"I cannot believe that your parents are trusting Jughead as the parental supervision tomorrow," Kevin mused as he, Veronica and Betty strolled through the halls of Riverdale high toward the girls' lockers. "That is terrible judgement on their part and wonderful news for us."
"My brother and Archie have a particular knack for convincing my parents that they are angels, as proven by the crazy lake house parties this school has seen since he and Archie got onto the varsity team," Veronica giggled as she and Betty opened their lockers. "I cannot wait for tomorrow."
"I feel like the whole school will be there," Betty said carefully placing her books in their correct places and pulling out the one's she needed for their next set of classes.
"Almost," Veronica said thinking for a moment, she had invited her nearest and dearest and then let her brother take over the rest of the inviting. Her parents were going to take them to the lake house for a little family time before leaving them to their own devices. She almost didn't believe it when Jughead managed to convince their parents to let him and Archie chaperone the 'little 16 year olds' party before telling her to leave it all up to him. "It's going to be his usual crowd, only this time we get to be there and we get to be VIP's."
"That makes me feel very special," Betty said thinking about it as she closed her locker door.
"It really sucks that all these amazing parties literally happened at your house but you never got to go to them," Kevin said and Veronica made a face, up until she made the cheerleading squad her brother looked at her like she was a child in need of protection from the big bad world and that is exactly what he did, protected her from everything, including all the fun. "Is that finally going to change?"
"Well, you guys saw him at the game last week, he's actually offering to take me to these parties, not locking me up in my tower anymore," Veronica told them, closing her own locker with a sigh. "I'll finally get my freedom."
Jughead was fiercely protective of Veronica, to a fault. Their parents were involved but not always present, business took them to all ends of the world and while they made sure their children had what they needed and they were in Riverdale for the major events like birthdays and graduations, everything else just slipped through the cracks, which made Jughead's big brother instincts go into overdrive where Veronica was concerned, trying to be that parental figure for her while they were away. Their parents know this much and it was probably why they trusted him as much as they did with her party.
"Are you sure about that freedom?" Betty laughed, linking her arm with Veronica's as they finally got through the crowd of students to Kevin's locker. "Any time one of the Bulldogs got close enough to you at Pop's after the game, Jughead and Archie were right there."
"I think Archie might have even been scarier than Jughead this time," Kevin mused, Veronica just stood there tipping her head back to the ceiling and waiting for her friends to get over how possessive Jughead was that night, even Archie, who was usually the one dragging Jughead away and giving her some space, was right there, not so subtly letting whoever she was talking to that they were getting too close.
"I don't think I've ever seen you more annoyed with them before," Betty said shaking her head at the memory.
"Oh remember when Reggie decided he wanted to be Veronica's boyfriend on the first day off school," Kevin said with a snort, making Betty laugh at the memory and Veronica scowl at him for bringing it up.
On their first day of high school, Reggie had set his sights on Veronica coming over to their little group seated at the lunch table and throwing an arm around Veronica like they had been best friends forever and then introducing himself to them. Jughead walked up behind them, from wherever he was watching and picked the new guy up like he was a much smaller child, moving him to the side and sitting between them before turning to Reggie with a smile, almost daring him to start something. Archie appeared on Veronica's other side, presumably to stop any other person they didn't know from sitting next to her, eating his lunch like nothing had happened and smiling over at Betty and Kevin as if he had been there for the whole conversation.
Veronica was mortified and while it did nothing to stop Reggie from hanging out with them it did put them off from ever actually dating each other.
"Ok fine, so maybe I don't have that much hope for freedom this year," Veronica said slowly. "But I'm hoping that with this party and me being on the cheer squad and actually being a part of his world, he'll forget that I'm his little sister and just see me as his sister."
"In other words you just want him to lift his ban on you dating the hot football players," Kevin laughed and Veronica rolled her eyes, not just football players, anyone. Jughead never approved of anyone she dated, to be fair she had only ever had one public boyfriend who Jughead hated more than anyone and his resolve to keep her out of the dating word until she was out of school where boys could 'think with their heads, not with their dicks', was strengthened when that relationship fell apart as badly as it did. It was a testament to how scary Jughead could be that Veronica had her flings and her brother never found out about them. "Or just one hot football player in particular."
"Would you stop," Veronica chastised with a huff, knowing immediately that he was referring to Archie. "Nothing is happening or going to happen there, don't get your hopes up."
"V, his hopes are already through the roof," Betty said dryly and Kevin nodded, slamming his locker door shut.
"Just you wait, tomorrow he's going to sweep you off your feet and kiss you under the stars," Kevin said sighing dramatically, Betty and Veronica shared a look that said they had lost Kevin to the dream world. Although Betty also knew that there was something changing in Veronica and Archie's relationship and adding alcohol to that tomorrow might just force them to act on it.
