Blind Love

Lesson Learned

Shoot everyone that comes through the door was what Jughead was thinking. He was blinded by his rage and overwhelmed by despair that he couldn't think with a clear mind. All he saw was red.

Jughead had been a wreck since Veronica left. He finally understood what it felt for his friends when he sacrificed himself to the Ghoulies. He couldn't imagine how Betty had felt upon seeing him half dead, but now he understood. The worst part was he had no idea what was going to happen to Veronica.

Frustrated, Jughead punched the wall once, twice, but the cold cell gave no mercy. He retracted his bleeding knuckles and somehow drifted to sleep.

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"Jug."

Jughead blinked. "Veronica?"

"Goodbye Jughead," the raven-haired angel disappeared from his eyes.

"NO WAIT!" He scrambled to his feet to try to capture the fading image of her, but his injuries  restrained him. He fell to the floor in a heap.

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The first thing Jughead remembered when he woke up was seeing Veronica Lodge in his dreams. He dejectedly groaned as he stared at the door.

There was a glint of blood at the door. It was probably his own blood when he punched the wall last night. But the more he stared at it, he saw a trail of it. His eyes followed the trail to a black silhouette in the corner.

Jughead jumped.

"Holy...I must be dreaming."

"Give me your jacket, don't touch me," Veronica blindly pushed away Jughead's outstretched hand to check if she was real or not.

Jughead immediately fumbled to take off his jacket and wrapped it around Veronica.

"What did they do to you," he whispered, afraid to know the answer.

"They just took my clothes to humiliate me and beat me up, don't worry, nothing of that sort," Veronica assured in a small voice, hugging her legs under the jacket after she had zipped it all the way up.

"Why would you do that? Sacrifice yourself?" Jughead said with accusation.

"They're not that gullible. Only one of us could escape our fate."

"And you willingly let yourself go? Are you stupid? You could have died, you could have been... what did they do to you?" Jughead exclaimed, the volume of his voice raising with every sentence.

"Nothing I couldn't go through," Veronica put on a brave face.

Jughead wished he could see her eyes. She was wearing her mask again so he couldn't see them. Her calmness triggered the anger in Jughead.

"You're so stupid! Can you not act like this? Stop pretending to be brave and self-sacrificial, when I'm the one who should be protecting you!"

"Why are you the one who should be protecting me? Are you being sexist?" Veronica scowled.

"No! I'm supposed to be protecting you because I'm the one who knows how to fight! You haven't had professional Serpent training, but I have!" Jughead's anger kept increasing.

"I don't see you fighting in your condition. Besides, I'll have you know I'm a black belt in karate," Veronica replied coldly.

"Still, we're in this together and you can't just make decisions for the both of us! It's just selfish and wrong!" He flung his hands in the air.

"You and your double standards," Veronica scorned, no longer the timid little ball she was a few minutes ago. "Why wasn't this in your mind when you went to the Ghoulies?"

"That's different! I did it for the Serpents," Jughead defended.

"The only difference is that I succeeded in protecting you, while you blindly sacrificed yourself," she harshly pointed out.

"You...you..," Jughead stuttered in his rage after being riled up by Veronica.

Jughead felt like he was about to burst. He was a balloon of overflowing emotions that was about to pop the thin plastic material of the balloon.

"I'm just glad you're alive," he settled for a quiet remark and hugged the tiny girl in his large Serpent leather jacket.

He felt Veronica hold her breath in surprise and then hug him back. He was surprised by his own gesture too. Never would he have thought he would be hugging Veronica Lodge voluntarily. Just this once, he thought.

"Well, I guess I could say you learned what I taught you," she whispered in his ear.

"Lesson learned," he agreed as he remembered Veronica telling him to handle his enemies by giving them the unexpected.