Veronica was having the time of her life, she had all her classmates in the room with her, Josie and the pussycats were performing her favourite songs, one of the guest rooms in the house was packed to the brim with presents all for her and this party would not only secure her popularity but she would now be known as Veronica Jones and not just as Jughead Jones' little sister.
"Guys," Veronica screamed throwing her arms around Kevin and Reggies shoulders and allowing them to lift her off her feet when they stood up straight. "It's my birthday."
"It is," Betty laughed as Veronica threw her head back and then moved it from side to side with the beat. "How much have you had to drink?"
"I don't know," Veronica said letting go of the boys shoulders and hopping to her feet. "I think my brother is keeping count though."
"Where is that gorgeous brother of yours?" Kevin asked looking around and Veronica pointed back toward the dance floor making Kevin frown. "That answered nothing."
"He's by the kegs outside with Harper," Betty said, her eyes on Veronica's older brother who was refilling Harper's beer cup.
"Keeping tabs on him, are you?" Kevin chuckled, nudging Betty who snapped out of her reverie and looked back at them with a questioning face.
"Yeah, we haven't had enough to drink," Reggie told them ignoring the other conversation and taking both Veronica's hands, walking back to lead her off the dance floor. "Come on, more shots."
"I love the way you think Reg," Veronica laughed using his hand to spin herself as she continued to dance her way around him.
"You have way too much energy," Betty giggled holding her hand out to take the little shot glass that Reggie handed over to her once they reached the bar where Chuck was happily pouring out shots.
"To me!" Veronica said happily.
"To you," the three of them chorused, like they had been doing since the beginning of the night and then downing the shot.
"That was disgusting, what was in it?" Kevin asked doing a full body shiver at the taste of the alcohol, if he was going to throw up, that would definitely be the reason.
"I don't know, Chuck gave it to me when I said it was for the birthday girl," Reggie defended, sticking his tongue out as if that would rid him of the taste. Betty just grabbed Reggie's beer and took a few sips to chase it down, frowning at Veronica who shrugged it off as if it were nothing.
"Oh I love this song, Cheryl!" Veronica screamed practically sprinting back into the crowd where Cheryl and some of the cheerleaders had gathered to do the choreographed dance that they had recently memorised for a part of this song for one of their cheers. Josie and the Pussycats had finished their set and the DJ had taken over.
"This is when I'm thankful I did not become a vixen," Betty laughed, watching with the rest of the crowd as the girls did some complicated move that Betty was amazed Veronica could still do after the amount of alcohol she had in her system. "That is too many moves to remember."
"Please, if you put your mind to it, you would be better than any of them," Reggie told her throwing an arm around her and tugging her into a hug as she blushed, Reggie has always been very affectionate with them and it always caught her off-guard because he was one of those guys that didn't look like the big teddy bear he actually was.
"Thanks Reg," she whispered keeping her arms wrapped around him until she saw Veronica barrelling toward them and let go of him so she could brace for the impact of the very drunk birthday girl.
"That was so much fun," Veronica squealed, her arms around Betty who had to lean heavily on Reggie to stop them both from toppling over, both of them giggling. "Kevin, we missed you out there, with those strong arms."
"Hmm," Kevin said distractedly, blinking as he focused on them, Betty and Veronica looked at each other confused before craning their heads to see where his attention was and then turning back to each other with understanding eyes. "No don't look like that, I just glanced over there for a second."
"What? What where you staring at? What did I miss?" Reggie asked looking in the direction the girls looked earlier and frowning when he didn't see anything out of place. Betty took a hold of his jaw and moved his face too look at Midge and Moose making out. "Oh, do you want me to go punch him? I could just walk up to him and punch him."
"As sweet as that offer is, I'd rather we don't cause a scene on V's birthday," Kevin said with a sigh. "I'd like to stay in Jughead's good books."
"You're one of my best friends," Veronica laughed, patting Kevin's cheek. "You're always in his good books," she told him and Kevin stood up straighter with a bright smile on his face.
"The offer still stands," Reggie said and Kevin nodded with a sigh.
"It's not necessary, we aren't exclusive, he can make out with whoever he wants to make out with," Kevin told them. "Especially if that someone is his girlfriend."
