Archive of Our Own

Veronica Sawyer did something she’d never once dared before: she looked towards the table with the most notorious bullies sitting there as if they ruled the entire school – the reason for their behavior being that they did rule the school, no questions asked.

And Veronica was probably out of her damn mind to dare look in their direction. Nobody noticed in the cafeteria, the moment passed without any casualties and Veronica let out a relieved sigh, only to almost choke on her breath as icy blue eyes suddenly stared back.

The most dangerous, demanding, frightening, and beautiful girl staring at her from the other side of the caff, not minding her friends and their constant conversation. Veronica eventually tore her gaze away, her cheeks burning, her heart racing, her mind completely blank.

The first time she dared look at Heather Chandler, the only occasion where she figured she could afford a quick glance without being caught, and immediately getting an enquiring slap in her face. But she survived. Veronica wasn’t swallowed by the ground, which meant that the Demon Queen wasn’t actually demonic, just a huge bitch, who Veronica (like the rest of the students of Westerburg High) completely by accident developed a crush on.

But who could blame her? Heather was beautiful and her scary aura drew Veronica in.

Heather Chandler was a mystery and Veronica wished she could just talk to her once and maybe figure out what her deal was.

Then Veronica found herself trapped in the girls’ bathroom with Heather Chandler and wished nothing more than to be far away from the girl and survive the encounter. Veronica started washing her hands a bit faster.

“It’s Veronica, right?” Heather asked with a bored tone.

She was standing by the sink next to Veronica, fixing her lipstick in the mirror.

“Yeah,” Veronica fumbled the word out somehow.

Heather looked at her. “You’re in my English class.”

It wasn’t a question, but Veronica still nodded. She’d avoided looking up so far but the silence grew even more uncomfortable with her avoiding Heather’s eyes, so she finally looked up and almost had a heart attack when she saw Heather’s amused half-smile.

“I’ll see you around then, Sawyer.” Heather’s smile grew even wider and she left the room before Veronica could say anything.

Veronica looked at the bathroom door closing behind Heather, still under the blonde’s spell.

She eventually glanced at her reflection, just to see how dumbfounded she actually looked, and only then did she realize something crucial, something of the highest importance ever known to mankind, something so obvious and clear that she had no idea how it had almost slipped by her.

Veronica never told Heather her last name. Yet Heather somehow knew it.

The mystery continued.

***

Heather’s attempts were becoming less and less subtle. First it was asking to copy Veronica’s homework before class. Then asking for her book report. Then somehow ending up in a project of twos with Heather despite their names not being anywhere near to the other’s.

Heather invited Veronica over in the afternoon and offered to take her in her Porsche, the notorious vehicle always parked in a teacher’s spot without getting reprimanded for it. Everything about the car was luxurious, including Heather, and everything in the car was an extension of Heather, now including Veronica.

Veronica had been watching the Heathers since freshman year, so she was aware that piquing the interest of the Heathers was not something she should’ve been too fond of. It meant upcoming danger, years of torment, humiliation, bullying. And the fact that she wasn’t dead yet meant that something bigger was coming, and she had to brace herself in advance.

It was honestly insane how nice Heather was in private and Veronica had to occasionally remind herself that Heather was still the mythic bitch and must have had some ulterior motive behind her harmless behavior. But it was hard to not be drawn to her when she offered Veronica drinks, and went to prepare snacks when she noticed Veronica needing a break, and asked Veronica about her interests beside literature, and dropped her home in the evening in spite of the fact that Veronica lived nowhere near her and this was a huge detour for her.

Or maybe a huge excuse to spend even more time with her.

Something that sounded much more likely based on the last thing she said to Veronica before saying goodbye, because Heather (the Heather Chandler!) asked Veronica to join her and her friends on Friday for a croquet match.

And Veronica said yes.

***

Was Heather flirting with her?

That made no sense. Heather just complimented her blazer because Heather bought it for her and she was a giant narcissist who wanted to compliment her own great taste.

Okay, that made even less sense, so Veronica settled on the first option, that Heather complimented her clothes. Especially because Heather’s been doing it every day since their studying session.

The day after, she invited Veronica to sit with them during lunch and when Veronica was barely paying any attention to Heather because Heather Duke rambled about Moby Dick and her love for the novel, Heather’s words just slipped out, going unnoticed by the others at the table – except for Veronica, who pretended to not having heard her in fear of reacting in a way she wasn’t supposed to.

“You have good bone structure,” Heather mumbled while staring at Veronica’s face.

But Veronica heard her clear and well, and had no idea how to react.

The next day Heather took her to the mall after school to find something for Veronica to wear, and sure, they weren’t alone because Duke and Mac tagged along, but Heather wasn’t paying any attention to them, she only cared about Veronica. And Veronica found her reaction so confusing when Heather only blinked a couple times after Veronica changed into her new and blue uniform, and then sent her back without a word.

And then bought the blazer and skirt for Veronica, still not saying anything.

Her lack of reaction was suspicious to say the least.

“This is an excellent forgery,” Heather took the permission slip from Veronica’s hand.

She’d just saved all four of them when the Heathers took her to the bathroom with them and Ms. Fleming busted them after the bell rang. Veronica found it weird how the teacher who always had a few nice words to say to everyone now acted so hostile towards her new… friends? Acquaintances? To the Heathers, whoever they were to Veronica from now on.

And Heather must have really found her penmanship remarkable because Veronica caught her staring intently at her friends during English on Friday. Heather realized that Veronica was watching her and she gave her a stiff half smile before turning away and whispering something to Duke.

