Veronica woke up early on the morning of her best friend and brother's wedding and groaned as she rolled over to look at the time, it was still early enough that no-one else in the Cooper household was awake but late enough that she should probably shower and get herself ready so it wouldn't be a rush later.
In the last 4 months, since his engagement party, Veronica hadn't spoken to her brother. She knows that it was probably juvenile to hold this grudge and that everything he had done was such a long time ago so she should probably let it but every time she thought about how he interfered with her love life she started to get angry again. One of the main reasons that she couldn't forgive her brother was because if it wasn't his fault then it was hers, all the assumptions and feelings of betrayal could have been avoided if she had just answered one of Archies phone calls or messages and let him explain to her what had actually happened that fateful night.
Veronica took a deep breath and rolled her neck as she turned the shower on, she just needed to get through today, she needed to stand up for her best friend, she needed to put her feelings aside and smile like she means it so that Betty could have the day that she deserved, no matter her feelings to Jughead.
Betty was furious at first, she didn't care about her husband-to-be's reasoning, all she knew was that she was there when Veronica was struggling, she had to pick up the pieces of this unknown trauma, she worried every single day for months until Veronica started to regain bits of the girl that she was before her break up with Archie and she couldn't believe that Jughead was the reason. Veronica was grateful for the support that she got from Betty but she had to step in when she saw the toll that this fight was taking on her best friend and even though she didn't particularly care about her brother at this moment, she saw the toll that this took on him as well so she convinced Betty to continue with her plans and that she and Jughead will eventually figure it out but she would never want to stand in the way of Betty's happiness.
Veronica wasn't so sure about her words though, this was all new territory for her, she had never had to forgive her brother for anything before, it was so strange not being on speaking terms with him, she had never been angry enough at him that she called their parents before she called him, which she had to do, countless times in the last few months, if her parent's noticed the increase in calls from their daughter, they never said anything about it. He had tried reaching out, both Betty and Toni had mentioned in passing that she should talk to him and that he missed her but Veronica couldn't bring herself to. At least Archie had the decency not to mention her brother when they spoke.
Veronica smiled to herself in the mirror as she started her post shower routine, Archie had become the centre of her existence again not in the way it was in high school and not in the way that she wanted but he was a back in her life, he answered all her calls, he visited whenever he was in the city and always managed to make her smile when she was having the worst day, but they weren't together, they weren't anything more than friends, tentative friends at best. Things were still fairly awkward after the chat they had the night of Jughead and Betty's engagement party but there was a feeling of something lingering whenever they were together. He and Jughead had worked things out, Archie told her once when he came to visit that she should speak to her brother, let Jughead explain himself and then Archie never brought it up again.
"Morning, you're awake early," Betty said through a yawn when Veronica came back into the room. Veronica grinned and jumped onto the bed next to her best friend almost tackling her into a hug.
"You're getting married today," she squealed and Betty laughed, hugging her friend back before pushing up off of the bed to stretch her body and grab her toiletries.
"I can't believe it," she said, picking at the edge of her towel. "It feels like just yesterday we were trying to hide the engagement from you."
"I hope that will show you not to try to hide things from me, I knew as soon as you started to act weird," Veronica admonished and Betty rolled her eyes. "Go shower, Cindy and the rest of your glam squad are on their way."
Betty smiled giddily and practically sprinted out of the room. Veronica lay back on the bed, pulling her phone out to check up on where everyone was when Katy stumbled in rubbing at her eyes.
"This might be the first time you have ever been awake earlier than me," she said plopping down on the bed next to Veronica. "So is lover boy awake yet?"
"No," Veronica said, her cheeks a dark red. "Don't call him that, it's going to give people the wrong impression."
"What people?" Katy asked, looking around the empty room. "Tell me what's happening."
"There's nothing to tell," Veronica said, trying her hardest to cover up the insane blush on her cheeks. "We're friends again, it's been a nice change."
"Hmmm yeah coz all my friends text me all day every day," Katy said with a roll of her eyes, giggling at the look on Veronica's face as she opened her mouth to defend herself but ended up shutting it again because she didn't have a defence for that, it also didn't help that her phone pinged next to her and Katy snorted and wiggled her eyebrows. "Come on V, just admit that you and Archie are together."
"But we're not," Veronica said, it wasn't defensive it was contemplative, she constantly wondered if she and Archie could ever get to a place where they could be a couple again. "He hasn't said or done anything about us going in that direction and I don't even know how to ask, what if he doesn't want to because of everything that happened when we broke up?"
"Or maybe you are over thinking this and he's waiting for you to say something," Katy said, reaching out a hand to squeeze Veronica's forearm. "Talk to him V, the boy messages every day, he looks at you constantly whenever you're in the same room and if anything, he's probably scared that he's going to move too fast and spook you."
