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Chapter Text

September 1, 1989

Veronica sighed as she trudged into school. It was way too early for anyone to be awake. The halls were already full of students, knocking into each other and being obnoxiously loud, in her opinion. She opened her diary like usual and began scribbling to tune out her surroundings. She was getting peacefully lost in her mind when somebody tapped her on the shoulder, jerking her out of her peaceful reverie. She shrieked and whipped around.

“Oh hey Martha!” She sighed in relief. Thank God it wasn’t one of those dicks from the football team. She had a special kind of hatred for Ram Sweeney.

“Hey!” Martha replied, “We still on for movie night? I rented the Princess Bride!”

She laughed, “Again? Don’t you have it memorized by now?”

“What can I say?” Martha smiled, “I’m a sucker for a happy ending.”

Veronica smiled. Martha hadn’t changed at all since they first met in kindergarten. She opened her mouth to respond when--

“MARTHA DUMPTRUCK! WIDE LOAD!” Kurt yelled, slapping Martha’s lunch tray out of her hands. Veronica added one more to her mental tally of insults thrown at her. And of course he was never seen without his “#1 bro” Ram. They fistbumped while the halls rang with laughter. Martha went red and shrank behind Veronica. Not for the first time she cursed her parents for making her freakishly tall.

What the hell was their problem? Jesus. Veronica steeled herself before shouting “Pick that up!” Martha immediately flinched.

Kurt and Ram paused in their apelike hooting and hollering and slowly turned around.“What did you just say?”

She launched into a detailed tirade about Kurt and Ram’s despondent future, but it all went to waste with a “You have a zit. Right there.” It makes her wonder why she even tries.

Suddenly, a hush fell over the hall and people parted like the red sea. Veronica rolled her eyes as a girl squeaked and pushed past her to run into a nearby classroom. Ah yes. The Heathers. Top of the high school hierarchy.

Heather McNamara wasn’t bad, just a crony that Heather Chandler ordered around.

Duke was worse, a wannabe head bitch, but Heather Chandler? Veronica would never understand her. Why would you be mean just for the sake of it?

All of them strutted down the hallway, not a hair out of place and smirked as people shrank away to make room for them. Veronica slipped into the bathroom just before the bell rang and locked herself in a stall. She was ahead in all of her classes, she could afford to skip just for today after the zit incident.

She locked herself into a stall and opened back up her diary, but the person in the next stall was puking up their guts and she couldn’t concentrate. Veronica groaned as she stood up and went to go back to class As she got up she heard a voice that was unmistakably Heather Chandler.

“Grow up Heather, bulimia’s so ‘87,” she scorned. Veronica froze. Nobody wanted to be alone with the Heathers, who knows what they would do to you. She slowly backed away from the door and waited for the conversation to be over, but then she heard another voice.

“Heather and Heather… and Heather,” Ms. Fleming smirked, “Perhaps you didn’t hear the bell over all the vomiting. You’re late for class.” Heather Chandler sounded offended.

“Heather wasn’t feeling well. We’re helping her,” Veronica heard.

Why, out of all days was this the day she decided to ditch? Hang on, she thought, if I get them out of this, they’ll owe me. I mean, maybe they’ll decide I can at least be tolerated. She started copying down something in her notebook, ripped it out and opened the door. All three Heathers and Ms. Fleming turned to stare at her. She hesitated. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. But, it was too late to back out now.

She hesitated, swallowing audibly, then spoke up. “Actually Ms. Fleming, all four of us are out on a hall pass,” she paused again. What had she written? “Ah, yearbook committee,” she trailed off.

“Well, I see you’re all listed,” Ms. Fleming looked skeptical. Veronica prayed she wouldn’t recognize the forgery. “Hurry up and get where you’re going.”

She sighed in relief as Ms. Fleming left, but tensed again immediately as she turned around. The Heathers were standing in seemingly practiced formation, with Chandler at the head. She snatched the note out of Veronica’s hands and glanced over it before fixing Veronica with a pointed stare.

“This is an excellent forgery. Who are you?”

Veronica wiped her hand on her skirt before extending it for a handshake. “Uh… Veronica. Sawyer. I crave a boon,” she said awkwardly, lowering her hand once nobody took it.
“What boon?” Heather Chandler asked, advancing a step further, the others following her.
Veronica braced herself for rejection. “Um… Let me sit at your table, at lunch. Just once, no talking necessary. If people think that you guys tolerate me then they’ll leave me alone.”

The Heathers laughed, high and fake.

“Before you answer, I also do report cards, permission slips, and absence notes.”

“What about prescriptions?” Duke asked. Veronica paused, taken aback. Luckily she was saved by Chandler shouting “Shut up Heather!”

“Sorry Heather!” she responded, chastened and backing off.

Heather stepped forward, lifting Veronica’s chin with a finger. Veronica blushed, not sure what to say. “For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure.”

Veronica got even redder. Why did she have to be like this? Did Heather have no concept of personal space? She was so close that Veronica could feel her breath ghosting over her own nose and lips, so close that Veronica could tell that she smelled like…

Was that cherry? Strawberry? She could only tell that she smelled red. Then McNamara grabbed her and pointed towards the mirror, saying something about meat cleavers that Veronica only partly heard, still trying to figure out what Heather smelled like.

Chapter Text

After school, Veronica was dragged to the mall because, in the words of Heather Chandler, her wardrobe was “about as attractive as a hippo’s ass.” How she came up with these insults, Veronica would never know.

All of the chatter and shouting and rules were taking a toll on her, so when she was ordered into a dressing room to try on the piles of clothes they got, she collapsed onto the tiny chair inside and stared at herself in the mirror.

What the hell had she just gotten herself into? It had only been hours since her chance meeting with the Heathers in the bathroom and she was already looking at blue blazers and short skirts.

“VERONICAAAAAAA”

She groaned and stood back up again. If this was going to be her life from now on she had better not get on the Heathers’ bad side before they had known her a day. She peeled off her dress and scarf and threw on a random shirt and skirt. She glanced in the mirror again and shifted uncomfortably. Clothes at these designer-y stores never fit her right. The skirt was a little too short for her liking, but one of the Heathers was already pounding on the door.

