Veronica lay on her bed the next day, attempting to read through their assigned Shakespeare play for her English assignment and struggling to keep her eyes open, she was still exhausted from the events of the weekend. After spending most of the afternoon at the lake, they cleaned up whatever was left at the house and then Jughead drove her and her new car back to the Pembrooke where Veronica promptly crawled into her bed and didn't wake up until the next afternoon when Betty texted her to remind her of the assignments she had put off until the last second, stupidly thinking she would have more time for.
"Hey," a voice said from her door and Veronica looked up to find Archie leaning against her door frame, watching her with a smile on his face, her heart rate picked up at the sight of him and she stared at him dumbly for longer than she was willing to admit before she realized that he was expecting some sort of response from her.
"Hi," she croaked out and then cleared her throat, pushing herself up to sit properly on her bed and touching her hair to smooth it down. She was sure that she looked like a hot mess in her comfortable oversized sweater and shorts, her hair in possibly the messiest bun she could bother stuffing it into and her face free of any makeup. Archie had seen her like this before but it was different now that they had kissed. "You can come in."
"Toni and Jughead are talking, I thought it would be best that I leave them alone for this one," Archie said with a sigh and Veronica nodded, sometimes being third wheel to Jughead and Toni was too much work so Archie would hide out in her room until they were done, Veronica loved every second of it and Archie must have enjoyed their alone times too since he kept seeking her out.
"When did Toni get here?" Veronica asked with a slight frown, she hadn't even seen her brother since she got up, anyone could be in her house and she would have had no idea.
"Not too long ago," he said walking over to her pile of presents and shaking his head at how many boxes and bags there were. "She'll probably come see you when they're done with their heart to heart."
"Hopefully Jug doesn't cry too much," Veronica said and Archie snorted.
"How are you feeling?" he asked finally walking toward her bed.
"I've had better days," she told him with a slight chuckle. She was still tired but she had managed to keep her food down now, so she supposed that was a good sign. "Did you stay last night?"
"Yeah, my parents are only back on Wednesday," he said plopping himself down on her bed and then laying down and shutting his eyes. It was normal to have Archie stay over, he hated being alone when his parents were out of town, the guest room next to Jughead's was referred to as Archie's room by all the occupants of the Jones household. At the height of her crush on Archie, Veronica used to sneak into the room and lay on the bed because the sheets still had his scent and she could pretend like she was laying next to him, she cringed at the memory but smiled to herself when she looked over to see him laying next to her in the flesh. "What are you reading?"
"Urm … Macbeth," Veronica told him, needing to flip the book over to look at the title even though she was just reading it because the sight of him had wiped every thought from her mind.
"Light reading," he chuckled bringing his arms up to cross under his head, the muscles of his arms flexing and she almost swooned at the sight of him on her bed, damn she had it bad.
"I have assignments that are due tomorrow," Veronica groaned, wiggling herself down the bed and laying down as well. "We can't all be guaranteed a football scholarship."
"You should open your presents," he said, Veronica turned her face to look at him, his eyes were shut but his lips were curled up into a smile.
"I'm telling you that I have homework and you're telling me to procrastinate further," Veronica deadpanned and Archie laughed, turning his head and opening his eyes to look at her. "You are a horrible influence Archikins."
"No, Betty Cooper is your best friend and knowing her, she would have done your assignments for you because she knows you too well," Archie told her and Veronica furrowed her brows and considered it, it was definitely possible.
"You don't really think ..." Veronica trailed off jumping off her bed and digging through the gift bags until she found the pastel pink wrapped box that could only have come from one Betty Cooper. "There's a card that is probably the most beautifully written thing in the world, I'll read that when you're not looking at me."
"I won't judge you if you cry," Archie said laughing and Veronica scrunched her nose up at him, laying the card on her bedside table and ripping the wrapping paper apart. "So impatient."
"Not all of us care about saving the wrapping paper," Veronica mumbled, opening the box and looking inside. She pulled out a frame that Betty had made with pictures of them from the time they met till now.
"The chronicles of B&V," Archie commented, looking over at the frame when he saw Veronica's expression change.
"She told me that this present was perfect but I wasn't prepared," Veronica said with a sniff, laughing as she touched the picture of them as little 6 year olds hanging upside down off the monkey bars grinning widely at the camera.
"It's about to get a whole lot better," Archie said reaching into the box and pulling out a folder that was underneath the frame, flipping casually through the pages while Veronica finished her reminiscing and looked up to see what he was doing. "Not only did she do your English assignment, she also did a history essay for you."
"I'm going to have to buy the town of Riverdale and hand it to her on a silver platter," Veronica said straight faced looking at the pages Archie was flipping through, she had the best friend in the entire world. "Now her texts asking me about my presents right after reminding me about homework make sense."
"If only Jug was this thoughtful, all I get is socks and that's if I'm lucky," Archie muttered tossing the file back into the box as Veronica texted Betty to thank her for saving Veronica's ass and handing her the sweetest present a girl could ask for from her best friend. "But this does make my gift less special."
