My Mythic Bitch In Red

Chapter Twenty-One

(y/n)'s POV

We all sat in a circle, waiting for Ronnie to tell us what had happened. I was sitting in between Chandler and Martha Dunnstock, the chubby girl who Veronica used to hang out with all the time. She was really sweet, and she too found it hard to see all the kids we'd known since kindergarten grow cruel as they were today. She even expressed shock that I could have been considered rude, and I told her it was only to keep away the bad people. She understood, and had given me a sweet smile after I explained.

"What's up, Ronnie? What did the jerk-face do?" McNamara prompted gently. Veronica looked up at her with glassy eyes before allowing a strangled sob to escape her small, shaking body.

"Well, after Chandler and (y/n) left, JD-" She took a couple seconds to breathe and compose herself. "JD was acting weird so I asked what was up and he said he doesn't even like me, he likes someone else!" She cried. Martha leaned over and gave her a warm hug. Veronica glanced to me, making eye contact for a second, before allowing another sob to rack through her body.

"Did he tell you who?" Martha asked, holding her hand comfortingly.

"Well she's in this room, so before I say I want her to know I don't blame her. It's not her fault," She said, glancing around and once again holding eye contact with me for a second. I felt uneasiness well up in my gut at the eye contact.

"Well, out with it," Chandler urged.

"It's... it's (y/-(y/n)," She whispered, eyes never leaving me. I launched myself forward to tackle her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Man, he has no taste does he?" I whispered to her, embracing her tightly. She gave a pathetic laugh in response.

"Yeah, he sucks. Boys suck," Mac added, joining the hug. Martha followed, and I heard Chandler sigh before joining the pile of friends. Veronica laughed beneath me and I felt my lips curl into a smile. It was heavy, but it was kinda like when a cat lays across your lap but on a larger scale.

"Alright, let's be done crushing Ronnie," I heard Chandler say as a weight lifted. One by one, we all got up and took some gulping breaths, especially Ronnie and I.

"We could have DIED!" I laughed, delirious from exhaustion. I heard chuckles from around me and knew they all were probably exhausted too.

"Hey, I wish I could stay but I have an audition tomorrow, so I should probably go," I tried to get up, only to get yanked back down by McNamara.

"Nooo, stay!" Mac whined, hugging me.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can miss one show and not damage your rep," Ronnie added. Everyone else nodded, some more eager than others. I reluctantly nodded.

"Fine," I gave in, huffing in fake annoyance. I could use the extra time for homework anyway, and I wasn't too excited at the prospect of the show anyway.

"Yes! Now, let's watch some movies until 3am. What about Princess Bride?" Martha squeaked, excitedly. Not everyone else seemed as enthusiastic, so I decided I'd sway them.

"I've never seen it, but you sound excited so it has to be good. You guys in?" I said. Nailed it.

"Yeah sure, I've watched it a couple times, it's pretty good," Mac conceded.

"Hell yeah!" Veronica added, sill gloomy but having cheered up exponentially. Chandler silently got up to lead us to the "Movie room", where she went to find the movie. I followed, leaving the others to seat themselves.

"What're you doing?" She glanced back at me in confusion. "I'm just finding the movie,"

"We've hardly had a minute alone tonight, is it that bad to wanna spend an extra minute with my almost-sorta-girlfriend?" I responded, giving a smile. She rolled her eyes.

"You're the cheesiest, I swear," I could hear the smile in her voice as she leaned in and pressed a casual kiss to my lips. She wasn't acting quite herself, but she was probably delirious from exhaustion. I know a was too. I was just too tired to care about her kissing me, I just kissed back.

"Now turn around and find the movie," I told her, looking into her eyes. She nodded and turned to find her copy of Princess Bride. After a couple seconds, she victoriously held a movie case up, and I guessed it was the right one. I linked my arm with hers to walk back to the seating area, and our friends were staring. Martha and Veronica seemed stoked, while Mac was smiling wide at our togetherness.

She really did that a lot, she must really want us to date. I turned to kiss Chandler's cheek chastely before choosing my seat. The place itself was as big as a normal, public movie theater, so I had many choices. I chose the back row towards the middle. Chandler went to play the movie, coming back in a couple of minutes.

She scanned the seats for me, before huffing at where I located myself. She climbed the stairs, acting as if it was Mt. Everest that she scaled,not a bunch of stairs in her own home-theater. Exhaustion had its effects, and I saw it in the bags under her eyes, the messiness of her hair, and her dragging her feet along. She finally made it and plopped next to me, stealing my hand and lacing our fingers together, setting them on her lap. I smiled, ignoring the movie that had already started up.

I pushed down the divider between our seats and moved to rest my head to her shoulder, curling up on her side. She disconnected our fingers to wrap her arm around me, and holding my hand with her other one instead. I felt her press a kiss to my temple, making me feel complete and safe.

I snuggled closer to her warm body, eyes fluttering open and closed, desperately trying to stay awake. I don't remember when, but eventually I fell into a warm, comforting sleep, cuddling into her soft t-shirt.

(1026 words)