Planning Your Future

I Don't Need Your Love

June 19, 1993

Veronica's POV

I wake up with a massive headache. "Oh shit." The room feels like it's spilling. "Hey." Owen comes in, holding a trash can. "What's that f-" I suddenly feel the urge to throw up. Owen runs over, putting the trash can in from of me. "That's what it's for." He laughs. "I definitely regret drinking that much." I put a hand to my head. "As you should." He backs away. "I should go. Sam is probably waking up soon." He starts walking out. "JD needs to get here quick." He mutters.

JD's POV

I go to the store to get a few things. Heather decides to tag along. "So how was last night?" She asks as we walk through the store. "Good. Veronica let loose, I still need to work on Owen." Sam wasn't a concern to begin with. "She did? Did she meet somebody?" She grabs Gatorade and puts it into the cart. "Yeah. She was a friend of Justin's." I say. "Justin? Huh..." She walks slightly ahead of me. "So do you think she'll start dating her?" She's trying to change the subject. "I don't know. I haven't seen her sober since I took them home last night. They seemed to really hit it off. They ended up being... close." I don't want to go into detail. "Are you okay?" She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I raise an eyebrow. "Because. You guys were together for years. It must be weird that she's not only seeing other people, but she's seeing girls. I know you said it doesn't bother you, but are you sure you're okay?" She says. "Yeah. It's not like we broke up because she likes girls as well as guys. We broke up because the relationship wasn't healthy anymore. We fought all the time." It was toxic. She's great and she'd say the same about me, but us together wasn't good.

"I never realized you guys fought a lot." Heather sighs. "Well we were. She also told me a few months before that we'd become the 'make-up sex couple.'" She was right though. We had become that couple. "Were you?" She asks. "We were. We fought over the stupidest things and we'd be fine after having sex." I hate that she was right. I didn't want us to be that. "Not to bring up Alyssa, but do you think they did that?" She puts more stuff into the cart. "Probably not. She seemed genuinely happy with her. I'm sure they fought, but I doubt they ended it like that." Her relationship with Alyssa seemed so much healthier than ours was. But it seems like they're done. I hope she gets that same dynamic with Alison.

I go to Veronica's with the stuff. Veronica seems to be fine now. I give her a Gatorade and go to Sam. He's a little worse but not that much worse. I give him one as well.

I sit on the edge of Veronica's bed. "So you had an interesting night." I smirk. "I know. It was cool." She says. "Are you going to see her again?" I ask. "I want to. I had a lot of fun with her. It was nice to let loose for once. My relationship with Alyssa was great, you know, before the Henry stuff. But she was always so nervous. It's nice to hang out with someone who isn't always so scared." She drinks from her bottle. "I get it." I'm glad she feels that way. It's great that's she's becoming so wise.

June 24, 1993

Veronica's POV

Heather and JD put their stuff in my car. "You guys ready?" I look back at them. "Yep. Let's go." Heather gets in the back and JD sits next to me. We drive to the camp. I hang out in Heather's cabin for a little. The kids have started to arrive. Hope and Nichole say hi to me. They're the only ones I had last year that are in Heather's cabin this time. "Do you want to go see if that one girl is here?" Heather whispers. I nod and hug her goodbye.

I approach Alyssa's door with hesitation. Hannah is unpacking when she looks up at me. "Veronica!" She hugs me tight. "I'm sad I'm not in your cabin." She frowns. "It's okay. I'm not a counselor this year. But I'm coming back at the end, so I'll see you then." She looks sad when I tell her that. "But tell me how you and your sister have been this year." I try to change the subject. "Good. My foster parents are pretty nice. They let my sister come over every Friday night and have dinner with us." She tells me. "That's great!" I smile. Alyssa gives me a look that's almost sad. "Well I should go. I'll see you when camp's over." I hug her one more time. I start to go to JD's cabin to tell him goodbye. "Hey, could we talk for a minute?" Alyssa comes up behind me. "I guess." I sigh.

We walk to the back of the cabin for some privacy. "So. How have you been?" Why is she asking me how I am? Didn't she want to tell me something? "Good. What did you want to talk to me about?" I want to know so I can end this conversation, say goodbye to JD, and leave. "I just heard Heather was taking your place. I know things are weird between us, I just... I didn't know it was that bad." She chews on her lip. "I also didn't want to come since Owen and Sam came. But James couldn't, so JD did." I shrug.

"Veronica, I just..." She takes a deep breath, "I still love you, and you know that. I just want... a second chance. I shouldn't have broken up with you over the picture." A tear streams down her cheek. I don't even know what to say. "Well," I look down, "I don't need your love. Besides, I'm seeing someone anyways." I leave her behind the cabin.

"Hey, I'm leaving." I hug JD. "Okay. I'll see you when camp's over." JD smiles. "Bye." I wave. We hug one last time. I get into my car and drive home. I know I was harsh but I don't want her apology.

I'm home for about an hour when somebody knocks on the door. "Hey." It's Alison. She hadn't been to my house yet so she's looking around. My room is obviously bland since I'm in college. I show her the attic. "Wow. This is really nice. This is where you do music?" She brushes her hand against the piano. I can't help but smile as she examines the room. "Yeah it is. You could sit in on a rehearsal once one of them gets back from counseling at a camp." I'd love for her to watch us rehearse.

"So you told me the other day that you didn't go this year to be a counselor. Is it too much to ask why?" Alison says as we sit on my couch. "It was just going to be really weird. Last year only one of the others was my ex, now two of them are. Sure I'm friends with one of them, but it's still awkward. My ex and I had a moment whenever I was dropping my friends off. She said she still loved me, I told her I don't." I didn't tell her that, but it was implied. "Wow. That sucks." She frowns. "But let's not focus on that." It's not important. Alyssa had her chance. Like I told JD, the only way Alyssa can win me back, is with some grand gesture. But I don't see her doing that.

We end up watching a movie. We're cuddled up next to each other. Then my dad gets home from work so we separate. "Hi, I'm Victor. I'm Veronica's father." My dad sticks his hand out. "I'm Alison. I'm a friend of your daughter." Alison shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you." He smiles.

My dad goes to change out of his work clothes. "Your dad's really nice. Have you thought about telling him yet?" She asks. "I don't know. He's great but it's not like he grew up anywhere progressive. He grew up in Ohio." I love him but I don't want him to think of me any differently. "I get it. It took me years to come out to my parents. I have several letters where I did but I trashed them all. I finally did it while we were eating at a restaurant. I figured they couldn't totally freak out if we were in public. But they were calm. Even if your dad is from Ohio, that doesn't mean that he's as bigoted as the rest of the people here. I'm not saying you have to, but I think you should consider it." She says. "I'll definitely consider it." I nod.

After Alison goes home, my dad and I are sitting at the dinner table. Just tell him Veronica. Alison is right. He's not like everyone else. He's a great person and an amazing father who loves you. "Dad?" I say. "Yes?" He looks up. Should I? Is this a bad idea? The answer to both of those is yes. I should but it's a bad idea. "The food's really good." Dammit. I should've told him. I'm just scared of how our relationship will change if I tell him. "Thank you, honey." He grins.