heartbeats ; bughead

03

veronica;

I woke up panting.

I dreamt that a man in a bloodred mask came to Betty's house. He grabbed her by the neck, and she cried for help. 

I was with her, but I was glued to my bed.

She screamed and shrieked, until finally, she breathed her last breath. 

When I woke from this nightmare, I heard a knock on the glass window. I turned, frightened of what I would see.

 But it was only Archie.

He looked cold, and he was positively drenched, so I let him in. 

When he got in, he ran to me and lifted me in the air, laughing in his signature, pure way when he saw my reaction.

"Archiekins...PUT ME DOWN!" I said, giggling hysterically. Only Archie could make me laugh that hard. 

When he finally set me down, I smiled at him. "You're going to wake my mom! What's the occasion?" 

He pulled me close, so that our noses were touching. I could see tiny orange freckles on his skin, and when I stared into his pitch black eyes, I swear that I could see the moon shining down, and the stars in the sky, all in his eyes. He smelled like fresh wood and rain on the pavement. Something was wrong, something in my gut was telling me not to give in to him. But no. His ginger hair, his cool, firm body against mine....

"Do I really need an occasion to see you?" He whispered, tickling my ear.

I couldn't handle the space between us. I grabbed his cheeks and pressed my mouth to his, ultimately nullifying the space between us, despite the fact that he was soaking wet. 

I know I made a mistake, but it felt so right. What would Betty say? She's going to find out, some way or the other. Oh shit. Betty would be so mad. You're in trouble now, Veronica. I tried to pull away, but it was too hard. 

No one could know. No one would know. 

We kissed for shorter than I expected, and when he finally pulled away and looked into my eyes, he turned serious.

 "I saw you, Roni. You were murmuring in your sleep. Talk to me."

I let go of his cheeks, and pulled away, so only our hands were touching. 

"It's...nothing. Just...thinking about school. Grades. My dad."

He frowned. "Whatever you say..." It was quiet for some time. 

I fiddled with my shirt. "Archie....what about Betty?"

He bit his lip, but his eyes were mischievious and deceiving. "Veronica...I..." He ran his hand through his hair, and he was letting go of my hand. I felt bad. But I couldn't...

I grabbed his arm, and pulled him to my bed. 

We both lay down, and I whispered in his ear, "I won't tell if you won't." I directed his arm to my waist, looking at him with a smile. 

His mischievious smile came back, and before I knew it, my arms were around him, and we were kissing as if the world didn't exist.

Archie and me. No one else. 

I didn't remember much from that night the next morning. Just his lips on mine, and our bodies practically merged into one. 

I was reckless, and bad things would happen. Archie had come for a different reason.

He came because there was a death. 

But it didn't matter.

For now, at least.

It's amazing how much pain we can forget if we're with the people we love...