Hello, everyone. Today's chapter is going to be longer than normal, so be ready for a storm of teen angst. Also, I thought I should mention that this story, from this point on, is going to be heavy with themes of self harm and suicide. Just a heads up.

April had come and gone, and Heather Chandler had found a quiet little nook in Westerburg history - her locker engraved with a sign signifying the details of her life. No longer did she haunt the halls, making others suffer and cry.

It was like my junior year would end peacefully.

And so it seemed to be true, as a Tuesday night was spent in my room, finishing homework and listening to Joy Division.

I could hear my phone ring from my bedside table.

Sliding towards it on a swivel chair, I picked it up.

"Is this Jason Dean?" the voice asked, heavily shaded in a mellifluous tone.

Realization hit me like a rogue wave, and I crumbled beneath the strength of it all. "Yeah, I am. Is this -"

The voice laughed. "Yes."

Nicholas Clyde Park.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah," he responded. "I wasn't expecting this either."

Silence surged the room, claiming both of our breath. Through the tsunami of awkward tension and unsaid but understood solicitude, I felt the heavy weight of the darkness withdraw from the area. I bit my lip and curled the phone cord around my finger.

"How has Sherwood been treating you?" Nicholas asked out of the blue.

There were two responses I could go with.

It's been fucking terrible/it's been great.

I decided to go for middle ground. "It's been fine," I explained. Silence stirred between us until I glanced over at a framed photo of Veronica and I. "I've, ah, actually got a girlfriend."

"Holy shit - who is she?"

I grinned, laying back onto my bed. "Veronica Sawyer. She's kinda looks like Robin Marston, if you remember her."

Anyone could tell Nicholas was smiling too. "Interesting. And here, Jason, I thought neither of us could get girlfriends."

"Neither did I."

We continued to talk over the course of an hour or so, endlessly sputtering words of fables and narratives of the halcyon years we spent together.

It reminded me how much I missed Long Beach. How much I missed Nicholas. The nights we spent listening to Def Leppard and The Cure. Ranting and cursing and smoking. Wondering why we didn't have crushes on any of the girls at school - why they didn't have crushes on us either. Spending our afternoons in detention for some bullshit stunt we pulled off.

Every sentence felt like it took hundreds of years to calculate and respond to.

That is, until I heard pounding against my window.

I rose up, squinting my eyes to see Veronica. Veiled in a Harrington jacket, she huddled close to the window.

"I'll call you later, Nicholas," I uttered, putting down the phone and racing over. I opened the window as Veronica threw herself inside.

She flopped onto my bed and screamed into a pillow.

I sat by her, uneasy. "You okay?"

Veronica glanced at me. "You wouldn't believe all the shit that's happened to me tonight."

"Shall we, ah, have a little chit chat over at Snappy Snack Shack?" I responded.

For a second, her anger ended abruptly and she smiled. "Yeah. That'd be nice."

o00o

We ended up going to a 7-11 upon her request that we get out of Sherwood. While I sipped a blue raspberry slushie, I listened to her ranting and chugging her cherry slushie.

Veronica paced on the sidewalk, balancing a cigarette on her carmine lips. She blew smoke into the air, watching as it drifted off into the night.

"I'm so fucking done with Heather," she hissed, putting emphasis on the word done. "Kurt and Ram too. Assholes. Last time I do anything nice for that bitch."

I winced at her parade of swearing. Veronica wasn't the one to use more than two - she was too eloquent. "Did he do anything to you?"

"No - they were too shitfaced to do anything. I was able to get McNamara to the car before Ram could get to her."

She muttered ungrateful bitch while throwing her slushie cup into a trash bin.

Veronica continued her tirade, waving her hands and her face altering emotions on every other sentence.

I had grown used to her reckless behavior from these past few weeks. The once highly sympathetic girl I once knew had transformed into a stubborn and passionate person. It was a scary thought - but barely a week passed before I immediately familiarized myself with her new persona. Gone was the heart of Westerburg innocence - now there was a gifted, brilliant Saint Peter guarding the gates to absolution.

And as I looked to hear and surveyed her appearance, I saw it in her. It had installed a sense of fear within me, and I shivered in the cold air.

On that note, my hand moved towards her jawline, and I kissed her.

We separated for a second, and she simply smiled at my starry eyes.

She promptly pulled me closer, kissing and nipping at my neck, lip and jawline. I dropped my empty slushie cup, instead reaching for her waist.

Her scent of musty cigarette smoke and sharp citrus wavered in the air, replacing the faint aroma of slushies on my trench coat. I was slightly taken aback of my epiphany that nonsmokers didn't like the taste and smell of cigarettes - something I could never comprehend. In the moment, all I craved was tobacco.

Soon enough, both of us were pinned against a 7-11 wall, the dusky light illuminating her dark locks of hair. A mischievous grin curled upon her face as we heard the disgusted scoffs of passersby. I glanced over at them before she gripped me tighter, forcing my head to face hers.

"Dork," she mumbled between kisses.

"Veronica," I whispered. "My dad's gonna notice I'm gone by now."

Veronica stopped, her eyes warm and licentious. "Total mood killer."

I stumbled towards my motorcycle, signaling for our departure. She followed, her light skin still flushed after our encounter.

"C'mon, let's not go back," Veronica groaned. "This is our chance to get away from those dipshits for a while."

I hesitated, squinting at the bright lights of the foreign town.

"It's a school night," I explained. "We'll never get any sleep if we don't go home."

