Veronica swayed with Archie, rocking side to side as a slow, sappy song played just a little too loudly from the speakers. Archie couldn’t take his eyes off of Veronica. She couldn’t bring hers to meet him. She felt his hands press on the small of her back and she tried not to jolt, shrinking away from his grip.

“You having fun, Ronnie?”

“Mhmm.” Veronica gave a weak smile back at him, nodding, then looking away, searching the rest of the dancefloor for Betty and Jughead. 

She felt guilty. She told Archie she’d go to the homecoming dance with him, but Veronica couldn’t bring herself to enjoy this at all. She knew Archie wanted something more from this, and she thought she did too, but the attraction she felt towards him, like those seven minutes in heaven and those early moments when they both met up after practice and just became infatuated with eachother over walks back home and chats on benches, it had all started to fade, being replaced by something much more tame. Yeah, she could imagine herself going out to the movies with Archie, but only if they were accompanied by Jug and Betty. She spotted Jughead standing by the punch bowl, but couldn’t manage to find Betty. She felt a light tap on her shoulder, swiveling her head towards it, only to find empty space. Betty stood on the opposite side, impressed at herself pulling the oldest trick in the book on Veronica.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but do you mind if I borrow Veronica, Arch?” 

Archie looked back at Veronica before resting a hand on his hip, and the other on his chin, feigning deep thought. “Well… I was having a wonderful evening with this young lady right here.” He pointed at Veronica. Veronica huffed, rolling her eyes. 

“God, you are way too corny sometimes, Archie.” She chuckled.

Archie jolted away, stepping back and clutching his chest in pain. “Ronnie, Betty, help!”

Veronica dropped to the floor, pulling Archie up and throwing his arm over her shoulder. “Jesus, Archie, are you alright?!”

Jughead strolled by. “Give him a second.” He managed to get the words through a mouthful of cupcake.

Archie winced for a moment, propping himself back up. “Yeah, I’m good, everything’s fine, it’s just that”— He looked Veronica in the eye— “Words hurt, Ronnie.” He said with a smirk.

“You gave me a fucking heart attack!” Veronica gave him a shove on the arm.

“Like the one I just had?” Archie laughed

“I’m gonna remember this when you’re on your deathbed, Andrews.” Veronica poked him in the chest.

“Hey, that’s gonna be pretty soon if you don’t start being any nicer!” Archie pointed at her. 

“Let’s hope not though!” Betty cut in with a toothy smile. She grabbed Veronica’s hand, tugging lightly and leading away from the group. 

Veronica felt her heartbeat quicken, Betty’s hand on hers was like a shock to her system. Suddenly she had tunnel vision, nothing else mattered and it wasn’t like she could even handle thinking about anything else. She watched as Betty turned around to say something to her, and all she could do was quickly nod and smile, because boy did she need a moment to take in everything happening right now. Between the way Betty's hair just seemed to effortlessly fall to her side, the flashing lights on the dance floor, The way Betty’s dress showed off how cute she was while also showing off the biceps she usually hid away with long sleeved shirts and sweaters.... And the thumping of the speakers that made it hard for her to think about anything else (that was definitely it). 

Honestly though, she paused, what the hell was happening? It wasn’t like her to be so off her guard, especially at an event like the homecoming dance, a place where anything could happen, and an audience was ready to watch. This was Riverdale, after all. There were appearances to keep, people to impress, and all she could do was think about how pretty Betty Cooper looked. She felt her cheeks get warm, and was immediately thankful that all of the reds, blues, and purples of the dance floor’s lights hid her blushing. 

“Hey! Don’t be gone too long!” Archie called out to Betty and Veronica as the two made their way further from him and Jughead..

“Yeah, sure thing, dad.” Betty mumbled to Veronica before rolling her eyes. Veronica snorted. Betty’s grip on her hand tightened. Veronica felt her heart thump against her chest. The two kept going, making their way out of the gymnasium.

“Well, thanks for saving me from dancing with Archie for the entire night, but where are we actually headed, anyways?” Veronica asked as the two walked down the school’s hallways. 

“Uh,” Betty looked up, trying to think. “Well, I forgot something in homeroom that I needed to finish my homework, so... I thought you might want to come with me and check for it!” Betty sounded surprised by the words coming out of her own mouth.. 

“Uh huh.” Veronica grinned. “you’re pretty bad at bluffing, you know that, right?” 

