If there were ever a night that really solidified what their relationship was, it was a couple of months after Fred Andrews was shot.

It was a night where they all forgot about the blackhood and the war between the north and south side. With the leader of the Goulies in jail, things were in a strange state of limbo for Jughead and the serpents, Betty and Jughead had made their way back to each other after she explained how she was being threatened and while things weren't how they were before, they were getting there, and Veronica and Archie, strangely enough to everyone but them, were still going strong.

Archie got to the party at Reggie's place about an hour after she did because he was saying bye to his mother who had come for a visit when Betty found him.

"Hey Betts," he greeted hugging her.

"Arch, you need to find V," she said patting his arm. "She's been avoiding me since she got here and she looks ... lost."

"Jingle Jangle might be involved," Jughead commented, coming to stand against Betty and nodding his head in the direction of the private rooms upstairs. Jughead was never one for a party, he preferred to stay away from people that he didn't particularly care for but Betty insisted that he join her and he grudgingly obliged.

Archie nodded and left them, avoiding tipsy students till he found Reggie. "Dude," Reggie said, his eyes not completely focused on Archie. "You made it."

"Yeah, finally, where's Veronica?" he asked and Reggie shrugged scratching his head and looking around. "I think she went into that room."

All Archie found in the room Reggie pointed out to him was a very annoyed couple, who pushed him out of the room so they could continue. Archie shook his head unsure if he wanted to open any other doors if that's the sight he was going to see.

"Archie Andrews, what are you doing standing in the middle of the hallway?" a voice asked from behind him and he turned around, relieved to see a mostly sober Josie looking at him. "V is out on the balcony, she needed some air."

"Thank you," he said hugging her quickly because she was the only one that had any proper locations for him and then he started running, jumping over someone on the floor on his way out, he almost smashed into the sliding door, if it wasn't for a cat sticker on the glass he wouldn't have thought it was closed.

She was leaning on the banister, a red cup dangling from her hand as she watched the chaos below her. This was different, he knew her when she was sober, he knew her when she was drunk and he knew her after she had Jingle Jangle, she was not quiet or solemn or one to isolate herself in any one of those states.

He walked up behind her and pressed himself to her back, moulding himself around her and placing his hands on either side of her on the banister, he knew that she'd know it was him, she always had this uncanny sense of knowing where he was in proximity to herself.

"Archikins," she breathed, straitening herself out a little and tilted her head to press her lips to his jaw. "Is your mom gone?"

"Yes, she'll send a message when she gets home," he told her and she made a noise of acknowledgement. "Betty said you've been avoiding her."

"I've been avoiding everyone," she said picking her cup up and holding it to him. "You need to get on my level."

Archie moved over and leaned on the railing next to her, taking the cup and draining the contents. "Jeez Ronnie," he said coughing. "What is in here?"

She held up her other hand with the half full bottle of vodka and smiled sweetly. "I didn't bring anything to mix it with," she said pouring herself another shot and drinking it like she was having water. "Come on Archikins, I know you can handle it."

Archie narrowed his eyes at her but took the bottle out of her hands and poured another shot, holding both the bottle and the cup out of her reach. "First you need to tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," she muttered and running her hands down his chest and clutching the material in her hands using it to pull herself forward and press up against him. "I just didn't want to be around anyone without you."

Archie didn't say anything he just kissed her, he knew that part was true, he could see it on her face, but he would find out the reason for her clingyness before the night was out, he just needed to ask at the right time. "Now that I'm here, do you want to go back downstairs and socialize?"

She looked up at him with a cheeky grin and picked at the buttons of his shirt but before he could kiss her again, there was a crash downstairs and a couple of screams and the silence of no music. Archie and Veronica looked at each other startled and Veronica sighed, knowing that they'd have to leave this private spot now, Archie would always try to help when there was trouble.

"Always the hero babe," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him to where the commotion was.

Reggie had managed to get himself in a fight with Chuck, a table was overturned and a couch was on it's side, Archie was one of the only ones in the state of mind to stop the fight so he jumped in to help Jughead and two of his teammates separate the boys. Chuck was pushed outside and Reggie was pushed into the kitchen, still screaming for Chuck's head and pushing himself to get through the door.