"Speaking off tomorrow, are you guys going to be there early?" Veronica asked hopefully and Betty nodded.
"Reg is going to drive us up a couple hours before to help with the set-up," Betty replied and Veronica grinned, her brothers' protectiveness aside, she couldn't wait for her birthday.
Veronica was woken up extra early on the morning of her 16th birthday to her parents singing 'Happy Birthday' to her. She excitedly pulled her sleep mask off her eyes and clapped her hands together as they presented her with a single Magnolia cupcake, flown in from New York, with a birthday candle burning on top of it.
"Make a wish Mija," her mother, Hermione, encouraged as she had done every year since Veronica could remember, handing her the cupcake and sitting next to her on the bed, as FP perched himself on her desk chair with a smile.
Veronica closed her eyes, thinking for a second of what she wanted to wish for this year before blowing out the candle and grinning up at her parents.
"My little girl is 16," FP said, wiping a fake tear from his cheek and Veronica laughed and held her hands out expectantly waiting for her first gift of the day. "Do you want a hug?"
"They didn't get you anything this year, you're too old for gifts," Jughead said strolling into the room and catching the pout on his sisters face, before jumping onto the bed another one of the Magnolia cupcakes already half eaten in his hand. "These things taste so much better when they fly them in for your birthday."
"Hey, those are mine! Mom," Veronica complained glaring at her brother before turning to her mother and waiting for her to reprimand him. Hermione sighed and looked over at her son who smiled closed mouthed to her, the rest of the cupcake in his mouth.
"Just one day son, you couldn't have just given her one day?" FP said shaking his head, pulling Veronica's attention from her brother back to her father. "Don't worry, there's more in the kitchen."
"If not, Forsythe Pendle the third here will personally go to New York and buy you more cupcakes," Hermione promised, smirking at the disdain on her son's face at the use of his full name. "Now, your father and I have something for you."
"What is it?" Veronica asked, her excitement from before Jughead's appearance back as her father pulled out a Tiffany's box from behind his back and placed it in her waiting hands.
"It's that damn pearl necklace you've been hinting at every time you open that damn catalogue," FP teased with fake exasperation in his voice once Veronica had opened the box to find the delicate band of pearls nestled inside.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed, hugging her mother before jumping up and hugging her father as well.
"Jeez sis, it's too early for you to be this preppy," Jughead complained covering his ears and Veronica just stuck her tongue out at him. "Mature."
"Here, let me put it on for you," FP told her before either of his children said anything else, taking the necklace out and draping it around her neck, tucking her to his side and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Fit for a princess."
"Which is exactly what she is," Jughead said swiping some of the frosting from her cupcake and Veronica frowned at him for his tone and the frosting. "Don't look at me like that, my present to you is babysitting tonight, so you better be nice to me."
"I'm still not completely convinced we should leave you in change," Hermione told him, reaching out to brush his hair out of his eyes when he took Veronica's place and cuddled up to his mother. "You're not the most responsible person, Mijo."
"No, he is not," FP said, a hint of warning in his voice and his eyes hard as he looked at Jughead who nodded, Veronica stilled and looked between them worriedly. "But we all know our favourite girl wants a party with no parental supervision and there is no-one more protective of his sister than Jug is, so of course nothing will go wrong tonight."
"Of course not," Jughead said nodding to his parents nonchalantly and Veronica watched him struggling to keep her poker face on, of course her parents knew what the plan was, this was the first warning that nothing was to happen and if something went wrong there would be hell to pay. "This is going to be the most boring 16th birthday ever, Archie and I will see to that."
"Sounds perfect," FP exclaimed with a grin, he bent down and picked his daughter up in a bear hug. "Once you two are ready we'll head up to the lake house, there's more surprises to come."
"I love the sound of that," Veronica said happily, she didn't think she was going to stop smiling that day.
"We know," Hermione laughed, pressing kisses to both her children's heads. "Breakfast will be waiting when you're done."
"They know," Veronica hissed getting back into bed as soon as her parents were out of her room.
"Of course they know," Jughead snorted like it was the most obvious thing in the world, lying flat on his back and tossing one of her teddy bears up into the air and catching it. "They know everything, they just need to warn us to be careful and not talk about it so they have plausible deniability, as long as no-one gets hurt, maimed or killed on our property, they don't care."
"Then what was that look between you and dad?" Veronica asked, she was sure that he was going to shut down her night by the way he looked at Jughead. Until then she had always assumed her parents were oblivious to Jughead's wild lake house parties, she and Jughead were left alone for long periods of time, with only phone calls from their parents were they could easily lie about what was happening, their ignorance was expected.
