Veronica's POV
We picked up 4 pregnancy tests at the gas station and now we're headed back to Archie's house, "are you sure your dad won't be there" I ask, probably for the 5th time. "Veronica. He's at work, for the hundredth time. We're fine to go back there" he says turning to look at me. I feel butterflies in my stomach and I turn away to look out the window again. "Ronnie?" Archie asks. I close my eyes and sigh "Archie please" I beg, if he brings up why I broke up with him I might just burst into tears right now. "I can't. I just can't. So can we please just sit here" I finish, keeping my eyes closed and my head against the window. "Yeah. I'm sorry" he says turning his attention back to the road. I don't even bother responding. I take a deep breath and eventually fall asleep.
Archie's POV
I pull into my driveway and turn off the ignition, "Okay we're back" I say looking over at Ronnie, who is curled up asleep with her head leaning on the window. Usually when she's asleep I pull in the drive way of my house, when my dad wasn't home, I'd go over to the passenger side and pick her up and carry her into my house and lie her down in my bed. Then I'd go shower and she'd either join me if she woke up in time or I'd wake her when I got out. I want more than anything to pick her up and lie her in my bed and tell her everything is going to be okay, but I can't. Because I don't know if everything will be okay, right now nothing is okay. "Ronnie" I say putting my hand on her shoulder. She opens her eyes and sits up, looking confused. "We're here" I say. She nods and grabs the pharmacy bag and gets out of the truck. Each step closer to my house, the more nervous I get. If even one of these tests come out positive we have to tell both of our parents. "Okay I'll just go in the bathroom and take these, I guess" she says nervously. "Okay. Don't panic, we don't have anything to worry about unless it's positive. Meet me in my room when you're done" I say as she walks inside of my bathroom and closes the door.
Veronica's POV
After I finish all of the tests I put a timer on my phone for 5 minutes and I sit on the ground. I put my head between my knees, trying to calm myself down. Meet me in my room when you're done. I sit up and look in the mirror. My eyes are red and all of my makeup has been cried off. I rinse my hands with cold water and rub them on my face and pat dry with a towel. I check the timer and it still has 4 minutes on it so I bring my phone with me and leave the tests on the on the back of the toilet. I walk into Archie's room and he's sitting on his bed with his elbows on his knees and his hands in hair. Out of all of our experiences in this room together this is definitely my least favorite. I sit down next to him and put my hands in my lap. "3 minutes and 30 seconds" I say numbly. He nods his head and sits up "alright". We sit there in silence until the alarm blasts in our ears. Archie looks over at me with worry in his eyes and I look back at him, "I'll uh check the tests" I say. I stand up and walk into the bathroom and Archie follows and stands outside of the door. I look at each of the tests and I see 4 negative signs in a row. I've never felt so relieved in my life. I turn around and Archie is standing there with a concerned look on his face. "All negative" I say numbly. He sighs and puts his head down. I turn around and put all of the empty boxes and the tests in the plastic bag and I turn and face Archie, with the bag in hand. "Well I'm gonna go" I say walking past him and heading down the stairs. "Veronica wait-" Archie starts, following me down the steps. I turn around to face him and we're so close that I can hear his heartbeat "Congratulations Archie, you're off the hook" I say with my voice cracking. I turn fast and rush out of his house, leaving him and our relationship behind.
Archie's POV
Off the hook. She told me I was off the hook. What the hell does that even mean. It's been 3 days since we found out Veronica isn't pregnant and she's been skipping school and ignoring my calls, the only option I have now is showing up at her house. I can't do that because of Hiram Lodge, who can probably smell my fear from miles away. I groan and sit up out of bed and look at the clock. 4:30 am. I look next to the clock and I see the picture of Ronnie and I that I have taped up, since I'm too cheap to buy picture frames. I still haven't taken the photo down. I sit up and decide to run to Pops, if I can't run to my girlfriends house I might as well run to where I first met her. As I run along the streets of Riverdale I see the Pops sign in the distance and I start to crave fries and a shake. I stop to pull my shirt on and I walk up the stairs and walk in. "Hey Poptate" I say with a small smile. "Hey Archie, what are you doing here at this hour" he asks curious. "I couldn't sleep, figured fries and a chocolate shake would help" I say pushing my hair back. "She thought the same thing" he whispers pointing behind me. I turn around I see Veronica sitting alone in a booth, facing opposite of me. "Thanks Pop" I say. I turn around and I walk slowly to Veronica. "Ronnie?" I say trying not to startle her. She turns and looks up at me surprised "Hey. What are you doing here. It's almost 5am" she asks. "You know I could say the same to you" I joke. She laughs a bit and looks at the table "touché. Do you want to sit?" She asks. I nod and sit on the other side of the booth across from her. "Where've you been?" I ask out of the blue. She looks taken back by my suddenness but not surprised by the question. "I needed time. But I was going to call you tomorrow, well today I guess" she says eating another fry. "Archie listen. I'm sorry, for what I said when I left. And I'm sorry for how I ended things between us but what you said to me before we sang was... harsh" she continued. I feel a pang of regret as I recall what I said to her and I shake my head. "I know. And I'm sorry. You had every right to want to break up with me" I say, finally understanding where I went wrong. "That's the thing Arch, I didn't want to. I had to. I'm holding you back, I can't give you what you want" she says looking at me. "Veronica. I want you. That's all I want. I was talking about how I feel, you don't need to feel how I feel. I shouldn't have pushed, I'm sorry" I say putting all of my feelings out there. "Archie" she sighs. "What's stopping you from being with me now? I want to be with you and you want to be with me, it's how it's always been" I say still confused. "Do you not know what happened 3 days ago? I thought I was pregnant, Arch. We're moving fast and things like that will most likely happen again, but we may not be so lucky next time" she says leaning closer and talking quieter so Poptate doesn't hear. "Ronnie. We're happy together. Right?" I ask her, already confident that I know the answer. She give me a small smile and says "yes, we're happy together". "See Ronnie. We're miserable when we can't be together. We can't spend our lives being afraid to do something that makes us so happy. We'll be more careful and we'll take our time. But Ronnie, we're meant to be together" I say, pouring my heart out to her. She looks at me and smiles "Fine" she says with a hint of attitude. "Fine? Don't make it sound like such a chore" I say laughing at the end. She laughs back at me and reaches across the table and touches my cheek. "Come over here and kiss me" she whispers and I feel weak at the knees. I still manage to get up and move to her side of the booth and I waste no time when I get there. I lean in and kiss her and everything I've been worried about goes away in 1 second. For the first time in weeks I finally have the girl I'm meant to be with.
This is the last part of Opposite of Death. Hope you guys like it :) I start back at school tomorrow so I won't be updating as early as I was this past week
