𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 ⚢ beronica

【 epilogue. 】

She wakes to the embrace of steady, warm sunlight oozing lazily from between the breeze-blown curtains above her. Disorientation and drowsiness almost pull her back into sleep, but she picks up a low shuffling noise from the edge of her hearing, and turns in bed to catch a hazy sight of Betty, emerging from the bathroom enveloped solely by a towel, balancing a toothbrush in her mouth and a cellphone on one hand.

"V, I'm so sorry; I know you just barely got here, and I didn't mean to wake you up." Veronica blinks blearily, is vaguely aware of lips descending upon hers for a fleeting moment. "You still have like 10 minutes before we have to go, so you can nap a little bit more if you want."

Veronica grunts instead as she sits up on the bed, half-functional brain still attempting to situate itself. "Am I in my room or yours?" she mumbles sleepily, and then looks up to watch Betty rinsing her toothbrush in the sink while undoing a messy bun.

"Mine," the girl calls out in response. "Are you going back to sleep while I get dressed?"

Veronica accepts with a heavy, tired spirit, that she will awaken in even worse shape if she attempts to nap again before they have to leave, so she shakes her head with a forlorn sigh. "How was your journalism test?" she asks quietly, apathetically noticing that she's wearing one of Betty's pajama shirts. All she had time to do after her all-nighter and subsequent 5-hour block of exams was shower before collapsing on Betty's bed for a nap totaling-she spares a quick glance at her phone-a disheartening forty minutes.

"It was okay; I think I got a good grade." Betty is now in her underwear, busily sorting through her closet when she inquires with a sympathetic laugh, "how were your gazillion exams?"

"I am currently 3% human and 97% exhaustion," Veronica replies haggardly. Betty immediately turns from her closet and makes her way to the dispirited girl with a pitying and concerned smile, standing between Veronica's legs, which dangle carelessly from the bed.

"Do you want me to make you some coffee or get you a Red Bull before we go? Something to help you wake up?"

Her entire field of vision is now a sunlit picture of blond hair, pink-tinted cheeks, and caring blue eyes that recall an artist's watercolor rendition of an ocean, and in that moment, it's difficult to remember any second in her life in which she wasn't in love with this girl. The stirring inside her chest reminds her of years in which she's come to love someone so fervently and steadfastly that she hopes for her dreams even more than she hopes for her own. The happiness she carries in her bloodstream reminds her that this girl has somehow managed to erase all the moments of loneliness and self-loathing she's ever felt, replacing them with a love she's carved inside her heart. The warmth that grows and expands through her body reminds her that this girl has left footprints in every facet of her life, reaching into her future to change its shape as well. Her heartbeats stutter and she can't think of anything to do except to murmur "come here, please," while gently pulling the girl down to kiss her.

Although her initial plan was for a simple, appreciative kiss, Veronica changes course just as quickly when the familiar sweet, pulse-quickening tug begins to coil low in her stomach. Betty's breathing shallows immediately, and Veronica smiles then because there's one kind of kissing that always provokes the same reaction from Betty, no matter how many years they've been together, and this is it.

The girl pulls away, flushed and licking her lips while half-heartedly shaking her head. "No, V; there's no time. Cheryl will flashback to Vixen captain mode and yell at us for being late-"

"I'm not doing anything." Veronica blinks innocently, standing from the bed to slide her hands around Betty's waist.

"You're cute," Betty mumbles, apparently unable to look away from Veronica's lips just yet.