“If you’re not out of there in five seconds we’re breaking in,” Duke yelled through the door.

Veronica tugged her skirt down as much as possible to preserve her modesty, then steeled herself and threw open the door, Duke almost falling into her.

Veronica’s eyes flitted between their faces as she shifted uncomfortably, pulling at the hem of her skirt, then folding her arms over her chest, her face hot. Their expressions weren’t difficult to read, Duke looked unimpressed and McNamara shot her a smile that was half a grimace, eyebrows lifted. Chandler’s eyes traveled up and down her body once, and Veronica felt as if she were in a lab being studied.

Chandler’s face was much harder to read, and Veronica saw a flash of something undecipherable in her eyes before she cleared her throat and said, “Well, the shirt is fine, but find a different skirt. We dress hot, not slutty.”

“R-Right,” Veronica stuttered, standing stock still.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go change before someone tries to buy you for the night,” drawled Duke.

Veronica turned, embarrassed, and practically ran back into the dressing room, slamming the door behind her. She found a better skirt in the stack and added a blue blazer. Now that was better. She looked in the mirror and was pleased to see that she looked damn good in this outfit.

She walked back out, with much more confidence this time, and was met with much more approval.

“Right,” Heather snapped, “Wear this tomorrow and you’ll look presentable enough to be seen sitting with us at lunch.”

“It’ll be fun!” McNamara smiled.

“Um, okay,” Veronica waited, feeling like she needed to be dismissed.

“Why are you still here? Go on, get out!” Duke snapped after a prolonged silence.

Veronica awkwardly waved and stumbled out of the store. Jesus, was it dark already? She looked down at her watch. 8:00, it read.

Shit. SHIT. She forgot about movie night. She started sprinting home, hoping Martha didn’t think that she’d ditched her on purpose.

She burst in the front door, startling her mom.

“Honey, there you are,” her mom said, surprised. “Martha Dunnstock just called asking where you were. You should go call her back. She’s so sweet.”

“Ok, thanks mom,” Veronica managed to gasp out before hurtling upstairs to the phone.

She dialed quickly and tried to catch her breath as the phone rang before Martha answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi Martha, it’s Veronica. Listen I’m so so so sorry about missing movie night, I just got caught up in some stuff with the Heathers, and--”

“Oh, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” Martha replied, “I want to hear about what you were doing with the Heathers. Are you ok? Did they torture you or something?” she asked, worried.

“What? No. It wasn’t like that. I saved them from detention and to repay me they’re letting me sit with them tomorrow.”

Martha gasped. “Really? Wow. I can’t imagine what that’s going to be like, I mean Heather Chandler’s really scary.”

“Yeah, she’s… certainly something else. But they had to take me shopping because apparently there’s like a dress code or something for sitting with them.”

“What planet are they even from?” Martha giggled. “A dress code?”

Veronica laughed with her. “Yeah, and while we were getting clothes for me, I got to hear all of their gossip. They have dirt on literally everyone, even the teachers. Heather McNamara is apparently really good at worming secrets out of people. She could ruin people’s lives, and do it all with a smile.”

“Wow,” Martha said, “They’re like Satan’s minions or something.”

Veronica snorted, “I wouldn’t be surprised. People don’t call Heather Chandler ‘the demon queen’ for nothing. You wouldn’t believe the things she says about the people in our class.”

Martha went quiet for a moment. “Did they say anything about me?”

Veronica froze, remembering Duke’s rant on how ‘it should be illegal for lardasses like Martha Dumptruck to wear swimsuits’

“Uh… I don’t remember them saying anything,” she lied.

“Oh. Well, tell me how it goes tomorrow. It should be exciting, right?” Martha replied.

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to keep you posted. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Bye!” Martha exclaimed before hanging up.

Veronica flopped back onto her bed, the phone still in her hand. She knew that the Heathers were masters of manipulation. She needed to mentally prepare herself for tomorrow. Just keep her mouth shut and survive the day and then move on with her life, hopefully with less torment than before.

She eventually got up and hung the phone on its hook before starting her homework. Fucking calculus.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Veronica got up and dressed herself in the clothes that she had gotten at the mall. She took a deep breath before leaving the house and reminded herself that she just needed to get through the day with the Heathers without fucking everything up with her big mouth.

Everybody stared at her when she walked into class, and she got to her seat as quickly as possible, still not used to dressing in blazers and skirts. She couldn’t really focus in class while hearing all of the whispers about her circulate. Thank god she wasn’t in any of the Heathers’ classes.

By lunchtime, she just wanted the day to be over so that she could go home and change. God, why did looking hot have to be so painful? She walked into the cafeteria and started walking over to her usual table before she remembered she was supposed to sit with the Heathers. She turned back around and stopped in front of their table.

“Oh! There you are Veronica,” Mac said. “You’ve been the talk of the school today. You look nice!”

“Of course she does, we picked her outfit,” Duke cut in.

“Well don’t just stand there all day, sit down,” Chandler said, pointing at the seat next to her.

Veronica internally groaned. She wished she could have sat next to Mac, or even Duke, but she set her tray down and sat.

“So. What are we doing today?” asked Duke.

“There’s been rumors of Claire Darton being a dyke. We need to eviscerate her so that people don’t get the wrong idea.”

Veronica flinched. She had long since come to terms with her own bisexuality, but she hadn’t pegged Heather as a homophobe. She noticed that Mac had looked down and suddenly started fiddling with her fork. Huh. She’d have to look into that later.

Suddenly Mac piped up nervously. “Do we have to? I mean, we could just…”

Duke’s eyes flicked to Mac, giving a tiny shake of her head.

“Just what Heather? Let everybody believe that she actually slept with me?” Heather asked pointedly.

Mac shrank under Heather’s glare. “I didn’t think--”

“Yes, that much is obvious, Heather. Now. What can we do to destroy her social life?”

