke. Guys who looked like that hit on girls who looked like her, or expected more for their money. She just didn't have the energy to deal with them right now.

By the time the Uber pulled up, Veronica had decided that the bouncer had won for her favorite person at the club. After asking if she needed him to call a ride, he hadn't said anything to her at all. The prize had been a hundred dollar bill pressed into his hand just before she disappeared into the back seat of the sleek black car.

It was almost two when Veronica stumbled back into their room, barely bothering with her clothes and makeup before sinking into blissful unconsciousness.


Betty never looked back after leaving Veronica outside the movie theater. After ten steps, she wanted to, desperately. After fifteen, and nearly to the door, she had slowed down considerably. She was waiting for Veronica to catch up to her, to watch her huff and roll her eyes but to see sincerity there, too, when she came back with her to apologize to Casper.

She didn't look back because she was afraid of what she wouldn't see.

By the time she'd pushed through the crowd of people leaving the theater and over to Casper and Brigitte, she'd given up on Veronica.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure." Casper grinned wryly. "Popcorn is surprisingly cushiony."

Betty shook her head. She appreciated his attempts to brush off the incident with humor, but she herself wasn't quite at that place yet. "I'm so sorry about this."

"It's not your fault."

"You warned me, though. You told me what she could be like - what she is like. And I wouldn't listen." She ran a hand over her face in shame. "I thought I knew more about her in a week than you could in several years."

Brigitte tried to wrap an arm around Betty in a comforting hug, but she ducked out of it. "Hey, it's okay. There's probably some blame to go around on both sides, isn't there, Cas?" She shot him a meaningful look, and he shifted on his feet nervously.

"Yeah. I mean, I could have been nicer to her."

"It still doesn't excuse what she did. And what's worse, I don't even think she's sorry she did it."

"Maybe she just needs some time to come around." Brigitte soothed, shepherding them towards the doors. She kept up a quick patter of commentary on the movie, trying to distract Betty from thoughts of her roommate. After a few minutes, Casper joined in as well. It kept the walk home from seeming too much like a funerary procession, but Betty couldn't bring herself to join in. She felt like such an idiot, both for believing in Veronica in the first place and her actions now. Casper was the one who had been wronged, and here he was trying to cheer her up. She should just let it go, if he had. But she missed the person she thought Veronica was. How could she reconcile the girl who saved her muffins when she was too late for breakfast and wrote little notes on her papers for class with the girl who could remorselessly try to hurt one of her friends? She felt the loss keenly.

"...Betty?"

"Sorry?"

"We're at your room." Brigitte still looked concerned, so Betty curved her lips in a smile and fluttered her hands vaguely.

"It'll look better in the morning, once everyone's had a chance to sleep on it." Brigitte promised. "Try to relax, okay?"

"Yeah." Betty replied. "I guess I'm just tired. Lunch tomorrow?"

Casper nodded. "I'll text you."

Veronica wasn't in the room, so Betty glanced at her phone. It had been on silent because of the movie, so maybe...but no. Nothing from Veronica.

Her stomach lurched a little thinking of all the things that could happen to a girl alone in an unfamiliar city, but she forced those thoughts aside. Veronica was smart. Just because she didn't call Betty didn't mean she hadn't called one of her other friends. And besides, Betty told herself firmly, she was still mad at her.

She made herself get changed, turn off the light, and get into bed before she called the first time. No answer.

She very resolutely waited fifteen minutes before calling again, with the same result.

She checked her phone to see if she had Sabrina's or Melissa's numbers, cursed herself for never bothering to get their contact information, and left a voicemail this time.

"Veronica, where are you? I mean...I…" she hadn't thought this through very well. "Just let me know you're okay."

She sent two texts, just in case.

Twenty minutes later her phone buzzed with Veronica's reply. Short and totally impersonal. So Veronica was still mad at her.

Fine. If she wanted to go off and get drunk and do God knows what else, that was none of Betty's business. Veronica could just do whatever, and damn the consequences, apparently.

Betty tossed and turned for an hour, trying in vain to get her brain to shut up and let her sleep. Finally she got up with a growl, stalking out the door and then back, dropping a note on Veronica's desk. She slipped back into bed disgusted with herself, but almost instantly able to sleep.


"So do you want to tell me what happened back there?" Brigitte was walking Casper back to his room.

"Veronica Lodge is a bitch?"

"Somehow I doubt that's the whole story."

Casper sighed, but he'd known her long enough that she'd get it out of him one way or another. "I might have said some things about how totally unfit she was to be Betty's friend."

The ghost of a smile appeared on Brigitte's lips. "So someone finally got tired of you being a total ass. It was bound to happen. What's your deal with her anyway? I know she went all first season Quinn Fabray on you, but you've been talking shit about her since before that."

Casper's eyes hardened, and he pulled her into a common room. At that time of night, all the students were either asleep or still out breaking curfew.

"You don't know these people, Brig. They aren't like us. Someone like Veronica, she'll tear Betty apart and never even realize she's doing it. Betty deserves better than that."

She looked at him with sudden understanding and he ducked his head, unable to meet her eyes.

"Just like you did, right?"

