Chapter Text
After Veronica and Heather had both changed, they sat in the upstairs living room, opposite each other on the carpet, the bottles of alcohol around them. Veronica’s hair had mostly dried, so it was only damp now, and Heather had taken her signature bow out of hair, allowing the curls to spring back out. The straightening never lasted long.
“So, how are we gonna do this?” Veronica asked, “A drinking game, I’m guessing.”
“Obviously,” Heather rolled her eyes, “Never Have I Ever?”
“Surely.”
Heather grunted in acknowledgment, “Right. Ever fucked in a car, Sawyer?”
Veronica spluttered, “What? No.”
“Damn,” Heather took a sip, “Fucked in… a shower?”
“Heather,” Veronica gritted her teeth, “I have not ‘fucked’ anyone, anywhere, at any time.”
Heather’s arms dropped, eyes widening, “You haven’t?! You meant to tell me you’re a senior and a virgin?!”
“It’s not that big of a deal!” Veronica threw up her hands, “It’s my turn to ask, anyway. Hmm. Ever stolen something?”
“Duh,” Heather took another sip.
“Is there anything you haven’t done?” Veronica was exasperated.
“I dunno.”
“Ever liked a girl?”
Heather’s heart jolted, “Whuh- what? No! Why would you ask that?!”
“Jeez, I didn’t think it was a bad thing, I was just asking!” Veronica frowned.
“Well, I haven’t!” Heather snapped.
“Damn, okay.”
This was going to take a while.
***
“Right, s- so, ‘Ronica,” Heather drawled, her words slurring. Half the bottle of vodka was gone now, and she was absolutely hammered, “Have you ever, uh, no lemme think.”
Veronica giggled. It was quite a sight to see Heather Chandler drunk as hell, with whatever dignity she had gone.
“No, no, no, Veronica,” Heather held up a finger, “I’m thinking. Have- have you ever- uh- why aren’t words forming?”
“How strong is that fucking drink?” Veronica squinted at the label.
“Forty percent,” Heather nodded proudly at the fact she remembered.
“Holy- holy shit,” Veronica snatched Heather’s bottle, “Heather, that’s way too much. You’re gonna die of a hangover tomorrow!”
“Pshh, I’ll be fine,” Heather waved her away, “Anyway, how- how ‘bout we have a goth- goss, whoops.”
Veronica tilted her head, wobbly, “Goss? What about?”
“Life, Veronica, life!” Heather fell back dramatically and lay on her back, “Ask me things.”
Veronica thought. The significant amount of alcohol kind of affected her ability to think properly, but a question did come to her eventually. She hadn’t had as much as Heather, but she was a light-weight.
“Heather, why’ve you- why’ve you been so mean to me lately? I don’t know what I did wrong ‘n I’m a li’l confused,” Veronica scooched over to Heather.
Heather’s smile dropped, “That’s not a fun question. Aw, ‘Ronica, now I have to tell you. You-” she poked Veronica’s cheek, “You’re taking anvan- an advantage of a drunk person!”
Veronica gave her a sad smile, “You won’t tell me otherwise.”
“Mm, that’s true,” Heather sat up and faced Veronica, “Ya wanna know?”
“Very- very much,” Veronica’s brown eyes met Heather’s blue ones, and neither of them looked away.
“You make me feel weird, man. Like- uh- like really nervous and- ugh- I don’t know how to feel about you,” Heather sighed, “I was vulnerable wiv- with you and that made me scared. Be- because you could make people hate me. People would find out and they would kill me. I wouldn’t be fancy dancy Heather fuckin’ Chandler, the Queen of Westerburg . I would be ew, gross, Heather Chandler, ex-demon queen, how could such a girl be such a gross thing? Everyone would hate me, ‘Ronica! I see- I see how all the losers are treated and that used to be me and I’m terri-terrified of going back.”
“What do you mean a gross thing, Heather?” Veronica reached out to hold Heather’s hand, but Heather pulled away as she said.
“No, no, sober Heather would kill me if I told you. I may be fuckin’ zooted right now, but thas the one thing drunk Heather knows not to say. Thassa no-no tell. Even Thea doesn’t know.”
“Who’s Thea?”
