Consequences

Chapter 22

Veronica Lodge would be the death of him, Jughead decided.

One minute she was all snappy and the other she was flirty. Girls. He would just never understand. He gazed at her from the other side of the pool where she was picking stones. He stayed on his side, hugging his knees, trying to forget the embarrassment of what had happened. Jughead could not believe she was awake when he kissed her. Darn it. He knew she should not have kissed her. He was stupid, he was not thinking straight, it was like a life or death situation for him to kiss her.

'Excuses,' a tiny voice whispered in his head. He mentally shut that voice up at once.

"Are we going to starve?" Jughead called out. His voice echoed in the dome-like chamber.

"Is that what you're thinking?" Veronica laughed, looking up from her neat pile of stones.

"It's a basis of survival," Jughead replied self-righteously. "We don't know how long it'd take for the Serpents to find us, given there's no cell reception here."

"I've called for help before I came in," she assured him. "They're coming, but it might take longer because of the Ghoulies patrolling outside."

"And much to your delight," Veronica pulled out some protein bars from her bag. "I brought enough food to last us a day."

Jughead scrambled up towards her. "Thank God." He unwrapped the bar hungrily. "I thought I was going to starve to death."

"So dramatic!" Veronica shot him a funny look before unwrapping her bar as well.

"You're the dramatic one," he rebutted between bites. "What are those? Are you picking stones to stone me to death?"

"Jughead, this isn't The Lottery," Veronica raised an eyebrow. "And I've got food, so why would I need to stone you to death to eat you?"

He threw his now empty wrapper at the girl beside him, which caused a squeal.

"JUGHEAD JONES! You did not just throw your dirty crumbs at me," she fumed. "It's in my hair!"

"Whoa, chill," Jughead hid his laugh. "You're already dirty from the dust and rocks in the cave. A few more crumbs won't make any difference."

Unexpectedly, Veronica Lodge pushed Jughead Jones in the pool.

"Really?" Jughead glared at her once he surfaced. His wet hair clung to his forehead adorably.

Veronica shrugged and smirked. "You're dirty from falling into a hole, so I thought water would do you good."

"You are so dead," he pushed himself out of the pool and splashed the smirking Lodge, who immediately ran to a safer place.

However, Jughead Jones was a lot taller than Veronica Lodge, which meant his legs were longer and could run faster than her. He caught her, and threw her over his shoulder.

"Jughead put me down!" Veronica dangled from the water.

"Considering you saved me...alright," Jughead seemed to put her down on safe ground when he suddenly threw her in with a quick toss.

"Oops, sorry," he grinned smugly. "My hands slipped."

"Jughead, have I ever told you how much I hate you?" Veronica seethed from the pool.

Watching the beauty in the water who resembled a mermaid, Jughead smiled a real smile. "I hate you too, Veronica Lodge."