There was a brief silence, where Duke shifted closer to Mac, and Veronica cocked her head as she grabbed Mac’s hand.

Duke broke the awkward silence. “Just tell everyone that she’s an attention whore and has this desperate fantasy about sleeping with you that she wishes was true.”

Veronica flinched again. She had thought for a second that Duke would side with Mac. Why did they have to be so evil? She stared down hard at her food and tried hard to keep her mouth shut. That didn’t last long though, as Heather turned and asked,

“What do you think Veronica?”

“Me? Um… I-I think…”

The Heathers stared expectantly.

Veronica sighed. She was about to commit social suicide. She straightened up and looked them straight in the eyes, but just as she opened her mouth, she was stopped by a resounding smack. Everybody in the cafeteria turned to look just as Kurt fell to the floor. Veronica scanned for the source, and her eyes found a mysterious looking figure in a trench coat. He was now focused on fending off Ram, and Veronica watched as he was sent to the floor just as easily.

Now, Veronica didn’t usually condone violence, but then again, not everybody looked that good while throwing a punch. Damn. He was hot.

“Who the hell does that new kid think he is?” Heather was staring too, incredulous.

“I dunno, but I’ll bet you 10 bucks he’s got a gun in that trench coat. His trench coat is very school shooter chic,” Duke snickered.

“Shut up Heather!”

“Sorry Heather.”

Heather glanced back at Veronica, who was still staring at the fight. Veronica nervously shifted to look back at her, and caught a glimpse of something like… Was that anger? On her face.

Heather quickly masked her expression and laughed. “God Veronica, drool much? You’re totally throwing your panties at that new kid. He isn’t even hot!”

Veronica’s cheeks heated. She crossed her arms “I don’t even know him!”

But she wanted to. Damn it! She had terrible taste in men.

Chapter Text

“Plain or BQ?” Veronica yelled towards the car.

“BQ!” Heather yelled back.

Veronica walked into the 7-11 to get Heather her corn nuts. Why she was so obsessed with corn nuts, Veronica would never know. They weren’t even good!

Veronica stopped next to the rack of corn nuts, and was heading to the register when she heard,

“Greetings and salutations.”

She turned around to see trench coat boy again. She reached out a hand “Hi. Veronica Sawyer.”

He glanced down, “Corn nuts? You seemed like a person of good taste, Veronica, why the corn nuts?”

Veronica laughed nervously. “They’re not for me.”

“VERONICAAAAAAAA!” came a scream from outside.

“Ah. I see.”

“Yeah. I don’t really like my friends.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Well, I don’t really like your friends either.”

Veronica smiled. “Um, I didn’t catch your name.” She couldn’t very well go on calling him ‘trench coat boy’

“I didn’t throw it,” he responded.

Veronica flushed and swallowed.

He smirked at her discomfort. “It’s Jason Dean ma’am. JD for short.”

He moved closer to her.

Not wanting to be outdone, Veronica said “Oh. Well, JD, if you’re nice, maybe I’ll let you buy me a Big Gulp.”

He gasped, bringing a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Big Gulp? And here I thought you were cultured. I’ll buy you a slushie. What flavor?”

Veronica was irked. “I said Big Gulp.”

JD smiled, brushing past her in the aisle. Veronica shivered at the contact. He went straight to the slushie machine and bought two.

“Here’s your cherry slushie.”

Could this guy not listen?

Veronica sighed and took a sip. “Ahhh!”

“Brain freeze?”

“Yeah.”

JD got a far off look in his eyes. “I wish my brain could be frozen all the time.”

Veronica looked at him strangely.

He shook himself and snapped out of it. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

He moved closer again. His breath smelled like a blue raspberry slushie. Veronica tilted her head up to look in his eyes. This was the most flirting she’d done in her life. What was supposed to happen now?

“VERONICAAAAAA!”

“I guess I better go.”

JD smiled. “See you later Veronica.” He bent and kissed her hand.

Veronica’s face was hot as she walked out to the car. Heather’s was tense.

“Why were you talking to Jesse James?”

“Jess- Oh, you mean JD? He’s actually pretty cool, Heather,” Veronica said.

“Oh, is he? Is that why you’ve gone all moony?”

“I am not ‘moony’! What does that even mean?” Veronica responded, flustered.

Heather rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You can’t hang out with him.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s a loner, Veronica. I heard he keeps a gun in that ugly coat. If you’re gonna be a Heather, you gotta hang with the right crowd. He is not the right crowd.”

“Why can't we hang out with different kinds of people?” Veronica asked.

“Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw, do I look like Mother Theresa?”
“I just think it would be nice. Maybe you would like it!” Veronica hurriedly explained.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t do nice. I’m Heather Chandler.”

“Fine! Sorry for asking,” Veronica sulked, “Now can we go? I got your corn nuts, and we’ve been sitting in this parking lot forever.”

“Fine!”

Heather drove Veronica home in silence.

Chapter Text

Veronica sat on her bed, thinking. She’d never really considered dating before. No boys had ever been interested, and girls were just out of the question. But if JD asked her out, she’d say yes. I mean, he was in some of her AP classes, so he was smart and hot, pretty much everything she looked for in a guy. But there was just something unsettling about him.

And then there was Heather. Goddamnit, she was probably still mad. And when Heather was mad, there was little one could do but stay out of her way. Veronica felt a strange sense of pity towards Duke, who was usually the outlet for Heather’s anger. At least Mac was nice to Duke. They seemed to be close, but Veronica didn’t like how that divided their little group into a pair with Mac and Duke and a pair of her and Heather.

The next day, she was at her locker, putting her books away before class in a rare moment alone when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped slightly before realizing it was JD.

He flashed a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine,” Veronica smiled back.

“I just wanted to ask if you were free after school today?”

“Um, yeah. I’m not doing anything. Why?”

“Oh, I just thought maybe we could hang out or something.”

Veronica was suddenly very aware that she was sweating an abnormal amount. Was this, like, a date?

“Sure!” she replied, with much more confidence than she felt.