"Jug!" Betty exclaimed when she saw him appear behind Veronica and then blushed a deep shade of red when she realized how excited she sounded and looked at Kevin who's mood had just dramatically improved, this is why she stayed away from alcohol.
"You're right B, our moods need lifting, we should chug, Reginald, the ladies would like a beverage to chug," Veronica said in her most regal voice and posture, pointing to the crown still on her head and then to Reggie who nodded but made no effort to move.
"No, V," Betty laughed pointing behind her and Veronica turned to see her brothers amused face staring down at her.
"Oh, she said Jug," Veronica said giggled. "Hi Juggy."
"The only thing the ladies should be chugging right now is water, I think that's enough for you," Jughead told her, flicking her forehead and she stumbled back into Kevin who caught her but still shook her head no. "No?"
"Nope … Archie!" she yelled catching sight of him walking past them with and the redhead raised his eyebrows and pointed to himself. "Yes you, I don't know any other Archie."
"What's going on here?" he asked telling Ginger to carry on when she started to follow him and came up to stand next to Jughead propping an elbow on his friends shoulder to lean on him.
"I want another drink but Juggy said no," she explained, blinking far too many times and Archie pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing and then looked over to Jughead who just rolled his eyes and shrugged as if to say he was done, it was Archie's turn to deal with her.
"Ok, let's get you another drink," Archie said draining the beer from his plastic cup and handing it over to Jughead. Veronica watched as Archie rolled up his sleeves and felt a shiver go down her spine at the sight (How could forearms be sexy?), before he bent to hook an arm around her and throw her over his shoulder. "We'll be back."
"Wait no, what about my friends?" Veronica asked reaching out toward them as Archie carried her to the kitchen, Kevin's jaw was dropped, Betty gave her a thumbs up, looking excited and Reggie just looked on as uninterested as Jughead was. "Your shoulder is in my gut."
"I'm sorry your highness," Archie laughed, gently setting her down on a stool when they were in the kitchen. She looked around at the empty room and wondered why no-one was wandering in here, but then she remembered Jughead having everything set up away from the kitchen and stairs to avoid too many people wondering in here or up to the locked bedrooms. "Here, try this."
Veronica took a sip from the cup that he handed her and then made a face as she swallowed. "This is water."
"I know," Archie said smugly leaning on the counter, close to her and Veronica sucked in a sharp breath. "Drink, Jug and I have a surprise for you and we don't want you passed out before it gets here."
"More surprises?" Veronica asked perking up and Archie nodded. "When?"
"Hopefully soon, do you think you can keep from passing out until then?" Archie asked dipping his head to look into her eyes and Veronica nodded enthusiastically and smiled up at him, the butterfly's fluttering in her stomach was making staying upright very difficult.
"You know, you don't need to talk to me like I'm a child," she said primly, scrunching up her face slightly and Archie shook his head, amused. "I'm 16, I'm not a kid anymore."
"It's been a while since I've seen you as a kid, babe," he chuckled and she opened and closed her mouth, trying to find an appropriate response to that, swallowing hard when he inched just a little closer and smiled.
"Juggy still thinks so," she said just for something to say and then got lost on that train of thought. "He didn't enjoy himself at all did he?" Veronica asked making a face, she didn't want her brother to spend the whole night being worried about everyone else.
"He did," Archie assured her, as she put her elbows onto the counter and dropper her head to her hands, shaking her heavy head. "Jughead's just a little paranoid because it's your party and he wanted to make sure nothing went wrong, you know how high strung he can be when you are involved."
"He's my favourite big brother, don't tell him I told you that," Veronica giggled picking her head up and Archie swiped his fingers across his lips imitating a zipping motion, resisting the urge to tell her that Jughead was her only brother. "But he needs to relax."
"I always keep your secrets," Archie said and Veronica blinked at him lazily, smiling as she thought about how true that was.
