I Killed My Ex || Veronica

Chapter 7 - nightmare on archibald street

"Who the fuck is Archie." I say.
"I mean Toby." She whimpers.
"You have a boyfriend don't you?" I say.
"No-no." She says. "You just kiss like an ex."
That hurt.
"Better right?" I say.
"I mean, yeah and no... more experienced but you're not Archie." She says.
I look down.
"Right well I'll leave you. Cassidy should be out of group therapy soon and next time you're going." I walk out and a tear slips out. I walk to the bathroom and just sob.
She doesn't like the person I've become. I just have been so real with her, apart from my name, of course. This felt like our first break up. I throw up what little content I had in my stomach through sobbing and eventually walk out, looking ashen. The boss looks at me with malevolent eyes.
"What's wrong? You look like you've been crying." He says with a snarl. Kind of like he was expecting something to do with Ronnie.
"I've just puked but I can carry on working." I say.
"Nonsense. Go home Archibald." The boss says. I shake my head. I had a habit of not getting off sick.
"Archibald, I swear to god—"
"Don't use god like that." I say. "If mom was here—"
"She's not. Archie. Go. Now." The boss instructed. I hesitate.
"Or you're fired."
I rush down the corridor. Yes, my boss maybe an asshole but he cares about me when I'm sick and he'd rather me recover than work poorly.
So here I was again... at home. Not eating. Not sleeping. Ignoring Cassie and her partners presence completely, locked in my room.
"Arch, please, open the door." Cassie says. "I have you're favourite... onion rings."
"Go away Cassie." I sob. "And I don't want to eat."
My ensuite was the only other room I entered and most days I just went around my room in just underpants, leaving them on the landing and Cassie washed them much to her disgust. The only exercise I could get was crunches and activities at home but over time this got harder. My stomach grumbling kept me awake some nights. I was at an all time low. My hair was growing longer and it covered my eyes and my natural ginger shone through, only giving me another reminder.

Cassie POV
I was getting concerned for Archibald. He'd always had Veronica issues. What she said had really affected him. No matter how many times I'd knock, he never let me in, never ate and never left. I looked at Kyle and placed my hand on my tiny bump.
"Kyle... what do we do? I feel so helpless." I say.
"Don't feel helpless Cas." He says. "Archie just needs time."
"But I feel like I fail at being a friend." I sob. I hear a door knob twist and a boy with half ginger hair, looks at me. But it wasn't Archie. It couldn't be Archie.
"Hey Cassie. You've done nothing okay. I just needed you to know that and that your bump is really cute." He sighs, his eyes blood shot. This figure certainly sounds like Archie but the voice was way more hoarse.
"Your boss called. I told him you still had the flu." I say.
"Why are you lying to them Cassandra Lucy Blake." He says. "That's a federal offence!" I grimace as he says my full name. I hate it. (I love Cassandra personally 😹😳)
I look at him. He shrugs and slumps on the sofa.
"I don't mind if you go out." Archie says. His frame was skeletal and it was evident that the man hadn't eaten in a long while. His abs didn't sit right on his boney figure and his cheek bones jutted out. He looked dreadful.
"Archie. Please. Eat." I say, walking up to him.
"I'm not hungry." He sighs.
"Your mom called..." I start. "She's coming from Chicago for a while to see you."
"Oh cool." Archie says. He pulls out his phone.
"Arch, please eat." I plead. He shakes his head.
"Shut up Cassie." He says, placing his head on the pillow on the sofa his eyelids flittering. He looked exhausted. He tried to fight it off but eventually he fell asleep.

A few hours later Mary Andrews showed up with some food.
"Archie," she taps him. "Archie, its mom."
He bolts upright throwing his arms around a startled Mary Andrews. She recoiled in horror.
"Archie, what have you done to yourself?" She says.

Veronica's POV

I haven't heard anything from officer Michaels in a while and I'm starting to get worried. I think I really crushed him. I don't know what it was but I was tempted to ring Archie. Cassidy looks at me.
"You have a face like a smacked butt!" She hung from her bed.
"Yeah just thinking of an ex." I say simply. She looks at me.
"Well maybe you shouldn't." She says. "Look I care about you. I'm you're inmate. I just want you to be okay, okay?" She flips her body down off the bed and I look at her in astonishment.
"You're really pretty, y'no." she says.
"Thanks." I say. "As are you." I smile and I look her up and down. She had big brown eyes, nice lips, a really cute nose, a great figure and long brown hair that swooped midwaist. She had a few pink streaks in her hair and her nickname to some of the crueler inmates was chocolate and strawberry swirl but I thought it was cute.

I've gotten to know Cassidy well. Although it was complicated to move at first, I'd made a best friend and it was strange when I started to feel different around her. Like I could confine in her for everything. I could tell she felt the same because she told me how the serpents grew up around a drug business, they wanted her to start prostitution and she declined and then she said the drug raid was to prove she wasn't like a serpent woman but it ended up landing her in prison.
"The day I got arrested." She sits next to me on the bed. "Was the worst day of my life."
"Same," I say. "I was a law student."
"Mine was just embarrassing." She says sadly. I hold her hands reassuringly. "They made me stand in broad daylight while they took packets of drugs from my pockets, even down my pants. I had a lot to carry and everyone just shouted serpent slut."
"Don't go back Cassidy. Promise me." I say.
She nods.
"Did you kill him?" She says. "Like, on purpose."
A tear wells up. "Oh god no. I wouldn't do it to anyone. Geraldine shot too but hers hit a tree. The police are trying to find cctv round there but it's too late I'm screwed and I feel so guilty."
"Don't feel guilty. It'll be okay in the end."
I nod.
"Cassidy Smith, you really are an optimistic individual."
"Well, I do try." She smiles.
I smile back. We look at each other.
Things go silent, so silent that if a pin dropped we would hear it. It wasn't agonising. It was ... kinda nice.
She leans in and kisses me, with full force. My lips react back and I kiss her and she quickly pulls away.
"Oh g-god. I'm s-sorry." She stutters.
-
OH MI GAWD. CASSIDY KISS RONNIE HSHSHSGSHHSHSHSHDHSHSH. DO YOU ALL SHIP OR NAH? WHAT WILL VERONICA SAY?!?! DAMN YALL THATS A GOOD CLIFFHANGER FOR MEEEE 💜