"It was what it was." He ground out. "I got through it, but it killed a part of me. That kid from Centerville, who thought strangers were just friends you hadn't met yet?" He laughed bitterly. "That kid's a ghost. I don't want that to happen to Betty."

"You should tell Betty you were provoking her, Cas. Veronica's not them. And I think you're giving Betty too little credit." She smirked. "Maybe she'll rub off on her."

Casper rolled his eyes, but was smiling as he did it. "That's just what I'm afraid of."


When Veronica woke up in the morning - closer to lunch, really - Betty was gone, but she rolled over and noticed a glass of water and two pills on her desk. Underneath was a note, slightly damp with condensation.

'Take this, you idiot - B'

Well, Betty probably wasn't going to poison her, Veronica thought, chasing the pills with the water. And even if she were death would be preferable to the pounding in her head that had announced its presence as soon as she sat up.

Showered and dressed, Veronica was glad Betty was gone. The thought of facing her when she'd gone off in a huff and Betty had gone out of her way to make sure she was ok - she didn't know what she could say. Especially since she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

She chose instead to hole herself up in the nearest library. When you're too ashamed to face one set of friends and the others are still mad at you for ditching, you bury yourself in a book and hope for the best. Veronica had chosen Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos, in the hope that a story about stranded humans evolving into furry penguins wouldn't remind her of any of the events that had taken place in the last twenty-four hours.

"That, in my opinion, was the most diabolical aspect of those old-time big brains: They would tell their owners, in effect, 'Here is a crazy thing we could actually do, probably, but we would never do it, of course. It's just fun to think about.'

"And then, as though in trances, the people would actually do it."

Or maybe not.

She kept reading, though, because the idea that humans a million years in the future wouldn't get themselves in the kind of trouble she had was a comforting thought. It was warm in her little spot, curled up like a cat, and she was just dozing off when someone plucked the book out of her drooping hand. She started awake.

Betty was standing in front of her, eyes unreadable.

"Hey."

Veronica pulled her knees closer to her chest. The movement freed enough room on the couch for Betty to sit down.

"Hey."

Betty played with the pages of the book as if she didn't quite know what to say, which was good, because neither did Veronica. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Thanks for the medicine."

Betty nodded, but stayed silent.

"I shouldn't have left without tell you where I was going." She tried again.

"No, you shouldn't have, but I - I shouldn't have yelled at you. Before I knew the whole story." She flicked her eyes to Veronica's, then back to the book. "Casper told me he what he said to you."

"Oh." Veronica wondered if he'd told her the whole truth, or some of it, or none of it. "I shouldn't have -" the words stuck in her throat, but she swallowed and forced them out. "I shouldn't have tripped him."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Betty stood up, and Veronica noticed absently that she'd lost her place, an earlier page bookmarked under slender fingers. "Think about it, okay?" Betty moved her hand slightly, and Veronica wondered if she was going to touch her. The thought burned in the corners of her eyes.

"Did you get lunch? And be sure to drink water."

Veronica smiled. "Thanks, WebMD."

Betty didn't smile back, but the air between them felt lighter. Veronica felt like they could move in it, now.

"I'll see you later?"

"Yeah."

Veronica's eyes followed Betty until she disappeared between the stacks, then picked up her book and opened it to the dog-eared mark. It was the first page, a quote from Anne Frank.

"In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart."

Thirty minutes later, Veronica had gotten through about three pages. She wasn't really surprised when she heard a throat clear and looked up to see that Casper had appeared before her.

"Did Betty send you?"

He shrugged ruefully. "She likes to fix things."

"She said I needed to apologize to you."

"It would be nice. If it helps I'll go first and show you how it's done. I'm sorry I've been such a dick to you."

"I'm sorry I tripped you into a giant bag of popcorn, hilarious though it may have been."

Casper barked a laugh. "Yeah, ok. I'll take it. I told Betty I might have said some things to provoke you."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I realized I didn't want to be like you. Are you really sorry?"

Veronica considered this. She was sorry Betty was mad at her. But was she sorry that she'd tripped him in the first place? "Not really" He'd deserved it.

"Then why are you apologizing?"

Her eyes widened. It was obvious, of course, because Betty wanted her to. But that reason seemed incomplete somehow.

"Betty told me to." She answered.

Casper smiled. "She has that effect on people."


Veronica and Casper joined Betty and Brigitte for lunch on Sunday, and Brigitte grinned up at them as they set their trays down.

"Did you two kiss and make up?"

They both immediately looked ill.

"Please don't say that ever again." Casper begged.

"Finally something we agree on." Veronica added, sitting down next to Betty.

"We have reached a detente."

"Thank God." Brigitte said, stealing a french fry off of Casper's plate. "Now we can talk about the really important stuff; do you think Prof. Strand will let me play my guitar for the next assignment?"

Casper protested indignantly about the theft of his fry, threatening to break into 'Food, Glorious Food,' from Oliver if Brigitte kept stealing from him. Betty just smiled, happy that two of her favorite people were getting along. She placed a hand on Veronica's thigh, leaning in so her lips just caught the edge of her ear.

"I'm proud of you."

Veronica blushed.