So, anyways, considering her latest invitation to their private croquet match and Heather’s comments and her niceness towards Veronica, she was certain that something else was going on. She just had to figure out what it was exactly.

Duke had something with the yearbook, so she was joining them a bit later, and Mac chose to stay behind with her for some reason yet unknown to Veronica, so she was the only one with Heather in the Chandlers’ giant backyard setting up the croquet field.

Or at least, that was the excuse. Because the field was already up and ready to play on, but Heather probably wanted an excuse to have Veronica come along before the others.

“I told him that I didn’t want to do it because I already have enough things on my plate, but he insisted. So, anyways, you could come along next Tuesday during lunch and we could do that stupid poll.” Heather sighed.

“And what would this poll be? I mean you can’t just do a poll without a topic, right?”

“Yeah.” Heather looked at Veronica. “Dennis said that this would be about different people’s opinion on whatever topic. He said he’d give me a free hand on the first question because… Well, because my opinion matters more than others’.” Heather shrugged.

Veronica found her arrogance amusing, and her sarcastic words just slipped out, “You’re beautiful.”

Any sarcasm in her tone just slipped by Heather who turned away blushing.

Veronica felt like maybe she should apologize or say that she didn’t mean it, but then Heather stole a glance at her and while watching something really interesting in the garden, she muttered, “You’re not bad for yourself. It’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Because you have potential.”

Veronica tried to bite back her smile. First of all, Heather was so unusually shy when she tried sincerely complimenting Veronica, that Veronica had to restrain herself from teasing her too much for it, and second of all, she absolutely couldn’t leave it at that. There was a reason why Heather suddenly took interest in her and this was the time to find out why.

“I don’t know. Is that the actual reason?” she asked back.

“What else would it be?”

The slight redness on Heather’s cheeks didn’t go unnoticed by Veronica.

“I’m just saying that it’s not an everyday phenomenon that you invite someone into your clique.”

“Maybe we wanted a change in our routine,” Heather tried and failed to say casually.

“And? Am I sufficient enough for the task?”

“We’ll see.”

And Veronica didn’t understand her own reaction to Heather’s cheeky smile, but she suddenly felt giddy and delighted to be around Heather.

All through the afternoon she kept missing her shots at croquet, her hands were sweating a bit too much when Heather stood closer and Veronica could smell her sweet perfume, luring her closer, almost asking her to take a bite from the forbidden fruit that was Heather.

Veronica was going insane. That had to be Heather’s master plan.

By the time Veronica got home, she was sure that someone – Heather – put her under a spell; she couldn’t stop thinking about her, her reactions, her words, her face, her smell, her ever so sweet and shy smiles.

Veronica needed help.

***

“So, I guess they’re not as bad as they seem. I mean, you’re hanging out with them constantly,” Betty said.

Veronica invited Betty and Martha over, just a Saturday movie night and sleepover, the regular Saturday night activity since… Veronica had no idea since when, but it’s been a thing for the past year and they all really liked how it became their regular personal event.

They were in her room, already in pajamas, the movie had ended a few minutes ago and casual chatting was the next item on their agenda.

“Yeah, they’re… Nice? I guess,” Veronica answered cautiously.

“Are we talking about the same people?” Martha asked. “Remember Diane last year?”

“Yeah! That wasn’t too nice,” Betty nodded along. “Sure, she made up that rumor but the way they treated her was really awful.”

“She transferred schools during the summer,” Martha continued. “And I don’t blame her for it.”

Veronica remembered Diane, she suddenly started a rumor that Heather Chandler was a lesbian – an obviously laughable rumor because Heather was a magnet for guys. Everyone knew that she went to college parties because she had this college guy wrapped around her finger.

An obviously laughable rumor except…

“So, I think you should be on your guard. Who knows what they could do to you,” Martha finished her monologue that Veronica wasn’t paying attention to.

“I know that, okay? I’m still trying to figure out their deal, but…” she sighed. “There’s not going to be any other chance to get close to them. And people now leave me alone and it’s nice. And I think if I just stick around for a little while longer, I could convince them to leave you all alone. And not just you, JD too.”

“Speaking of him, he told me his dad’s out of town next week, so we could crash at his place on Saturday.”

Veronica barely saw JD around anymore, so she was glad to spend time with him again. Last year there was definitely something going on between them, but Veronica felt like he wasn’t the one. Sure, he was nice, and they could talk, but it didn’t feel like they were meant to be. And JD proved that he was actually nice by staying their friend and never holding any of the past against Veronica.

Still… Something about an earlier revelation…

Veronica was never left alone with her thoughts, her friends kept involving her in the conversation, so when they went to sleep and Veronica could finally focus on herself, she connected the dots.

Rumors about Heather being a lesbian. Instead of brushing it off because it was an obvious lie, Heather got defensive about it and ruined someone’s life. Then Veronica came along, and Heather took interest for some reason, was nice to her, complimented her all the time, teased back when Veronica unconsciously and unknowingly flirted with her. Heather’s constant fluster, her shyness… It all made sense.

Heather Chandler had a crush on Veronica, and just by thinking about her Veronica felt her heart beat faster and a strange feeling emerged in her stomach.

Veronica’s eyes shot open.

She had a crush on Heather and Heather probably liked her back.

***

The next few days were torture. Veronica overanalyzed everything Heather did or said, and it was driving her insane.

Heather had to like Veronica, there was no other explanation that didn’t sound ridiculous, yet the idea that Heather had a crush on her sounded even more insane.

And she couldn’t just walk up to her and ask her, so her torment continued.

Maybe this was their evil plan all along. No, that sounds stupid.