"He's just concerned because his precious little baby is going to be the centre of attention at this party," Jughead scoffed. "He expects me to keep you far away from alcohol and drugs and boys looking to 'steal your virtue'."
"That does sound boring," Veronica said making a face and Jughead snorted, she knew that alcohol would definitely be there and Jughead would never allow drugs at any of his parties, but as for boys, she could probably sneak around her brother if someone caught her eye tonight. "You can lie to dad, right?"
"Please, I'm an expert by now," Jughead grinned, tossing the bear to her before jumping off the bed and pressing a kiss to his sister's cheek. "Happy Birthday kid."
Veronica took a deep breath and flopped back onto her bed smiling happily to herself, she was finally 16, she felt like she had been waiting for this day forever and it was finally here, she couldn't wait for tonight.
"Oh my goodness, V," Betty gasped when she entered the Jones' Lake House to find her best friend in her floor length princess gown, complete with a crown on her head and pearls around her wrist and neck. "You look gorgeous."
"I was going for dramatic," Veronica said striking a pose for them, making her friends laugh.
"Wow," Reggie said.
"You definitely nailed that," Kevin told her, snapping a few pictures as Betty ran over to hug Veronica. "Happy Birthday."
"Wow," Reggie repeated, just standing there and staring at her and Veronica shook her head at him motioning the boys over for a group hug.
"Thank you," Veronica said when they broke apart, grasping the sides of her dress and puffed it up to show how big the bottom was. "I'm only wearing it until the party starts, then I'll change into something that requires less space to move around in."
"The crown stays," Kevin said grinning at her and Veronica nodded, obviously, she was truly a princess today.
"Oh you guys are here early," Hermione exclaimed spotting Veronica's friends as she entered the room. "There's still cake in the kitchen from earlier."
"And Jughead didn't finish it?" Betty asked, remembering some of the sleepovers she had at Veronica's where they always had junk food for midnight snacks, until Jughead saw them, he was like a human garbage disposal. Hermione just rolled her eyes at her son's appetite.
"He tried but Archie called so he ran out to meet him and the girls," Hermione told them and Betty and Veronica shared an annoyed look at the mention of 'the girls', they really didn't want to spend any more time than necessary with Ginger and Harper. "Didn't you see him come through here?"
"Archie probably parked at the back," Veronica supplied, because their families were so close, this house was practically Archie's, he knew the back roads and shortcuts in and out better than she did.
"So where's this cake?" Reggie reminded them and Hermione smiled and tiled her head toward the kitchen.
"Follow me," she said motioning for them to follow her.
Veronica snorted when Reggie mouthed 'I love this woman' to her, pointing to her mother as they followed Hermione into the kitchen, she twirled in the big open space of the foyer and smiled to herself, she loved the feeling that dress gave her. She gasped when she looked up toward one of the entrances to the room and saw Archie come to a complete stop at the doorway, his mouth dropping open slightly as he stared at her.
She blushed at the awe on Archie's face and took the time he was taking to check her out to take in how good he looked in his slacks and shirt, his hair slicked back, not as bad as Reggie's but just enough. Veronica bit the inside of her lip and picked the sides of her dress up, giving him a curtsy and then letting it flutter back down to show off the dress to him.
"My Lady," he said striding forward and bowing to take her hand to place a kiss on her knuckles looking like the red haired prince she had always imagined him to be, her heart fluttered uncontrollably in her chest at the feeling of his lips on her skin. "Happy birthday Ronnie."
"Thank you Archikins," she said giggling when he hugged her, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as he picked her up and spun her around.
"That name," he snorted, tucking his face into the crook of her neck, Veronica blinked, confused at the extended hug but just closed her eyes and enjoyed it, her fingers slipping into his red hair, if he wasn't letting go then she wouldn't either. She loved the way he held her when they hugged and the smell of his cologne and the way she fit in his arms, especially in these heels where he didn't have to bend down for her arms to be around his neck. "Nice crown."
Veronica didn't say anything to that just frowned slightly when he pulled back so they weren't pressed up against each other anymore, she just held her breath and openly stared at him as he reached out to prod the crown on her head, his eyes on what he was doing. Archie still had a hand on her hip and hers were on his chest while he messed with her crown, Veronica bit down hard on her lip to keep from smiling widely at what they might look like standing like this, how much of a couple they might look like.
"Hey V," Betty said clearing her throat and Veronica and Archie stepped apart and turned toward her. "We were just wondering what was keeping you."
"It's my fault, I came to find the birthday girl before she got swept up by everyone and I didn't get a moment alone with her," Archie said with a grin aimed at Betty, who just raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly, her eyes glancing toward Veronica who was biting down on her lip to keep her smile from taking over her face but Betty could see her best friends eyes sparkling. "Is Jughead already in the kitchen?"