JD’s face relaxed. “Great! Meet me at the 7-11 after last period.” The bell rang and he headed off towards his classroom.

“Yeah, ok,” Veronica said belatedly, waving awkwardly at his retreating figure.

“What was that about?”

Veronica whipped around again. People really had to stop sneaking up on her.

“Oh, hi Heather. JD and I are gonna hang out after school today.”

Duke smirked. “Heather’s not gonna like that. She’s already mad about whatever stunt you pulled with him yesterday. If you two start going out she’s gonna blow a fuse. You’ll have to go back to your loser table with the nerd and the fat freak.”
Veronica had just about had it with the snide comments. “You know what Heather, maybe I would like that.” She glanced at her watch. “Shit. I’m gonna be late for class.” She opened her mouth to tell Duke off more, but thought better of it and settled for storming off, still fuming.

After school, Veronica headed into the 7-11 to meet JD. While she was waiting for him she picked up a pack of Red Vines to chew on absentmindedly while she waited.

“Hey Veronica! Hope you haven’t been waiting for me for too long,” JD smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“No, it’s fine. No big deal,” Veronica replied, face hot. God, that smile shouldn’t be as attractive as it was.

“So, I was thinking we could go to my place to hang out, watch tv or something?”

Veronica’s face got even hotter. “Will your parents be home?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. My dad’s never home and my mom’s dead, so…”

Veronica paled considerably. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine. It was a long time ago anyway,” JD smiled darkly.

“My parents don’t really want me to be at a boy’s house with no parents home though,” Veronica awkwardly tried to salvage the conversation.

JD smirked. “You don’t have to tell them.”

Veronica was startled, but excited nonetheless. “I guess you’re right. Let’s go then.”

As they walked together they chatted about classes and homework, until JD suddenly stopped.

“Why are you friends with the Heathers?”

“What?” Veronica was taken aback.

“I mean, you clearly have a soul, and you said yourself that you don’t really like them.”

“Well, I mean… They’re not so bad once you get to know them.”

“Really Veronica? I’ve seen how they treat the ‘losers’ of the school. I mean, I’m one of them.”

“Oh god, I can try to get them off your back if you want,” Veronica tried.

“But that’s what I mean Veronica. You’re so much better than them. You should just leave them behind and we could run the school together. God knows it needs a clean slate.”

Veronica shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze and laughed nervously. “Yeah right. Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

Their conversation was cut off when JD announced, “Here we are. It’s not much, but it’s home.”

They headed inside and sat on the couch, one of them on each end.

“So, whaddya wanna watch?” JD asked.

“Oh, you can pick. Just not the Princess Bride. I’ve watched that movie enough times for about three lifetimes.”

JD laughed. “Ok, not the Princess Bride. How about Beetlejuice.”

They put it on, and about five minutes in JD pauses it and says, “You know, you look kinda like that Lydia girl.”

Veronica laughs. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”

During the rest of the movie, the pair got closer and closer together. During the climax, Veronica slowly took JD’s hand and JD just smiled and laced their fingers together. Veronica swallowed, hard, not paying any more attention to the movie, just watching JD’s face. He turned to face her as well. Veronica’s heart felt as if it were beating out of her chest. She had never kissed anyone before. What if she was bad at it? No. She refused to ruin this for herself.

Cupping JD’s jaw, she felt him tense, nearly flinching away, before leaning in to kiss her. Their lips pressed together briefly, and Veronica felt better almost instantly. This wasn’t so bad.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and JD jumped away from her.

“Shit,” he hissed, “He’s not supposed to be home yet.”

A mask seemed to fall over JD’s face. “Why son, I didn’t hear you come in.”

JD’s dad turned around. “Yeah, Pop.” his gaze falls on Veronica. “I wanted to introduce my new girlfriend.”

Veronica was getting more and more confused. “Uh, hi! I’m Veronica.”

Mr. Dean smirked. “Drink up, Cutie.”

Veronica struggled not to gape. “It’s a little… early.”

“Hey, Champ. You know we don’t condone underage drinking in this household,” JD tried to rescue her.

“Oh… So you’re a good girl.”

Veronica’s ability to keep up was quickly flagging. “Oh. Uh…”

“Veronica was just leaving,” JD interjected again.

“Come on, relax. Just having some fun, huh? Sit, sit.”

Veronica sat down and Mr. Dean came over to sit beside her. Veronica shrank away from him as subtly as possible.

“So, work was a real pain in the ass today. Some damn tribe of withered old bitches is trying to stop my poor old dad from blowing up this fleabag motel, all because Glenn Miller once took a dump there. Just like Kansas. You remember Kansas?”

JD looked resigned. “Yeah.”

“The save the memorial oak society. My pop showed those tree humpers. Thirty bricks of C4 explosives stuck to the trunk. He was-”

“Arraigned but acquitted.” JD chimed in. He must have heard this story countless times. Mr. Dean laughed, while JD stayed stoic.

“Hell of a time, hell of a time. So, Pop, can I invite my girlfriend over for supper?” Mr. Dean asked.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Son,” JD replied.

“Aw, Pop. Don’t be a square.”

Veronica felt as if she should cut in. “Oh, I, um, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I can’t stay, actually, ‘cause my mom is making my favorite meal tonight. It’s spaghetti. Lots of oregano… ” she trailed off with awkward finger guns.

JD smiled darkly, almost sinister. “Nice. Last time I saw my mom, she was waving to me outside a window of a library in Texas, right, Dad?”

Mr. Dean’s good attitude disappeared. “Right, Son.” He got up and left the room.

Veronica turned to say goodbye to JD, but paused, noticing his evident anger at being interrupted. “Hey, you ok?”

JD quickly stood up off the couch, drew a revolver, and shot two clean holes into the TV.

Veronica muffled a scream before backing away and nearly running all the way home.

“Veronica, wait!” JD called after her, too late.

Chapter Text

What the fuck.

Veronica’s breathing was ragged, and she could hear her pulse in her ears.