Besides, Heather kept doing what she was doing, and now it wasn’t just staring and being around and saying things; she accidentally bumped into Veronica a couple times, her fingers lightly brushed against Veronica’s when she asked for her pen, and maybe Veronica was reading too much into these interactions, but they still happened. And her explanation made perfect sense.

And then it happened. Painfully slowly.

At first Heather was mad that Veronica had a sleepover on Saturday (especially because it was over at JD’s place), so she made sure to book her in advance. Next Saturday Veronica was going to Ram’s homecoming party, no backing out.

And Veronica thought that it would be a pretty stupid and insignificant event, but then she was offered a couple glasses of alcohol, and Heather was offered a couple glasses of alcohol, and a couple hours later they ended up in the backseat of Duke’s Jeep with Duke driving and Mac mumbling in the passenger seat. And while the two girls in the front were occupied, Heather turned slowly to Veronica.

“You know, I’ve been thinking a lot, and you’re really pretty and all that, so I think we should go on a date because I’m also pretty and we would look good together.”

Heather was slurring some of her words and Veronica found it hard to concentrate on her words with Heather staring at her lips for the whole time, but then her words reached Veronica’s brain and she suddenly felt a lot more sober than before.

“Wait, what?”

“I said we should go on a date. I could take you to dinner or whatever.”

Okay, so Veronica heard her properly.

“You don’t have to answer that,” Duke said without looking at Veronica.

“Shut up, Heather. I asked Veronica, not you,” Heather giggled.

But even during this temporary sober revelation, Veronica was really fucking drunk to make a decision like that, and then Duke slowed down in front of their house and parked the car, and Veronica suddenly felt sick, so she’d crawled out the car to throw up before she could answer.

And then she forgot about the question.

The morning after was really quiet because of their collective hangovers, but also because Heather felt really awkward around Veronica and Veronica couldn’t remember what happened. She asked Heather, but Heather also had a spotty memory, so they were in this awkward place, waiting for a catharsis, to help break out of their misery.

Heather drove Veronica home (she’d left her car over at Duke’s before they went to the party), and Heather clearly remembered what she said because she told Veronica to stay in the car for a moment because they had to talk.

“What do you remember from last night?”

“That I had too much to drink,” Veronica chuckled awkwardly.

Heather didn’t find that amusing, she looked a bit anxious, and Veronica felt like an idiot for not seeing it before. Veronica had a quick side thought that Heather looked really beautiful even with all the stress, but she couldn’t get distracted by that or by the fact that Heather didn’t have any perfume on and she smelled so good without …

“So, you don’t remember that I said… something unusual?” Heather tested the waters.

“What do you mean?”

“While we were driving home, do you remember something that I said?”

Veronica furrowed her brows, and a really faint memory started to come closer and turn clearer, until-

“You asked me out on a date,” Veronica whispered.

“Yeah, but it was a joke, so don’t worry,” Heather laughed awkwardly. “I just wanted you to know that before you figured it out yourself.”

“Why?”

“Well… I just thought you shouldn’t get the wrong idea if you figured it out yourself.”

“What’s the wrong idea?” Veronica pushed forward. She was sure that Heather hadn’t been joking when she asked her out last night.

“That I meant it honestly.”

“So, you asked me to go on a date with you, but you were only kidding?”

“Yeah.”

Veronica had never seen such a disingenuous smile on anyone before.

“And it was supposed to be funny?”

Heather didn’t answer immediately. “Just forget about that, okay?”

“What if I didn’t?” Veronica asked slowly.

“What?”

“What if I didn’t forget about it?”

“Then I’d tell everyone that you asked me out on a date because you’re a homo.” Heather wasn’t looking at Veronica.

“Isn’t that hypocritical?”

Heather shrugged. “Sure, but-” She stopped when she realized her admission.

Veronica smiled without any malice.

“I didn’t mean that, it came out wrong,” Heather tried to backpaddle.

Veronica took her chance. “Well, in any case, I’m free on Friday.”

“What do you mean?” Heather asked, her panic obvious from her tone.

“I mean that you could always take me out on a date. To prove that you’re not a hypocrite and all.”

Heather nodded.

“I’ll think about it.”

The fact that Heather didn’t throw her out immediately meant that Veronica was going on a date with Heather Chandler on Friday, and by the time she reached her bedroom, the thought settled in.

She was going on a date with Heather.

Veronica was either a mastermind genius or a huge fucking idiot and only time would tell which one she was.

***

Heather told Veronica on Monday that her house was free on Friday and she’d pick Veronica up at 6.

Heather said the information and disappeared into the crowd just as quickly, and Veronica would’ve lied if she said she didn’t find Heather absolutely adorable. The Demon Queen of high school crushing on her and taking her on a date.

Monday night Heather called her (Veronica had no idea how Heather got her number) and talked about the lunchtime poll question she thought up. The entire time she avoided the topic of their upcoming date and Veronica feared that Heather would back out if she pressed the topic too hard, so she gave her the space she needed during the conversation.

Tuesday’s lunch went by quickly with Heather barely noticing her.

Wednesday Heather complimented her new shoes and told her that she should wear those on Friday.

On Thursday Veronica spent the day with Betty, Martha, and JD, and she could see from afar how often Heather looked in her direction. JD noticed it too, said that Veronica was in trouble, and Veronica found the idea laughable. Still, she took to heart his advice of trying to get on Heather’s good side.

Friday came too quickly, Veronica’s never felt so nervous in her entire life, she tried on all her clothes and found it extremely hard to choose. Was it a comfortable night? Elegant, like a proper date? Her now-regular blue blazer? Just a hoodie?