"Don't worry boy's, I have it from here," Josie told them, holding up a wet cloth and bandage for the cut on his cheek and Archie and Jughead left with the promise to be close by in case he gets away from her clutches to which Josie just raised an eyebrow for him to try.

"Are they together?" Jughead asked when they left the kitchen, Jughead with drinks and a bag of chips, and Archie shrugged.

"Seem's like it," he said spotting Veronica and Betty sitting on the right side up couch. "What was that about anyway?" he asked slipping in close next to Veronica on the couch.

"Chuck said something stupid," Jughead said rolling his eyes and Betty leaned against him.

"Chuck made a comment about Ethel's dress and Reggie defended her honor," Betty clarified, reaching out to take the cup from her boyfriends hand so she could drink whatever he poured for her. "But I think Reggie thought the comment was about Josie, that's why he was so riled up."

"Huh, so they are together," Jughead said nodding to himself and digging into the bag of chips.

"Wanna dance?" Veronica asked softly when the music was back on properly and Archie nodded, the bottle of vodka that was half empty when he got in was now finished and on the floor when she stood up, Betty looked up worriedly but Archie shook his head and led his girlfriend onto the dance floor making her do some ridiculous spins as they walked to a spot to dance at and Veronica giggled for the first time since he got there and he smiled, spinning her one more time before drawing her close to him.

"Betty's worried," he told her and she sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder.

"Betty is always worried, don't worry, I'll go make it up to her," she said smiling when the song changed and pulling at his arms so she could spin around and dance with her back against him. "Not right now though."

Archie danced with her and then watched as she danced with Betty and Josie and Cheryl, even pulling Jughead onto the floor for a song, she looked free but there were moments where her face changed as if she remembered something awful but she'd take a shot and the smile would be back on her face, and you would never know that her face changed if you weren't looking at her.

"Ok, we're done, let's get you home," Archie said after she and Reggie had their last shot, it was late, most people were already gone, it was just a handful of them left and only Veronica and Reggie were still drinking.

"Noooooo, it's still early," she whined and Archie bent down and picked her up throwing her easily over his shoulder and saying bye to the people remaining. "Archikins..."

"It's late, you're drunk, your father is going to kill us both," he joked, although he wasn't really sure how much of a joke that was, Hiram Lodge might actually try to kill him for bringing his daughter home in this state, he and Archie had never found much understanding with each other preferring to avoid each other. Veronica froze and Archie felt her body tense up so he gently lowered her to stand in front of him and cupped her face.

"Anywhere but there," she whispered with tears in her eyes, Archie had known Veronica for 2 years, they had been through alot during that time and never before had he seen her this vulnerable. "Please."

"Ok, you'll come home with me," he said running his fingers through her hair and pulling her to him. "My dad will just have to deal with it."

"You're too good to me Archikins," she said already in a better mood and he laughed, scooping her up again to carry her because she was walking too wobbly and slowly for him. "You're my favorite person."

"Well that's a really good thing because you're my favorite person too," he said and she smiled, almost as if she were relieved that he felt the same, tracing out the contours of his face and kicking her legs as they walked. "How much did you drink?"

"I dunno," she said with a shrug. "The drinks kept coming and I kept drinking."

Her speech was slurred and half of the things she was saying sounded like she was trying to sing them but he didn't mind any of that because he loved her. It was a thought that was bubbling in his mind for a while, he hadn't quite said it out aloud yet and he doubted tonight would be that night but as she leaned back in his arms, with the utmost trust in him in her drunken state, he was struck by exactly how much he loved her.

It was a short walk to his house, Veronica was silent through most of their trip, he almost thought she'd fallen asleep but a quick look at her face told him she was still awake. "We're going to have to be quiet now ok?" he said when he set her down at his front door so he could open it.

"Ok," she whispered with her most serious face when he opened the door. She tumbled in and almost crashed into the coat hanger, Archie caught her and put his finger to his lips and laughed as she tried to quieten her giggling. His dad was probably already awake and he knew that Veronica was there, the best Archie could do was try not to make too much of a racket. The stairs looked daunting but Veronica made it up with minimal help from Archie and deposited herself onto his bed, waiting for him to close his door and join her.

