Chapter 2

After her phone call with Betty, Veronica was left feeling empty, upset, scared and confused. She had had so much to process on her own, and had still volunteered to reunite Betty and her babies with Jughead. The truth was she was quite lonely. She hadn't dated anyone since her break up with Archie three years ago, merely had a few flings here and there. It was like her relationship with Archie was so special and somehow sacred that she was unable to fall in love with anyone that wasn't him. She knew it sounded stupid and sappy, but Archie had been her first real love, and she had hoped that he would be her last. Which is why she stood trembling on Archie's front porch the following morning. It had taken her a day to build up the courage to go and see him, and after what went down between them she still wasn't sure if she was ready, but she was doing it for Betty. Her best friend needed this. Which is why, with trembling hands, Veronica slowly reached forward and knocked on the front door.

"Coming"

She heard a voice yell from inside. She had to fight the urge to turn around and leave, but found herself frozen in place when she heard footsteps heading in her direction. She watched with bated breath as the door opened slowly, to reveal Fred Andrews standing behind it.

"Good morning Veronica," He said in a tone of slight surprise, looking at her with curiosity. "I assume you're here to see Archie?"

Veronica had suddenly lost the gift of speech, and simply nodded in reply, as Fred held the door open for her to enter. She had been inside this house so many times in her life, and it had practically been a second home to her at one point, but walking in now felt strange and unnatural. It was almost like the air got colder as soon as she crossed the threshold.

"I can call Archie down if you'd like," Fred told her gently, knowing from the girl's body language that she wasn't about to go upstairs herself. Veronica once again nodded in reply, and waited patiently until Fred had left and returned with a familiar redhead.

As Archie made his way down the stairs, he spotted Veronica and a strange expression crossed his face. He was confused as to why she was there, but he was also confused as to why she was staring at him as though he'd just killed someone. The girl was looking at him with glassy eyes and appeared to be trembling a little, a fact that she was quite obviously trying to hide.

"I'll leave you two to it," Fred said, before making his way to the front door and back into the yard. Archie didn't waste a second before speaking.

"What are you doing here Veronica? I thought you wouldn't want to see me again"

His tone sounded flat, but Veronica could tell that he was at least a little happy to see her. She smiled sadly at him in return, and shook her head a little.

"No, Archie. Of course, I want you in my life. I already lost you once. I'm here to talk about Betty"

Archie wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"Betty? Betty who? Betty Cooper?"

Veronica nodded and continued.

"I need to know if you're still in contact with Jughead"

"We don't talk a lot, but I have his number, yeah" Archie replied in confusion. "I didn't know you were still in contact with Betty. Is she okay?"

Veronica sighed loudly, and quite dramatically. She didn't want to start spilling Betty's secrets, especially in a small town like Riverdale, but she didn't see a way around it this time. The only way she was going to get Archie and, in turn, Jughead to cooperate was if she came clean.

"To be honest, no, Betty's not alright. She's really struggling at the moment"

Veronica looked apprehensively at the redhead standing before her, but Archie appeared to be following. He nodded once for her to continue.

"She has two kids to look after at the moment. Two five-month-old babies"

Archie's eyes widened in surprise, and Veronica could tell that the news wasn't at all what he had been expecting to hear.

"She has what? Betty Cooper has children? Are they Jughead's?"

Archie was speaking so quickly that Veronica almost didn't have time to process, but she wanted to get this over with quickly. She had been happy to see Archie again, but she didn't think that she could stand this close to him for much longer without blurting her secret.

"Yes, yes, and yes" She answered in reply to Archie's previous questions. "I'm flying her from Pennsylvania sometime next week, but I need you to get Jughead here from..."

She trailed off, not having realised that she had no idea what Jughead was doing now.

"New York" Archie finished for her. Veronica nodded once and turned to leave, but was stopped by a steady hand on her shoulder.

"I'll do this Ronnie. For you. I do miss us"

He admitted, his eyes getting glassy. Veronica felt her heart melt, but she knew that she couldn't come clean right then. She was fixing things for Betty first, then she would deal with her problems. The truth was though, that she missed Archie as well.

"I'll tell you what Archiekins," She said, taking a deep breath. "Once Betty and Jughead are back and sorting things out. Once we've met their little darlings, of course, we'll talk. Who knows what the future holds for us. I have a feeling our story isn't over"

Archie broke into a small grin and nodded once. "Deal," He said, pulling Veronica into a tight hug.

He held her there for a little longer than was necessary, but neither of them minded. It was Veronica who pulled away first, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"Remember to get Jughead here. Tell him anything, just don't mention Betty. And especially don't mention the babies! I'll see you soon" She told him, turning her back and walking out the door. For the first time in years, she was left feeling as though things may work out for her after all.

As soon as Veronica was gone, Archie had his cell phone in his hand and was wildly scrolling through his contacts list. He stopped when he came to the names listed under 'J', and selected one that had remained untouched for months now. He and Jughead had drifted since high school, especially considering that Jug was now a New York Times best-selling author, thanks to the town of Riverdale and all it gave the boy to write about. The two guys had tried to stay in contact, but eventually agreed that they were both too busy to be going out of their way for each other, when there wasn't much happening in their boring lives anyway. Archie thought privately that it hadn't been a mutual decision, as he had plenty of spare time to talk to Jughead, but he respected his friends wishes. It was only in emergencies like this that the redhead would allow himself to call. So, very hesitantly, he dialled the number and brought the phone to his ear. Jughead picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, Archie?" He asked, a hint of excitement ringing through his tired voice. "How are you? Why are you calling? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah Jug, everything's fine. I'm good too. How are you doing?"

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the phone, before Jughead sighed deeply and replied.

"Yeah, I'm good right now actually. I'm about to publish my new novel, just waiting for it to be approved"

"Wait, Jug, really?! That's awesome. Congrats!"

Jughead chuckled on the other end of the line. "Thanks, Arch, but I'm assuming you didn't call just to see how I was doing. We haven't talked in months. So what's up?"

Archie was caught off guard by the question, not having thought of what his answer was going to be before he picked up the phone. Scrambling to come up with something to say, he blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Well, it's just gone our five-year high school reunion, which Riverdale doesn't celebrate. Veronica thought it would be a good idea to do something though. She demanded that I contact everyone I'm still in touch with and invite them. So, will you come?"

The redhead held his breath as he braced for Jughead's answer. He already knew that Veronica would now have a party to plan to make up for his lie, but he was pretty confident in himself and his storytelling skills at this point. He was very proud of how quickly he came up with it.

"Wait, you and Veronica?" Jughead asked in surprise. "You're still together? I thought she moved back to New York"

"She did" Archie was quick to answer. "She just got back a few weeks ago, and we're not together. We just got back on speaking terms actually. Don't change the subject though Jug, will you come?"

Jughead sighed dramatically, and Archie held his breath, waiting for the reply.

"Will, uh, will Betty be there?" Jughead asked after a moment, the awkwardness evident in his voice. Archie knew that Veronica didn't want him to mention the blonde, but he wasn't about to lie to his friend.

"Veronica's flying her in next week" He answered. There was another pause before Jughead sighed again.

"Okay, Arch, I'll be there. Next Tuesday. But this better be good" He said, before hanging up the phone.

Archie smiled to himself, proud of his work, and glad that he and Veronica were now one step closer to what they used to be.