"You got me something?" Veronica asked cocking an eyebrow up in surprise and turning to sit facing him completely. She had dug through her presents to find Archie's when she dragged herself out of bed, she was looking forward to seeing if he got her anything but she was disappointed when she didn't find his name on any one of the tags.
"It's not homework assignments or these pearls handcrafted by oysters that Jughead said you've been after," Archie said with a roll of his eyes and Veronica snorted, her hand unconsciously reaching to touch the string of pearls at her throat, because of course her brother would make her sound that dramatic.
"Would you stop comparing it to the other presents and just hand it over," Veronica laughed cutting him off when it looked there was more that he was going to say. She was pretty sure he could hear her heart pounding against her chest as she waited for him to stop being cute and just give her the gift he bought for her. Archie chuckled as he pulled out a plain black jewellery box from his pocket and handed it over to her, Veronica bit her lip as she took it savouring it for a moment before realizing that he was watching her and if she just sat staring at the box he might think she was weirder than he already does. "Oh Archikins."
"It's a charm bracelet, that you can keep adding to, I picked a couple of charms for you but you can take them out if you don't like them," he told her once she had opened the box, Veronica looked up at him, speechless and Archie nervously wiped his palms on his pants and then took it out of the box to clasp it around her wrist, keeping his hands on hers as he flipped the charms over to show them to her. Until that moment it was like any other day in her room when he was avoiding Jughead and Toni, with her just swooning at his every move and him just being oblivious and adorable, normal friendship things but now ... now all she could think about was the kiss they shared in her kitchen and how he was just as nervous around her as she was with him. "This one says 16 because, duh, there's a V for Veronica, Pompoms because I still can't believe you're a cheerleader and ... my jersey number."
"Your jersey number?" Veronica teased feeling the heat rising to her cheeks, he wanted her to wear his number, just the thought of wearing something that linked her to him felt strangely intimate.
"They didn't have a Bulldog or Jughead's number and I wasn't really going to find Reggie's number but now that I know he's not your boyfriend ..." he said with a shrug and she wondered if that was true or if he was just backtracking now because he wasn't sure if she felt the same. "You can replace it but since it's from me I thought it should have something that reminded you of me."
"Almost like marking your territory, such a bulldog," Veronica said and then cringed at her own words, her cheeks were hurting at this point from how widely she was smiling. She pushed herself closer to him pressing her lips to his cheek letting her lips linger for as long as she could without being creepy. "Thank you Archie, I love it."
"You're welcome," he whispered, their faces still very close, close enough that Archie barely had to move as he leaned in and kissed her. It took Veronica a second to respond but as soon as she realized what was actually happening she shut her eyes and smiled as she pressed her lips hard against his, parting them slightly so she could capture his top lip between hers. Archie was the one to break them apart, pulling away slowly, it was only then that Veronica felt his finger and thumb gently pinching her chin, holding her where she was. "Hi."
"Hi," Veronica whispered, blinking her eyes open to see him watching her. "Two kisses in one weekend? What did I do to deserve this?"
"I like you Ronnie, I thought it was just a passing thing so I ignored it for a while but it's not passing, kissing you at your party the other night just made me want you more and this might royally screw up everything if you don't feel the same," he said bringing the hand holding her chin up to push the hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear, making her shiver and take a breath as she marvelled at the words he was saying, he said something similar at her party but it was so different hearing it when she was completely sober. "But you are the most amazing person I've ever known and I thought I should probably tell you these things before I lost my nerve and hope I wasn't being too optimistic thinking that you could feel the same."
"Archie," Veronica whispered, the smile she had fading off her face and Archie took that as a sign to push himself away from her until she caught his hand and kept it where it was. "You like me?"
"I think I may even love you," Archie blurted out with a nervous chuckle and Veronica was left speechless, even at her most awestruck of moments with Archie Andrews she always had a comeback or topic change, until now.
Veronica didn't say anything, her heart was beating so wildly she thought she might pass out but then her eyes dropped to his mouth and her lips followed soon after. "Archie if you're just saying this because someone put you up to it or you're messing with me to see what I would say..." Veronica started, breaking apart from him when her insecurities took over and Archie frowned deeply as if he was offended by that thought. "I just ... I don't think I could survive you playing with my feelings."
"I would never do that," he told her firmly, his honey brown eyes holding hers trying to convey how serious he was. "Even without me falling for you, you are too important to mess around with."
"I am?" she asked softly and he nodded.
"You are," he confirmed pushing himself away from her slightly. "We should not be doing this, your brother would probably kill me if he knew that my intentions with you were anything more than friendly, as far as next year goes I'm going to be far enough away from Riverdale that seeing each other would be rare and this is the worst timing but I'm way to selfish to leave without knowing what this could be, I want to try, if you'll have me."
"I never thought the day would come when I would actually hear you say those words," Veronica said shaking her head and then bringing a hand up to pinch herself hard on her forearm. "Ow."
"What?" Archie asked concerned when she jumped, taking her arm in his hands and then raising a confused eyebrow to ask why she would do that.
"Just making sure I wasn't dreaming," she said softly, Archie shook his head and flicked her nose with his finger, chuckling when she shot him an annoyed look.