Heather, as she promised, parked down in front of the house at 6pm, sharp, and Veronica ran out of time. She chose casual, there was no way Heather would invite her to her own house and expect a ball gown from her.

Heather got out of the car when she saw Veronica walk through the front door. Heather reached the passenger’s side of the car the same time Veronica did, greeted the girl with a cautious half-smile, then opened the door for her. Veronica couldn’t hide her grin.

The ride was a bit awkward. They’d been alone a couple times before, but this time was different because the nature of their encounter was different.

Was Veronica supposed to make a move? To tell Heather how beautiful she looked (which she obviously did to nobody’s surprise - Veronica had already seen Heather without makeup over at Duke’s place and therefore knew that Heather was beautiful without putting any effort into her appearance)? Was she supposed to bring up that they were on a date? Was it a normal evening or something extra?

Heather brought up random topics that interested her and Veronica couldn’t believe that this was Heather’s true self, this secretly huge nerd and funny person, that nobody knew in school because they all thought she was a pretentious rich bitch and nothing else. Veronica was falling for her in record speed and Heather didn’t seem to mind it.

And the awkwardness faded soon, Veronica no longer felt uncomfortable, most likely because she got out of her own head and focused on Heather. Heather spent the past weeks getting Veronica to open up and now it was Heather’s turn to reveal herself, and sure, she still was Heather Chandler, the confident and straightforward person, but Veronica couldn’t help but notice how normal Heather was under all that mask.

Sleeping over sounded a bit too scary and fast, so they’d settled on Heather taking Veronica home before her curfew ended. It was a sensible decision, but Veronica didn’t feel ready to go home yet, not while she was over at Heather’s, and not while they were in the car in front of the Sawyer residence.

Heather didn’t seem to be in a hurry, she answered Veronica’s questions calmly, told her another hilarious story from a sleepover with Duke and Mac gone awry, and she was smiling all the time, in the extraordinary way only she could smile, in the way that made Veronica fall for her completely, even if she wasn’t yet ready to admit it.

“I guess I should go now. We’ll talk soon enough,” Veronica smiled sorrily.

“We will?”

“I guess you could call me when you get home.”

Heather chuckled softly. “Aww, you already care about me so much?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “You’re really awful, do you know that?”

“I do, yeah.” Heather bit her lip. “So… Uhm… Did you… Do you want to continue?”

Veronica could barely contain herself, but she still tried to downplay how happy the question made her. “Yeah, tonight was really fun, we could do it again.”

Heather nodded with a grin plastered on her face.

“Do you mean that?” Heather’s doubt made an appearance.

“Of course, I do. You were really amazing tonight, so… Thank you.”

Just to emphasize how grateful Veronica was for the night (and Heather, in general, not that she was ready to admit it yet), she leaned over and pressed a short kiss on Heather’s cheek.

Veronica could get used to Heather blushing like this.

Heather offered to take Veronica somewhere on Tuesday after school, and Veronica obviously accepted the invitation.

***

Their first kiss happened in Veronica’s room. Tuesday’s date went well, so Veronica asked (or begged, or whatever) her mom to let Heather sleep over on Friday, and after her mom had given her the free hand, Veronica asked Heather who agreed to it without hesitation.

Clearly Veronica wasn’t the only eager one.

A couple hours later Veronica let Heather try something new with her makeup, and she felt like an art piece coming alive from Heather’s practiced and attentive motions. And that was when she kissed Heather. She waited all evening to do so, felt almost dizzy from Heather’s perfume and her soft accidental touches, then Heather started doing her makeup and moved just a bit closer without thinking about it, and Veronica just couldn’t stand the waiting anymore, so she closed the distance between them and kissed Heather.

It took a second for Heather to come out of her shock and Veronica was certain that she blew her chance but then Heather pulled her closer and kissed her with everything she had.

And that’s how it started. There was no doubt anymore that it was becoming real.

At first, they were still trying to figure out how to do all this, how to be in a relationship, how to keep it under the radar from their friends, from their families, but it was all too easy to forget about their questions when they were with each other. Heather kept on being nice and attentive, and she could cook the best pancakes in the world, and Veronica continued to love her with everything she had and by the way Heather looked at her whenever she bought her flowers, she knew that there was no way of ever getting tired of Heather Chandler.

Obviously, they couldn’t keep it a secret forever.

Especially, because Veronica suddenly realized about a month after they went on their first date that Duke and Mac definitely knew about them. She asked Heather about it, and she told Veronica that they were there in the car when she first asked her out, and so they obviously were aware of their relationship coming to life.

It was confusing. Duke and Mac never said anything about them, and Veronica thought that they would have to say something, because they were on top of the school hierarchy and something like Heather Chandler dating a girl sounded like a big deal. But Duke and Mac acted as if nothing was different, as if Veronica had always been there and she’d never become more than friends.

She had to go to a party with them to understand them. Once again, Veronica drank a bit too much, and Heather did too, and they somehow ended up in the bathroom, and Heather was kissing her everywhere and Veronica was returning the favor with the same amount of enthusiasm. Veronica knew that they were both pretty wasted already and that it was extremely reckless, but she still wanted more of Heather, who didn’t seem to mind it one bit.

But somehow that was the end of the party, not because the party ended in actuality, but because Duke found them and with the help of Mac cleaned them up and sent them home.

They were suddenly in Heather’s bedroom and it all got a bit too much, so they stopped. And while Heather gently caressed Veronica’s hair as they laid in her enormous bed, Veronica asked the things she’d been meaning to ask for a long time now, and Heather gave her all the answers.

