If you asked Veronica, this was all Cheryl Blossom's fault.
Of course, if you asked Betty, you'd get a very different story. Specifically, that it was all her fault, that she should've known better, that she shouldn't have taken the bait.
It had all started when Cheryl made yet another thinly-veiled jab at Betty's weight at River Vixens practice. Something about how she had considered putting at the top of the pyramid this semester, but "I'm not sure our shoulders are that strong."
Naturally, Veronica had gone right on the offense, the one-woman army of the Betty Cooper Protection Squad.
"Again with this, Cheryl?" she had snapped. "She's not even fat! God, if you're going to reuse the same lines over and over again, at least pick something that's true."
Cheryl opened her mouth to say something, and Veronica had prepared herself for the usual routine: Cheryl said something bitchy, Veronica snarked back, this went on for at least a full minute while Betty and the other River Vixens watched, semi-awkwardly from the background.
But today was different.
Betty's voice rung out before Cheryl could even get a single word in. It was quiet, shaking slightly, but it was undeniably there, demanding to be heard -- a serious change in the River Vixens' usual dynamic.
"Actually, Cheryl, I was hoping you'd suggest I be on top of the pyramid," she said.
Cheryl faltered for just a split second, clearly stunned before regaining her composure. "I didn't suggest--"
"But didn't you just say you had considered it?" Betty asked, all innocence.
"Well -- yes -- "
"I think we should give it a try." She stepped forward, closer to Cheryl. Veronica noticed that Betty's hands were balled up into fists -- a habit born of anxiety -- but she stood her ground. "I've worked my ass off this entire year. I've never missed a single practice -- I've gone to every game. I've passed all your stupid tests when you were trying to find an excuse to kick me off the squad. ...I'm just saying... it stands to reason that you owe me a fair chance."
Cheryl's perfectly painted red lips twisted into a smile, but her eyes gave her away. She was nothappy about this. Not one bit.
Still, she managed to sound almost cordial when she said, "Alright, Betty. Let's see what you got."
At first, things went well. Things went great. Betty was nervous, of course; she'd never topped the pyramid before. But she'd been practicing for weeks, long hours spent in her backyard with Veronica helping her. She could do this. Veronica was sure of it.
Then, Cheryl Blossom went and fucked everything up.
Veronica had barely registered Cheryl moving out of position from the bottom of the pyramid, the cornerstone that held everyone else up, when Betty took a tumble from the top. The three seconds or so it took for Betty to hit the ground felt like forever, but soon, there she was lying on the grass, groaning in pain as the rest of the River Vixens stood around her, looking down at her.
Betty hadn't even been on the ground for ten seconds when Cheryl said, "Oh my God! Are you okay, Betty?" Her voice was so phony-sweet, it made Veronica want to rip her stupid throat out.
"I--I'm--" Betty was trying to sit up, grass and mud staining her uniform.
Veronica cut in, whirling around to face Cheryl. "She just fell off the top of the pyramid, does she look like she's fucking okay?!" She shoved Cheryl. "You did that on purpose!"
Cheryl pretended to be shocked. "Veronica Lodge, I'm surprised at you! Why would I want to sabotage a member of my own squad?"
"Because you're always trying to sabotage Betty! Always!"
"Veronica..." Betty said from the ground.
Veronica sighed, tearing her gaze away from Cheryl, and moving to kneel in front of Betty. "How do you feel?"
"Everything hurts."
She offered Betty a hand, trying to pull her to her feet, but Betty winced as Veronica grabbed her left wrist.
"Ow--ow--let go--!"
Veronica immediately dropped her wrist. "Shit, is it broken?"
Betty nodded, in too much pain to speak.
"Oh, no!" Cheryl said, not even bothering to try and sound sincere. "Want me to walk you to the nurse, Betty?"
"No--no, I can go myself..."
"I'll go with you," Veronica said immediately.
"But, Veronica," Cheryl said, "we need to get back to practicing--"
"I'm skipping the rest of this practice," she announced. Gently, she put her hands on Betty's shoulders, helping her to her feet. Once she was up, she said, "Come on, Betty," before Cheryl could protest any further.
As they walked away from the rest of the squad, Betty whispered, "It's really okay, Ronnie. I can go by myself."
"No way," she said. "I wouldn't leave you alone when you're in pain. Besides, if I stay within thirty feet of Cheryl Blossom right now, I may strangle her."
"Don't be mad at Cheryl, it was an accident." Veronica gave her an exasperated look. "What? I'm sure it was!"
"Oh, come on. I know you try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but--"
"Cheryl's preferred method is mental assault, not physical," Betty said. "...Besides, even if it was on purpose, it's not like we could prove it. It's our word against hers." She sighed, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have responded when Cheryl started picking on me. It was stupid."
"You were standing up for yourself!" Veronica said. "That's not stupid. That's self-respect."
"Yeah, self-respect that got my wrist broken."
"Better that than just lying down and taking it."
Betty shrugged, but didn't say anything else.
The walk over to the nurse was quiet, Veronica silently fuming and thinking of all the ways she could kill Cheryl next time she saw her, and soon enough, they were sitting on the slightly-too-hard bed in the nurse's office. It only took the nurse about two minutes to decide that, while she probably didn't need to go Urgent Care, Betty would need to be taken to the hospital to get her wrist in a cast.
"I'll call your mom," the nurse said. She handed her an ice pack before moving over to the phone. "Keep that on your wrist."
"Great," Betty muttered, half to herself. "Soon, I'll have a lecture about how I never should've joined the squad in the first place and how I should've listened to my mother all along, and a broken wrist." She sighed, before leaning over to rest her head on Veronica's shoulder. "Thanks for coming with me, Ronnie."
