Veronica sighed as she stepped out of her heels and slid her dress's zipper down, letting the silky fabric fall from her curves. She turned the shower on to its full heat, full pressure, and stripped her underclothes off, stepping into the steamy shower with a sigh of relief. What a day it had been – first, the pep rally, then Cheryl's breakdown and all of that damn cheerleading. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Betty, Veronica would never had started cheerleading and her muscles would be a lot more thankful.
And a lot less toned, she thought, and laughed softly. Her mother wasn't home – at some meeting with her father's lawyer, no doubt – and she planned to dress comfortably and sit down to watch a movie with a huge mug of hot chocolate by the fire.
She smiled at the thought and switched the shower off, the bathroom filling with steam as soon as she opened the glass door, the mirror fogging up – Veronica thought she liked the mirror better this way, where it didn't serve any unwanted reflections.
She towelled off slowly, taking her time, moisturizing each part of her body with just the right amount of moisturizer, tying up her silken shorts and slipping her camisole on with a fluffy robe over both. She ran a brush through her hair, braided it back in a single French braid, and then shut the door softly behind her.
Veronica pondered over which movie to watch as she fixed herself not a cup but a mug of hot chocolate, heating it up to just the right temperature and stirring in some low fat milk, grabbing two cookies and setting them down on the table.
When Smithers's voice rang through the intercom, she jumped so much that some of her hot chocolate spilled down onto the couch.
Veronica swore and ignored whatever the hell Smithers was saying – probably her mother wasn't going to come home, some sort of crap like that, and found a serviette to wipe up the mess before throwing it in the bin. She was just about to sit down again when a light knock at the door caused her to sigh heavily – was she ever going to get to watch a movie?
She wrapped her robe tighter around her middle and stepped cautiously over to the door, opening it slightly to peek out into the hallway.
"Betty!" Veronica said, her face splitting into a smile at the sight of her girlfriend. It quickly dropped when she realised the blonde girl's eyes were red rimmed and swollen. "B, bub, what's wrong?"
Betty's voice was cracked and heavy. "Smithers sent me up, but I can leave if you don't want me."
Veronica shook her head frantically. "No, no, no," she muttered. "Oh, Betts, come here, baby." She pulled Betty forward into her arms and shut the door behind her, rocking Betty against her.
"Okay," Veronica whispered into Betty's neck. "You're upset, you can either tell me what's happening, or, I was just about to watch a movie, you wanna watch?"
Betty nodded silently and Veronica passed her the hot chocolate that she'd so carefully prepared. "Here," she mumbled. "To cheer you up."
Betty sighed and set the mug on the table, crawling into Veronica's lap and resting her head on her chest. Veronica drew patterns on her back, stroking her fingers up and down her back over and over as Betty breathed in and out, in and out.
It took a while, but Betty looked up and sighed. "I think all of my family is mad, V."
"Nope," Veronica said. "You're not."
Betty took a shuddering breath and held her palms out to Veronica, who, of course, had felt Betty's nail cuts but had never seen them quite as bad as they were now.
"You're not mad, B," Veronica whispered firmly. "Not by a long shot. You're just in a shitty situation."
Betty nodded. "All of my family is, though."
"Scrap them," Veronica said harshly. "You're not, B."
Betty smiled, her eyes brightening. "Ronnie?"
Veronica smiled, just because Betty was smiling. God, she was so in love with this chick.
"Thank you," Betty said softly, tilting her head up to Veronica's. "You're an angel, Ronnie, honestly."
Veronica leant down and felt Betty's breath hitch under Ronnie's palms that still rested on her back. "You're not crazy," she whispered, and then took Betty's lips in hers.
An hour later and Betty and Veronica were in Veronica's bed.
Betty was resting on Ronnie, her head snuggled into her chest, breathing so softly Ronnie had to keep checking she was okay. Her lips were swollen – Ronnie was proud – and she looked so calm and soft, and Veronica was not okay.
There came a gentle knock and Veronica called 'come in!' and then Smithers poked his head in. He took one look at Betty, all soft and snuggled in, and gave Veronica a small smile, shutting the door with a soft whisper of 'I won't tell your mom.'
Veronica sighed, kissed Betty's warm head and pulled her closer in before setting down her phone and curling up to her sleeping girlfriend, thinking that the night had turned out a lot better than she'd expected.