Only a Matter of Time // Veronica Sawyer x Fem!Reader

twenty-four

I yank out my suitcase, placing it on the ground. The airport is busy. It reminds me of when I got to the airport to come here.

"Hey." I glance over at JD. He nudges me. "You ready to go?"

"No," I say shortly. I laugh a bit. "No, not at all. Are you kidding me?"

“I mean, I was just wondering.” I glance at the car, watching as Ram and Veronica get out. I already said bye to everyone else earlier. It hurt, yes, but I left with the thought that I wasn’t trying to cut them off completely this time. This time, I got their numbers, figured out when their breaks were, found out where they went to school. I’m determined to keep them in my life this time around.

“We should get going.” I look over at Kurt as he says this. My heart sinks. I can see that it slightly pains him to say it. I swallow.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I say quietly. The group falls silent, taking it in. Pretty soon, I’ll leave again. Chandler breaks the silence.

“Seriously?” She asks, almost incredulously. I feel a smile tug at my lip.

“You knew it was coming for a while, Heather,” I remind her. She sighs.

“Yeah.” I give her arm a gentle squeeze.

“Call me when you miss my voice,” I say teasingly. She sighs.

“All the time,” she mutters. Veronica inches between us.

“I’ll call you more,” she says to me. I giggle quietly, planting a kiss on her nose.

“Of course, Ronnie. I’ll call you day and night. I won’t let Chandler hog me like that.”

“Hey, leave time for us!” Mac says, wrapping her arms around me. I hug her tight.

"Of course." I could tell my friends are feeling extra sentimental today. Maybe it's because we finally got the goodbye that we missed all those years ago.

I'll admit, I'm feeling it too.

I’ve wanted to come here for so long, and now that I’m here, I almost don’t want to leave. But I have to. I know that.

“It was really, really nice to come back,” I say finally, breaking the silence. No one says anything. I’m just beginning to wish that I never said anything when Veronica pulls me closer.

“I’m glad you came here,” she says softly. I nod a few times. As I look into her eyes, I can see tears. It nearly breaks me.

“Veronica…” She blinks a few times, trying to make them go away. I feel a small smile tug at my lip. “Don’t cry for me.”

“Veronica’s crying?” Duke butts in. Veronica reaches over, pushing her a bit. I laugh quietly.

“Don’t be mean to her, Duke.”

“Yeah, she’s just about to lose her lover again.” I shoot at glare at JD as he says this.

“She’s not losing me any time soon,” I say. He smiles. 

"I know," he says. He sighs softly. "And I'm glad she won't. There's no way any of us would go through that again. Especially not her." I glance at Veronica. She looks down at her lap.

"Hey." I take her hand. "Can we talk for a second?" I glance at Kurt before he protests. "I'll be quick, promise." I stand and pull Veronica out of the room.

"I'm sorry," she mutters.

"God, we apologize to each other way too much, don't we?" I blurt out. Her eyes dart up, and she cracks a small smile.