OLD FRIENDS - Jeronica

*Part 15*

Jughead
I sigh slightly as I look at my phone but sit down nonetheless.

Within just a few seconds I'm already being bothered by some girl. "Hey" She says as she takes the seat next to me. I turn around and not at all to my surprise it's some ditsy blonde in a red bodycon dress. Honestly every time I see red now all I think of is Cheryl but other than that she's like every other girl in New York trying to make it on Broadway. "I'm Bethany" She says.
"Yep that sounds about right" I say and she looks like she doesn't understand so I elaborate, which kinda ruins the joke. "You look like a Bethany" I add on.
"Ohhhhhh" She says, giving out a slight giggle that is so obviously fake.
"Look" I say, not wanting to be rude. "I'm waiting for someone so if you could just-"
"Yeah Veronica" She says as she points to Ronnie in the corner. As soon as I see her realisation hits me like a truck. "She set us up didn't she" I say and the blonde just nods along. I look up and give a cheeky grin to Veronica whilst I shake my head at her but she acts all innocent making gestures between Bethany and me as if she just caught me flirting with her. I finally see her mouth out "have fun" before she goes over to talk with some friend of hers most likely.

The date goes as you would expect with someone who is so clearly not interested. That person being me. I also can't help but look in Ronnie's direction every so often and the girl next to me sighs. "Your in love with your best friend aren't you?" She says almost accusingly.
"What no" I say taken by surprise
"And I thought I finally found a decent guy" she says
"I'm serious. She's not my best friend and I don't love her" I say obviously
"You've practically been drooling over her all night." She says before adding "which is a shame cos you cute."
I just laugh along to what she's saying almost in a a thankful way. I'm glad she at least got I'm not interested. "See you around" I say as I see her stand up. "Yeah sure. You better invite me to you twos wedding" she says as she moves off into some other place in this bar.

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The night fades away as people slowly leave the bar one by one whilst I just sit here waiting for Ronnie. Finally the last of Ronnie's friends leave and she manages to find me.
"Where did your date go?" She asks as soon as she sits down.
"Hold on. Let's get out of here before I answer any of your questions" I say as I go to stand up
"That bad" she says and I just chuckle
"I'm in the mood for some coffee" I say

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We catch an Uber to "central perk" and as we arrive I bang my head against the glass door revealing a dark coffee shop. "Of course it's not open at this time" I sigh and she laughs at my idiocy and tells me to move aside. To my surprise she pulls out a key and opens the door for us. "Your full of surprises" I say and she smirks in responds as she turns on the lights and leads me to a table.

A couple minutes pass and Ronnie shows up with a hot chocolate in one hand and a coffee in another. "Are you sure this is ok?" I ask as I take the drink from her.
"Yeah. We will clean up our dishes and I happen to know the owner, marge." She explains and I nod
"So your date" she adds with a smirk as she sits across from me.
"I just can't believe you set me up" I say accusingly
"I'm giving you a push" she says as she laughs
"I don't need a push I'm capable of getting a girlfriend when I'm ready." I say
"Yeah well I'm not seeing any action. Where's your game" She asks
"I've got game" I say
"Show me then" she says
"Okay how about this." I say
"Are you a banana because I find you appealing" I say which causes her to break out laughing as I do the same.
"That's bad" she says still not able to control her laughter. I'm about to reply with a sly comment when I receive a phone call from the last person I want to talk to.

Veronica
I can see jugs face drop as he looks at his phone. He quickly hangs up on whoever's trying to call him and looks back up to me. "What happened? Why aren't you laughing anymore?" He asks with a forced smile. I let his words linger for a bit as I try to read his face.
"Are you ok" I ask
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He says trying to play it off
"Well you just got a phone call and your mood instantly changed" I say and he just looks at his phone and sighs.
"It was Gladys" he says slowly which confuses me.
"I thought she was still in jail"
"Yep but they have landlines in jail" he says
"Oh" I reply back because let's be honest I'm not great at this whole socialising and comforting thing.
"I just feel like she's still haunting me. Always begging for forgiveness" he says
"You know you don't have to forgive her" I say as I place my hand on his shoulder
"But she's my mum" he says
"It doesn't matter. Sometimes people do unforgivable things and you just have to decide to let them go." I add as I think of my parents. When I finally left my parents three years ago I still loved my mum. But she wasn't gonna change for me and I knew that so I said goodbye.
"I feel bad for her though" he argues
"Your not responsible for her happiness jug. She brought everything on herself don't let her drag you down too. Jb wouldn't have wanted that." I say softly.
"Thanks" He says but he still won't meet my eyes. "I'm sorry for laying that down on you" He whispers which is nonsense. He was right, this is what we do. "We all have baggage" I say.

The room goes silent for a while as I build up the courage to speak again.

"The pills you saw" I start, taking in a deep breathe to ease myself. "They're for my anxiety."
As I finish my sentence jug finally looks up at me with pain in his eyes and I'm not sure if it's for me or him. "You were right" I say as I stir my hot chocolate in my hand. "I shouldn't have trusted my parents. You know I wasted a whole year trying to prove they changed. But they just wanted to use me for their business."
"You should've come home Ronnie" he says to me as a single tear falls. "What home?" I ask honestly as I stare into his eyes. "Riverdale, Toni, Cheryl, Betty, me." He says to me. "I didn't want to intrude" I whisper.

"Anyway" I say sitting upright in my chair. "After everything I went through with my parents I got horrible anxiety, even after I left. After a couple months I was given these pills. But a year ago I thought I could stop using them."
"You shouldn't do that Ronnie" jug says
"I know" I cry out "but everything was fine for six months. That was until" I pause. "Until I saw nick st.clair on the streets around this area." I whisper. I can't bring myself to even look at jug at this point. "Long story short I spiraled and ended up in rehab for six months and now I'm back. For good" I say and i feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Suddenly jug wraps his arms around me and at first I'm too shocked to do anything but I slowly hug him back letting myself relax in his arms.

Jughead
I'm surprised by everything Ronnie just said but I also feel terrible. None of this would've happened if she had just stayed. If I hadn't kissed her. As she finishes talking I can't help but hug her and to my surprise she hugs back. With my arms still around her I whisper in her ear "thankyou."
"For what" she asks weakly
"you didn't have to tell me that but you did" I whisper back.

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A/N
Are my chapters too long?
Should I split them up to make it easier to read?
I don't mind either way.