Pouting, she reluctantly winded her arms around my waist. Veronica mumbled unintelligible swears, earning a slight smile from me. I stifled my laughter, which made her grow only more annoyed. "Shut up!"

We sat like this for a long time, breathing each others' scents and staring out into the night sky.

Just as I was about to start the engine, she leaned closer into me. I tensed at her movements, shifting my gaze to meet hers.

Veronica's face was blank - her once beaming expression evaporated and replaced with an eerie complexion. She grabbed my hand, clutching it as if I was headed to become death's company. "I love you, JD."

Her words burned into my skull, bubbling and warming the bleak darkness.

I nodded, closing my eyes as our foreheads touched. Like I was on cue, I immediately responded with a soft warble. "I love you too, Veronica."

"I'm glad you're mine now," she added quietly.

Although the words were edged with sincerity and sugar, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Many would fine that endearing - I thought the same thing after that croquet match - but I found it creepy.

Something in my head nagged at me, saying 'there's something not right with her' and shouting 'you need to move away before you get attached or worse'.

I drove off towards Sherwood, tossing the thoughts on the littered asphalt.

o00o

May 4th. Thursday - 10 P.M.

Veronica phoned me to inform Kurt and Ram were still being dumbasses.

"I can't believe it, how could they say something like that? A sword fight, really," she complained. "Like I'd even go near those two fucks."

I listened to her rant as I listlessly scribbled down answers to homework from Ms. Brun's calculus class. This scenario had become commonplace in our relationship.

She barked my name loudly, causing my hand to slip across the paper - imprinting a sharp graphite line over my calculations and answers.

"Are you listening, JD?" she repeated.

I sighed and erased the line. "Yeah. I am."

I pushed the stack of papers into my binder and tuned back into the call. "What were you saying?"

She huffed, and as I imagined, flipped her hair in irritation. "I was asking if I could come over on Friday."

"Why?"

"Because we were going to go on another date - and I'd like to keep my mind off of Kurt and Ram."

I looked at my calendar, scanning through marked dates. Alongside the bold print letters I had written detailing due dates for homework and the like, copperplate words were scratched in cobalt blue - another 'official' date.

She had written that over a month ago.

I felt slightly guilty for forgetting about the date completely, with it being the only colored letters in the entire calendar.

I bit the edge of the end of my pencil. "Do you want to go?"

Veronica seemed to pause at the moment as if I just asked her a complicated algebra equation. A heavy sigh was followed. "I'd love to. You're the only one I want to see right now."

Putting my things into my school backpack, I leaned back into my chair and sat in silence, listening to the faint crinkling of the line.

And my dad watching reruns of M*A*S*H. Loudly, as it proved to sounding like it was playing in this room.

I reached over for the photographs of us, skimming through each one. The photos pictured scenes of us ranging from standing and sipping slushies at a 7-11 or Snappy Snack Shack to posing near movie posters at the local theatre.

I stopped at a particular one - it featured us sitting in the park. As I held the camera, both of us stood in front of an oak tree and kissed. Although these photos were nowhere near professional, I still doted on them.

"You have no idea," I mumbled monotonously, staring at the photographs scattered in my hands. "How much I want to see you too."

Veronica chuckled. "Our love is god, Jason Dean."

Looks like we have a lot to go over on this chapter...

More character development! Hooray! JD and Veronica have a bit more action in this chapter. For better, or for worse? No doubt that he's enraptured. What do you think of their dynamic? - and do you think it will last?

What do you think of Nicholas so far? I've mentioned him a couple of chapters ago (unnamed and named), so he didn't come out of nowhere.

Looks like Kurt and Ram are in hot water now thanks to Veronica. Not the best idea to piss off, as JD would say, the new judge of Westerburg.

I thought it would be nice to explain the appearances of the characters, as this is a mix between the movie and musical. (JD's description will be the longest because he probably won't describe himself on full-on detail.)

JD: Based on the appearance of Ryan McCartan, Dan Domenech, and Christian Slater. (A bit darker skinned than Veronica, slightly curly dark brown hair, and hazel-ish green eyes. I was gonna go for full musical portrayals, but seriously, have you seen Christian's eyes?) Personality is mixed between all three portrayals, and yes, his attitude is more musical than movie JD when it comes to Veronica.

Veronica: Solely based on Winona Ryder's portrayal. However, personality-wise, she's still cold and sarcastic, but she can be a bit emotional (as hypnotic-sleeptalk stated) when it comes to JD.

Heather M: Mainly Lisanne Falk but a little bit of Elle McLemore sprinkled in. Personality-wise? Still prefer the movie for the personality, but she's got her musical counterpart's insecurity.

Heather C: Based on Kim Walker's portrayal.

Heather D: Mixed with Shannen Doherty and Alice Lee's portrayals.

If you want to know the other characters' appearances, let me know!

Responses to Reviews (Thanks for 12 reviews! I love reading your guys opinions.)

Jasmemem - Thank you! As I always say, I love to update this fanfic as soon as possible for you guys! :)

SweetRiceball20 - Yeah, he's been going through some tough times recently. And I'm glad that you noticed the blue outfit! However, she does wear blue at the funeral...But, yes, color does have a bit of symbolism in this fanfic. I'd like to see your opinions on what they mean.

Peonies-Not-Ponies - Let's just say I'm not planning to have JD get involved with any other girls (Yes, I'm saying if McNamara has a relationship with him, it's gonna be strictly platonic). Veronica's got him wrapped around her thumb, so even if he felt anything for anyone besides her, she'd obliterate them.

Stay safe.