Heather frowned, “Mac, you dummy. You’re- you’re not allowed to call her Thea, thas my nickname.”
“Anyway, can you tell me more about how I make you feel?” Veronica insisted.
“So needy, ‘Ronica,” Heather chuckled, “Okie. Uh, you’re not scared of me and that scares me ‘cause everyone’s scared of Heather Chandler. I think I said scares too many times. It makes me feel like you see how weak I actually am. I’m scared of a lot of things, Veronica, and I’m scared you see that.”
“Well, you just told me so now I do.”
“Aw, fuck,” Heather’s palm smacked her forehead, “Ow! That was harder than I meant it to be. Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, let’s watch a movie and I’ll fall asleep. Probably on you ‘cause you’re comfy.”
Veronica blushed, “Rightio. D’you have a movie in mind?”
“Dirty Dancing, of course! You should know it’s my favourite movie,” Heather pouted.
“Yes, yes, you sap,” Veronica helped Heather onto the sofa and pressed the CD into the player.
The film, to Veronica, wasn’t that interesting. Like, it was nice, but not particularly memorable. Heather, on the other hand, watched excitedly, singing along with the songs and bopping along.
Dear Diary, I really need to get Heather drunk more often, she’s much less of a bitch. She’s kind of cute. Ahhhhh. I know I said I think I have a crush on her but I really know I do now. This version of Heather is just so… what’s the word? Words? Easy to be around. She’s not awful this way. And I know it sounds mean to prefer someone when they’re drunk, but logically it would make sense to prefer someone when they’re not biting at your heels, therefore I think I’m okay with preferring her like this.
Veronica became focussed on the fact a weight had appeared in her lap. She looked down, and saw that Heather’s head lay right there in front of her, her head still faced towards the movie.
“Heather, are you awake?”
“Shh, ‘Ronica. I’m tryin’ to sleep,” Heather’s muffled voice came, and she shifted herself closer to Veronicaa, “Don’t- don’t tell anyone what I said or ‘m doing or you’re dead, ya loser.”
“Okay, Heather,” Veronica smiled, “Go to sleep now.”
“I will.”
The movie ended and the room went silent apart from the girls’ quiet breathing, Heather’s sleeping and rhythmic, and Veronica’s awake and slow. Veronica tentatively reached a hand out and stroked Heather’s hair, pulling it gently out of her face. Heather gave no resistance, so Veronica continued. Soft curls felt like butterflies through her fingers, and Veronica smiled again, closing her eyes and faded from consciousness.
***
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” a loud voice woke her up, “Ugh, my head!”
“I told you so,” Veronica opened her eyes to Heather standing up and holding her head in her hands angrily.
“Fuck off , Sawyer.”
And she’s back. Well, it was nice while it lasted.
“Formalities back, Chandler?” Veronica gave her a smirk.
“Veronica, if you don’t shut the fuck up, my head is killing me,” Heather shot her a death-stare that would’ve made anyone else shit themselves.
Veronica rolled her eyes, but said nothing. It was best to just leave Heather when she was incredibly hungover.
“See you Monday, Heather,” Veronica said quietly, picking up her dress from the floor, “I’ll give your clothes back eventually.”
“Wait, Veronica,” Heather grabbed her wrist, “Did I say anything weird to you last night when I was drunk?”
Oh, right. Memory loss.
“Not really, except that you call Mac Thea and I'm not allowed to.”
“Fucking hell. Drunk me is a ditz,” Heather huffed.
“She’s very sweet,” Veronica said, “I’d like to hang with her more often.”
“Shut up,” Heather crossed her arms, “Anyway, you should go home.”
“Heather, are we cool?” Veronica asked.
Heather said nothing, then, “Ask me at a different time.”
Dear Diary, better than nothing, I guess.
“Bye, Chandler,” Veronica stepped out of the doorway.
“Bye.”
The very abrupt ending to their… sleepover? Sleepover. The very abrupt ending to their sleepover left a heavy feeling in Heather’s chest that wasn’t the hangover. Heather was worried. That couldn’t have been all she said. What else did she say to Veronica? Heather hoped it wasn’t anything that would make Veronica feel closer to her. She didn’t need that in her life, especially not now.