Forgiven (JD x Veronica)

Chapter 2

Veronica stumbled out of her car and felt her hands hit against the cold pavement of her driveway. She felt sick to her stomach, severely nauseous. Of course, Veronica knew this was due to her impulsively smoking 24 cigarettes inside of her car after having not smoked for so long, and yet, the emotional side of her brain insisted that she was repulsed by having seen JD.

She felt her body move itself, as if her body were at her house and her mind still at the hospital. She felt it pick itself off the ground, slam the car door, and shuffle inside. She felt her body pick up the pace on the stairs and before she knew it, she was leaning over her bathroom's toilet, hurling up everything she had downed that morning.

When Veronica did take the chance to lean back, balancing her head on the edge of the toilet's bowl, she took notice of how overwhelming the lights in her bathroom were. She felt like she was in the same situation as two months ago. The lights blaring her consciousness away as she tried to end her life. She winced and closed her eyes, hoping that, somehow, magically, she would slip out of this world and into another, one where she didn't have to face the facts that JD was alive.

She gritted her teeth. Alive. He was still fucking alive. She felt her hands ball up, clenched tightly around the bowl of the toilet, but something overcame her anger. She felt her anger drift and drain away from her as soon as it had seeped in. She was overcome with sadness once more.

"Veronica? Honey? Are you alright?"

Veronica eyes snapped open and her face molded into a visible expression of displeasure at the remembrance of her parents being home. She didn't want to get off the floor, tidy herself up and pretend that everything was fine. She didn't want to move from her (somewhat) comfortable head-perch. She didn't want to have to do anything but sit there and mope. And yet, not wanting to risk another hospitalization, she yanked herself up off the floor.

Once she did stand up, she was almost knocked back down. Her legs instantly caved under her, leaving her sprawled out on her bathroom countertop for support. She gripped onto the edges of the sink and dragged her legs across the wooden flooring. She barely managed to slam the bathroom door and lock it before loud knocking rained upon it.

"Veronica? Are you alright?" Her mother's concerned voice rang out. Veronica swore she could've heard the same fear in her voice as the day at the hospital, when she ran off and didn't come back for half an hour.

Veronica felt her legs gain some sort of strength. She felt them straighten out and push her posture forward. She felt them move and slam her body against the door and then cave again, as if her legs were waging some sort of war against her.

"Veronica?"

"Mom, I'm fine."

Veronica felt her back slide down the door until her rear landed softly on the bottom. She immediately curled up into a ball and sighed softly into her arms. She heard her mother softly speaking words of comfort and how she'd "always be there". Her mother seemingly went on forever, offering her endless support. Veronica was slowly but surely getting more annoyed by it. She wanted nothing more than peace and quiet, an opportunity to mope about her feelings and sulk; not to listen to her mother rant on and on about how much she cared about her well-being.

Eventually, her mother did stop. Turned on her heel and jogged back downstairs, to sit with her husband and vent her concerns about her daughter. Veronica just sat there and stared at the hardwood paneling. Letting certain thoughts drift in and out of her mind. Of course, the most central thought in her mind was JD. It was always fucking JD, wasn't it? She always had to listen and help him with his problems, but when it came to hers, he didn't even bother to listen, just hopped the gun straight to murder.