Red moons ---Beronica (Riverdale's, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge)

Chapter 6: room mate

"Thanks again, Veronica." Polly is shyly grinning over the sweater she's holding up, pinching the shoulders with her fingers before laying it flat on the bed before her.

Betty's a few feet away, kneeling over the lowest drawer of Polly's new dresser. "Honestly, V, I think I owe you for the rest of my life - and then some."

"For the thousandth time already," The brunette rolls her eyes as she saunters into the room with a stack of fluffy bathroom towels cradled in her arms, "Don't mention it - and I'm referring to the both of you." She sets the towels on the polished surface of the dresser before smirking in Polly's direction. "We had to make use of the guest room eventually."

When Betty finishes tucking the last of Polly's shirts into the drawer, she pushes it shut and raises to full height. Veronica is suddenly aware of how tall she is - if she wasn't wearing heels right now, the brunette's forehead would barely graze her shoulder. "Mom won't ever think to find you here..." Betty's gaze falters for a moment. "Or at least I think she won't. I don't know. She always manages to find what she's looking for."

"Hey," Veronica approaches her, her eyes softening, "Even if your mom does find your sister here, there's not much she can do. Polly's a big girl; she can make her own decisions. And do you really think my mom and I would bend to Alice Cooper's will?" Her smirk returns, and something inside of her lights up when Betty can't help but smile back. "We Lodge women are notorious for our stubbornness, you know."

"Oh, believe me," It's Betty's turn to smirk, "I do."

Both girls erupt in a fit of quiet laughter, and their eyes meet. Blue melts into brown, and vice versa. Suddenly it feels like the past few weeks they spent apart never happened: The Blue and Gold is still defunct, Alice Cooper isn't insane, Hermione Lodge isn't lying to her daughter, Betty isn't dating someone else right now...

Everything's in its right place.

Veronica's standing a lot closer to Betty than she thought; did she take a few steps closer without noticing? She spots the dashes of green in those blue eyes, and her throat instantly goes dry. Well, this never happened before.

Betty's stare is focused, calculating, analyzing, and Veronica's hit with a wave of self-consciousness - the second one she's had in the past week, and the second she's ever had in her entire goddamn life.

And both times were Betty Cooper-related.

The blonde's eyes are boring holes into hers; what the hell is she seeing? Veronica forces herself to swallow, and she can feel her lips slightly part - for what reason, she's not exactly sure, but the moment it happens she catches those blue-with-a-lovely-hint-of-green irises flitting down towards her mouth for a split second and she almost loses it-

"Um," Polly clears her throat, and both of them nearly jump at the noise, scaring them apart, "Did you say Smithers brought my other bag up already, Veronica?"

"I'll check." Betty immediately answers, and in seconds she's gone. Both Veronica and Polly's eyes follow her out the door, and they linger for a moment before resting on each other.

Veronica's hoping to God - or whatever otherworldly deity is currently listening at the moment - that her face isn't as flushed as it feels.

She breaks eye contact with Polly and darts over to the nearest pile of clothes, desperate for a task. She can feel the elder Cooper girl's eyes on her; the awkward silence is hanging over Veronica's head like a guillotine. She feels obligated to say something, anything at all, but as soon as she opens her mouth Betty bursts back into the guest room with a duffel bag.

So there is a God.

"I have to get going." Betty sighs before dumping the bag on the mattress, "I have a ton of work to do - homework...and I've got to do some more editing for the Blue and Gold."