Archie was the person who always showed up when she couldn't understand her own thoughts and needed someone completely out of the situation to talk to, he and Toni had been her brothers best friends all her life so they were always a pretty big part of hers too. He was there when Nick St Clair broke her heart the day after she lost her virginity to him and couldn't bring herself to tell her brother or find Toni to tell her why she was so upset, although the black eye and broken nose Nick was sporting after Archie got a hold of him made her feel a lot better. He was the one who talked her out of her first big fight with Jughead, when Toni took her brothers side and she needed someone to have her back. He always kept her secrets, even from Jughead, always had her back, even if they weren't that close, she knew she could count on him.
"I know, it's going to suck when you guys are gone next year," she told him in a small voice and Archie smiled. "The football team is going to lose every game and we're going to be cheering for nothing."
"And here I thought you were going to miss me for my dazzling personality not my football skills," he said laughing and Veronica rolled her eyes and punched his arm, injuring herself more than him. "Have some faith in your boyfriend he's actually pretty good."
"Boyfriend?" Veronica asked confused before realizing he was talking about Reggie and shook her head. "Oh no, Reggie wishes he was my boyfriend, no, that's a lie, we just tease each other about that, he wishes he was Betty's boyfriend but shhhhh, she doesn't know that."
"Oh?" Archie said furrowing his brows slightly but then shaking his head looking a little pleased with the turn of events.
"Jealous Archikins," she teased and then immediately flushed red, maybe she should have stopped drinking 2 shots ago.
"Maybe, I mean this completely ruins my chances with Betty," he countered, Veronica could tell he was joking but that didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling of jealousy swirling up at the pit of her stomach at the thought.
"What are you going to miss most Archikins?" she asked turning the conversation back to safer waters. "Riverdale high's exceptional cheerleading squad swooning over your every move," she said dramatically and Archie chuckled scooting a little closer to her.
"Just one cheerleader," Archie said holding up a finger and Veronica raised an eyebrow, she didn't realize he and Ginger were getting serious. "She looks ridiculously sexy in her cheerleading outfit, she's going to be bad for my football career this year, I couldn't keep my eyes of her," he said watching her and Veronica could feel her heartbeat pick up as she waited for him to continue. "I've always known she was gorgeous and way out of my league but recently, she just took me completely by surprise."
"Surprise is good," Veronica croaked out waiting for him to tell her who this girl was because he was looking at her like he might just confess something she could only dream off but it couldn't have been her, her luck was never this good. Right?
"And then today ... it's like every time I see her these days, my breath is taken away," he said in almost a whisper and Veronica held her breath. "Even now, when she's kinda drunk and looking at me like I'm going to tell her that I'm going to miss one of the cheerleaders out there that mean absolutely nothing to me."
"Me?" she asked, either she was drunker than she thought or he just told her that he wanted her. Archie smiled, his eyes dropping to her lips and then back up to her eyes, Veronica, feeling brave after his reaction, brought a hand up to rest against the side of his neck, her thumb running back and forth over the stubble. He moved forward and Veronica felt like she couldn't breathe, even in her brazen drunk state she was frozen.
Veronica let her eyes slip shut as his lips met hers, bringing her other hand up to the back of his head and pulling him closer to her, her mouth opening against his. She threaded her fingers through his hair as their tongues met, her dress hiking up when he pushed her legs apart to stand between them. Their hands were every where, trying to touch as much of each other as they could, drunkenly fumbling to pull the other closer.
There was loud cheering just outside the door and Archie and Veronica broke apart to look toward it thinking they had been caught and then frowning at their moment being ruined when they realized they were alone.
"That must be your surprise," Archie mentioned, clearing his throat and breathing heavily. Veronica pulled her dress down, adjusting herself and looking anywhere but him as he did the same.
"Give me a second," she said when he reached out a hand to her, breathing out slowly to try and calm her racing heart and using the reflection of the fridge to make sure she looked acceptable. She took a deep breath, her eyes catching Archie watching her in the reflection and she smiled and nodded. "Okay."
"Wait," Archie whispered, reaching up to adjust her crown, to touch her one last time before opening the door and letting them out into the crowd, he knew that if they stayed in there any longer, Jughead would come looking and he wasn't about to let Jughead in on this little secret until he had spoken to a sober Veronica.
They followed the cheering outside where a girl was being helped down, after hanging upside down over a keg and Veronica gasped loudly when she saw the pink highlighted hair and biker outfit of the girl that was high fiving everyone around her, realizing who it was. "Toni!"