Veronica looked at him with sleepy eyes and smiled as he got out an old t-shirt for her to wear and shook her head, no, he narrowed his eyes but took the shirt out anyway, putting it on his desk.

"You're going to be uncomfortable in that," he said coming to sit on the bed in front of her when she sat up and pulled her legs over his so he could take off her shoes, wondering how she could possibly walk around in those things the whole night and not complain. "I texted your mom and told her that you went home with Betty, but I'm sure she knows you're with me."

"The safest place in the world," she said softly, running her finger back and forth across his chest and then she tugged at the t-shirt he was wearing to bring him in for a kiss.

"What are you thinking?" he asked when they broke apart, he reached for her skirt, pulling it off as she watched him pensively, after she helped him take her top off he reached for the t-shirt he grabbed before to put it on and she shook her head again, pulling at the one he had on. "Ronnie, this one smells bad," he laughed but shed the button down shirt he was wearing and pulled the under t-shirt over his head and handed it to her. "I've been wearing it the whole day."

"T'Smells like you," she told him, smiling and slipping it on and waiting for him to get rid of his pants so he could slip into bed with her, tucking her into the side of his body. "My dad is doing something illegal again."

Archie furrowed his brow and looked down at the top of her head. "What do you mean?" he asked, the patterns she was drawing on his chest paused for a second before she continued.

"I heard a conversation I shouldn't have heard," she whispered taking a shaky breath. "There have been signs for months, all those things happening on the south side, all the bad things, he's behind it, maybe even the blackhood, and I don't know when it's going to blow up Archie, but it's going to be soon."

"Hey," he said pushing himself up and taking her with him so they were both seated and he could look at her and cup her cheek in his hand. "Maybe you just heard wrong, maybe it's not what you think."

"I know what I heard," she said pushing herself out of his arms and Archie sighed, Veronica loved her father and her father always managed to build up her trust just enough so he could break it, Archie didn't think it was intentional on Hiram's part to hurt her, he just wanted Veronica to be loyal to whatever he had to do. But Veronica had too much of a conscious, especially after her move to Riverdale to be ok with the way he conducted his business the way Hermione was.

"Is that what tonight was about?" he asked and she nodded, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall and Archie pulled her back to him, cradling her to his chest as she tried not to cry. "I can't tell you that your dad would never do any of that because we both know I'd be lying," he said and she nodded against him. "But you're not alone Ronnie, whatever happens we'll be there, I will be right there next to you no matter what."

Veronica pulled away from him so she could look into his eyes threading the fingers of her right hand into the hair at the base of his neck and leaning in to kiss him sweetly. "I love you, you know that," she said after a long stretch of silence and everything that Archie was thinking to say to her and reassure her flew out of his head. "I don't know what I'd do or where I'd go if I didn't have you."

Archie said nothing else, he couldn't, he just lay them back down and felt her fall asleep by the evenness of her breath.

"I love you too Veronica," he told her knowing she wouldn't hear it, he'd save the heartfelt confession for another day, when there was no alcohol involved, for now he'd settle for just holding her as she slept and keeping her safe from her demons until morning came and she'd have to face them without him.

A/N: I have loved Veronica and Archie since I was a kid reading the comics but when Riverdale came on and Veronica walked into Pop's in the first episode and Archie's eyes were only on her, I was hooked, I ship them more than I've shipped anything in a while! And Cami and KJ have this incredible chemistry that makes everything that much better

I was hesitant to post this but I like this little one-shot, it's just meant to be a snapshot in the life of my Varchie, I wrote this before 2x06 but I have decided that I want to make this as cannon complainant as possible so I edited it to cater for 2x06 even though there isn't any mention of the events in the episode, if there are errors let me know, I'm hoping I got the characters correct

I want this to be a one-shot series for this couple following the show and maybe doing snapshots of them in the future, let me know if you guys have any prompts or things you want to see
Side-note: I can't write smut, like I have tried multiple times and failed so these one-shots will remain teen unless i decided to try my hand again and like what I come up with but there will be disclaimers if that happens

Until next time (^^,)