What the actual fuck was that.

She slowed her sprint to a jog and realized she had no idea where she was going. She couldn’t go back home, her parents would realize there was something wrong. She sure as hell wasn’t going back to JD’s.

Still gasping for breath, she tried to work out who to go to. Martha would freak out, so that wasn’t an option. But which of the Heathers could she go to? Not Chandler, the whole school would know by the next day. And Duke had unpredictable bouts of cruelty that she inflicted on Veronica. Which left… Mac.

Veronica took a deep shaky breath and scrubbed at her face, only just realizing that she had been crying. God, she must look like an absolute wreck.

She started walking towards Heather McNamara’s house, pausing before she knocked on the door. What if one of her parents opened it?

In a daze, she walked around to the back of the house and threw a pebble at the window she knew belonged to Mac. Almost immediately, the window opened, and a head poked out. Veronica barely missed her with the second pebble.

“Hey! Who’s-- Oh, it’s you, Veronica.” Duke squinted down at her.

Veronica was too tired to register that Duke was at Mac’s house for dinner.

“Hi, Heather. Can I…” Veronica cut herself off, trying to hide her tears.

Another head poked out the window. “Veronica?” Mac asked, surprised. “Are you ok?”

As an answer, Veronica’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the grass in Mac’s backyard.

“Oh my god. We should get her inside,” Mac said, turning and running down the stairs. Duke rolled her eyes, but followed, albeit more slowly.

By the time they got to Veronica, she was hyperventilating, and couldn’t care less about her tearstained face.

“Oh my god Heather, what do we do? I don’t think she can walk inside like this.”

Duke’s brow was furrowed. “I think she’s having a panic attack.”

She turned to Veronica. “Can I touch you?”

Veronica nodded weakly.

“Alright.” Duke placed her hand on Veronica’s chest. “Can you breathe into my hand? C’mon, deep breaths.”

Veronica managed to take a few shuddery breaths.

“Ok, do you think you can stand?”

“Yeah,” Veronica responded quietly.

“Let’s get you inside. Don’t worry, my parents aren’t home,” Mac said.

Veronica let herself be dragged to her feet and plodded into the house and up the stairs into Mac’s room.

All three of them sat down on the floor.

“What happened, Veronica?”

“It was JD.”

“Ha! I told you he was bad news!” Duke smirked.

“Heather!” Mac yelled, “You aren’t helping!”

“No, she’s right. You and Chandler did warn me. He- I mean I was at his house and he got really mad and pulled out a gun--”

Mac paled. “He pulled a gun on you, Veronica? That’s serious! Maybe you should call the police!”

“No, he didn’t pull it on me, he just shot the TV. I don’t even know why I’m this upset. Maybe I should go. I’m sorry. I’m bothering you guys. I’m really sorry.”

“Veronica, anyone would be spooked after the guy they liked pulled out a gun. I mean, what the hell is wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. I just… Can we not talk about this?”

“Oh yeah Veronica, you just told us a guy who goes to our school carries a gun around, let’s just not talk about it anymore,” Duke snarked.

Veronica fidgeted, uncomfortable now that she had calmed down. “Where’s Heather?”

“Chandler?” Mac asked.

“Yeah, you three are always together. Isn’t she here somewhere?”

Duke and Mac looked guiltily at Veronica. “No, she isn’t here. But please don’t tell her we were hanging out without her,” Mac said, flashing Veronica her puppy dog eyes.

“Oh. Um, ok. I guess it’s the least I can do. I’m really sorry to bother you though. And thanks, Heather for, um, helping me outside. But I should probably go.”

“No, you should stay here Veronica. We’ll just keep you company. Keep your mind off things for the night,” Mac said.

To Veronica’s surprise, Duke agreed. “Yeah, and about what happened outside, don’t worry about it. I kinda know about how that stuff feels.”

“Oh. Well, I guess I can stay if it wouldn’t be too much trouble. And, um I really am sorry that you had to see me like that.”

Chapter Text

Veronica woke up to an unfamiliar room. She sat bolt upright, nearly hitting her head, before remembering the events of the night before. She relaxed slightly, remembering that she had stayed the night at Mac’s house.

Checking the clock, she saw that it was still 3 in the morning. She groaned. She definitely wasn’t gonna be able to get back to sleep, so she slipped on her shoes, and grabbed her stuff.

While she was trying to sneak out quietly, she caught a glimpse of Duke and Mac cuddled up in Mac’s bed, spooning. Veronica muffled a snort of laughter, and she scribbled down a note explaining that she’d left.

Once she had slipped out the front door, she giggled quietly to herself. Were they dating? Oh Lord give her strength if they were. Heather Chandler would become insufferable. At least Mac’s kindness might rub off on Duke. But no. No, she shouldn’t assume. They would just be cute together is all.

Veronica walked aimlessly around her neighborhood, stopping by the 7-11 to grab some Red Vines. She shuddered as she walked past the slushie machine. She wasn’t ever drinking one of those again.

After the Red Vines were gone, she realized it was almost time for school already. She contemplated ditching, but was there really a point? It’s not like she had anything better to do.

She went to class and mindlessly finished all her work, not really paying any attention to what the teacher was saying.

Lunch, however, was a different story.

“So Veronica, how was your date with Jessie James?” Heather sneered.

Mac and Duke both flinched almost imperceptibly. Veronica smiled, “It was fine Heather.”

“Fine? You skipped out on hanging out with us for a ‘fine’ date?”

“Us? Heather and Heather weren’t with you,” Veronica responded.

Heather pinked. “How do you know that?”

Veronica froze, realizing her mistake. “Umm…”

“She called me this morning for… uh… makeup advice,” Duke lied.

“Makeup advice? She isn’t wearing any makeup,” Heather responded doubtfully.
“Yeah, I told her not to wear any because she’d probably fuck it up,” Duke said.

“Hm. Makes sense.”

“Yep! You look prettier without it anyway Veronica,” Mac smiled, earning her a death glare from both Heathers.

After an awkward silence, Heather seemed to regain her wits.