“Well I guess the excuse never mattered, because you sure do look happy to be tagging alongside me right now.” Betty raised her eyebrows.

A terrible liar, but Betty Cooper was still the most astute person Veronica knew. She was at a loss for words, then she felt Betty's fingers trace her palm. The two looked at eachother for a moment. It was moments like this that she really hoped Betty wasn’t just trying to be a really good friend. This was it, the excitement, the electricity that she craved, that she just couldn’t feel with Archie.

Betty looked back ahead as they made their way to the end of a hallway. She tried to open a door to a classroom, but the doorknob wouldn’t budge. 

“How do you expect us to —” Veronica started, but Betty had already worked a bobby pin and paperclip into the lock, jostling them around and turning the knob. The door clicked open. Veronica put a hand on her hip. “—and where’d you keep those?” 

Betty tapped the bracelet sitting on her wrist. “Gotta be prepared.” She shrugged, walking into the room. Veronica shook her head, letting out a laugh.

Veronica stood back for a moment, watching Betty step inside, The ruffled edges of her dress knocked against the seats of the chairs that none of their classmates had pushed back into their desks. Betty paced over to her desk, kneeling down and searching inside of its supply holder, under the seat, and looking around. She looked up to see that Veronica hadn’t set foot into the classroom. 

“What’s wrong? Get in here already!” she motioned over before continuing. “You don’t want a janitor or someone to catch us loitering around.” 

Veronica breathed in, looking up for a moment. Here we go, she thought to herself. She stepped inside. The only light coming into the room was from the moon. The way Betty’s hair caught the ribbons of moonlight, complimenting the light green of her eyes, it made her almost too pretty to look at. As they locked eyes, Veronica closed the door behind herself, slowly stepping forward. 

“So, really, what’s that thing you had to come all the way back to homeroom to find?”

Betty stood up, brushing her dress off. Veronica strode up slowly to her. She was so nervous that she almost felt calm. She watched Betty’s posture straighten. Veronica, stepping up to her, maintained her eye contact. She always felt like she had a clue about Betty. She thought about what it would be like to ask her on a date, to walk up to her and kiss her, but this was the real thing. There was no going back, and if she was wrong about what she thought she felt with Betty...

“Remember, there is a right answer.” Veronica tried not to sound nervous while she prodded for a response..

Betty draped her hands around Veronica’s shoulders, circling a finger through one of the curls of Veronica’s hair. “You, obviously.”

Veronica could feel herself melt around Betty’s hands. She stood up on her toes, bringing her hands to Betty’s cheeks and gently pulling her in. Betty closed the distance, meeting her with a kiss. Veronica felt like she could be lost in this moment forever.

Betty broke away for a moment. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.”

“I’ve got an idea.” Veronica smirked. She wanted Betty to know without ever having to be told, just how long she’d had her eyes on her. Betty rested her hands on Veronica’s cheeks before pulling her in for another kiss. 

Veronica’s hands made their way to the small of Betty’s back as she leaned backwards, pulling the two on top of Betty’s desk. Veronica took the lead, painting Betty’s cheeks with kisses. All this time they’d spent as friends, she’d watched Betty deal with so much, so quickly. Veronica wanted to be her comfort.

Betty put a hand behind Veronica’s head, the other behind her leg. As the two started to make out, Betty placed one of her thighs between Veronica’s legs. Veronica took the cue to go further, letting her. Before the two could keep going, Veronica slipped off the edge of the desk, Betty’s arms wrapped around her, breaking her fall and hoisting her up. 

“Holy shit.” Veronica laughed, feeling her head rest around Betty’s biceps. She wrapped her legs around Betty’s waist. 

“Almost lost ya for a moment there.” Betty smiled.

***

“So you lost both of the ladies?” Jughead picked up a cupcake from the gigantic spread of party food in the gymnasium.

“It happened so fast, I barely realized that my date was gone for the rest of the night.”

“Well, tough titties, Arch.” Jughead watched Archie start to slouch, as he looked at the ground. “However.” Jughead said. Archie picked his head up like a golden retriever after hearing someone mention a walk. “Mr. Mantle’s been eyeing you for a while, now that you’re alone.” Jughead pointed right at Reggie, who was leaning across the bleachers next to Dilton Doiley and staring straight at Archie. Once he realized he’d been spotted, Reggie’s gaze shifted with haste.