Veronica managed a small smile, and reached a hand up to brush some of Betty's hair out of her eyes. "I know you'd do the same for me."
"I just hate making people worry."
"I know you do. But you spend all your time worrying about everyone else. Maybe it's time you let someone else worry about you for a little bit. Is the ice helping?"
Betty shrugged. "A little bit. If nothing else, it's distracting me from the pain."
"That's good. Hopefully at the hospital, they'll give you some painkillers." Veronica trailed a hand through Betty's hair, closing her eyes. "Want me to go with you to the hospital?"
"You don't have to."
"I know I don't have to."
"...I wouldn't want you to have to deal with the looks my mom would give you."
"Your mom can bite me. I don't care."
"I do."
Veronica chuckled. "Of course you do. That's just in your nature, isn't it?"
"Oh, like it's not in yours?" Slowly, Betty pulled her head off of Veronica's shoulder, turning to look at her. "For someone who claims to have been such an ice queen, you care an awful lot."
Veronica faltered, temporarily at a loss for words. "I--I mean..."
Betty smiled. "I mean it," she said. "You're a good friend, Ronnie. A ridiculously good friend."
"Not always," Veronica admitted quietly. "Not to everyone."
"But to me."
"...But to you."
"...Why me?" Betty asked softly. "When you came here, Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High or not, you could've picked any random girl to be your best friend. Who wouldn't line up to be Veronica Lodge's BFF? ...But you picked me."
Veronica hesitated, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I did," she admitted. "...When I first saw you, I just -- I had this feeling, you know? Like maybe... like maybe I was destined to go over and talk to you. And that maybe we were supposed to become best friends. Like it was all predetermined, a long time before we ever met." She let out a small, soft laugh. "I arrived in Riverdale not sure I'd ever be able to make genuine friends after what happened to with my dad and everything, and then... there you were. And it clicked. Like a light turned on in my head and I thought, 'oh -- there she is.'"
Betty stared at her, silent, for a moment, before reaching over with her good hand and intertwining Veronica's fingers with her own. "...I think I had that moment, too. When you stood up for me with Cheryl. That's when I realized, maybe we could be in this for the long haul."
Veronica smiled. "Even though I'd just shoved my tongue down your throat a minute earlier?"
Betty chuckled. "Yeah, even with that. I mean, it's not every day you meet a girl who'll go to bat for you against the great Cheryl Bombshell."
"I'm always on your side, Betty."
"Promise?" she asked, grinning and offering Veronica her pinkie.
Veronica smiled back, linking her little finger with Betty's. "On my mother's pearls."
They sat there for a second, just smiling at each other, when Betty suddenly acted, not breaking their intertwined fingers. In one fluid movement, she pulled Veronica forward, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her lips.
Veronica gasped, stunned, before slowly letting her eyes close, leaning into it, kissing the blonde girl back. Betty pulled away first, catching her breath, but all Veronica could do was instinctively lean in, trying to go for a second kiss without seeming too desperate.
"Sorry," Betty said.
"It's cool," she replied, too shocked to think of something more eloquent to say. She cleared her throat, trying to seem casual. "Was that your payback for cheer tryouts?"
"Ronnie..." Betty whispered. "Is it possible - just possible - that maybe what you and I felt... maybe that wasn't just realizing we were supposed to be friends...?"
Veronica's whole face lit up like the fourth of July, but she refused to let herself hope. "...Do you mean it?" she whispered.
Betty nodded. "Maybe the reason fate keeps 'throwing us together,' as you put it, is because... we want it to. I... I know I want it to. ...Do you?"
"...I do."
Betty's face broke out into a smile, a relieved laugh escaping her, before she leaned in to kiss Veronica again. As they pulled away for air, Veronica couldn't help laughter of her own seeping out of her, babbling like a fountain.
"What's so funny?" Betty asked, still smiling.
"Nothing. Nothing. I'm just - I'm so happy."
"Is that surprising to you?"
"Yes!"
Betty smiled, pressing another quick peck to Veronica's lips. "Well, get used to it."
It was a strange feeling, this feeling of floating, of walking on air, Veronica thought, but she was quickly intoxicated by it. Nothing could bring her back down to earth anytime soon -- not even the nurse announcing that Betty's mother had just pulled up outside.
Betty slid off the bed, getting to her feet. "Walk me out?"
Veronica nodded, following her to the door. She wanted to take Betty's hand in her own, but she thought better of it. "Are you sure you don't want me to come to the hospital with you?"
"...You sure you can handle an hour of my mother looking at you like you killed six people?"
"Honey, I'm on a cheer squad run by Cheryl Blossom, and my father is Hiram Lodge. I get that look every day."
Veronica had wanted to quit the cheer squad when it was confirmed that Betty would be in no shape to cheer for the rest of the semester, but Betty wouldn't hear it.
"How are we supposed to stick it to Cheryl Blossom if you quit the team?" she asked, walking Veronica to the locker room an hour before the next pep rally was supposed to begin. "Now go, get in your uniform. I'll see you out there, okay, Ronnie?"
Veronica smiled, pressing a kiss to Betty's cheek. "I'm doing this for you," she said with a small laugh, before turning to go into the locker room.
Betty slowly made her way to the bleachers, the only person there except for a handful of cheerleaders' and football players' boyfriends and girlfriends, all of whom had shown up early so they could see their significant others into the locker room.
She smiled to herself as she glanced down at her cast. All her friends (and Cheryl) had signed it, but Veronica had been the first.
Feel better soon! I love you! - V
Yeah, it did majorly suck that she wasn't on the River Vixens anymore. And truth be told, her wrist still hurt like hell. And Cheryl had technically gotten what she wanted.
But if being happy was the best revenge, then mission accomplished.