"Spook me?" Veronica laughed and Katy rolled her eyes at the wording but gave Veronica a look that told her Katy knew that she was deflecting. Luckily for Veronica they heard the doorbell ring downstairs and soft voices greeting each other signalling that Betty's glam squad had arrived. "Oh everyone is here, you better get showered before the hot water is gone."
"Betty, are you ok?" Veronica asked, smiling at her best friend who was sitting in front of the mirror with her bouquet of flowers just staring at herself, they were in a room at the church waiting for someone to come and tell her that it was time to walk down the aisle. "You look beautiful."
"I barely look like me," Betty said, turning her face to each side to admire her hair and make-up. "I look like a bride."
"Well that's really good because you are the bride," Kevin chimed in, he, Katy and the other 2 bridesmaids were gossiping together about everyone that they had already seen filtering into the church but still listening in on the bride and her maid of honours conversation.
"My brother is a lucky man," Veronica told her, coming to stand behind Betty and adjusted her veil so that it sat just right. "I can't wait for you to officially be a part of the family."
"I'm going to be a Jones," Betty said, smiling giddily at Veronica through the mirror.
"Just don't start brooding like one," Katy commented, making the rest of the room laugh and Veronica stuck her tongue out at her roommate.
"Are you going to be ok with Archie?" Betty asked quietly once everyone had settled down and gone back to their own conversations. "With everything else going on I didn't ask you about that, Katy tells me that he visits now and you two talk almost every day, is there something I should know?"
"Nothing is going on that you need to worry about right now, I'll be fine, I promise," Veronica told her with a chuckle, her best friend worried way too much, there was a knock on the door and Hal Cooper stuck his head in to let them know that it was time. "Let's get you married."
The ceremony was perfect, Veronica was blinking back tears almost the entire way through, she was so happy for them, even her brother, as much as she was angry with him, she still wanted him to have everything. Betty stumbled through her vows, needing Veronica to prompt her to speak to the amusement of the audience and bridal couple, Jughead on the other hand didn't falter once but Veronica could hear the emotion in his voice.
Finally they were done, Jughead leaned forward dipping his bride as they kissed, Veronica cheered with everyone else and looked up to catch Archies eye as he smiled back at her, it was the first time that day that she actually managed to look at him, he was perfect, she had the overwhelming urge to walk up to him and kiss him but shook her head and looked back at the happy couple. Once Jughead and Betty walked halfway down the aisle the wedding planner motioned for them to start walking too so Archie reached out an arm to Veronica and led her down the stairs and out of the building, once they were outside and out of the photographers way he handed her his handkerchief and she laughed, thanking him as she dabbed at her eyes, thankful for waterproof make up.
"I can't believe they're married," Veronica said, still holding on to Archie's arm tightly even though they were out of the photographer's way.
"Yeah, who would have thought Jughead and Betty would be endgame," Archie teased and Veronica laughed, hiding her face with her hand. "Why are you blushing, you loved that word, you said it every time Jug and Toni so much as smiled at each other."
"And then they broke up and broke my heart and I don't think I used it again because I was so scarred," Veronica laughed. "It worked out though, look at how happy they are, separately."
"Hmmm," Archie hummed looking down at her watching the bridal couple. "Are you ready to talk to him yet?"
"Archie," Veronica whined, she didn't want to talk about her relationship with her brother right now. "Just because you were so quick to forgive him doesn't mean that I am going to, and while we are on that why were you so quick to forgive him, he messed with your life too, this could have been us if he hadn't interfered."
Veronica regretted what she said as soon as she said it, Archie went stiff next to her and she let go of his arm immediately, cringing at her ability to just spout out words without thinking. She looked around quickly to see the other bridesmaids and groomsmen also watching the bridal couple, waiting for the photographers to call them for pictures before they could disperse. Veronica caught Katy's eye and her roommate looked from her to Archie and mouthed 'talk to him', Kevin next to her giving Veronica a thumbs up and Veronica sighed looking forward again.
"I don't think they are going to need us anytime soon so let's walk," Archie said softly and Veronica nodded, her arms wrapping around her body as she followed him to the maple tree path. "How much of Jug and my senior year do you remember?"
Veronica paused and gave him a very pointed look, did he really think that she would forget anything that happened in that year.
"Ok stupid question," Archie chuckled, taking in the expression on Veronica's face. "How much of Jughead do you remember from that year."
"He was still a pain about my dating life even though he was with Harper, he was fighting with Toni every time she came home," Veronica said with a shrug. "He was just Jughead."
