Chapter Fourty-Two
After Betty and Jughead said that everything was fine, Veronica fixed up her Jalapeño Margaritas, and Talia tried her best not to die from the taste. She had always hated the taste of most alcohol but loved the feeling it gave her.
Jughead stood up, raising his glass. "I'd like to propose a toast. To the Lodges, to their hospitality, and to putting the past behind us."
"Cheers!" everyone said, and clinked their glasses.
Sweet Pea settled, as per usual, with his arm around Talia's shoulders.
"So, do your parents come up here a lot these days, Veronica?" Jughead asked.
"Not as much as they'd like," she replied. "Daddy's such a workaholic, you know."
"On the SoDale project?" inquired Jughead, who continued when Veronica nodded. "How is that going? Is that heating up? Is it getting intense?"
Sweet Pea and Talia glanced at each other when they saw how Betty was suddenly very uncomfortable. Jughead's motive for coming on this trip clearly wasn't just for having a weekend away from Riverdale.
"It is," Veronica said. "Luckily, Archie's dad is doing such a superb job of keeping everything on schedule."
"V, tell us more about your fancy neighbours," Betty said with a smile.
"Yeah, are they in the same business as your dad?" Jughead asked.
"Jughead," Betty whispered angrily. "I mean it."
"Jughead, what's going on?" Talia asked with a brow raised.
"Betty, I'm just making idle conversation. I'm sorry. Please continue."
"It's a hodgepodge, really. Some are in entertainment, some are in business, some are in real estate..." Veronica trailed off.
Jughead was trying to get information out of Veronica. From how awkward Sweet Pea seemed to get, mirroring Betty, it was clear that Talia wasn't the only one who thought so.
"You know what's weird?" Jughead asked. "As we were driving up here I noticed that none of the houses have mailboxes or numbers or anything on them. Why is that?"
"Shadow Lake is a pretty private community."
"Like they're hiding something?"
"Jughead!" Betty hissed. "Seriously, this isn't 20 Questions."
"Jones," said Sweet Pea, apparently losing patience. "What's the problem?"
Veronica seemed to catch on that something was off and whispered to Archie, while Talia just sighed. Obviously she didn't know what was really going on.
"Guys," Veronica said after clearing her throat. "I'm picking up some residual tension from, I'm guessing, Cheryl's random act of cruelty earlier?"
Betty and Jughead instantly protested, but Veronica ignored it.
"Which is understandable. Fear you not, though, I have just the antidote. Step one: clothes off, swimsuits on."
It was cold as hell outside, but the hot tub, Talia hoped, would assist in warming them up.
Sweet Pea got in before Talia and turned to her after she dropped her robe. She couldn't help but blush as well as smirk a little when she saw his eyes quickly trail down and then back up again before taking her hand and helping her in. She certainly didn't hide the way she watched his muscles ripple.
They settled between the two other couples, and Veronica made a comment about feeling better already before dropping a bomb on them.
"Okay, so," she said, putting her drink off to the side. "Full disclosure time. When Archie told me about the kiss, I absorbed it, processed it, and in the end, I bear no ill will towards my beau, nor my bestie. But has the thought of it haunted me these last few weeks? A tiny bit, yeah. And now, clearly, Betty and Jughead, you guys are caught up in the aftermath."
Talia blinked. Where on earth was she going with this?
Betty and Jughead just seemed confused but didn't protest.
"So, to clear the air amongst us," she started, grabbing her drink again. "Jughead and I... should kiss."
There was a shocked silence before Archie finally said, "what? Veronica, are you nuts?"
"Well, wait a minute, I don't know," Jughead grinned, standing up in front of Talia and Sweet Pea to have a clear view of them all. "Hold on. Veronica and I? Kissing? It might help to, uh - what's the sports term, Archie? 'Level the playing field'?"
Jughead was chuckling. He was enjoying this.
"Betty, a little help here?" Archie practically begged.
"You're not upset, though, Jug," Betty said.
"No, no. Really, I'm not upset."
"Right..."
"So what's the point?" Talia asked. "What, revenge? That's a little petty, don't you think?"
She wasn't judging any of them for past and future kisses, but this seemed a little pointless to her. All it would do was make tensions rise. Again.
"I'm human," he stated. "You know, what if a future me tries to use your kiss with Archie against some future you? A Vughead kiss, right now in the present, might be precisely what it takes to save a future Bughead from imploding."
None of them except for Veronica were convinced by his logic. Talia saw what he meant now, but it still seemed like a bad idea to her.
"Archie, come on, man. It's just a stupid kiss," he continued with a challenging tone. "Right?"
"Jughead," Veronica said, standing up and taking his face in her hands. "Don't freak out. Just trust me."
She kissed him. It certainly wasn't passionate by any means, but it was very... Heavy. It resembled a make-out session with someone you just met at a bar. Lacking in emotion, but pushing for it.
They pulled apart, and Betty and Archie looked equally unhappy. Betty seemed uncomfortable while Archie seemed angry.
Talia couldn't help but smirk a little. They did deserve it, didn't they? Especially Betty. Archie had told Veronica a long time ago but Betty hadn't said a word. Not even to Talia.
Admittedly, she was still bitter about it.
They went inside, and the moment Talia got in their room, she was grinning at Sweet Pea.
"I just want you to know right now that you are the only one out of all of us that I'll kiss," she told him.
He smiled and kissed her gently. "Princess, I wanna be the last one you ever kiss."
She truly wanted the same.
YOU ARE READING
Back To Life ✧ Sweet Pea (DISCONTINUED)
Fanfiction"The first time she saw Sweet Pea was the night she pointed a gun in his face." ----- In which the Northsider with a gun didn't know she was dying until he made her feel alive.