Yes, Duke and Mac knew. Yes, they’d known about Heather being into girls for quite a while now. It came up in sixth grade when Heather hadn’t been so secretive about things yet. Yes, Diane wasn’t spreading baseless rumors. Yes, they had to ruin her life to protect themselves. Yes, all three of them. Wait, you don’t know? They’re dating. Yes, Duke and Mac. Since who knows when. Yes, the boys are all just a front.

“Why do you keep seeing them?” Veronica asked, still in shock from the fact that Duke and Mac have been together for at least the past year.

“Who?”

“Boys.”

“Well, I can’t just say that I have a girlfriend.”

“Why not?”

“People would tear me apart.”

“But at least I’d be by your side.”

“You would?”

“Obviously.”

“Why?” Heather asked.

“Because I love you.”

Veronica didn’t register at first that the words had left her mouth, but Heather kept staring at her and that made Veronica realize that she did say that out loud and was ready to lie about it being a joke, when Heather broke out in a soft smile and said it back.

“I love you, too. But I also think that we’re both too drunk right now, so we’ll see how we’ll feel in the morning.”

Veronica slept well, cuddling Heather for most of the night, and then woke up to Heather still being next to her in the morning. Heather usually woke up first and made breakfast but not this time.

It was almost too cruel to wake her up, but Veronica couldn’t resist leaving soft kisses on Heather’s neck and jaw, and she suddenly felt Heather grab her face and pull her in for a real kiss.

God, Heather was more and more beautiful with every new day.

“Hey,” Heather whispered against Veronica’s lips.

“Good morning,” Veronica greeted her back. “You’ve slept in.”

“Well, you trapped me here with your leg.”

Veronica did wake up to her being sprayed out on top of Heather’s body, hugging her with both her arm and one of her legs.

“Yeah, but you love me. How could I let you go when you said that?”

Heather blushed. “You really are awful, you know that, right?”

***

Veronica couldn’t tell her friends that she was dating Heather. She never asked Heather if she was against it or not, but she just didn’t feel like telling her friends that her position of power had an additional benefit that spoke lengths about where her moral was standing.

Plus, she had to listen to JD vent about how the Heathers stole Veronica from them, listen to Betty and Martha about how exciting college would be with all of them finally meeting some potential suitors, and Veronica wasn’t really in the mood to tell all about how she already had someone and how that someone was the person who lured Veronica away from them.

Still, she couldn’t hide it forever, especially after she moved on to a different base with Heather, and Heather seemed to love leaving marks on Veronica (who, yes, it was true, also enjoyed looking in the mirror and seeing what Heather had done to her body the night before, but that wasn’t the point). The point was that it became more and more difficult to hide that she had someone. And she only had to slip once and just slightly for her friends to notice.

Which they did.

Sleepover at Betty’s, with all four of them there, and Veronica went there straight from school and had no time to fix the already fading concealer on her neck, and with one mindless swipe during the night, she removed the rest of it, revealing one of the many hickeys.

“Veronica?” Martha asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah?” She wasn’t yet aware of her mistake.

Betty looked at her and gasped, and JD’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

Something was wrong.

“What is it?”

“You’re seeing someone,” Betty stated.

Veronica felt her heart in her throat, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, and the room’s temperature had to drop, there was no other explanation for the sudden chillness she felt.

“Your neck,” JD helped her out. “We can see that you… uhm… You know. Had fun with someone.”

Veronica instinctively grabbed her neck to hide the huge fucking mark Heather left on her.

“It’s on the other side, but at least we know that it’s not just one hickey.”

Veronica moved her hand to hide the mark that was actually visible.

And then JD laughed at the absurdity of the situation, and suddenly the tension eased up.

“Since when?” Betty asked.

“We agreed to tell each other if something happened,” Martha looked at her with a playful frown.

“I know, I know, but… It’s not a big deal,” Veronica tried to defend herself very badly.

“It is a big deal!” Betty squealed.

“Who is it?” JD asked.

Veronica could hear a needle drop in the sudden silence.

She shifted her sitting position awkwardly.

“I can’t say.”

“Why not?” JD asked.

Veronica could handle Betty and Martha, divert their suspicion, but not JD. JD was impossible to fool, he was quick to recognize lies.

“Because… I don’t know. Just because. I can’t say.”

“Is it someone bad?” Martha asked.

“Like a teacher? Or someone we don’t like?” Betty joined in.

“It’s complicated. I just can’t say.”

“Is it a girl?” Betty asked quietly.

Of course, Veronica had already told them about her bisexuality. Martha knew it even before Veronica realized that she liked girls – her constant crushes on her girl classmates that she obviously told Martha before she realized that not every girl had crushes on other girls; mentioned it to Betty when she told Martha and Veronica that her cousin just came out as gay and Veronica felt like she could safely tell her; and JD, who just knew. He figured it out because Veronica kept staring at one of her previous crushes during classes, and JD was smart enough to realize what was going on.

So, the problem wasn’t that Heather happened to be a girl, the problem was that she happened to be a Heather. The scariest one. The leader. The intimidatingly hot one… Okay, Veronica wasn’t about to admit that to her friends, even if Heather was intimidatingly hot, but the point was that her friends all had something against the Heathers, and she wasn’t sure how they would react if she admitted to being in a relationship with one of them.

But the thing was that the Heathers left her friends alone, even more after Veronica got tangled with Heather, and Heather promised her that her friends wouldn’t ever be bothered until they graduated. The only thing her friends had against the Heathers was that they were really nasty with some people and that they stole Veronica from them, so maybe, just maybe, the world wouldn’t end if she revealed that she was dating Heather.