"All real," he told her.
"I want to try too," she said and Archie gave her his most blinding smile before kissing her again and Veronica let herself completely melt into it, lifting herself up so she could place her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down onto the bed, both of them giggling as his back hit the pillows and she fell on top of him. "Archikins, my door is open."
"Not what I wanted you to be thinking about," Archie huffed and Veronica just smiled kissed him again, she didn't want her brother to walk in on them and see this but she was too happy lazily making out with Archie to get up and close it.
A door banging in the house broke them apart and Veronica looked back at her open doorway before looking at Archie who frowned and waited, she had almost forgotten that they weren't alone. Toni's annoyed voice came filtering through, telling Jughead that she would be in Veronica's room when he was ready to talk to her like an adult. Archie sighed and stood up when Veronica rolled off him, he adjusted his clothes and then placed his hands onto her bed so he could lean over and give her one more kiss before they weren't alone anymore. "We'll talk later, yeah? I should ... "
"Your brother is the most immature person on this planet," Toni screamed frustratedly as she stalked into Veronica's room not even noticing Archie and flopped onto her bed crossing her arms over her chest and huffing up at the ceiling. Archie and Veronica shared a look and he cocked his head toward her brothers room, letting her know that he will be there getting Jughead's side of the story before leaving. "Sorry V, I shouldn't be dumping this on you."
"What did he do this time?" Veronica asked making herself comfortable, her fingers unconsciously went up to touch her lips and she smiled just thinking about everything that had just happened, she barely registered when Toni started complaining.
"He kissed you?" Betty hissed into the phone later that night when Veronica called to thank her for saving Veronica's academic record and fill her in on all the things that happened during the weekend. "So are you guys together now?"
"I think so," Veronica said a little unsure. "He said he wanted to try and I said I wanted to try and then our lips were otherwise occupied."
"V," Betty scolded as she laughed and Veronica rolled her eyes. "So Ginger is completely out of the picture?"
"I - I don't know, I hope so," Veronica said, frowning, she didn't think to ask him about Ginger, the blonde wasn't even a thought in her mind until Betty reminded her. "He's staying with us till his parents are back, so I'm hoping that we get a chance to talk alone before then."
"Jughead?" Betty asked slowly, all she had to do was say Jughead's name and Veronica felt her anxiety start to build up.
"I think we all know how that's going to go," Veronica said with a deep sigh, Archie was his best friend and of all people Jughead should have been the happiest with Veronica's choice but she just had a really strong feeling that her brother wouldn't approve. "Like you said before, Archie might be the only person not afraid of my brother but I feel like this needs to be a secret, at least for now."
"Like Chuck was a secret?" Betty asked and Veronica laughed and nodded even though Betty couldn't see her. "I still can't believe he didn't find out, half the school knew that the two of you were dating, mostly because they caught you sneaking into the janitor's closets and making out under the bleachers."
"I think Chuck threatened anyone who saw us, that's how scared he was of getting onto Jugs bad side," Veronica snickered, picking up her nail polish bottle and opening it up so she could start painting her nails. "But I need to be better at hiding this than I was with Chuck, no-one but you and the boys can know, I want to be sure about this thing with Archie, if it even is a thing before I piss off my brother."
"You're worried that Archie is just going through a phase and he doesn't actually feel the same?" Betty guessed correctly and Veronica sighed, if Archie decided after a couple weeks that this was a passing feeling she could cry on Betty's shoulder and that would be it, no-one else would know, she could pretend like it never happened and she could trust him to do the same but if people knew, if her brother knew, then she couldn't pretend, if something happened he would have to choose sides, he would lose the relationship he had with his best friend no matter how they ended and Veronica would not put him in that position until she was certain that he would never have to make that kind of choice.
"I'm worried that Toni was projecting whatever was happening with her and Jug onto Archie and Val and Archie is still hung up on her, looking for a rebound," Veronica confessed wiggling her toes so she could see how they looked in the light and if they needed another coat. "I'm worried that I've been building up Archie as this perfect fantasy boyfriend for so long that I'm going to be disappointed with the real him and I'll mess up something that could be perfect if I didn't have expectations."
"V, first of all, Ginger was the rebound if that's what you want to call it and two, you're not going to mess this up," Betty assured her and Veronica could hear the smile in her best friends voice. "Maybe you've built Archie up in your head but you haven't just been watching him from a distance, you know him, you've known him since forever, he's your brothers best friend and you guys practically dated anyway with the amount of 'double dates' you had with Jughead and Toni, he probably even knows some of your secrets that I don't, he's not going to disappoint you, you know him too well for that."
"Yeah?" Veronica asked, sounding incredibly small.
"Yes," Betty said firmly. "Just talk to him, figure out where he stands and what's happening with Val and Ginger, you've wanted Archie Andrews for as long as I can remember and now he wants you too."
A/N: How cute is Archie? I just wanna hug him and never let go
Hi guys, I'm back with my monthly update, I can't even promise to try to be better because that hasn't worked, oh well
I do hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you think, if anyone is still actually reading this
Until Next time (^^,)