“You’re kidding.” Archie laughed at Jughead. Reggie took a sip from a flask, offering some to Dilton without even looking at him. Once Dilton took a swig, Reggie slipped the flask back into the pocket of his blazer. Archie turned to Jughead in disbelief, then looked back at Reggie, who’s gaze came back to Archie, unflinching this time. Reggie kicked off from the bleacher. He gave Dilton a pat on the shoulder before making his way towards Archie and Jughead.

Archie felt himself start to panic. It was that chaotic wave of emotion when all control had certainly been lost and all you had to rely on was instinct. And Archie didn’t have great instincts, as reluctant as he was to admit it most of the time.

“So,” Jug looked archie in the eye. “you’re gonna tell me you haven’t been crushing on that doofus for these last couple months? At all?”

 “Jug, it doesn’t matter. He’s Reggie Mantle, There’s a laundry list of reasons that I can’t!” 

There really were. What were the bulldogs going to say? Not just that neither of the football team’s co-captains were straight, but also about the fact that they just so happened to be into eachother? He already could hear the jokes about the extra practice hours they spent together. Jug was accepting, but what about Betty and Veronica? Were they going to start seeing him the way they saw Kevin Keller? Was that even so bad? He didn’t want to lose the type of relationship he already had with them. And what about Fred? Archie was sure His dad would be supportive of him coming out, but the town delinquent was gonna be a hard sell. Archie’s head was like a bee’s nest, buzzing with thoughts.

“Oh, but you can.” Jughead cut off Archie’s train of thought. He took a sip of punch while pushing Archie forward with his other hand.

Archie stumbled onto the dance floor, looking back like a lost puppy. The scent of cinnamon and smoky wood wafted towards him and he turned back, almost bumping into Reggie’s chest. “You smell good.” Archie blurted out. “Did I say that out loud?” Archie felt his cheeks warming up. 

“You did, Andrews.” Reggie chuckled with a nod. 

“Crap.”

“Don’t sweat it, red. I put in some effort. It’s good to know that it’s going noticed, right?”

“Oh.” Archie’s heart was galloping, he felt like he drank two coffees and then threw in a couple of redbulls right before stepping onto the dancefloor. He tried to form the words. “Well-d”—

—“So you wanna dance, or...?” Reggie shrugged, throwing his hands up.

“Yup! Yes, thanks!” Archie was tumbling over his own words as he watched Reggie raise an eyebrow. He breathed in for a moment, trying to stay calm. 

“You’re gonna do fine.” Reggie laughed. He reached out and Archie took his hand. The two started to sway with the music, and Archie felt himself getting closer and closer to Reggie’s body. Reggie put a hand behind Archie’s neck, and Archie gave in to the comfort, resting his head on Reggie’s chest. They kept swaying, turning slowly. Archie caught a glimpse of Jughead, who Archie could have sworn was sleeping standing up, if it weren’t for the thumbs up that Jughead had pointed his way, making him laugh.”

“What’re you looking at, red?”

“Nothing.” He giggled before looking up into Reggie's eyes.. “By the way...”

“Yeah?”

“...It’s stupid, don’t worry about it.”

“Out with it already.”

“You’re comfy.”

“You’re goddamn right I am.” Reggie said with a smirk.

***

Holding eachother, listening to the faint echoes of the music from the gymnasium, Veronica pulled Betty close again, holding her face for a moment and looking into her eyes.

Even if it was in the cramped and uncomfortable Riverdale high classrooms, having this moment together, alone, it was nice. Not at all how Veronica had imagined their first kiss and everything after to happen, but it felt right. 

While Veronica was lost in thought, Betty took the moment to lean in and kiss her on the cheek. 

“Flattered to know that you just can’t stop kissing me.” Veronica laughed.

“Hey,” Betty pointed her finger at Veronica’s cheek. “It’s a very kissable face.” the two kept laughing, taking in the rest of the moment before an announcement blared across the speaker. 

*ALRIGHT RIVERDALE HIGH, WE’VE GOT 3 MORE SONGS LEFT, SO GET YOUR LAST DANCES IN!*

“Shit.” Betty froze, biting her lip as she started to hesitate.

“You want to finish the dance with everyone out there, don’t you?” Veronica looked at Betty with adoration.

“Is that totally corny of me?” Betty laughed.

“Not at all.” Veronica got up and returned the previous favor by planting a kiss on Betty's cheek before taking her by the hand. They ran down the hallway. As the pair made their way onto the dance floor, they settled into a sway, Betty held Veronica in her arms, and Veronica draped hers over Betty's shoulders.

