Babysitters

Chapter 36

MATTHEO RIDDLE

I opened Veronica's door hastily without knocking, earning myself an annoyed groan. But I knew my next words would make it up to her.
"Theo and Enzo came back."
Veronica's head snapped towards me so quickly I was almost afraid for her neck. "You're kidding."
I shook my head. Veronica scrambled to her feet and began making her way to the door—to me—with long, determined strides.
I put my hand quickly in her way. "They're currently speaking with my father. You can't go the—"
Veronica slipped out of the door under my arm, walking quicker than I thought was possible for such a small girl. I groaned, going after her. "You can't go there! You'll get yourself killed before you can say a word to your precious boyfriend."
"I'll kill my not-so-precious-non-boyfriend first," Veronica said in a voice that actually surprised me. It was a mix of pent up frustration, anger and maybe a small hint of relief. Mostly anger though.
I snorted, catching up with her in just a few longer steps than usual. "Non-boyfriend?"
She glanced at me before turning her head back straight toward the hallway we were walking through. "Yes. We're not together."
"Right. And I saw a flying cow earlier."
Veronica rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! We're not!"

* * *

Despite Veronica's violent threats for Theo, the first thing she did when the two came out of the room was pull Enzo with her out of the hallway into a secluded part. Theo looked so miserable as Veronica ignored him I couldn't help but feel bad for him.
He'd just been away on a mission he couldn't avoid for over a month, certainly missing her like crazy every day, and when he finally did return, the girl brushed him off as if he was invisible. I couldn't even imagine how he was feeling.
Okay, maybe he left without saying a word to her. Maybe he didn't send even a simple message to her during the whole time. Maybe she was worried sick of him.
But hey, none of us are saints, right?
Bad excuse, sorry.

I glanced at Theo whose face had fallen from a excited smile to a sad frown, feeling like lightening the atmosphere was my responsibility.
"So—uhh, how was your—ahem—trip?" I asked with a voice so awkward I knew I just made the situation worse.
Theo scoffed at me, replying with an excessively sarcastic tone, "good, good. Had a really nice vacation, visited the Eiffel tower and killed two people, got the MoM after us, committed to at least twenty-five different crimes, almost got a free pass to Azkaban... the usual. What about you?"
I went silent for a moment. My brain struggled to make up a response. "Oh. Oh, wow. Yeah—um."
I cringed at myself. "I'm glad it went well, then."
Shut the fuck up already, Riddle.
Theo shot me a murderous look. "I'll shoot your brains out."
I nodded. "I get why."

Not long after, Veronica and Enzo returned to us from behind the corner. A glimpse of hope flashed in Theo's eyes, but it dimmed down quickly as the stubborn girl walked right past him toward her own bedroom. Her eyes were slightly red, like she'd been crying.
I was confused to say the least. I thought she'd be excited to see her non-boyfriend after such a long time.
I guess I was wrong.

LORENZO BERKSHIRE

As soon as Veronica pulled me out of Theo and Mattheo's sight, she turned me around and took her place in front of me. The girl was radiating anger, frustration and something else I couldn't quite place.
"Hi princess," I smiled weakly down at her.
"Don't 'princess' me. What the hell is wrong with you two?" She hissed. "You just leave, without saying a word to me? What kind of friend does that? Are you even my friends or just babysitters my dad orders around?"
"V, of course we're your friends," I sighed. "I just—you have to understand. We couldn't tell you. The Dark Lord said it was classified information and we didn't want you to get in troub—"
"I don't have to do anything," she replied bitterly. "Do you even realize how worried I was?"
I frowned suddenly. "You knew where we were?"
"Yes. Mattheo told me. Apparently he has more sense of morality than you two combined!"
"Since when have you two been in the kind of terms he'd tell you about things that could land him in trouble with his dad?" I questioned. Mattheo was fiercely loyal to his father, mostly out of fear though. Why in the world—
"He told me even before we became friends," she said. "Who else was I supposed to spend my time with when the only two people I actually knew here left?"
A sudden rush of panic filled my head as a thought occurred to me. "You didn't tell him you knew about the—the—you know what I'm talking about. Did you?"
Veronica scoffed. "I promised you I wouldn't, so I won't. Because that's what friends do. They keep their promises, they don't hide important things from the other, they don't leave the other alone without saying a word—"
I sighed. "I'm sorry."
Veronica was seething. "Sorry doesn't cut it. No messages, no calls, nothing. And on top of that, Theo even left some random number on his bed which I tried to message and call and—"
My ears perked up. "What number?"
"There was a paper on his bed with a number on it and I assumed it was for me since I thought he cared about me enough to leave me something to contact him with, but I never got a response and I was so worried and then I thought maybe the number wasn't meant for me or it wasn't a phone number at all and I hoped the lack of response was because of either of those because I didn't want to believe he just didn't care enough to respond—"
The more Veronica spoke, the more hysterical her voice changed and the less I understood from what she was trying to explain. I slowly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her against my chest, feeling how the tears she'd been holding back finally fell, dampening my shirt.
"Princess, you aren't making any sense right now," I mumbled into her hair, holding her tight as she sobbed. "I'm sorry. It's okay now. We're here now. I'm here."
I gave her a minute before I spoke up again. "Are you mad at Theo?"
She nodded, keeping her face hidden in my chest.
"At me?"
"I don't know," she whispered in a voice so small and vulnerable my heart nearly broke right there. I never should've left her alone, I realized. But what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't have told her, there was too big of a chance for me to get caught of leaking 'classified' information.
"It's okay, V. You have a right to be mad at us," I said quietly. "How about this; you go to your room and I'll be there with you in just a minute. I promise I'll explain everything."
Veronica raised her head, looking up at me with tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes. She nodded. "No more secrets?"
"No more secrets," I confirmed. "I swear."
She slowly withdrew herself from me, wiping her tears with her sleeve before walking back to the hallway. I followed her, watching as she walked past Theo without sparing him a glance.
We messed up, and I did really feel sorry for her. I knew saying our fuckup was inevitable sounded like a bad excuse, but it was the truth. We had to do what we did. There was no way around it.

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A/N:
Hello loves
Wow, this chapter holds a lot of drama within itself. Will Veronica and Theo ever get their happy ever after? It almost seems as if fate doesn't want them to be together. Everything is going wrong.
This chapter was written hastily, I admit, and I might have to go through it again tomorrow (when the time isn't 00.41) when I can focus on what I'm doing better.
I still hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please vote and/or comment. It means a lot.
Love u all x