“It’s a girl,” Veronica confirmed.

“You know that we’re okay with that,” Betty stated.

“So, why didn’t you tell us?” Martha asked.

Veronica shrugged, trying to collect her courage to tell them that it was Heather. There was no need for it though, JD figured it out before she could say it.

“It’s a Heather.”

Betty and Martha gasped in unison and Veronica opened her mouth to deny it, but she couldn’t.

“Which one?” Betty asked.

“Not the cheerleader, she’s always with Kurt. Not the bookworm, she’s always with McNamara,” JD counted the Heathers on his finger. “So… That leaves…”

“Wait, when did this happen?” Martha asked in shock.

“Uhm… Like a couple months ago?”

“Months?!” Betty screamed, sending JD into a giggling fit.

“And you haven’t said anything about it?!” Martha gasped.

“So, you don’t even care that it’s Heather?”

“I think they don’t care that it’s the worst person who you could’ve fallen for because they still can’t believe the betrayal of keeping it a secret for this long.”

“Thank you Captain Obvious,” Veronica rolled her eyes.

“Well, sure, it’s shocking that it’s Heather Chandler, but you didn’t say anything about it for months? How dare you!” Betty scolded her.

Veronica finally smiled as she sensed the tension slip away completely.

“I wanted to, I just didn’t know how you’d react.”

“Does she treat you right?” Martha asked with a playfully disapproving smile.

“She does, yeah.”

“How the hell did you do that by the way?” JD asked.

“It… kinda happened naturally?”

“And how did you fall for her? Isn’t she awful?”

“She’s actually nice in private.”

Her three friends nodded.

“You should introduce her to us then,” JD suggested with an evil grin and Veronica was certain that their teasing would never stop until the end of times.

***

By an unfortunate sequence of events, JD was the first one to meet Heather after Veronica revealed that they were dating. She’d obviously told Heather that her friends found out about them and although Heather was suspicious at first, Veronica could quickly wash away her worries.

So, when they stepped foot in the 7-Eleven and JD happened to be there as well, Veronica felt like turning back and leaving entirely, but JD was faster and walked up to them.

“The infamous Heather Chandler,” he greeted them (or just Heather, or whatever).

“Who are you?”

“He’s JD. My friend.”

“Oh, yeah, right. You sit in the corner and drink slushies. How are your teeth handling that much sugar?”

JD showed her his teeth and Veronica found relief in the almost unnoticeable smiling wrinkles around Heather’s eyes, even if the rest of her face remained cold.

“You hang out with this savage?” Heather turned to Veronica.

“So, I guess my teeth didn’t impress you,” JD sighed.

“Were they supposed to impress me?”

“I just thought it was everyone’s job to impress the queen bee,” he shrugged.

Veronica pressed against Heather’s shoulder without drawing too much attention.

“You’d make a good peasant, it has to be said,” Heather said, and she could no longer hide her smile.

“Thank you, your majesty,” JD smiled back. “Anyways, I guess I’ll see you around a lot. From now on, since…” he trailed off.

“I can barely wait,” Heather assured him and turned to Veronica. “I’m going to grab a drink, do you need anything?”

After Heather left to a different aisle and couldn’t hear them anymore, JD grinned at Veronica.

“What?” she asked impatiently.

“She knew who I was.”

“So?”

“So, she pays attention to who you hang out with.”

Veronica grinned at him, “Did she impress you?”

JD looked away as he answered. “So far she’s not what I thought she’d be. And that’s good enough for me.”

***

Heather was everything that Veronica never thought she’d be all throughout high school. Under all that heartless and cold façade, Heather cared. She cared about her people, cared about Veronica, and even if she’d never admit, cared about Veronica’s friends. Not in a way that she actually cared about their well-being, but cared about how they treated Veronica and was ready to fight them if they ever hurt her.

And Heather liked to show that she cared. Every single morning (except for that one week where she was sick and missed school) she parked in front of the Sawyer house and waited for Veronica to appear. Veronica got in the car and greeted Heather with a kiss, and Heather drove them to school.

This routine changed slightly, around March, when Veronica’s mom caught wind of what was happening, Veronica admitted that she was dating Heather, her mom invited Heather over for dinner and got to know her, and their huge secrecy ended around her parents. So, the routine changed, because Heather was no longer sitting in the car and waiting impatiently for Veronica, now she usually knocked on the door and waited for Veronica by the entrance, chatting with her parents for a couple of minutes, or maybe drinking coffee with them.

It was the best part of the day when Veronica met Heather in the mornings and could shower her with kisses to show just how much she missed her since the last time she saw her. And it wasn’t just Veronica, some days Heather grabbed her as soon as she appeared and pulled her in for a kiss, or if she felt confident enough in her own vulnerability, hugged her close as a greeting.

And Heather obviously cared about her, because when Veronica complained about her broken watch, Heather bought her a new one as a surprise. And she appeared on so many dates with a bouquet of flowers and a pack of bonbons without Veronica ever having to ask.

Veronica wanted to reciprocate the gifts, and kind acts, but Heather told her that she wasn’t doing any of this because she wanted something in return, and Veronica being there was enough for her.

And Veronica soon understood what Heather meant, and that was endless hugging and cuddling. So, even if the pose was sometimes uncomfortable, Veronica let Heather cuddle against her. Heather lay on top of her in the bed while Veronica scribbled in her diary and Veronica loved to feel Heather breathing against her. Heather sat in Veronica’s lap when Veronica was writing her homework, and she didn’t mind how Veronica continued working; Heather was just glad to touch Veronica.

