Consequences

Chapter 25

"Do you like him?" Cheryl asked once she got back up on the bed.

"What?" Veronica was surprised at her question. It was honestly the first time that anyone had asked her this question.

"Yeah, honestly," Toni took her hand. "Don't worry, we won't tell him, it stays between us three."

She faltered for a moment before replying. "Do I think he's hot? Yes. Do I think he's a good friend? Yes. Do I like him? I don't know..."

"I think you're just too scared to admit even to yourself that you like him," Cheryl pointed out. "Come on, you're the Veronica Lodge, you get any guy you want!"

"He's Jughead Jones, and that's enough reason to not be able to say I like him," she reasoned, confessing her dilema.

"What do you mean?" Toni prompted.

"Well," Veronica hugged a pillow to her chest. "He's the Serpent Prince, I'm the former 'Northside Princess'; he's the admired leader, and I'm just a hated 'criminal' here; and he hates me."

"Veronica, Veronica, love and hate is just a thin line," Cheryl smirked.

"Say that to Jughead the next time he meets with the Ghoulies," Veronica poked holes in her argument.

"Excuses, excuses," Cheryl mutters.

"And he's dated Betty?" Veronica sighed exasperatedly. "I mean, there are certain rules that you can't date your ex-best friends's ex boyfriend."

"Oh please, as if you need to give an eff about Blond Ponytail—Miss-I'm-Always-Right," Toni said with distaste. She had always hated Betty Cooper from the start for some reason. "She gave Jughead up, which thank God that Jughead's finally free, and she cheated on him during the war."

"With who?" Veronica put her pillow aside, leaning closer to listen. This was new information to her.

"Toni," Cheryl tossed a pillow at her. "She doesn't know!"

"What are you guys hiding from me?" Veronica interrogated seriously, while Toni bit her lip in regret.

The redhead sighed. "I was going to tell you, but you know, with so many things happening, I didn't want to upset you. Okay, I'm just gonna be blunt. I saw ginger player and goody two shoes sucking each other's faces off before you and Archie broke up."

"What?" Veronica was appalled and disgusted. That cheating little... "Does Jughead know?"

"He saw," Cheryl informed. "He was with me."

"So is that why Jughead kissed me out of the blue," Veronica narrowed her eyes. She flashbacked to the unexpected kiss that Jughead had given her one night when she was in her office studying the Ghoulies' weakness during the start of the Civil War. He had barged into her office slightly drunk and kissed her softly then left straight away. The kiss was never brought up, never discussed and to Veronica, it had always been a mystery. But now that she knew the truth, she understood that Jughead did it to get back at Archie and Betty, and to—in his own words—'level out the playing field'.

"He did what?" Toni's jaw dropped.

"He just kissed me to get back at them," she told them.

Cheryl's face fell. "Guys are such jerks. That's why I have Toni."

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Veronica lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling. The late night revelations kept her mind going a million miles per hour.

Finally, she couldn't take overthinking and confronted Jughead, who she knew was awake too, judging from the frequent sound of his covers.

"Jughead, why did you kiss me that night in the office to get back at them?" Veronica questioned. "And why did you do it sneakily instead of in front of them to gloat?"

Jughead froze. "Who told you?"
Then he realised. "That's it. I'm putting Choni on toilet duty at the White Wyrm after the stunts they pulled today."

Veronica raised an eyebrow, awaiting a legit response.

He sighed. "Because if I did it in front of them it would just complicate things more than they already are. It's better off having revenge in secret."

"What about me?" she continued. "Did you consider how confused I was and how guilty I felt about being kissed by another guy when I was still with Archie?"

Jughead bit his lip in thought. "I didn't." A pause. "Did you honestly feel guilty?"

Another pause. "No, not really. We fell out of love already."

"Were you actually ever in love with him?"

"Were you actually in love with her?"

Neither of them answered, but both of them knew the answer was no.