"Well 'just Jughead' was also going through a lot back then, he always kept you in the dark to protect you but his breakup with Toni really messed him up and then when we got together, I was going to leave as well," Archie said taking a breath and Veronica frowned thinking back to a conversation she had with her brother about this way back when she was just 16 and the conversation that they had at his engagement party. "With your parents never around and you and I sneaking around, he felt as if all this control that he thought he had over his life was gone, there was no-one there when he needed us to be and so he did something about it."
"What he did was work with Ginger Lopez to make it look like you cheated on me so that I would walk in on that scene," Veronica said shivering disgustedly as the feelings of compassion for her brother was replaced by frustration, that scene was etched into her memory and she hated it. "And we would break up, just so that he could make sure that everyone around him was as miserable as he was, how do you expect me to just forgive him after finding that out, how did you?"
"Ronnie, look at me, I'm not happy about that either," Archie said, reaching out to grasp her shoulders and get her attention so that she would look at him, hopefully she would see that he was taking this as seriously as she was. "It's not like I just forgave him but I was there for everything, I understand what he did, when everything fell apart with us, if Jughead wasn't already as miserable as I was I would have been tempted to drag him down to my level as well, it's not healthy but it's what we were like back then and you probably won't get it only because you haven't seen him at his worst, he's always kept you from that."
"He still had no right to interfere the way he did," Veronica shook her head and turned her head away from Archie, she didn't want to listen to him defend Jughead she was still angry at everyone involved in this situation and the more they spoke about this the angrier she got and the more she felt like she was going to ruin Betty's day but she couldn't let go of that anger right now.
"No he didn't but we can't do anything about that, we're here now," Archie said, his hands travelling up from her shoulders to her cheeks as he guided her face to look at him again. "He's been doing really well, especially since he and Betty started dating, that darkness isn't there anymore, he and Toni have figured out their relationship and he knows that what he did was wrong, and as much as I want to blame him, our relationship shouldn't have been fragile enough that you felt like you couldn't even talk to me and I abandoned my plan to stay close to Riverdale at the first sign of trouble."
Veronica didn't say anything, she just looked at him with tears in her eyes, she refused to believe that, it was just easier to blame Jughead for their relationship falling apart than admit that there were cracks that deep in what she believed was a perfect relationship, that their immaturity really was a big factor.
"So everything worked out perfectly for him but we're standing here with no idea if we could have made it work?" she asked and Archie smiled sadly pushing some of her hair behind her ears. "Where does this leave us now?"
Archie opened his mouth to reply when their names were called and they stepped away from each other just as Katy came around the corner to let them know that it was time for the bridal party to take pictures too. Katy pulled Veronica to the side to fix up her hair and makeup as much as she could before racing back to the newly wedded couple. Veronica knew that the pictures were going to look horrible with her red eyes and puffy face but it was a wedding she was supposed to look like she cried happy tears, wasn't she?
After what felt like hours Veronica was in the reception hall, with a glass of champagne in her hand watching her brother and her best friend share their first dance as a married couple, she didn't think she could manage it but she cried more during her speech, even managing to compliment her brother without cringing.
When the bridal couples first dance was over her brother came to her and offered her his hand, Veronica paused for a moment but took it, reminding herself that this was Betty's day and she would not be the reason for any drama.
"I'm sorry," he said when they were far enough away from people to speak, Veronica looked around and saw more people join them on the dance floor, she didn't say anything, her eyes stayed on Archie as he watched them, looking at him was the only thing keeping her from walking away from her brother. "I handled things badly when we were in high school and I handled it badly when I tried to explain the last time we spoke, are you just never going to talk to me?"
"I'm still angry at you," Veronica said but her voice didn't have the same conviction that it did before and Jughead could hear that. "Archie says that there are more things that I need to understand, that you were protecting me but you can't protect me anymore, I need you to talk to me, I need you to explain, I always thought that I would be the one person you would never hurt, intentionally or unintentionally."
"You were, you still are," he said and she rolled her eyes because clearly she was hurt so that was a lie. "We'll talk when I get back, about everything, it'll be like therapy, mum is worried, she told me that you've been calling them a lot recently and she wanted me to talk to you and see if everything is ok."
"Oh," Veronica whispered, shaking her head and then dropping it onto his shoulder, she didn't realize that she had spoken to her mother so much that she had to call Jughead to check on her. "I don't want to hate you."
"I know," Jughead said, pulling her into a tight hug. "So in an effort to right some wrongs, I spoke to Archie about you, told him to ask you out but he seems to think you're never going to want to be with him again."
"What did you tell him," Veronica asked, searching the crowd for Archie, she lost him sometime during her dance with her brother.
"That I wasn't going to stand in the way and that I know he still has feelings for you and from what Betty's told me you definitely have feelings for him," Jughead said and Veronica took a deep breath, nodding slowly as she looked down at her feet. "V?"
