Believer ➵ Bughead

Chapter 13

Archie waited for Veronica at her locker patiently. He watched as people passed by, some stopping to give him their condolences. Others, just pitiful glances. At that point, everyone had heard about his dear father. The more public his father's accident became, the more de-sensitized he became to the whole situation. In fact, everything about his father was so public. Just like Jason. And he slowly got annoyed by it.

The first step to fixing all the shit he messed up, was to apologize to Ronnie for what he did. She knew already what he had attempted to do. Hell, she was furious about it and refused to talk to him. But he knew that if he was right in front of her, she'd have to listen.

He saw her walking with Kevin. He smiled, knowing that she had someone to talk to during all those weeks. 

"Veronica, hey." He chatted as they approached.

She scoffed as soon as she heard the two words leave his mouth.

"What are you doing here, Regina George?" Kevin questioned, crossing his arms and lifting his eyebrow.

He ignored the childish insult and spoke.

 "I wanted to talk to Veronica."

"Get the hint, Andrews. I'd rather wear crocs than speak to you." She rasped.

"It's to apologize, Ronnie."

Similar to how Betty reacted previously, her attention shifted, as did Kevin's.

"Really?"

"Look," He positioned himself so that he faced both of them completely.

"After I went to the hospital that afternoon,  I heard the news. I felt- I felt like this was a punishment for what I did that night. So, I decided that I would fix my mistakes, as a way to right my wrongs. Starting with you."

"I'm really sorry for everything I did, Ron. I do actually love you, a lot. I just don't know what came over me. "

She rolled her eyes and laughed. Archie was confused, what did he say that was wrong?

"Oh, Archie. You think that a poor, cheap, apology like that would win me over so easily? You must be mistaken."

Kevin snickered, clearly supporting her side.

"What you did to me? A minor tremor compared to what you did to Betty. You ruined her, not to mention her relationship. And Jughead, my favorite troubled author..." She looked down on the floor, before continuing with a confident grin.

"Go confess to Betty, and maybe, I might reconsider your apology."

Archie stood there, perplexed. 

"Let's go check out the Bijou, Ron." Kevin said.

"Only if you're treating."

They linked arms and skipped across the hall, and Archie swore he could feel them mocking him.

He shook his head and licked his lip in frustration. 

How could he confess to Betty about what he did when he still couldn't accept the crimes he's committed?

...

"I can't believe you dragged me to this." Jughead sighed as he entered Julieta's dance studio.

"Just shut the hell up and come in, you dork." She chuckled.

Julieta brought him to watch her practice for the talent show. Apparently, she wanted him to see her dance so that he'd give her advice. 

Although he knew already that he'd be bored out of his mind, there were cookies at the front door, which made it somewhat worthwhile.