Heather was always touching Veronica. Some innocent stuff for outside viewers, like bumping into her shoulder or linking arms when they were walking together, but she never did it too much to be suspicious, and she sometimes acted the same with Duke or Mac to show that this was just a normal thing among friends.

And nobody noticed, so Heather’s plan worked.

***

Nobody noticed how they usually disappeared for a while during parties and then walked back in with slightly disheveled hair and clothes. Nobody, except for those who knew, like Mac and Duke, but they also disappeared regularly, so it was more of an unspoken gesture to cover for the other pair.

Duke only minded whenever Heather got too touchy in the backseat of Duke’s Jeep with Veronica, and they made out furiously for the entirety of the drive back home. She repeatedly scolded Heather for initiating something like that (Veronica was obviously not the one who started it, she still tried to act decently in front of Duke and Mac), but Heather couldn’t hold herself back when she was drunk.

Heather was always honest when she drank, that’s how they started dating, and that was the reason why Veronica fell for her even more every single time they went out to drink. Heather just showered Veronica with compliments, told her how much she loved her, and Veronica was sure she’d never get over how bafflingly cute Heather was all the time.

So, obviously, she imagined Heather in her future, and Veronica suddenly started to stress about it. She wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic, because then the topic would mean a hundred different questions about what they wanted from their lives, where they wanted to be, how they wanted the relationship to look like.

Still, she had to bring it up somehow, and she eventually did.

“We’re graduating soon,” Veronica stated.

They were in her room, studying on a Wednesday afternoon, with Heather lying on her bed in an impossible position and Veronica sitting by her desk, watching Heather.

Heather hummed in response.

“Does it not bother you?”

Heather put down her book and looked at Veronica.

“What?”

“That we’re graduating.”

“I can’t wait to leave this town.”

“Yeah, me too, but…” Veronica exhaled slowly. “Are we going to stay together?”

Heather frowned. “Obviously.”

“So… How would that look?”

“I guess you’d choose one of the five-thousand colleges you got accepted to and I’d also choose one, and we’d see if they’re close to each other.”

Veronica swallowed. She got admitted to most schools she applied to, but she was too scared to make a decision. A school wasn’t worth it if she lost Heather because of it.

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on in your head right now, but I’ll tell you what I think, okay?” Heather sat up. “I don’t want you to choose a place because of me. It’s… I obviously want to be with you, but we have to think about the future. And we might drift apart, there might be people who we’d rather date, and I don’t want any of us to base this decision on the other one and then regret it later.”

“Yeah, but it’s not worth it if you’re not there,” Veronica whispered.

Heather nodded. “Okay, then… To answer your question, it would look like an apartment with both of us there, and you’d study English, and I’d study Political Science and we’d live happily ever after.”

Veronica nodded. “Do you want to make it happen?”

Heather smiled in the way Veronica fell in love with.

So, they made it happen. They looked at the colleges they got admitted to, chose the ones that were close to each other, and started looking for apartments. And this brought up a whole other kind of anxiety.

Heather seemed chill about this whole thing, she was only slightly freaked out about her parents who didn’t know that Veronica was not just a friend, but Veronica felt like she was going insane.

It became a regular thing between them that Veronica would call Heather at an ungodly hour and ask her a bunch of questions.

Are we going to have separate sets of mugs? What time do you wake up exactly? Are we going to buy a TV? What color is your toothbrush? Should we start looking at rugs for the living room?

And Heather was patient and answered all of the questions, and Veronica went back to sleep in her old bedroom, the one that she got used to and not the new apartment that they were soon moving into, because they were moving in together and they had to make it work.

Heather was patient in general. Not just with Veronica’s occasional moments of anxiety and inconsequential questions but with Veronica’s parents as well, who tended to ask the same questions and her ulterior motives about dating their daughter. Veronica apologized for her parents’ behavior many times, explained that they were simply worried about her leaving and not mad that Heather, in her mom’s words, was “kidnapping Veronica” from them.

Veronica had no idea what having in-laws was like until one morning Heather parked down in front of the house a bit late when Veronica was already waiting for her outside, greeted Veronica with an unusually chaste kiss and said that she’d told her parents.

Her parents weren’t too enthusiastic about this whole deal, they had no idea who Veronica even was, and were appalled that Heather waited this long to tell them about their plans. It was similar to how Veronica’s friends reacted when they found out about her and Heather: they were taken aback because Veronica kept it from them for so long and could barely care about who she was with.

Obviously, it was a bit different, this was at a much larger scale because it was their entire future now and not just some high school romance (well, technically, it was still some high school romance, but in just a couple months it would be their present and actual lives), but the fact that Heather’s parents biggest concern was that she waited so long without telling them about Veronica (and her decision about her future) and not that Veronica happened to be a girl, was at least comforting.

Then, comfort became the furthest Veronica felt when Heather’s parents invited her over to lunch, and even if Heather tried to tell her how it wasn’t that big of a deal, Veronica couldn’t stop panicking. Heather usually knew how to calm her down, and sure, Heather’s tries (kissing her all the time and then making her forget her own name in the backseat of her Porsche) were nice, but she couldn’t just brush off the upcoming encounter.

She put on her nice clothes and still felt ridiculously underdressed in the informal Saturday lunch, and Heather’s parents were snobbish dicks, if Veronica was honest (she accidentally told this to Heather and Heather looked at her with a really serious face to answer “Veronica… I’m so disappointed that it took you this long to figure that out”, so it wasn’t a complete disaster…), but the lunch ended without any casualties, and Heather’s parents even smiled at Veronica when she left the house, so in-laws, however terrifying they seemed and were in actuality, were okay.

