𝙎𝙃𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙎 𝘫𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘪

─ xl. gingerbread man

"Hey guys," he said with a strained smile.

"It's good to see you again, dude." Joaquin greeted him. Manic remembered him from FP's gang. He was kind of shocked to see him here. But Manic bumped fists with him, nonetheless. "Thank you,"

"How did you get out?" Veronica asked.

"Did you get out on good behavior?" Kevin asked, standing next to Joaquin.

Manic nodded. "Actually, I was granted a family week, so I'm out only for a week."

Lola smiled and walked over to the group of people. "Isn't it great?"

Kevin shook his head, looking very nervous. "Uh...yeah, yeah it's great...all great!"

Manic frowned a little at him, noticing that he had been acting very weird. As did everyone else around them. Especially Joaquin. "You alright there, handsome?" Men asked a bit concerned for him.

"Handsome?" Joaquin asked the Cuban-Puerto Rican boy, with a tiny hint of jealousy. Why was he calling his boyfriend handsome? Unless there was something going on with the two of them.

"It's just a nickname," Manic waved off, "Nothing more, nothing less."

"Betty just texted me, they're near!" Lola announced, making everyone get into place.

Lola ran into the kitchen as she heard the door open and everyone yelled, "Suprise!!"

Jughead jumped a bit, surprised at the sudden amount of people. Well, only his close friends were here. Then he noticed Manic standing next to Veronica. "Manic?! You're here?!"

Manic smiled, patting his shoulder. "Only for a week." He said. "Happy Birhtday, Stiles."

Jughead smiled a bit at him. Archie hugged him with a grin. "Happy birthday, bro."

Jughead hugged back. "Thank you... Everyone, thank you."

Everyone started telling him happy birthday and giving him pats and hugs, all while he was looking for one thing that mattered to him. If Manic was here, surely Lola was here, too. "Um, has anyone seen Lola?"

Just like magic, there she was, walking slowly towards him with a cake and lit candles. She softly sung as she walked closer to him. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Juggiehead aka the best boyfriend in the world." Everyone chuckled, including Jughead. "Happy birthday to yoouuuuuu....."

She stood directly in front of him with the cake, smiling up at him. He smiled back, feeling his heart pound in his chest. It made him realize even more on how much he really loved her. And how he never wanted to let her go. "That was haunting, Lo."

"Make a wish," was all she said.

He sighed, staring into her shiny ocean green eyes.

"I wish it was just the two of us right now," he mumbled before blowing out the candles.

The party started afterwards. Manic noticed Veronica on her own, crying again. He walked over to her with a sympathetic look. "Must we meet like this, all the time?" He joked, hoping to get a small laugh out. Veronica strained a small smile, wiping her tears away. "It's just my dad, it's at the tip of the iceberg."

Manic hummed. He understood her just fine. But he didn't want to elaborate on the subject, so he just sat next to her on the couch for a silent moment. "You want a drink?"

Veronica looked at him with a smirk. "Isn't it the New York sophisticate supposed to corrupt the sweet-small town boy?"

Manic laughed a little with her, before looking into her eyes again. "Yeah, but I'm not sweet and I'm already corrupted."

"I don't know, I think you have a sweet side to you," she flirted a little, which didn't go unnoticed. Manic raised his eyebrows a bit at her. "Oh yeah, why do you say that?"

"You're a sucker for beautiful girls."

"And you think that's the reason I'm here with you?" He asked, his voice getting deeper.

Veronica shrugged with a coy smile. "Could be....tell me what's going on in that corrupted mind of yours?"

Manic started at her for a while. Which made her slightly nervous. Her heart was racing just a little bit, which was not normal for her. She was use to flirting and having hot guys close to her. But with Manic, it was always different. It was weird but she didn't really care at the moment. She wanted to forget everything about her father and the court. She just wanted to forget for a moment.

And so did Manic. He wanted to forget the bad thoughts, the mental facility, the nightmares. And if she was his distraction from that, so be it.

Maybe he wanted her more, but right now wasn't the time to think about that.

So he gently pulled her into a kiss.

And she kissed back, without hesitation.

If the Mevin shippers are mad at me right now, I'm so sorry.

Mevin is a thing in this book but.....I did promise Maronica first.

Sorry it's so short, I have work in the morning so I gotta go to bed early and I did promise you guys an update tonight.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes, I really appreciate that!

Comment your reactions and love ❤️

See you soon!