Old Flames

chapter twenty six

After returning home from the hospital where Sarah and Rosie were checked for any physical traumas, Veronica insisted on spending the night at Archie's place, since the little girl had dozed off at the backseat once again.

Archie led Sarah to the bathroom for her to take a shower, and handed her a pair of Mary's old pyjamas before walking back to his bedroom. Veronica was sprawled on the left side, Rosie in the middle, and they were held on to each other tightly. He smiled and moved closer, dropping his shirt somewhere on the floor before getting under the covers with them.

"I could definitely use a shower too." Veronica whispered, watching how Archie rested his head on his palm, stroking Rosie's back. "I'm covered in sweat and i can still feel the smell of blood around me."

"I can run you a warm bath afterwards, if you're still awake." Archie said, intertwining their fingers above Rosie's waist. Veronica slightly blushed and looked down at their hands. "You're always spoiling me."

"Only because i love you." He shot her a boyish grin to which she couldn't help but smirk back. "I don't know if i could go through this hell without you, Archie. Thank you for keeping up with me."

"You are stronger than you think, Ronnie. You don't need me." Archie assured her, running his thumb across her swollen lips.

"I don't need you," Veronica paused to catch his hand, "But i want you." She continued and kissed the inside of his palm. "Even though i might not show it a lot, i hope you can at least feel it."

"I do, and i'm proud of you." Archie blurted out. Rosie shifted in the space between them, and turned around in her sleep to wrap her arms around Archie's torso. Veronica raised an eyebrow in response, but also chuckled with Archie's expression.

"She already adores you, i must be such a boring parent." Veronica joked, struggling to keep her eyelids open. "Watch how much she's gonna love me when she grows up finds out i'm not letting her have a boyfriend till she's eighteen."

"Jesus, Archie, you're so conservative." Veronica rolled her eyes but also felt something inside her tingle at the thought of spending her life with Archie, not to mention that he was already thinking about it too.

"If my parents thought like that, we wouldn't have met." She snorted a laugh. "And that would be a tragedy of epic proportions, did i get it right?" Archie smirked back at her, earning a playful hit across his shoulder.

"Good night, Archie." Veronica flopped down on the pillow, exhaustion taking over. Archie pulled Rosie over his chest, wrapping his arms around her and kissed her forehead before deciding to drift as well. "Night, Ronnie."

A few hours later, Veronica was still tossing and turning, but also trying not to distract Archie, thinking he was sleeping. "Veronica." She heard him whisper, but his eyes remained closed when she looked at him.

"Go to sleep." Archie sighed.

"I can't, i need to-- i have to talk to you about something."

"I know about the pills." Archie looked up at the ceiling, trying to avoid her gaze. "You--what? How?" She said in a small voice, feeling embarassed.

"I checked the drawers after you left, these were my mom's and they're actually expired, i'm surprised you're okay." He explained. "You haven't been yourself and Jughead confirmed that you were acting weird, it wasn't hard to notice."

Veronica bit her lip and hung her head. "I'm so sorry Archie. I didn't want to, it just--"

"We can talk about it tomorrow, okay? Get some rest, you need it." Archie scooted closer and planted a lingering kiss at her forehead.