"Yes, you might want to get there quickly before he eats everything," Betty said dryly rolling her eyes and Archie chuckled, squeezing Veronica's hand once before letting go and walking toward the noise in the kitchen.
"I … later," Veronica said shaking her head and pulling Betty with her to kitchen without another word.
"We are leaving, are you sure you will be fine without us?" Hermione asked after the cake had been finished and Veronica started to get antsy looking at the clock every 30 seconds. Hermione grabbed her son's chin and tilted his face down so she could look into his eyes. "No drugs, no alcohol, no funny business."
"Yes ma'am," Jughead said with a serious nod and Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly before turning her attention to Archie who smiled and nodded as well.
"Relax, Jug and Archie both know the rules and they know that we will be here much too early in the morning for them to hide any evidence," FP chuckled, walking past and hooking an arm around his wife's shoulders to pull her away. "And you my princess, have all the fun tonight, don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"That is a very short list FP," Hermione commented making the other teenagers chuckle, as she waited for him to hug Veronica and let her have a chance. "Andre will be close by if you need anything, emergency numbers are on the fridge and in my room just in case-"
"They know where all the panic buttons are," FP laughed waving to them as he directed his wife out and leaving the teenagers to their party.
"Literally the coolest parents ever," Kevin commented, watching them go and Veronica and Jughead shared an amused look.
"Well now that they're gone, we can begin," Jughead said grinning at them. "Chuck will be here soon with the drinks, Doyley is bringing the music and V, you can show off your new toy while we show the girls around the house."
"Urg," Veronica said, making a face at her brother as he led his friends out of the kitchen, but smiled when she turned to her friends with the biggest smile, holding up a key that fit into the shiny new convertible parked in the garage. "Guess who can finally stop relying on you guys to take her places."
"The streets of Riverdale are not ready for this," Reggie teased grabbing the keys out of her hands and racing Kevin down to the garage to see the car.
"So what did I disturb when I walked in earlier?" Betty asked placing a hand on Veronica's arm to stop her when she went to follow.
"Nothing interesting," Veronica assured her knowing exactly what her best friend was thinking and Betty narrowed her eyes at her friend curiously. "Betts have I ever lied to you?"
"That's how you're going to play this?" Betty laughed.
"Fine, have I ever lied to you successfully," Veronica conceded with a roll of her eyes and Betty looked at her smugly because no, Veronica has never been able to successfully lie to her, Betty always got the truth out of her. "I promise that all you saw was a hug and all it was, was a hug."
"That looked like so much more than a hug, V," Betty said shaking her head. "You looked like a couple."
"It felt like that too," Veronica confessed shyly, a blush tinging her cheeks. "I don't know how to explain it, we've hugged plenty of times before, this time was just … different."
"Still think he doesn't like you in a romantic way?" Betty asked and Veronica shot her a dry look. "I'm just saying, what I saw just now was not platonic, on either side."
"So why hasn't he done anything?" Veronica asked and then made a face as she looked up toward the second floor rooms where she assumed he was with her brother and the girls. "And why is he with Ginger."
"Because Ginger is a leech, have you tried getting rid of her? It's not easy," Betty said seriously and Veronica giggled, she loved it when Betty showed her inner mean girl. "As for Archie, maybe he has the same concerns that you do, the two of have always had a sweet relationship, you've known each other since you were born, maybe he's scared that doing something might ruin it."
"Maybe," Veronica said biting her lip and thinking about her relationship with Archie, the last thing she wanted was to ruin what they had but what if the end result was worth it.
"And of course he's probably terrified of your brother," Betty said and Veronica gave a short laugh, Archie might be the only person not terrified of him. "You know how Jughead can get with you and boys, he let you have your way once and you got your heart broken, he's probably going to keep anyone, even his best friend, away from you for as long as he can."
"Jughead only has power until he leaves for college" Veronica said with a roll of her eyes. "As for Archie …. To be continued I guess."
"You say that like you've just met him," Betty laughed as they started walking again.
"In some ways it feels like I have," Veronica replied, sure she's always known Archie, but an Archie that's interested in her? That's someone she's only just met.
A/N : Hey guys, do you still remember that this story exists? lol so things will hopefully be getting a little more relaxed in the coming weeks with work and life so I hope that my uploading gets better as well
I have written about 3 chapters ahead so I do have a pretty good idea of where this story is heading, I have hit a bit of writers block so I'm a little worried but I feel like I might just be panicking for nothing but omg do I need to edit
I hope you guys are enjoying this story and the innocence of Varchie, I wanted a Veronica who was still very show Veronica but also alot more childish and innocent than she is on the show, I'm excited and kinda nervous for you guys to see where I go with this story
Please review and let me know what you think
Until Next Time (^^,)