Pearl Crowns

Chapter 7

{Is he okay? I'm sorry.}

Veronica ran and ran. She ran out of the warehouse, she ran to her truck. As soon as she got in she began to cry. She firmly gripped the steering wheel sobbing into it, the sadness and guilt overtaking her. But then she heard it. The gunshot rang out through the emptiness surrounding her.

She didn't think twice just drove. She drove until she saw her house. She slammed her door shut thankful she was the only one besides her mother to get their own room. As soon as the door shut she fell to the floor holding it closed so no one could open it again.

She had one night. One night to get it together before she had to go back to school and act as those everything was fine. Like she didn't leave Jughead to die in that warehouse. It worked well enough until she saw him the next morning at school.

Veronica was standing at her locker at the end of the hall engulfed in Kent's arms, and not really listening to Kelly's latest hook up. Some blonde with a great rack that Veronica didn't care about.

Veronica wanted to run to him but she didn't because she wasn't entirely sure he was real. She saw him, yes, but she could be hallucinating. So she walked slowly and deliberately towards him. Waiting for him to just disappear when she closes her eyes to blink. She stopped next to him at his locker while he put his materials away.

"Jughead?" She whispers so quietly she's surprised even she hears herself. She grabs his arm and he's there, he's real and standing in front of her. "Jughead. Oh Dios mío, Jughead, eres real! lo siento mucho! I'm so sorry." Veronica is rambling.

"Yeah, you said that already." Jughead deadpans. He tried to walk away but Veronica stopped him, placing a hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry." A tear ran down her cheek filled with eyeliner and mascara. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his shoulder.

"W-what are you doing?" Jughead didn't hug her back. He was going to come to regret that. He was going to regret not hugging her back, not wiping the tears on her cheeks away, not telling her he understands because he does, it's just business but he doesn't do any of that. The next second shes back to Kent, walking down the hall under his arm and looking relieved.

*****

The whole bar went quiet when the Ghoulie Princess opened the doors. She walked through with purpose and direction only stopping when she found the person she was looking for. Toni was behind the bar washing glasses and side-eyeing Veronica. Sweetpea sat on a stool across from pink haired bartender.

"Where's, Jones?" Veronica demanded.

"I don't know, Lodge, the last time someone asked that we found out you left him to die in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere and he had to walk back alone after killing someone," Sweetpea replied.

"I don't have time for-" Veronica started to roll her eyes at him but whipped around fast. "Wait, what!? Did he kill Finn? Oh my God. ¿El está bien? Lo siento." With that Veronica rushed to the away to find Jughead. Sweetpea and Toni could sense the concern but it being for Jughead they didn't know.

Veronica had pushed her way past many Serpents to get to Jughead. He was in the back office. Veronica burst through the door loudly causing Jughead to turn to face her. She held his face in her palms and looked into his eyes like she'd be able to see the trama if it was there through them.

"Are you okay? I can't believe you killed Finn. What were you thinking? That's dangerous. You could have gotten hurt." Veronica rambled.

"You left me to die," Jughead said flatly.

"What?" Veronica dropped her hands and stopped talking.

"You left me to die. Why would you care how dangerous it was or how I could have gotten hurt?" Jughead asked cocking his head to the side and crossing his arms.

"That's different- That's not... I didn't think-"

"You're damn right you didn't think."Jughead cut in. "The moment you walk back out that door a million Serpents are gonna be at the ready to torture you one by one. What you did this weekend pushed them all over the edge onto the Veronica hate train." Jughead said with a straight face but anger in his words.

"Who are you kidding? They were all already there. I'm the Ghoulie princess. It's just DNA." Veronica shot back.

"See, Lodge, that's where you're wrong. Serpents don't judge that quick, we aren't Ghoulies after all. Up until yesterday, you had done nothing to make us hate you, in fact, most people liked you better than all the others but you ruined that." Jughead used the Serpents as a cover to talk about himself in a way he never wanted to admit.

Veronica didn't know what to say to that. It had never even occurred to her that the Serpents wouldn't hate her, let alone some of them like her. "I didn't- I didn't know." Her voice was getting caught in her throat.

"And why would you? All you care about is yourself. And to think I actually-" Jughead sighed. "You know what never mind..."

"Jughead..." Veronica tried to plead with him to make things better even though she knew it was pointless.

"I think you should leave." Veronica didn't argue, justed turned towards the door and reached for the handle.

"Wait," Jughead whispered. "If you go out that door you'll get slaughtered. The window is only a few feet from the ground, you'll fair better leaving that way." Jughead didn't look at her the whole time he was talking.

Veronica let go of the handle and walked to the other side of the room. "Thank you, Torombolo." She whispered before dropping to the ground and running back to her truck.

So sorry this is late and short. I worked almost 30 hours this week and I'm in college full time so I had little time to write. I hope y'all like it! Hope I didn't scare you too much with the whole gunshot-Jughead-seemingly-died thing... sorry.