"You what?" Veronica asked confused, staring at her brother who glanced at her before staring back out to the row of cars parked on the road, he reached up and rubbed at his temple.
"V, I'm not sure now is the time for this conversation," he said looking back toward the party, listening to the music and chatter of their friends in the Coopers back yard, celebrating his engagement without him.
"No, no, no this is the perfect time for this conversation, if you leave now you will never tell me anything," Veronica hissed, she never suspected that her brother knew about her and Archie sneaking around, he never gave her the slightest hint back then, maybe Archie told him after. "Did Archie…"
"Archie didn't say anything to me," Jughead said with a sigh, running his hand down his face and then turned to look at her. "Listen, why don't we go back to the party and I will explain everything later after everyone has left, it's Betty's night, you don't want to spoil that, right?"
"I cannot believe that you are using that with me," Veronica snapped, standing up and staring at her brother, he knew that she would do anything to avoid ruining Betty's night, even let him off the hook, but she was too emotional and this was too important to her, for her to just let it go.
"I promise you that I will explain what you need to know after the party, but for right now, pull yourself together for your best friend," he said reaching out to take her hand but Veronica shook him off, she didn't want his comfort right know, the look on his face told her that there was more than him just knowing that she dated Archie, this is why he looked guilty when she mentioned Archie before, she needed to know what he was hiding.
"No, tell me what you did," Veronica demanded, her back was flat against the pillar as she glared at her brother. Jughead was starting to get irritated, whatever she wanted to know happened 5 years ago, right now he just wanted to go back to his fiancé and celebrate what was happening now, in the present.
"Veronica later," he said making to move back to the party and she reached out to grab his hand.
"It can't be worse than what I'm thinking Jug," she said changing tactics and looking at him pleadingly instead. Jughead knew that if he didn't tell her what she wanted to know then she would be in a foul mood for the rest of the night and if he told her … either way this night was ruined, he knew that Veronica knew this and he was backed against a wall. "The faster you speak, the quicker we go back to the party."
Jughead let out a deep sigh and nodded at his sister, he should just get this over with so that they could get back to celebrating Betty and hopefully his sister would have sense enough not to ruin the rest of the night.
"If you have to know, I agreed to a plan that Ginger came up with to get Archie back, he would go back to being whatever he was to her and he would stop wanting to stay close to Riverdale and come to California with me," Jughead finally said, looking up at his sister with the same pleading look on his face that she gave him earlier, asking her to let it go, but Veronica shook her head in disbelief, she couldn't believe what was she was hearing. "That's it."
"Ginger was not smart enough to come up with any meaningful plan, especially not one that would cause this much damage," Veronica snapped in a deathly quiet voice and her brother flinched. "What did you do?"
"Veronica, it's been 5 years it's not going to change anything," he said and she shook her head, she knew that she pushed it and that this was entirely the wrong time and place for this conversation but she had to know. "I told you what happened, you can believe it or not."
"I'm not stupid, just tell me Jug," Veronica said her arms hugging her body tighter. "Please."
"Fine, I orchestrated the morning after the graduation party, is that what you wanted to hear?" Jughead bit out and Veronica blinked at him confused, did she hear that correctly. "I called you to bring something up to the lake house and I knew you would come because you just had to see him," Jughead said and there was a bitterness in his voice that Veronica had never heard from her brother before. "So when you told me you were on your way, I sent Ginger to Archies room, she got into bed with him, made it look like something had actually happened and waited for you."
"He didn't know," Veronica whispered to herself, but Jughead heard.
"Of course he didn't know, Archie is terrible with women, more so back then but he was never a cheater," Jughead scoffed and rolled his eyes, his sister could really be dense sometimes. "You caught them, Ginger and I spread a few rumours to make it look like they were getting back together, you know what Riverdale's twisted Gossip Mill can be like, you would believe the comments I passed because I was Archie's best friend and your clueless brother, why would I lie to you, you and Archie would break up, everything was back to the way it should be, I never thought that you would completely disappear and avoid any mention of him."
"The way it should be," Veronica repeated not even noticing that he said more words after that and shaking her head, thinking back to her relationship with Archie, she never thought that her brother had them figured out, she was so naive to think that he wouldn't do something stupid like this to break them up when he felt like his life was falling apart. "Why?"
