Chapter Text
After blowing hot air on his hands, Archie shoves them inside the pockets of his navy blue parka. It’s five-thirty in the afternoon but it’s dark already and he can see his breath condensing in front of him while he makes his way home. Boston is a really cold city this time of year, but after growing up in the cold Chicago winters, Archie is used to them.
The chilly breeze bites his cheeks and the tips of his ears. They are already reddened when he turns around the corner on Lanark Road.
He really hopes Betty has baked something, or maybe even has hot cocoa waiting for him. He also wishes Reggie hasn’t beaten him to it because if that’s the case, there are small chances there’s anything left for him to warm up.
As he approaches the building, he sees a petite woman with several bags in her arms, juggling them to ring the intercom. He’d recognize that lustrous and perfect jet black hair anywhere, because that’s a signature Veronica Lodge look. With her boots and skirt, even in the toughest of winters, Veronica seems to challenge the weather. Archie rushes to her, to help Betty’s classmate.
“Hey, Ron–” but before he can finish his greeting, he hears a sharp yelp and gets smacked with a heavy bag. He lifts his arms in sign of surrender. “Ronnie, it’s me! Archie!” he shouts before he can get hit again with another bag.
“Oh, my–” She babbles. “Archie!” she scolds him, as if he had provoked her and deserved the few smacks she landed on him.
“Sorry,” he apologizes anyway, because he is sorry for scaring her. But he cannot help the laughter that bubbles inside of him. And then she giggles too, snorting a little laugh that lets out a puff of her breath condensing between them.
“What are you doing here?” He asks, taking a few bags from her hands and retrieving his keys from his pocket.
“Betty and I are supposed to study for our Macroeconomics final. Our last exam before winter break,” Veronica prattles and once the door is opened, she scurries into the building, shivering as they feel the change of the temperature. “And apparently my anxiety drove me to do some shopping, hence the bags.” She starts climbing up the stairs to the second floor, towards the apartment Archie shares with Betty and Reggie. “But I at least managed to cross some names off my Christmas list, so it wasn’t all just for me. Also there were these silver baubles that would look just marvelous with the decor of my apartment.”
Archie chuckles when she looks over her shoulder to look at him, a couple of steps behind.
“So stress shopping?”
She turns her gaze upwards, playful smile on her lips as she shrugs one shoulder. “You could say so.”
They reach the apartment, and Archie once again pulls his keys out of his pocket. His Boston College Eagles keychain almost falls between his fingers when the door is ripped open and Betty stares at him with wide green eyes.
“Finally!”
Archie and Veronica frown. “Me?” They ask at the same time.
Betty reaches for Archie’s sleeve, tugging him in with such strength, Archie just might wonder if she’s the one stealing his protein bars instead of Reggie – though, he’s seen the wrappers strewn all over their roommate’s bedroom floor the couple of times he’s been daring enough to venture into that place.
“Him.”
Archie’s not sure why she’s so desperate until he sees the strawberry blonde girl studying her nails on the couch. Seattle doesn’t notice him at first but it must be the way his panic attack gets his heart hammering against his chest, because she lifts her gaze from her dark green nails to look at him, predatory smile in place.
“Archie-roo!” Seattle coos just as Veronica pushes past him, rolling her eyes.
“She’s been here for about a half-hour, and I was losing my mind,” Betty whispers and moves to join Veronica in the kitchen, where they will surely use the small table that’s been dubbed Betty’s spot. If she’s not baking there, then she’s studying and it’s off limits for the boys.
“You haven’t called me,” Seattle whines, throwing her arms around his neck and Archie feels his body shuddering as the whiff of something floral and off-season hits his nostrils.
Once upon a time – that’s only four months earlier – Seattle seemed like a dream. It was a continuation of the high school dynamics, since she is a cheerleader and he’s on a football scholarship at Boston College. She is beautiful, and at first she was friendly to him, but now she’s just a nightmare. None of his friends can’t stand her – not even Reggie who famously told her you’re hot but not hot enough to be that cuckoo .
But Archie, being the gentleman he is, always wanted to treat a girl right and instead of having a moment in heaven and then drop her like a hot coal, as Reggie said, he asked her on a date. It was the worst idea of his life. After a terrible date in which she forced him to take her to an expensive restaurant, he never wanted to see her again but now she doesn’t leave him alone. She even trash-talked Betty out of jealousy. Don’t even get him started on how jealous she is of Veronica, no matter how many times he has told her him and Veronica barely know each other through Betty.
“Where were you with that Chicana?” Seattle hisses, her eyes glowering in the kitchen’s direction.