“Thanks for making tonight so amazing..” Veronica whispered.

“I think you’re the one to thank.” Betty smiled.

“Would you be ok if I kissed you in front of everyone here?”

“You sure we’re not gonna hurt Archie’s feelings?”

“He and I were never really dating, just kinda flirting. Plus...” Veronica pointed behind Betty, who turned her head to see Archie and Reggie sharing a kiss. “I think he’s gonna be just fine.” Betty turned back, and Veronica surprised her with a peck on her cheek before moving to her lips. They swayed to the music, Letting the dance come to a close. 

Betty hugged her. “I’m so glad you moved here.”

Somehow, all of them had managed to make through another school day, it was becoming increasingly difficult for any of them to actually focus on any kind of academia when they were constantly being presented with new and dramatic situations that required their attendance. Still, as they were leaving the building, Betty managed to catch up with Veronica on the way out. “Hey, Ronnie, Why were you late today?” Betty asked, trying to seem as casual as was possible despite the fact that she was incredibly curious, and mildly worried for the answer.

“Oh, the car decided today was the perfect opportunity to stop working.” She rolled her eyes and Betty visibly relaxed, smiling slightly, “Why?”

“I just figured you might have gotten caught up with your date, that’s all.” Betty shrugged, putting a particularly disdainful emphasis on the word ‘date’.

“Why do you hate him so much?” Veronica asked, smirking a little, “I think he’s cute.”

“Well maybe he is but he’s not exactly a nice person, Ronnie.” Betty huffed softly, readjusting he bag on her shoulder, “Besides after what happened with the last guy I figured you’d want to avoid the men in this school like they were the plague.”

“Usually I would, but I have you here to help me get revenge on anyone who wrongs me.” She hummed proudly, Betty sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’d rather you just stayed away from them all together and saved us both the trouble.” It was true that Betty didn’t want Veronica dating anyone but her reasons may not have been entirely accurate to what she was saying. In all honesty, it was difficult to watch Veronica be with anyone, it just made Betty angry, the people her friend chose to interact with weren’t good enough, smart enough, attractive enough, no one was enough for Veronica in anyway as far as Betty was concerned.

“Anyway, your dad’s good with cars, right?” the subject change was sudden but welcomed by Betty who had become entirely wrapped up in her frustration.

“Huh? Yeah, yeah, he is but we’re not really having the best time with each other right now.” Betty pointed out and Veronica’s eyes widened marginally.

“Right, sorry.” Veronica smiled apologetically and Betty shrugged.

“You know, I’m pretty alright with cars, I could just help.” She suggested, “I’m not doing anything this afternoon either and I might as well, it’s kind of therapeutic I guess.”

“Really? I can’t say I figured you’d be into that kind of stuff, but if you’d be willing to have a look, I’d appreciate it.” She smiled again for a moment at the prospect of getting to spend the evening with the blonde before her expression dropped. “Except I promised I’d meet up with Archie this afternoon.”

“That’s fine,” Betty said quickly, blushing slightly at her own eagerness, “I mean, it’s easier for me to work alone anyway and it could take a while anyway.” Betty offered, her signature smile lighting up her face all the way to her eyes.

“If you don’t mind…”

“Ronnie, of course I don’t mind, I’ll go home, drop my stuff and get changed, get what I need and I’ll be at yours in an hour. You can show me where I’m working before you go, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good.”

Veronica got nervous fast, she always got nervous when she knew she’d be alone with Betty, it was excitement nerves more than anything, happy nerves but nerves nonetheless and it was a feeling she was entirely unused to. Everyone who had ever met veronica would say she had a strong character and even she believed that was an understatement of herself, she was an unstoppable force that had somehow been rendered completely at a halt by the blonde girl from school. She’d find it ridiculous if she didn’t find the other girl so irresistible.

When Betty finally arrived Veronica almost made a noise that might have been a laugh if it wasn’t bordering on a frustrated scream, “Did you have to dress like a farm cartoon?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Betty scoffed.

“It’s for safety.” She shrugged, glancing down at the denim overalls and long sleeve pink plaid she’d put on to increase the possibility of staying both uninjured and mildly tidy.

“Sure, Cooper, I believe you.” She sighed, leading her through to where they kept the car, and after a brief explanation of what the problem was and handing over the keys, Betty simply wandered over and popped the hood, looking underneath to try and figure out what the problem was as she tightened her ponytail.