"Why?" Jughead asked as if it should have been obvious. "Because my best friend was ruining everything for a high school crush."
"What if it wasn't just a high school crush?" Veronica asked, huffing out a breath, she was steadily getting angrier with him after each word he said, he wasn't even taking this seriously, he didn't understand what this meant.
"What else could it have been Veronica?" Jughead asked raising an eyebrow at her. "Archie always acted before thinking and this time it was his future on the line, I thought I would just save your heart, both of you, it wasn't serious, Archie was barely over Val at that point, God knows Ginger complained about the lack of attention to Harper and I all the time, you were just 16, you had your entire life ahead of you to worry about a serious relationship, and after everything that happened with Nick," he sneered the name and Veronica couldn't find the humour at his distaste after all these years. "After him, I didn't want you to have another heart break if things happened to get more serious."
"You are lucky that the girl you are engaged to is Betty Cooper because I will never do anything to ruin this night for her," she seethed turning away from him to hide the emotion on her face and Jughead frowned, still looking at her as if she were a child who just didn't understand. "Very lucky."
"Veronica it was 5 years ago," Jughead snapped finally and Veronica felt her eyes sting and the tears she was trying to stop, flood them. "I did what I had to do."
"God Jughead, we could have made the distance work," Veronica said turning back to him after blinking back her tears. "We would have."
"There wouldn't have been any distance, he was going to stay for you," Jughead spat stuffing his hands into his pockets. "He was going to leave everything that we had planned, for you."
"What?" Veronica asked, ignoring the way he spat out the word 'you' when referring to her, she and Archie were fighting about the move and the distance, but she was certain that she had convinced him to go to California with Jughead because she knew that they would work, she also knew that her brother needed him more. "No, we came to an agreement, he wasn't going to stay."
"He was, that's why I got as deeply involved as I did," Jughead told her and Veronica clenched her jaw as she watched him. "Archie was talking to his dad about changing schools to be closer to Riverdale and Fred had started making the calls, he didn't know it was for you but I did, Archie was going to give up on everything that we had planned, he was going to leave me, just like Toni had."
"So you did this, not to protect me from another heartbreak but because you were jealous?" Veronica asked incredulously, she felt as if she didn't even know her brother, she couldn't even keep up with this story he was spinning.
"Of course not," he snapped, rolling his eyes. "Look it's been a long time, I have had time to think about everything that I did, therapy helped too and you probably won't understand it but Toni and I were broken up, I was walking down a dark road, she had already left me and I couldn't let him leave me as well, all I knew was that this little fling that you had going on was threatening to take away the only person aside from you that I had left in the world and I could not let that happen, so I did something about it."
"So you decided it was your decision to make, to mess up my relationship with Archie so you could keep your best friend?" Veronica asked, she was struggling to breath normally, she could already feel the panic building up inside her. "May I remind you are going to marry mine?"
"Grow up Veronica, high school was a long time ago, you and Archie never would have worked out anyway, I did you a favour, trust me," he said harshly.
"I always trusted you, clearly that was a mistake," Veronica snapped back. "I blamed Archie for years for something that he didn't even do. Jug, I loved him," Veronica said, glancing up at the shocked expression he now had on his face at her words. "I still … I loved him."
"You loved him?" Jughead whispered, Veronica could see the gravity of those words hit him, she knew that he thought whatever was happening with her and Archie was just a crush that turned into a friends with benefits situation, he didn't know how deep those feeling ran.
"I did," she confirmed shakily. "And he loved me, he would never have thought to change your plans if what we had was just a 'little fling'."
Jughead was quiet for a very long time, Veronica didn't even know if she could look at her brother right now, she was still trying to process what he had revealed.
"I'm sorry," he said finally, and she looked up at him to find that he also had tears shining in his eyes. "I didn't know, who I was back then … I don't know that I would have done things differently if I knew but I have spent the last 5 years torn between regret that I hurt you and relief that Archie was with me when everything was still falling apart, I really am sorry that it all turned out this way, I wish things were different."
Veronica didn't know what to say, she was confused and angry and so, so tired, Jughead leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before walking away, leaving her standing there trying to figure out what she wanted to do, did she want to go back to the party and be with her friends? Or did she want to leave because right now she felt volatile like she was ready to cause a scene that Betty did not need.