And the in-laws helped them find an apartment and helped them move in.

And sure, it was shocking to hear that Veronica didn’t have to pay rent because it wasn’t a rental, Heather’s parents just bought their daughter (and their daughter’s girlfriend) an actual apartment because apparently they were even richer than Veronica thought, but she felt like she could settle in this new family in the future.

***

Their first year of college was rough. New environment, new people, new rules, new place, new challenges, new everything. Heather was stressed most days, Veronica was in the library for most evenings, and it all seemed like their dream life would fall apart at any minute.

Then Duke and Mac showed up on their doorstep one Saturday evening to take their minds off of everything, and they played board games until 2am, and after going to bed, Heather and Veronica talked until dawn, and everything became right again. Well, okay, not immediately, but they talked about their issues and decided to be better for the other. Go home at normal times, no school-talk during dinner, and a mutual agreement to regular, weekly date-nights.

And it worked again, because the love never faded, life had just become a bit more chaotic, and they needed to figure out how they could make it work. From then on, no effort would go unnoticed.

Every gift, every cooked meal, every daytrip, every touch was something special and this new mindset refreshed the mundanity of their everyday lives.

Veronica would be in the kitchen preparing dinner, then a well-known sound of keys rattling would come from outside, Heather would drop her coat on the stand, wash her hands, then hug Veronica from behind, and pamper her neck with kisses. Or Heather would wait outside Veronica’s lecture hall with some takeaway food on Tuesday afternoons when Heather finished her classes much earlier, and they’d eat it in the park close to their apartment.

They’d start a new social life, invited their friends over almost every week, whether it was old friends or new ones. Went to parties together, went out to drinks, movie nights with Betty, Martha, and JD, and horror marathons with Duke and Mac.

Their parents would visit them occasionally, Veronica’s more than Heather’s, but Heather’s parents would also speak with Veronica on the phone if she was around when they called.

And they survived their first year, going stronger than ever.

***

It was on a summer Sunday morning that Veronica knew that they would last forever. They had Heather’s delicious pancakes for breakfast on the balcony, then Veronica went to make coffee for them, and she could see Heather through the glass door. It sounded like an old cliché at that point, but Veronica really couldn’t believe how much more breathtaking Heather looked with every new day.

Heather got bored, grabbed yesterday’s newspaper from the table and flipped through it, trying to find something interesting to read, knowing full well that she’d already done that the day before and there wasn’t anything new in the pages.

Veronica was mesmerized by Heather’s hand, her always soft palm and her unbelievably skilled fingers. She almost forgot about the coffee, but the smell brought her back to the kitchen and she poured it into two mugs.

Heather lazily threw the newspaper back to where she found it and watched Veronica place the mugs on the table. Heather looked way too perfect not to touch, so before she could say anything, Veronica stepped in front of her and pulled her into a kiss. The angle was a bit awkward, but she didn’t mind, neither did Heather, smiling against Veronica’s lips.

Veronica reluctantly broke the kiss, but stayed there to look into Heather’s always beautiful eyes.

“What is it, pillowcase?” Heather asked softly.

Veronica bit her bottom lip. “I don’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at you.”

“Oh, really?” Heather teased her.

“Yeah.”

“That’s kind of funny, isn’t it?”

“It is?”

Veronica sat down and grabbed her mug.

“I think it is ironic, yeah.” Heather also pulled her mug closer.

Veronica was confused. “How so?”

“You always avoided me during high school. You acted as if I was invisible.”

“You’re kidding, right? I avoided you because I wanted to survive the innermost circle of living hell,” Veronica laughed. “I thought you’d kill me if I dared to look in your direction.”

“I wasn’t that terrifying,” Heather shook her head.

“Heather, you still are terrifying.”

“You find me terrifying?”

“I find you adorable,” Veronica admitted, and Heather chuckled.

“I waited years for you to finally notice me.”

“It was an accident.”

“What was?”

Veronica took a few seconds before answering. “I thought you wouldn’t see me looking at you. And I was so scared when you came after me in the bathroom.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, darling, I only went there to fix my lipstick.”

“Hey, if that helps you sleep at night…”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Okay, I admit, I was a bit intrigued by you. We shared an English class for years and you never acknowledged my existence. You drove me insane.”

“You drove me insane, too! I was so relieved that you didn’t kill me in the bathroom, and then you started coming after me. You bribed Mr. Wilson to do that project with me.”

Heather laughed. “I forgot about that!”

“You know, I expected subtlety from someone like you.”

“I think it was really subtle.”

“Maybe that was, but what about asking me out and then denying it?”

Heather rolled her eyes. “I had to be sure. You gave me a lot of mixed signals.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment.”

“You kept looking at me weirdly when I complimented you.”

“Because I had a crush on you. And I had no idea why you kept saying nice things to me. Your whole deal was being mean, and I looked desperately for an answer as to why you acted nicely.”

“And did you figure it out?” Heather smiled cheekily.

“I did.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

Veronica shook her head. “Drink your coffee.”

Heather offered to wash the dishes after they finished breakfast and everything that came with it. Veronica helped her bring the dishes inside and said she’d go take a shower in the meantime.

She was already walking away, when Heather grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She cupped Veronica’s face and kissed her softly.

“I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year,” Heather whispered.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Veronica asked.

“Because you seemed unavailable.”

“So, you waited years for me?”

Heather kissed her again.

“I think I could’ve waited a hundred years more.”