“Alright, fine Veronica. I’ll let this go, but you have to come with us to Kurt and Ram’s party this weekend.”

Duke glanced at her enviously. Veronica swallowed nervously.

“Uh, ok,” She said. “Who else is coming?”

“I don’t know, does it matter?” Heather responded.

“I guess not. I’ll be there at 8.”

Veronica fidgeted uncomfortably. She had gotten to the party before the Heathers. God, going to a party alone really sucked. She felt like something was off like someone was staring at her, but music was blaring, and everybody was too busy getting drunk anyway. She shrugged it off because she’d had a lot to deal with in the past 48 hours. Maybe she was just projecting.

“Veronica! Over here!” Mac waved.

Thank god they were finally here.

“Um, hi.”

“What is with you, Veronica? You’ve been acting extra weird since yesterday,” Heather narrowed her eyes.

Veronica silently pleaded for her brain to start working again because she had just seen that Heather had worn a tight dress with a plunging neckline that Veronica was much to gay to handle.

“Um…”

Duke shot a panicked look at Mac, who just shrugged desperately back.

“Maybe she’s just got her period,” Duke blurted out.

Veronica internally facepalmed. That was probably the worst lie anybody could have probably come up with.

Heather grimaced. “I don’t need to hear about that.”

What the fuck? She actually bought that?

“What was that, Veronica?”

Shit. She had said half of that out loud.

“Uhh, I just didn’t think that Heather would guess correctly,” Veronica improvised. This was going really great so far.

“Whatever, let's go get some jello shots.” Heather stalked off in her tall heels. Veronica blushed furiously as she intensely stared at anything except Heather’s ass in that dress.

“Uh, Veronica?” Mac asked, “I have some bad news.”

Veronica didn’t know how much more of this she could handle. “What is it?”

“Ok, don’t freak out, but JD’s here.”

Veronica froze. She couldn’t leave now that Heather had seen her here. Where was he? What was he going to do? Did he know she was here?

“Veronica? VERONICA!” Mac snapped in front of her face. “Are you gonna be ok?”

Veronica buried her face in her hands, then lifted her head, resigned. “I’m just gonna go get as drunk as humanly possible now.”

Chapter Text

Oops. Maybe she shouldn’t have made her first time drinking this… intense. The floor swayed underneath her as she stumbled to the bathroom. God, she just wanted to be at home. She was starting to feel a little nauseous, she was tired and really, really drunk.

On her way to the bathroom she literally ran into someone.

“Veronica,” JD said, tensing.

Veronica inhaled sharply and stepped back.

“No.”

“Veronica, I just need to talk to you,” he said, reaching a hand out to steady her.

“No, I don’t want anything to do with you. Please just leave me alone,” Veronica slurred slightly.

“You don’t know what you want. I mean, no offense, but look at you.”

“I want you to fucking leave me alone,” Veronica replied forcefully.

“Veronica, you don’t understand. You kissed me. You want me,” JD pleaded.

“No, I don’t you fucking psycho. You shot something!”

“But you love me!”

“No!”

“I love you!” JD shouted, moving closer, backing Veronica against a wall.

“No!” Veronica prepared to fight her way out.

“You are mine! You were meant to be mine, can’t you see that Veronica?”

Veronica was about to scream for help when Heather McNamara walked by and saw what was happening.

“Veronica!” Heather gasped.

Veronica was shaking. She felt like she was going to throw up.

JD saw McNamara and let go of Veronica’s arm. “This isn’t the end of this,” he whispered darkly to Veronica as he left.
Veronica sank to the floor, trembling.

“Oh my god, Veronica are you ok?”

Veronica took a deep shaky breath. “Can I go home?”

“Yeah, we can try to sneak you out of here without Heather noticing.”

Veronica tried to stand up, but the combination of fright and alcohol had left her knees weak. She almost fell back over but steadied herself with the wall.

“I’m fine!” she said sharply to Mac, who was hovering over her tentatively. “Let’s go.”

Veronica stormed toward the exit. She swore she was leaving, whether anyone came with her or not. However, the combination of alcohol and adrenaline does not leave you very aware of your surroundings to say the least.

She ran smack into Heather Chandler.

“There you are,” she snapped, “Where the fuck have you been?”

God. Heather Chandler might be the one person in the world that could stop her from leaving, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try.

“Does it matter? I’m leaving,” Veronica shot back.

Heather’s eyes widened. “Nobody gets to talk to me like that and live.”

Heads started turning toward them.

“Well, too bad. We gave it a shot, okay? I’m resigning my position from the lipgloss Gestapo. I’m going back to civilian life.” Veronica was definitely dead. God, why had she gotten so drunk? Oh right. JD.

Heather fixed her with a chilling stare and began stalking toward her. Veronica turned on her heel and started leaving.

“No.”

She grabbed Veronica.

“Don’t spin me, I’m not feeling well,” Veronica groaned.

Heather’s face was contorted in a sneer.
“You don’t get to be a nobody. Come Monday, you’re an ex-somebody. Not even the losers will touch you now. Transfer to Washington, transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westerburg’s gonna let you play their reindeer games!”

Veronica’s vision was blurring. She felt sick to her stomach.

“Heather, stop spinning me! I’m--” She retched, and threw up all over Heather’s pristine heels.

The entire party seemed to freeze. She would think that time had stopped if not for the continuing music blaring. Veronica looked at Heather, and then at the crowd, then back at Heather.

What was she supposed to do?

“Lick it up baby, lick it up,” she heard herself say before actually leaving.

Holy shit. What had she done.

Chapter Text

Veronica laughed to herself in disbelief. She was dead. She was so dead. Like, she might as well just change her name and move across the country. Why the fuck did she have to be so dumb? And why had she gotten so drunk? Oh right. JD. That was a whole other load of bullshit.

Sitting on the curb next to the 7-11 didn’t do much for her state, so she stood up again on slightly less shaky legs. Where was she going to go? Going home seemed like a waste of the precious few hours she had left.