"Hey, there you are," Toni said coming up to her. "What's wrong?"
"It was all a lie, I don't know anything anymore," Veronica said taking in a shaky breath and Toni frowned and reached over to take the younger girl into her arms, cradling her gently. "I ..."
"Ronnie?" Toni prodded, she had no idea what Veronica was on about but she had seen her talking to Archie just before she stormed off so she could guess.
"Archie," Veronica whispered, confirming what Toni was thinking, a few years ago she got a panicked phone call from Archie telling her that Veronica had just disappeared, and he didn't know what to do, she told him that she would find Veronica but advised him not to say anything to Jughead, knowing that Veronica wanted to keep her brother out of the loop and knowing that Archie was getting desperate. By the time Veronica had answered Toni's calls she refused to talk about Archie or why she was upset and extending her stay in New York, Toni was concerned but she figured Veronica would open up when she was ready, she never did. And now that they were in the same room for the first time in years, Toni worried about how their interactions would go, she was hoping it was unnecessary worrying but clearly it was not.
"Do you want me to get him?" Toni asked, digging into her pocket to get her phone so that she could text him.
"I'm already here T, I'll take her home," Archie said stepping out from the shadows, and smiling reassuringly at Toni who nodded and hugged Veronica tighter for a second waiting for Veronica to nod in agreement before letting her go.
"Call me if you need anything," Toni said, waiting for Veronica to acknowledge her words before standing up and patting Archie's shoulder. "I'll tell everyone that you weren't feeling too good."
"Thanks Toni, come on Ronnie, lets get you out of here," Archie said looking around for his truck, if his parents still owned the house next door it would have made things easier to just take her there, so she wouldn't have to face Jughead later when he got back to the Pembrooke.
"Why are you here Archie?" Veronica asked as she followed him, she was still struggling to control her breathing but she wasn't crying anymore, which was a plus and it was dark so he couldn't see how puffy her eyes were, another plus.
"Betty and Jughead got engaged so I came to celebrate," he answered, opening the door for her and she laughed out loud even as she gave him as exasperated look. "I wanted to check on you, Jughead came back scowling without you so I figured something must have happened."
Veronica waited until they were parked outside of the Pembrooke before she spoke again. "Would you like to come inside?" she asked and at his shocked expression she let out a laugh because she knew that this was a complete 180 for her even if she wanted to be civil for this weekend. "Please."
"Sure," Archie said jumping out so he could open the door for her like the gentleman he was.
They were silent on their way up to the apartment, Veronica kept stealing glances up at him and Archie kept his eyes fixed on the increasing number of the floors they were currently climbing.
"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Archie eventually asked once they were inside and Veronica had shed her jacket, flopping down on the couch in front of him and motioning him to take a seat.
"Jughead knew," she said eventually, looking away from him to the blank tv screen and bit the inside of her lip.
"Knew what?" Archie asked furrowing his brows slightly as he leaned forward in his chair, his elbows coming to rest on his knees.
"In high school, Jughead knew about us," Veronica said and Archie looked at her with furrowed brows.
"I'm still alive and he's still my best friend," Archie chuckled shaking his head. "There is no way he knew anything."
"He told me tonight, when he came to find me, he knew," Veronica confirmed and Archie frowned and then nodded to say he believed her but he was still very confused.
"Ok so he knew," Archie agreed slowly, still looking at her like he didn't get why she was upset about it. "He hasn't done anything about it so was he fine with it?"
"No, that's where you are wrong, every time I brought you up, which was not a lot, he just gets this guilty look on his face like he did something," Veronica said frowning deeply, she should have known that her brother knew something. "I just didn't understand what that something was."
"Ronnie, Jug was in a really strange place back then, if he knew then he probably trash talked us to someone and now he feels guilty," Archie said, with a dismissive shake of his head. "I don't care, I just want to know why you left, why you didn't even speak to me or give me a chance to explain whatever you thought I did with Ginger."
"I didn't need you to explain, I left because I saw you Archie," she bit out, she knew it was fake now but that anger that she felt was still there. "I was there, I saw her smug smile when I walked into the room and you were asleep next to her, neither of you had clothes on, I heard the rumours that followed that night, I never wanted to believe any of them but there was too much evidence in front of me, especially when Jughead mentioned that you and Ginger were back to your old arrangement."
