the varchie college chronicles (college au)

chapter 7

thursday's at sweetwater river university were always my busiest days. from office hours for my economics class at 9 am, to my spin class with cheryl and toni at 3, and then to my 6:30-9:45 debate class, i was up and at it all day, with no break and barely time to eat anything.

after the short walk back from my class, because my car was in the shop, my intention was to eat a bagel with eggs and bundle up under my blankets. i normally always was asleep early thursday nights, and since i didn't have a class until 2 in the afternoon on fridays, i allowed myself to sleep in as late as i needed. it also helped me prepare for a long weekend of partying.

"b, i'm so ready for a nice night of netflix and sleep." i said through a yawn as i walked into our shared dorm room.

the first thing i noticed was that our room was still dark, despite not even being locked. the next thing i noticed was a betty sitting on top of  MY desk, with her legs spread out and jughead between them. betty opened her eyes and made eye contact with me, as jughead pulled away from her.

"v, can you give juggy and i some alone time?" she asked me, way too innocently for someone who had just been partaking in certain activities on my desk.

"i'm gonna need holy water for my desk." i said, horrified. i rolled my eyes, grabbing a blanket and quickly walked out of my dorm. as i shut the door with an abrupt thud, i heard laughter following me.

i settled in on the couch of the dorms common area, knowing it would be a long time before i would be able to return to my room without being blinded, and prepared to take a nap.

"ronnie?" a familiar voice asked me after a few minutes of down, and i turned around to find archie looking at me. "what are you doing here?"

"well my dorm is closed off for betty to have some 'alone time' with jughead, and i'm ready to sleep, so here i am." i sighed.

"why don't you come sleep in my room? we have an extra couch so you can take the bed." he suggested.

"what about josie?" i asked.

"she doesn't really seem to care recently. and besides, she knows we're just friends." he shrugged. just friends, i repeated to myself in my head, feeling a pang of regret that i never gave him a chance when he was still into me.

i followed him to his room silently, carrying my blanket with me.

"do you have any food that i can eat?" i asked. i felt bad that not only was i intruding on his personal space, i was also taking his food, but i hadn't eaten since 1 in the afternoon and was feeling lightheaded.

"yeah, of course. what do you want?" he said, going to his refrigerator.

i shrugged, "whatever is easiest for you to make. i'm sorry for taking your food."

"i have some leftover pasta with chicken. how does that sound?" he suggested.

"that sounds perfect." i smiled, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself and making myself comfortable in his bed. "so, how are things going with josie and you?" i questioned, as he heated up the pasta. i couldn't get my mind off of the statement that he had made that josie recently 'doesn't care.'

"ehhh, okay i guess. we were happy for a while but then she started getting more distant so i don't know what's going on." he said quietly.

he brought the microwaved pasta over to me along with a fork and water, and i took a bite. "wow, this is delicious. how do you even get access to all of this food?" i asked him.

"football player perks." he joked. "how are things with you and chuck?" he asked me. in my head, i got excited, wondering if he was curious for the same reason i was curious, but i knew that he was probably asking because i had asked about josie first.

"pretty good." i smiled. in all seriousness, i had sort of been avoiding chuck since i came to terms with the feelings that had been building up since the first time me and archie met, but he didn't have to know that.

"to be honest, i thought it was weird that you put all of this emphasis on not wanting a relationship, but then you jumped right into a no strings attached one." he admitted.

"want to hear the truth?" i asked him. i decided in that moment that i would tell him how i feel, not caring if it would ruin things between him and josie, and ruin me and chuck friendship, or if it would make things awkward between us.

"sure." he shrugged. and then, i changed my mind again, deciding that it was a bad idea to blurt something like that out with no thought about it. i decided to take more of a cautious approach.

"back in new york, i dated this guy named nick, all through high school. i've actually known him since before we could even walk. but when we were together, he would treat me in ways that a boyfriend shouldn't treat someone he loves." i began, slightly choking up before i continued my story.

"you don't have to tell me this if it hurts to talk about. i didn't mean to bring back painful memories." he said, but i cut him off.

"i feel like i owe you an explanation for how i treated you at the beginning of the semester." i explained myself before continuing. "he was extremely controlling, making sure that i didn't talk to other guys, or if i had friends that he didn't like, he would try to prevent me from talking to them. sometimes he would go so far as to hit me, or to threaten me at their expense." i said softly.

"ronnie." he reached for my hand, which was holding the fork, pushing the long-forgotten pasta and chicken around on the plate.

"i didn't realize that this isn't what love is, because that is he only love i've ever known. i couldn't end things because our parents worked together and it would cause friction between them. the only reason things ended between us was because he cheated. when i confronted him, he said he never loved me, that he had stayed with me this long was because his dad had asked him to, for the sake of the business." i continued with my story, which had ended up being a lot longer than i intended.

now that the story of that horrible time was over, i kept replaying all of it in my head. i had lost most of my friends before graduating, because he completely cut me off from them. even though we had been on amicable terms for prom and graduation, i hadn't had a true group of friends since before the drama started happening. the end of sophomore year was when all of the bad things started happening, and from then on i didn't have anybody but nick.

"so, yeah, we broke up a couple of weeks before prom, and then when you started with your 'crush' towards me, i couldn't even think of letting someone into my heart so soon. i just wanted an unattached guy, because i wasn't ready to risk catching feelings for another boy who could mess me up like nick did." i concluded. "but now, i think i'm ready." i added as an afterthought, my only hint to archie that i would be down to start something with him.

"wow. i wish i knew, i wouldn't have kept pushing my feelings into you, and expecting you to return them." archie sighed.

i started picking at the small amount of food left on my plate, not feeling like saying much. we sat there in silence for a few minutes, me on the bed and him perched on the armrest of the couch watching me.

"thank you for the food." i said quietly. "and the bed." i said, yawning. i pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time. 11 pm. probably the latest i've ever been up on a thursday.

"if you want to go to sleep, i can go somewhere else and watch tv there." he offered, and i burrowed myself back under the covers.

"no, don't worry about it. i don't want to kick you out of your whole room after kicking you out of the bed. just don't blast it, pleaseee." i said, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"alright." he chuckled, turning the tv on. "goodnight, ronnie."

"goodnight archie." i replied, as he turned the lights off.

i fell asleep fairly quickly, sort of at ease after finally talking to somebody about this topic that had been haunting me for so long.

a/n: wow, some archie and veronica bonding? oooh who would have thought? from here on out there will be more varchie interactions, soon turning more romantic. also, i'm going to try to keep including bughead but i don't really care that much for their ship, and every other story is completely centered around them, so i don't really care to mention them. but i'll try. i hope you liked this, please vote!