FIRE AND ICE , c. blossom

chapter thirty-one

"good, because you guys haven't tried my jalapeño margaritas yet." she handed us all a martini glass and i took a sip.

"wait— this is amazing..."

"to the lodges, their hospitality and to putting the past behind us." jughead proposed a toast.

"cheers." we all clinked our glasses together.

"so, do your parents come up here a lot these days, veronica?"

"not as much as they'd like. daddy is a workaholic." she replied.

jughead was about to ask another question, but betty whispered into his ear and they began to quietly bicker.

"guys. i'm picking up some residual tension from, i'm guessing, the things that surfaced earlier. which is understandable. fear you not, though. i have just the antidote. step one, clothes off, swimsuits on!"

~♛~

i leaned back in the bubbling jacuzzi, slightly closing my eyes. "i don't know about you guys, but i'm feeling better already."

"okay, so full disclosure time." veronica sighed, putting down her margarita on the side of the jacuzzi. "when archie told me about the kiss, i absorbed it, processed it— and in the end, i bear no ill-will towards my beau, not my bestie."

i raised an eyebrow. "no idea what ronnie just said, but i agree. archie, all i can say is you've been keeping your lips busy." i wrapped my arm tighter around cheryl's waist.

"so, to clear the air..." veronica sipped her drink. "gracie and i... should kiss."

"what?" archie exclaimed.

"veronica, are you cuckoo-bananas?" cheryl snapped, scooting even closer to me as she could, in an attempt to mark her territory.

"wait a minute, i don't know, hold on." i said, getting up and wading through the water so i was stood in front of everyone. "veronica and i, kissing? that might help to level the playing field." i grinned, my eyes dancing with mischief. "cher, what if future me tries to use your kiss with archie against future you? a vacie kiss? right now, in the present, may be precisely what it takes to save a future chacie from imploding."
cheryl crossed her arms.
i looked over archie who was getting wound up.
"arch, come on, man. it's just a 'stupid kiss', right?" i teased.

veronica smirked, getting up and taking my face in her hands. "gracie, let's bring back the old ship, huh?" she chuckled, and we both leaned in at the same time, meeting eachother with our lips. it seemed to go on forever, and i opened one of my eyes to check the blossom girl's facial expression. she was fuming; giving veronica a full on death stare. it was like
deja-vu to jughead's birthday party.

~♛~

i was hovered over cheryl, kissing at her collarbone when we were interrupted by shouting downstairs.

"ugh." she groaned, rolling her eyes. "why are we always interrupted?"

i huffed, rolling off of her and onto the silk comforter.

cheryl wrapped her red gown around her, sitting up and sorting out her hair.
"i'll go see what's going on."

"veronica, did you know your dad was buying the register?" betty asked.