He pulls a face and takes her arms off him. “Veronica,” he stresses, hating the despective tone used by this woman who has no respect for him or anyone in his life. “I met her downstairs and that’s it.”
“She has no class,” Seattle murmurs, folding her arms over her chest.
Archie wants to kick her out, wants to just throw her out of his home, but then Veronica walks back into the living room, picking up one of the bags she left by coat rack. She looks shorter now that she’s in a pair of Betty’s fluffy socks over the dark tights she was wearing.
“Nice Hermes bag,” Veronica comments as she notices the green handbag with golden details nested on the couch.
Seattle gets a pleased smile on her face, and she’s about to reply with a snarky comment before Veronica gets a wicked little smile of her own as she walks past them back to the kitchen.
“Such a shame is a knock-off.”
Archie almost snorts a laugh at the way Seattle’s blood seems to boil in anger. This is probably one of the things she’s most jealous about Veronica.
“Are you going to let her talk to me that way? To your girlfriend?” Seattle asks him through her gritted teeth, and that stops Veronica on her tracks. She turns around to watch this woman she doesn’t like either.
And this is a problem, because Seattle never wanted to date him. Not him really, she just wanted a football player, and he was the only fool who fell for her trap.
“You’re not my girlfriend,” Archie replies, stepping away from a huffy Seattle.
“And if you have a problem with me, tell me yourself,” Veronica adds in an eerily calm and firm voice.
“My bag is real. I chose it myself and Daddy bought it for me as a Christmas present. Just because you people need a discount–”
“You people?” Veronica cackles in mockery. “I’m going to ignore your xenophobic comment, because you clearly wouldn’t know class even if it hit you on your botched nose. And I’m so close to do so.”
Seattle gasps. “How dare you?” Seattle’s arms are akimbo, fists on her hips as she stares at him angrily. “I think you should kick her out.”
“Oh, yes, please Archie-roo ,” Veronica mocks in a shrill tone.
“I think you should leave,” Archie mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck.
Seattle gets this accomplished smile on her face, right until he speaks more firmly.
“I mean you, Seattle. You weren’t invited and–”
“We don’t want you here,” Betty chips in from behind Veronica. It’s almost funny to see her hiding behind such a petite girl, but everyone knows Veronica is not afraid of anyone.
The outrage in Seattle’s face is priceless. She cannot even say a thing to him, as she moves to grab her bag and coat. The rest of them have to repress their laughter as the clasp of the bag falls off under the strength in Seattle grabs it.
“And you better never look for me again, Andrews, because I won’t take you back even if you beg!” she shouts from the door, and for the first time in his life, Archie slams the door on someone’s face without regret.
Heaving a big sigh of relief, thinking this is finally the moment in which he won’t have to suffer anymore, Archie walks towards the kitchen. The sweet smell of chocolate, and spices like cinnamon calm him, and the voices of Betty and Veronica make him smile. Both girls sit opposite each other at the kitchen table, laptops open and steaming mugs of hot cocoa next to them. A big plate of cookies between them.
“I’ll count that as my Christmas gift to you,” Veronica quips, sipping from her mug. “And don’t worry, no need to thank me.”
He chuckles, leaning against the counter.
It doesn’t surprise him to feel his cheeks reddening when her dark chocolate orbs stare at him through her thick lashes as she drinks the cocoa. Ever since Betty introduced him to New York-native Veronica, he’s felt this strange pull towards her. It made him wish to maybe have stayed in Riverdale instead of leaving with his parents to Chicago when he was twelve, because two years later all his friends did was talk about her, about her summers abroad and her sense of style, of how smart and business-savvy she is. And yet he never met her until a year ago, when they all moved to Boston.
Betty hands him a mug, a pile of tiny marshmallows floating on top. She knows him well-enough to be aware of his sweet-tooth.
“So, how’s study going?” he asks.
Betty watches him with panicky wide eyes.
“Good, good,” Veronica replies, steering her gaze away from him and returning to her screen. “Good,” she stresses one more time, and that pikes his interest.
Peeking over Betty’s shoulder, he sees Macy’s website open and a red number on the corner of the screen.
“You said you were going to study macroeconomics!” he says in accusatory fashion to Veronica. “You’re shopping!”
“Well, technically, this is macroeconomics, Archiekins.” She looks actually proud of herself, as Betty giggles. “You didn’t believe these two Harvard girls were cramming, did you?” She stands up, with her almost empty mug in one hand, grabbing a cookie with the other.
“Actually–”
Veronica rolls her eyes and shoves a gingerbread cookie in his mouth. “Shut up, and start shopping. I bet you still have no idea what to get for your mom.”