"V," Toni squealed just as excitedly, holding a hand out before Veronica crashed into her so that she could get her bearings, she was still a little wobbly from being suspended and drinking all that beer just seconds before, once she felt stable enough, she tugged the birthday girl in for a hug. "Happy Birthday babygirl."
"What are you doing here?" Veronica asked pulling away to look at her brothers ex-girlfriend. "I thought you were only coming back after your exams."
"You didn't really think I would miss your sweet sixteen did you?" Toni asked and Veronica shook her head and hugged her again.
"I missed you so much," she said finally letting go.
"I missed you too," Toni said pinching Veronica's cheek. "Where were you when I walked in? I expected you to be dancing on the tables by now."
"Jug and Archie thought I was going to pass out before you got here so they made me sober up," Veronica said rolling her eyes and turning to face the boys.
"It actually worked," Jughead said taking in the less inebriated version of his sister. "What'd you do to her Arch?"
"Water," Archie said with a chuckle. "If I knew I could get away with it, I would have doused her with it."
"That would have been epic," Jughead laughed and Veronica just glared at them, her playful expression turning shy when she locked eyes with Archie.
"Turns out I didn't need to," he commented pushing a hand through his hair with a nervous chuckle to which Toni raised her brow. "Antionette," he greeted.
"Archibald," Toni replied with a laugh reaching out to hug him.
"Nice of you to make it," he teased and she laughed.
"Nice of you to invite me," she shot back, Archie smiled and then blushed deeply when Toni furrowed her brows and wiped off a little bit of lipstick from the side of his mouth that he had missed. "Who have you been kissing?"
"Ginger Lopez," Jughead said with a smirk at Toni's frown. "I don't get why you girls don't like her," Jughead said wrapping an arm loosely around his sisters neck, who had gone still at the turn of the conversation. "This one makes the same face whenever we mention her."
"She's just ... so annoying," Toni complained. "But I was actually thinking that there was no way she would use this colour-"
"Who else would Archie be kissing?" Jughead asked looking over at his best friend who shook his head and shrugged, knowing that Toni made the connection when she stopped talking.
"Clearly Toni has been gone too long, there are so many things that have changed," Archie diverted and Toni smiled knowingly and looked over to Veronica who had her lips pressed tightly together hiding her lipstick colour and so glad that her brother wasn't looking straight at her face because he would have known everything.
"Okay, you boys have taken too much of our time, V and I need to get this party started," Toni said taking Veronica's hand and pulling her past the boys, toward the makeshift dance floor.
"Pshhh, the party was started long before you got here," Jughead called and Toni stuck her tongue out at him whispering something in Veronica's ear, making her giggle as they got to the dance floor, pulling Kevin, Polly and Betty with them on the way. "I don't think Veronica will ever forgive me for letting that relationship end."
"Not anytime soon," Archie said, patting Jughead on the back and Jughead who heaved out a heavy sigh, looking exhausted. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened there? One day you're both complaining about the state of my relationship with Val and telling me that I need to find what you guys have and the next day you're third wheeling with me and T is nowhere to be found."
"I will, eventually," Jughead said snorting at the disappointed look on Archie's face as he looked into the crowd trying to find his sister and ex-girlfriend, they were the shortest ones there so it was hard. "Let's go find Ginger and Harper, maybe they can make this night a little less depressing."
A/N: Are we annoyed with me yet? I was not planning of having so much time between posts but I can't promise to be any better because I haven't written any further in the last month, I'm sorry! I thought I would have time to log in and edit and post when I went on holiday, but I went to this little island called Zanzibar and the wifi at the resort I stayed at was kinda terrible
I have so many plans for this story, I just really hope that I can write it out the way I have it in my head, so just bare with me, I'll figure out a way to balance out my life eventually and then I can finally do all the things I need to do and make time to write, that is the dream
So this chapter ... what do you guys think? They kissed and drunk Ronnie is adorable and I really love this chapter so I hope you guys do too, also I do not promote underage drinking so if you're under 18, don't drink kids (or under 21 for some countries)
Anyway, I have nothing else to ramble on about, please review and let me know what you think, I will try to be better at updating this story
Until Next Time (^^,)