Consequences

Chapter 30

There was a knock on the door that woke Veronica up in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and checked the clock. 5am. Who was knocking on their door this early? Groggily, she  got up and opened the door.

"Oh, um, good morning Veronica," Gladys Jones said shyly. "I just wanted to say goodbye to Jellybean."

"Come in, she's still asleep though," Veronica let her in and went to the bathroom to wash her face since she was up. Jellybean Jones was still fast asleep on Veronica's bed after last night's events.

Intruding was not the only reason that Veronica Lodge did not want to stay in the room to see Gladys and Jellybean say their temporary goodbyes. Her heart ached to see families being separated, because she had to separate with her own family. She hated her father indeed, but he was her father, and she could not so cold heartedly cut him out of her life without missing happy days with him once in a while. Her mother, she missed much more. Hermione Lodge was not truly a bad person, she was just under the influence and control of her husband. Veronica had a love hate relationship with her mother, as they were much closer than her with her father, and she knew that Hermione loved her. Maybe, Veronica thought, maybe she'd go visit her mother in the prison a few years later when she was ready. But Veronica did not regret her decision to side with the Serpents instead of her parents. She knew she did what was right.

Jughead Jones entered the bathroom and sat on the toilet with the cover on.
"Oh hey, sorry, I just wanted to hide from that woman."

Veronica looked at him through the mirror while brushing her teeth. After she spit the paste out, she sighed.

"Geez, we're plagued with parent issues, aren't we," Veronica proceeded to wash her face.

"You got that right," Jughead laughed humorlessly.

"Look, your mom isn't that bad, maybe she should give her another chance."

Jughead's brows raised to his hairline at Veronica's suggestion.

"I'm just telling you the advice that you gave me when my dad first came in town," she continued. "And you'll never know unless you try to connect with your mom."

"I don't think my advice did any good for you," Jughead pointed out the Hiram and Veronica situation.

"Oh, it did," she replied quietly. "It made me see that some people do not deserve third chances."

Veronica turned and exited the bathroom. Gladys Jones was gone and Jellybean Jones was sitting silently on her bed.

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"Excuse me, do you know where I could find Cheryl Blossom?"

Veronica looked up and almost dropped the wine glass she was cleaning. She was shell shocked to see the red head standing in front of her.

"It's her day off today, she's at Thornhill," she informed, trying to keep her cool.

"Thanks," the redhead flashed her a gorgeous smile as he left. "See you around!"

Holy crap, Veronica thought, he's back.

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"Everyone, meet my brother, Jason Blossom," Cheryl beamed proudly, putting an arm around her brother. "He's finally back from studying overseas, isn't that great?"

"Hi," Jason said in his deep voice. "It's nice to meet you all."

"So, this is Toni, my bae; Veronica, my girl; Jellybean, Jughead's little sister; and Jughead, the hobo, you know him," Cheryl introduced the residents of Thornhill to her twin brother.

"I prefer Jughead, the Serpent King," Jughead narrowed his eyes at Cheryl.

"So, this is Veronica," Jason flashed another gorgeous smile. "I've met her at the White Wyrm just today."

Jughead Jones did not like the way Jason Blossom was smiling at Veronica and he did not like the way Veronica was leaning slightly towards him. For some unknown reason, he felt annoyed watching them flirt.

His annoyance must have showed on his face, because Toni Topaz ever so smugly mouthed 'jealous' at Jughead Jones, in which he replied by flipping her off discreetly.

Cheryl, who must have been in the mood for some chaos, decided to stir things up a bit after Nana Rose, Jellybean Jones and FP Jones left the dinner table.

"JJ, you do know, Veronica is single, right?" Cheryl shot Jughead a sly smile.

"Girl like you?" Jason winked at Veronica. "Not for long."

Veronica laughed. "Maybe, maybe not. My standards are pretty high."

"Your only standards are redhead and jock," Jughead scoffed at Veronica then left the table as well.

Cheryl and Toni high fived each other under the table. Their Mission-Make-Jughead-Jealous was succeeding so far.

"I have to go wash the dishes," Veronica got up to the kitchen after collecting the kitchenware.

"Good job JJ, you nailed it!" Cheryl high fived her brother as well. "Hobo was obviously jealous."

"Just so you know, if they weren't crushing on each other, I would totally go for Veronica," Jason replied cheekily.

"Oh no you don't," Toni immediately said. "Jeronica is endgame."