jealous - a jeronica fanfic

Chapter Nine

(Warning: mentions of sexual and physical abuse, possible trigger)

I don't know how long I slept, or what happened while I slept. When I woke up the first thing I noticed was that I was no longer in Jughead's arms. I shot upright, and realized I was in the school counselor's office. Confused, I looked around me.

I had been lying on a brown leather couch, that sat in the middle of the room, on the same side of the room as the door. On the other side of the room there was a desk, likely the counselor's, that was piled high with paperwork. There was a window behind the desk, and inspirational messages framed on the walls- things I recognized from tumblr immediately.

"Veronica, how are you feeling?" asked a small, feminine voice, and at first I thought it was just me going crazy. But soon I realized that the voice had come from behind the paperwork, and as soon as I realized this, a small woman stepped out from behind the desk.

"Veronica, how are you feeling?" she repeats, and I shake my head, trying to wake myself up.

"Fine- where's Jughead?" I ask anxiously, looking around myself again. I didn't feel comfortable here, I wanted to be back In Jughead's arms, with my head on his shoulder.

"Is Jughead the boy who brought you in?" she asks. "I'm Miss Winters, in case you didn't already know that."

"Yes, he's the boy who carried me in. Where is he?"

"He left, sweetie. The school day ended a few minutes ago, he's probably already home," Miss Winters tells me, and I feel my heart begin to beat faster.

What if Reggie comes back, and is mad? And Jughead isn't here this time to save me?

I grab her arm, "I need to see him. Now. Please."

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but you have to answer my questions first before you leave," she replies gently, pulling her arm slowly out of my grip. I sigh and fall back onto the couch, and she takes a seat in her desk, taking a pile of paperwork and putting it on the floor so I can see her.

"Okay, are you ready to answer some questions, Veronica?" she asks, opening her notebook and grabbing a perfectly sharpened pencil.

"Yes," I reply, crossing my arms and tapping my foot on the floor in annoyance. I needed to talk to Jughead- he would be able to help me make sense of what happened.

"Alright. What's your name?" she asks, looking up from her paper to look at me.

"Veronica Lodge."

"Age?"

"16."

"Parent or guardian?"

"Hiram Lodge and Hermione Lodge."

"Wonderful. Alright now that we have your identity confirmed, let's talk about what happened today, in the boys bathroom," she says and a sudden burst of energy sends me into a babbling mess.

"I don't want to talk about that- no, no I don't want to talk about that. Are you allowed to ask me these questions? I don't want to talk about that," I stammer, and she nods her head while writing down something in her notebook, before looking back up at me.

"Veronica, I know this is difficult to talk about, but if you want any punishment for the boy who attacked you, you need to answer my questions," she says, and I sigh knowing that answering the questions is more important than how much pain it brings me to even think about the incident.

I take a deep breath, "I was talking to Reggie - my boyfriend - or - ex-boyfriend, and I gave a look to Jughead because I thought Reggie was being silly, and then he grabbed my arm." I feel myself begin to choke up but I push down all of my emotions, and focus on telling the story.

"He pulled me into the boys washroom and slapped me across the face a bunch of times and held me by my hair, and he tried t-" I cut myself off with several fast breaths, as I try to control the tears that are sure to come down any second.

"He tried to have sex with me, against my will," I force out, and Miss Winters nods with a bittersweet smile on her face.

"And what happened after that, when did he stop?" she asks, and I take another deep breath.

"Jughead came into the bathroom and pulled him off of me, and knocked him out. Then he carried me to here, I guess," my voice is steadier at the last part, and I feel calmer now. It felt better than I thought it would to get out the story.

"Okay, and who did you say was the boy who assaulted you?"

"Reggie. Reginald Mantle," I reply, the name leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Perfect. Thank you very much, Miss Lodge. Riverdale High will do whatever it takes to bring this man to justice. And Veronica, please don't blame yourself for this event. You couldn't control it, you didn't do anything wrong," she tells me, looking directly into my eyes when she says it.

I nod, "Okay. Bye."

I open the door to see my parents sitting on the brown leather chairs in the office, and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh Miha, my beautiful baby girl," my mom sighs, and I see tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm okay Mom. Really, I'm fine," I repeat as I see my dad give me the same look. They fold me into a tight hug before we walk to the car.

As my dad starts the car I take out my phone, and see I have 4 missed calls from Jughead and 2 missed calls from Reggie. I dial Jughead's number, pressing the phone against my ear and tapping my foot impatiently as the phone rings.

"Hello? Veronica? Are you okay?" he asks, concern apparent in his tone.

"I'm okay, Jug. Thanks to you," I smile as I say it, looking down at my feet in an attempt to hide my emotions from my parents.

"Do you maybe wanna come over?" he asks, and I'm surprised at how hopeful he sounds.

"Sure, if my parents ever let me step foot outside of the house again," I laugh and I hear him laugh on the other end of the call.

"Awesome, be here at 8?"

"Perfect."

"Okay, great! Bye, Veronica."

"Bye Jug," I say, and press the hang up button on my phone. I sigh happily, the incident of the day completely forgotten in the moment.

"Miha, who was that?" my mom asked, looking back at me from the shotgun seat.

"Just a friend," I reply, making sure to elaborate and get her excited.

"I know that little sigh, Veronica. You think of this person as way more than a friend," she laughs and winks at me, and I roll my eyes and scoff.

"Cool it, mom! Not everyone I'm friends with is a potential new suitor, I think I'm going to be single for a bit anyway," I reply, and this answer satisfies my mother enough to make her stop talking.

My thoughts flicker back to my hero. He was a hero, wasn't he. Jughead Jones the third, my hero. He's way more than I thought he was- way more than I thought he could be.

He's smart, and funny, and kind, and sexy, and sweet, and brave, and overprotective. The kind of things that I always wanted in a boyfriend, but never though I deserved. He makes me feel like I deserve those things, like I deserve to be with him.

But he's my best friend's boyfriend, and anyone who goes for their best friend's boyfriend probably doesn't deserve any happiness at all.

Right?