She hadn’t even lost her virginity yet. And now she never would, unless it was to JD. And she would never be that desperate. The only way she had a prayer of living was to go and apologize to Heather.

Veronica groaned. This was going to be fun.

An hour later, Veronica swore as a twig scratched her shin. Why did Heather’s window have to be so difficult to reach?

She swung out blindly, trying to unlock Heather’s window. It opened surprisingly easily, unfortunately for Veronica, who tumbled headfirst through the window.

Heather let out a rather unflattering shriek as Veronica landed with a thump in the middle of her room.

Veronica chuckled lowly, picking herself up off the ground. “Hey, Heather.”

“What the fuck are you doing in my room?” Heather whisper-shouted.

Ok, so maybe this wasn’t a great start.

Veronica winced. “Uh, I came to apologize for puking on your shoes.”

Heather raised her eyebrows. “I haven’t heard an apology yet.”

Veronica scrunched up her face. “I’ve been here for like ten seconds.”

Whoops. Her filter was really gone, wasn’t it?

Heather smirked. “Damn, you’ve got guts, Veronica.”

“I mean, what’re you gonna do, threaten to kill me on Monday?”

Goddammit. Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker. What the hell was wrong with her?

Veronica picked herself up off the ground, wincing.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean that. And also sorry for ruining your shoes.”

“What kind of lame-ass apology was that?” Heather put a hand on her hip. “If you don’t want to be crucified on Monday, you’re gonna have to get down on your knees and beg.”

Veronica’s face was suddenly uncomfortably warm. This wasn’t supposed to be hot, was it?

Heather stalked over, stopping only a few inches from Veronica’s face.

“Well?”

“Fuck,” Veronica muttered under her breath before grabbing the back of Heather’s head and kissing her.

Heather stumbled backward, clapping a hand over her mouth.

A few beats passed, both of them stunned. It was Veronica who broke the silence.

“Shit,” Veronica hissed. “Heather, I’m so sorry, I- God I’m just like those football assholes who are always trying to force you to fuck them.”

She backed away, desperately trying not to burst into tears.

Heather’s expression quickly went from afraid to outright livid, and simply said, deadly quiet, “Get out.”

Chapter Text

Veronica choked back a sob. Her last-ditch attempt at convincing Heather not to kill her had only dug her further into the grave. What now? Veronica was far too stubborn to give up after just one try, so she headed to the last place she ever thought she would go for help.

“Heather? Are you there?”

There was no response from Duke, but Veronica could see that the light in her room was on. Bitch.

For the second time that night, Veronica snapped the lock off of someone’s window and climbed through. She was slightly more sober now and didn’t trip, until, that is, she saw Duke and Mac making out on Duke’s bed.

“What the fuck?”

Mac screamed, and Duke shot to her feet, ready to fight.

“Veronica?”

“Uh, sorry, I’ll just…”

“Nope, no way. You are coming in here and I’m beating the living shit out of you right now.” Duke snarled.

In not one of her proudest moments, Veronica just burst into tears. To be fair, the events of that night were a bit much for anyone to handle.

Duke froze. “Heather, what do I do now? I can’t beat up a crying girl.”

Mac, still frozen on the bed, finally moved again. “Jesus, Heather, go pull her the rest of the way through the window.”

Duke stiffly yanked Veronica through the window. Veronica was gasping for air at this point and just crumpled to the ground, muttering “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over.

Duke stood, still unsure of what to do.

“Help her,” Mac hissed.

“Veronica, stop crying.”

Veronica continued her sobbing apologies.

“Veronica!” Duke said, slightly panicked, then slapped her across the face. “Pull yourself together.”

Veronica was shocked out of her tears. Duke stood with a surprisingly stoic expression, while Mac, evidently as shocked as Veronica had clapped a hand over her mouth.

“You tell nobody what you saw, got it?” Duke asked sharply.

Veronica nodded furiously.

“Ok, now why did you decide that you should climb through my window at,” she checked her watch, “four in the morning?”

Veronica hesitated for a second. At least she didn’t have to worry about them being homophobic anymore.

“Veronica?” Mac asked, finally speaking up “It’s ok, you can tell us.”

“Iwenttogoapologizetoheatherbutiwasreallydrunkandshewasreallyprettyandikissedher”

“Sorry, what was that?” Mac asked.

“I went to go apologize to Heather about the shoes, you know, but I was really drunk and shewasreallyprettyandIkissedher”

“Oh my GOD Veronica!” Duke’s jaw dropped, and then she started giggling. “Damn, you’ve got some balls.”

“Wait, but why are you here then?” Mac asked.

Veronica tilted her head, confused, “She kicked me out.”

“She WHAT?” both of them yelled at the same time.

“I’m going over there now to kick her ass,” Duke snarled.

“What? Why?” Veronica was really lost now.

“Jesus Veronica, she’s going to be insufferable tomorrow. She’s had the biggest crush on you for so long--God! What is wrong with her?”

“Come on babe, let’s go. She’s probably still awake.” Mac said.

“Veronica… actually, maybe you shouldn’t come. I don’t think she’ll listen to you.”

Veronica was still reeling from the information that Heather had a crush on her? “Yeah, I… Ok, wait, I mean, no, but,”

Mac smiled gently. “Go to sleep Veronica. We’ll take care of this.”

Veronica’s adrenaline had finally started to wear off and the exhaustion was setting in, so Mac’s plan didn’t sound so bad.

“Ok. Ok. Ok.” This was all ok. “Uh, bye then?”

“See you tomorrow morning Veronica,” Duke said shortly.

Chapter Text

Heather hadn’t been able to fall asleep since Veronica had left. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried, but whenever she started to drift off, her mind would fill with the memory of Veronica’s face, of her voice, and the taste of Veronica’s lips on her own.

She jolted upright at the sound of a loud crash downstairs.

Not long after, someone started pounding on her door. What time was it? She checked the clock. 5:30 am.

“HEATHER!”

The banging on her door continued.

“Let us in!” Duke shouted.

“What do you want Heather?” Chandler shouted back.