"Ok, I see how that would have looked but there was no-one else," Archie said looking imploringly at her, begging her to look at him and see the sincerity in his eyes. "After your birthday that was it for me, you were my whole future and I wasn't going to do anything that jeopardized that, no matter how drunk I was and I know that I was not drunk enough to have gone back to Ginger."
"I…" Veronica started, completely in awe of his words, he thought that she was his future, how could he say that after everything that she did.
"Look at me," he said, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in his. "I know that Ginger spread that rumour after that night but I ignored her and I expected that you would as well, my only focus was finding you and talking to you but you were gone, none of your friends wanted to speak to me and Toni told me not to say anything to Jug, it was only after she told me that she had spoken to you and that you were ok that I stopped trying to find you."
Archie took a breath, looking down at her trembling hands in his, before continuing.
"I must have left you a hundred voice mails, I don't even know if you got them," he said and Veronica shook her head slightly, she changed her number as soon as she left for New York, the thought of him contacting her and making excuses was too much to bear. "I tried everything to move on Ronnie, I even dated someone for longer than 6 months, it didn't last but it got me through the last few years."
Veronica snorted at that and smiled slightly, she remembered Jughead saying that the night before and she knew that he would have teased Archie about that being his longest relationship ever.
"Ronnie, I loved you and maybe it was silly to think that we would survive anything that came our way because we were just teenagers without any idea of what being out of Riverdale was going to be like," he said and she smiled, they had fought about that in the months before she left. "But I was sure that we were soul mates."
"When I saw her in your bed, I didn't know what to think, do you remember everything with Nick?" she asked and he nodded making a face, of course he did. "Seeing you with her just took me back to him cheating on me and how invested I was in him but he clearly never felt the same, and here I was looking at physical proof that you cheated on me."
Archie opened his mouth to speak, probably to reassure her that he would never have done that but she held up a hand to stop him, she needed to finish saying what she had to say.
"I thought that I could go to New York and take a few days to calm down and then I would confront you," she said shakily and Archie nodded, waiting patiently. "But then the rumours started and Jug confirmed them and I was angry, I wanted to show you that I could get over you just as easily as you appeared to have forgotten that I existed."
"Hmm," Archie grunted, letting go of her hands so he could sit on the table behind him.
"By the time we were back from Paris, you and Jughead were ready to move into your apartment and I knew that you were gone, I would never see you again and I was angry enough to stay away, Toni called me once, begging me to talk to you but I refused, every time I thought of talking to you I could just picture you with her and I hated it," she said rubbing at her face, still conscious of the smudgeable makeup she put on earlier that evening. "I knew that if I spoke to you it would make things worse because you would deny it and I could not handle you lying to me so I convinced myself it was better if we just never saw each other or spoke again."
"Until this weekend?" Archie asked and Veronica nodded.
"This was Betty and Jughead's happy weekend and I would do anything to make them happy, even pretend like everything was fine with us," she told him and he nodded, this part he knew already. "I can't believe we lost 5 years because my brother is the worst person in the world."
"Tell me what he said," Archie asked and Veronica bit down on her lip, she wasn't sure how to tell him but she knew she had to.
"I don't know how," she replied, so much had happened in the last 5 years, so much had been said and done that they couldn't just pick up from his senior year, they were barely friends, they had both changed too much, they had lost so much time together, they needed to rebuild their friendship first, she needed to forgive her brother, if that was even possible, she wondered if Archie would after she told him.
Archie got up from where he was and came to sit next to her, leaning his side on the couch and facing her and she did the same, mirroring his pose and bringing her legs up underneath her unsure of how to begin.
"Start from the beginning."
A/N: Who am I? updating twice in the same month? Well I have 1 chapter left until this story is done and its almost complete so I'm actually confident in posting quicker
So we know what happened all those years ago, when I first started crafting this story, I wanted Jughead to be the reason but I didn't want him to be the predictable evil guy and I wanted doubt on our Archikins so I hope I succeeded in misleading you and also entertaining you with this
Please review and let me know what you think
Until next time (^^,)