~♛~
gracie's pov:
"welcome to what i humbly like to call, 'lodge lodge'." veronica smiled, as we walked into the chalet.
my mouth gaped open. wow.
i huffed, the weight from carrying my own and cheryl's bags getting the best of me. "ronnie, mind showing me the rooms?"
she nodded. "yours and cheryl's room is at the end of the corridor to the left..." she trailed off.
"jughead." cheryl said, asking to speak to him and pulling him aside. "i just wanted to make sure you knew..." she lowered her voice. "that archie and betty kissed in front of my house, and it seemed pretty serious— like, with tongues, serious. that's all." she smiled, feigning innocence after blatantly trying to cause drama.
"are you guys okay?" betty asked, approaching the unusually paired conversers.
"cheryl said that you and archie kissed in front of her house." jughead frowned.
betty didn't know what to say, but she finally spoke up— instead of offering an explanation, throwing her third cousin under the bus.
"what she failed to say was that she and archie also kissed."
this time, it was my turn to frown. "what?"
~♛~
the blossom girl came into our room for the weekend, shutting the door behind her.
"do you want the top or bottom drawer?" i said, not looking up.
"gracie, can we please talk about this?"
i shrugged. "i'm not mad about the kiss. i mean, why would i be? technically, we aren't even really together."
"then why have you almost ripped the drawer-handle from its axis?"
i fumbled with the knob, trying to screw it back on in a haste. "i'm fine." i grunted.
"it was ages ago." she explained. "at the dinner after the maple drop. i was upset, and vulnerable, and jj's murderer still hadn't been caught, and i—"
"i'm a better kisser than him, though, right?"
~♛~
"is everything okay?" veronica asked, as betty, jughead, cheryl and i all walked back into the lounge.
i nodded, chewing on the inside of my lip.
"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.
"what? no, betty. of course not!"
"this is what i'm talking about." jug frowned.
"relax, jughead." archie frowned.
"don't tell me to relax."
"what the hell is going on down here?" i asked, stopping at the landing.
"is that why you brought us here?" betty asked veronica— i was being ignored— they were too engrossed in their argument. "to get us out of town while your dad does these things?"
"okay, now who sounds crazy?"
"lodge industries has been buying properties all over the southside. now he buys the town's newspaper so people can't report on what he's doing? this is a classic gambit of criminals."
"shut up, jughead." the andrews boy rolled his eyes.
"archie, this one is simple— even you might get this if you stopped kissing up to hiram for two seconds!"
"what's going on?" cheryl whispered, appearing by my side.
i shrugged. "no fucking idea."
"vee, how many times have i defended you? and now you stab my family in the back?" betty yelled.
"it sounds to me that you should be mad at your dad for selling the paper, not mine. and besides, there's nothing evil about buying a newspaper."
"he's trying to silence the free press— keep mrs cooper from coming after him!"
"i am so sick of you guys' vendetta against my dad! he's done plenty of good things!"
"oh, like what? name one thing."
"he's—"
"—he paid my dad's medical bills." archie answered for her.
"boy, archie. veronica's got you wrapped around her little finger." my brother scoffed.
"and other parts of her body." betty remarked.
"oh! i'm sorry— i'm sorry we don't spend our time being tragic, moping and holding hands while watching serial-killer documentaries— and wearing costumes to roleplay and get our rocks off." veronica clapped back.
suddenly, there was a loud clatter, and the sound of shattering glass.
"what was that?"
"you rich folks never learn." four men wearing balaclavas burst into the room, holding weapons in their hands. "you just keep walking around town, flashing more cash then we see in a year. we're gonna take what we want, and then go, and if you find behave yourselves, nobody gets their skull knocked in."
cheryl backed up next to me, and we all stood in a line, our hearts thumping with fear.
"fine. take what you want. we won't give you any trouble." archie spoke up.
"where's your purse?" one of the boys asked veronica.
"um... it's— it's in the bedroom." she stuttered.
"let's go to the bedroom, then."
"no. no way you are going in there with her alone." archie protested. "i'll go."
"archie. it's fine. i'll be fine." veronica assured, looking up at him. "we'll be right back. everybody just needs to stay calm." she made her way to the bedroom, presumably the leader of the burgling group, following after her.
i could feel cheryl quivering, her grip on my arm tightening— just like how betty was clinging onto jughead.
they soon returned, the hooded man now clutching veronica's purse.
"can we go now, you got the cash?" a boy with a baseball bat asked him.
"yeah, i got the cash." he nodded.
"then you got what you wanted." i said, implying for him to get the hell out.
"not everything. not yet. why don't you all get down on your knees?"
"come on, man— let's not do this." another guy pleaded.
"shut up. i said on your knees. hands behinds your backs. do it!"
the others began to lower themselves down to the door, but archie and i were stubborn. we wouldn't be getting down yet. not until they all gave us a fierce look, and we slowly backed down.
"it's a nice cabin." he raised his bat above to coffee table, a grin plastered on his masked face. "sorry to make such a mess of it!—"
but he was interrupted by the telephone ringing.
veronica smiled triumphantly as we all turned our heads to the source of the sound. "that would be security company calling to check on the alarm i hit in my bedroom. i'd say you have about thirty seconds to run before this place is swarming with guards who will shoot first and ask questions never."
"screw you, rich bitch." the leader scowled, ripping the pearl necklace from the raven-haired girls neck, before they all began to flee the chalet.
archie leapt up, chasing after the group of thugs.
"archie, don't!"
~♛~