“Just open the door!” Mac yelled.

Why was Mac there too?

“Heather, I swear to god if you don’t open up, I’m breaking down this door!” Duke yelled.

Heather opened the door suddenly, and Duke and Mac stumbled in.

“What is your problem?” she hissed.

“What’s your problem, Heather? You kicked Veronica out after she kissed you?” Mac asked.

Heather reeled back in shock. How did they know?

“I-how- What!?” She exploded, “I mean, what would you have done?”

“Does it matter? We aren’t the ones with a massive fucking crush on her!” Duke snapped.

“I don’t-What are-I- You-” Heather sputtered.

“Come on Heather, you think we haven’t noticed?” Mac asked.

“I’m not gay Heather!” Chandler said.

Duke and Mac both fixed her with a pointed stare.

“I’m not!”

“Yeah, right. That’s why you’re gay panicking right now.” Duke drawled.

Heather was overwhelmed. How dare they! She wasn’t gay! She just… Thought about kissing pretty girls sometimes. And had never been attracted to men. And… Fuck. She was so gay.

“Well…” Heather sputtered, “I don’t see what you expect me to do about that.”

Her voice was beginning to waver. NO! She couldn’t show them weakness.

Mac softened. “It’s ok Heather.” She shot Duke a glance. Duke sighed and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Mac took a deep breath. “Heather and I are dating, y’know.”

Heather’s jaw dropped. “What!? WHen-H-”

Duke snickered weakly, “Did you really not notice?”

Heather thought back. They had always been touchy, but she had assumed Mac was just like that. And Duke was nice to Mac, but wasn’t that just because they were friends? Oh god. She was so blind.

A tear slipped down Heather’s cheek. She wiped it away hurriedly.

“Fuck,” she whispered, “What did I do?”

“Heather-”

“No!” Heather shouted, standing up, “What did I just do? I have to go find her!”

“Heather, calm the fuck down!” Duke shouted back at her. “What do you think going over there hysterical is gonna do? Let the girl sleep, and talk to her when she’s in a better state.”

Heather sagged onto her bed.

“So how long has,” she gestured between Duke and Mac, “Uh, this been going on?”

Mac blushed. “A couple months.”

“And why wouldn’t you tell me? I- I thought we were friends.”

“Heather, are you going to honestly tell me that you wouldn’t have outed us to the whole school?” Duke asked, her expression cold.

“What!? Of course not!”

Duke raised an eyebrow.

“You weren’t exactly the nicest person in the world to gay people Heather. You have to understand that we were trying to be careful.” Mac interjected.

“I’m…” Heather tried to blink her tears away. “I’m sorry.” she eventually whispered.

Duke sighed. “Heather, you’re really fucked up. But, I am friends with you, and there has to be a reason for that.” She grimaced. “Now, tomorrow I will claim that I said none of this, but Heather, you’re one of the strongest people I know. You have power and you know how to hold onto it. Your methods may be questionable, but I know you’re a good person somewhere in there,” she said as she tapped Heather’s chest.

Tears had begun slipping down Heather’s face, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away this time.

“Now go to sleep,” Duke said gruffly, “And we’ll get you to Veronica tomorrow before school.”

“‘Night, Heather,” Mac murmured, and they both left quietly.

Heather took a deep, shuddery breath, wiped away her tears, and drifted off into calm, dark sleep.

Chapter Text

Plink

Plink

Plink

Veronica sat up groggily. Where was that noise coming from?

Plink

Plink

She looked out the window, and there were Heather Duke and Mac.

She heaved the window open.

“What are you doing here at…” she checked her clock, “6:30 in the morning? I’ve gotten like two hours of sleep.”

“Veronica!” Mac whispered excitedly, “We have to take you somewhere.”

“Ah-ah, no time to explain,” Duke said as Veronica opened her mouth. “Now hurry up and get your ass out here. We gotta motor!”

Still half asleep, Veronica stumbled downstairs in the clothes she’d been wearing since the previous night.

Immediately after she opened the front door, she was dragged into Duke’s car.

“Where are you taking me?” Veronica asked blearily.

“Somewhere you need to be,” Mac said cryptically.

Veronica was too tired to ask, so she stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.

She looked around as Duke parked in a hurry. Was this Heather’s house?

“Wait, is this-“

She was pushed out of the car and in the front door.

“Oh wow, would you look at that we have to go now!” Mac stammered, already halfway gone.

“Wait! You can’t-” Veronica tried to interrupt, but they were already gone.

She heard someone clear their throat behind her, and turned around slowly to see Heather Chandler standing and staring at her.

“Uh, hi Heather,” Veronica coughed. “I’m just gonna go now.”

Heather seemed to snap out of a trance.

“No! Wait!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Look Heather, I don’t know what you want me to say. I already apologized.”

“For the kiss,” Heather said.

Veronica winced. “Yeah. For… that. And for breaking into your room at 3 AM. And for puking on your shoes.”

Heather took a deep breath.

“Yes. Well. About all of those things. I may have slightly… overreacted.”

Veronica’s eyebrows shot up. This was not the way she had expected this to go.

Heather continued, voice wavering, “And if you were to… to do the first thing again, I might have a slightly different response.”

A few seconds dragged by. Veronica felt like she was moving through jello. Heather was staring at her expectantly.

“Oh.”

“Oh? That’s all you’re going to say?” Heather snapped.

“What do you expect me to say!?”

“I don’t expect you to say anything, just-“ Heather huffs, taking a step forward and pressing her mouth to Veronica’s.

Instinctively, Veronica’s hands move to the nape of Heather’s neck. This is was really not how she saw this going. Because last time, she was the one to kiss Heather. And Heather definitely didn’t kiss her back.

The kiss turns messy, full of teeth and tongue, and Veronica almost laughs because when has anything between her and Heather not been messy. Instead, she lets her hands start to roam, tracing down Heather's spine, feeling her shiver, and then resting her hands on the other girl’s hips, laughter disappearing when Heather groans softly into her mouth in response.