“You going to meet Archie soon?” She asked holding out some small hope that she might have had a change of mind and cancelled, no such luck.

“Yeah, I should probably be going.” Veronica sighed and Betty nodded.

“Well that’s fine, I’ll be here a while, have fun.” She shrugged, turning back to the engine and leaning in to fiddle with something out of Veronica’s line of sight. The dark haired girl opened her mouth to say something else but thought better of it and took that as her cue to turn and leave.

The time she spent with Archie was uneventful, hours and hours of uneventful, they were meant to be studying but Archie was distracted by music and god knows what else, Veronica was distracted by the thought of the beautiful blonde girl probably heaving and sweating over her car right now like some depraved fantasy come to life. Unfortunately, Archie was intent on keeping Veronica around while he avoided studying, maybe it gave him the illusion of productivity, whilst Veronica herself was almost constantly trying to find excuses to leave as soon as possible, but as the hours wore on it became less and less likely that Betty would still be there waiting. The good mood that she’d established upon seeing Betty was quickly dwindling into nothing as her frustration took hold and the urge to get up and leave without a single goodbye was growing exponentially by the second.

Eventually Veronica managed to get away and she couldn’t get home fast enough, she stumbled through the house and stopped to compose herself outside the door to garage, clearing her throat and adjusting her pearls delicately around her throat before going in.

Her heart almost stopped in a second, Betty was still there, hands rested on the front of the car as she stared in at the engine, brows furrowed in frustration, her tight ponytail loosened and messy from her work, her overalls had been unclipped and were hanging around her hips almost precariously, somewhere along the line she’d discarded the plaid shirt and was now standing there in her white tank top that had risen half way up her stomach, grease smudged across the pale skin there. Veronica cleared her throat once again to say something but the words caught and she just choked quietly into silence. Betty looked up and grinned. Her face was dirtied and shining with sweat, she straightened up, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, “Hey, Ronnie! I think I’m almost done I’m just finishing up.” She smiled softly and Veronica swallowed thickly.

“That’s good, uh, you-you’ve, uhm, been here for hours.” She managed to get out, her cheeks heating up as she attempted to pull herself together.

“Yeah, it was a pretty big job.” Betty breathed out slowly, scratching her face and leaving dark grease along her cheek bone. Veronica wandered over slowly, chuckling a little bit.

“You’ve got something just there, uh…” She said quietly, motioning to her own face to let batty know where the grease was. The blonde reached up and wiped at her cheek, only smudging the grease further across her face.

“Did I get it?” She asked obliviously, Veronica rolled her eyes and walked over, leaning close to snatch the rag from betty’s pocket, she stepped forward again and gently started wiping away the grease, their bodies barely half a foot apart, the proximity made them both blush but this time veronica didn’t notice, her attention was elsewhere. Hers eyes drifted to the blonde’s lips, looking over them as she recalled how they’d felt to kiss the first time. How soft and gentle her kiss had been when she had started to kiss back. How it tasted like strawberry lip-gloss, the tinted kind that had been smeared across her lips when Veronica had pulled away the first time, breathing shallower than one would expect for a short kiss. Betty had looked so incredibly gorgeous flustered and shocked, heart beating fast and red lips slightly parted. Then she refocused on the moment she was standing in currently, how amazing her kiss would feel with swollen lips from being bitten in concentration, grease in her brow, and the shine of stray oil across her cheeks, hair pulled back and bits falling across the side of her face. She looked so damn sexy it was becoming difficult for Veronica to breathe, her mouth had gone dry and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from those lips, not on her own.

“Hey, Ronnie…” Betty said slowly, finally veronica’s eyes flicked up to betty, a gentle hum of acknowledgement leaving her body as all semblance of air did, Betty had seen her staring. The blonde reached up and rested her hands on Veronica’s cheeks, cupping her face so delicately it felt almost as though she hadn’t touched her at all, her voice lowered, “don’t freak out, just trust me.”

There was a second’s hesitation, Veronica nodded so minutely it almost wasn’t noticeable, and Betty leaned in, gently connecting their lips as her fluttered closed. They moved perfectly together, Veronica responded immediately, her hands finding Betty’s hips and pulling her in until they were chest to chest, Betty’s arms slipping back around her neck. They pulled back after a moment, resting their foreheads together.

“Was that better than the first time?” Betty chuckled nervously, the blush on her cheeks darkening.