"You really messed things up Jug, it took me years to get over that night," Veronica said looking away from him, catching Archie's eye again, he was looking at her questioningly and Veronica shook her head to let him know that she was ok and didn't need rescuing just yet. "I want to trust Archie but sometimes I look at him and all I see is Ginger next to him even though I know that wasn't real."
"When Toni and I broke up, every time someone mentioned her name I thought I was going to break something," Jughead said with a sigh, and Veronica turned away from Archie to look at him knowing that she brought Toni up a lot back then because she didn't understand why they broke up and she wanted them to just get over their troubles and get back together. "When she started dating again, I thought I was going to put myself in hospital with alcohol poisoning, Archie was the only thing keeping me from letting you down in the worst way.
"I didn't know that you were the one he was dating at first, I saw the flirty looks and the extra touches but I didn't think much of it, you two have always flirted like that," Jughead told her and Veronica kept quiet, looking at him intently. "When Archie started to cancel our plans for someone new I felt like I was losing that last thread keeping me slightly sane, Toni and I were fighting more, I was desperate to get out of Riverdale but that meant fighting with mum and dad to be closer to town for you and with trying to keep my grades up and being captain of our football team, eventually I snapped."
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Veronica asked, she knew that her brother was in a weird place in his final year, she knew that his and Toni's relationship had left him struggling but she never realized how much.
"You were my kid sister, you didn't need any of this," Jughead said and Veronica leaned forward to hug her brother again. "I figured out you and Archie were dating just before we went to Sunnydale, Ginger told me and presented her plan, I didn't want to believe her at first but I started watching you and the closer you and Archie got, the less time I had with him, when he started talking about changing our college plan, I felt like I had no choice, the pressure of everything and losing Toni forced me to keep my best friend with me, it also helped that this plan would make sure that he was as single and as miserable as I was, so at least I knew that someone else was feeling my pain."
"That was selfish," Veronica said.
"I know," Jughead replied and then pushed her slightly away from him and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "When Betty and I get back from our honeymoon, then we will talk, yeah?"
"Yeah," Veronica agreed, this was progress, she didn't feel the anger toward him that she felt for the last 4 months, actually talking to him made her miss him so much more. She didn't know how long she stood there, watching her brother make his way back to Betty and sweep her into his arms for another dance, she was only aware that she herself was still on the dancefloor when Archie came up to her and grabbed her hands, spinning her and then holding her around the waist to that they could sway to the music.
"You were standing here and staring like a crazy person," Archie teased and Veronica giggled and looked up at him grateful. "What did he say?"
"He apologized, and then he told me that he told you to ask me out," Veronica said and Archie grimaced at the memory but then chuckled and nodded. "Would that .. is that something that you would like to ask me?"
"Would you say yes?" he countered and Veronica bit down on her bottom lip shyly and nodded in agreement, smiling as Archie beamed back at her, this was happening, this was really happening, she couldn't believe it. "Good to know."
"Now that we're here," Veronica said, leaning up and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "I dated a lot through college but none of them ever measured up to you."
"I am quite tall," Archie said unable to resist the dig and then immediately tightened his grip on Veronica when she loosened her own grip around his neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to joke about it, I know how you feel, those couple of months that we had in high school left me ruined for any relationship to come, you are a hard girl to let go off Ronnie."
"So how about you never let go off me again?" Veronica asked and Archie grinned.
"I think I can do that," he told her leaning down and finally capturing her lips in a long awaited kiss. Veronica heard a gasp behind her and laughed against Archie's lips because that was definitely her mother.
"Uh oh," she whispered pushing back slightly and wiping her lipstick off his lips.
"Your father is going to kill me," Archie said as if realizing for the first time that it wasn't just Jughead's approval he was after with this relationship.
"Then kiss me one more time before you die," Veronica said pulling him back in by his tie.
A/N: The End
I struggled so much with finishing this story, 1 because while I adore Veronica and Archie, I just lost that drive to write about them and 2 because I have struggled with juggling real life and writing the way I wanted to
But all that aside, I do hope that I did a good enough job at completing this story, like I said when I first started writing it, this is a Varchie heavy story but at its core this is a sibling story about Veronica and Jughead, quite a lot of it was based on Chuck and Serena from gossip girl weirdly enough, at the end of season 3 there was a scene where Chuck orchestrated a scene for Serena to see where Jenny had Nate's shirt and implied that something happened there because he wanted Nate to be as miserable as he was and I might be completely mis-remembering that because I have read so much GG fanfiction lol but that reason stuck with me, so much so that it became Jugheads reason
Thank you to each and everyone of you who joined me in this journey for the last almost 3 years that it took me to get here, I don't think that I will continue writing Varchie but its been a pleasure writing for this fandom over the last 4(?) years
Please let me know what you thought
Until next time(^^,)