Work Text:
We're not friends, we could be anything.
If we try to keep those secrets safe
no one will find out if it all went wrong.
They'll never know what we've been through.
-*-
Betty doesn’t know what they are doing. Every time she sees Veronica and her heart is making that little jump, she knows that they definitely are more than friends. But then there are those moments when Veronica sits next to Archie or Kevin at lunch instead of sitting next to her and she’s talking to Betty like nothing has ever happened between them. Then Betty doesn’t know what to feel, because it’s clear that they never could be something more than, well, whatever they are.
The worst thing is that Betty can’t blame it on anybody else than herself. Veronica is just trying to do what Betty wants. But there lies her problem: Betty doesn’t know what she wants. She wants Veronica, she craves her presence and it’s almost like she doesn’t know what to do with herself when she isn’t around the dark haired girl.
But knowing that she wants Veronica doesn’t seem to be enough. Veronica had never asked why Betty separated their intertwined fingers as soon as someone else came near them. She had never asked why Betty wanted to keep all of this a secret and so they had never talked about what it was between them that had to be hidden.
If Betty’s mom knew, she would probably kick her out or send her to therapy. She’d be an even bigger disappointment than Polly was. Veronica understood.
Being with Veronica felt save. She listened to her, she understood Betty more than anybody else and, most importantly, she didn’t judge. She didn’t say anything when Betty broke down crying in front of her or when she had to wipe Betty’s blood stained hands clean and softly caressed the marks her fingernails had left.
Just like Betty didn’t question when Veronica called her late night in a completely drunken state, mumbling things about her father and herself being a terrible person. Or when Veronica sneaked through Betty’s window, reeking of the smell of cigarettes and cheap liquor, and wordlessly cuddled up next to her.
Sleeping next to each other made them both feel save because in these nights, Veronica had someone to caress her hair until she fell asleep. And Betty knew that the girl next to her would hold her if she woke up because had another nightmare about Polly or therapists.
Betty could never handle losing this, losing Veronica. And that was the main reason why they both had to sneak around whenever they wanted to see each other or why they never sat close enough to each other to let people think there was something more than just friendship shared between them.
If nobody but them knew, they could stay in their small bubble of long and comforting hugs, secret kisses and sleeping cuddled up next to each other. But of course this wasn’t going to last forever.
Luckily, the first person to find out about them had reacted in the best way possible.
It was Saturday night and instead of hanging out with the boys at Pop’s, the two girls had decided to stay at Veronica’s. Her mother had to work so they had the loft for themselves. After cooking and eating lasagna (Betty insisted on eating something other than take-out from Pop’s for once), they lied down in Veronica’s bed and started to watch a movie.
“I missed you” Veronica whispered and cuddled up to Betty. She put her arms around the taller girl’s waist and inhaled the scent of her hair which was falling down in golden waves.
“I missed you, too. But you know that I can’t tell my mom that I’m staying at Ethel’s every weekend.” Betty sighed. She slowly started to trace her fingers from Veronica’s hip to her side and pulled her closer.
“Yeah, I know. I just miss this. Us lying around, talking.” Veronica trailed off and slowly lifted her head up to meet Betty’s blue eyes.
“We’re talking all the time” Betty joked, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You know what I mean. Besides, I also miss doing this.”
Veronica slowly turned her head and pressed a soft kiss on Betty’s lips. She slowly stroked Betty’s cheek while kissing her and felt herself being pulled closer to the girl beneath her. While their lips were moving in perfect sync, she managed to straddle Betty’s lap. The kiss intensified and Veronica let out a small moan when she felt Betty softly biting her lower lip. As felt Betty’s hands on her ass, she gripped the blonde’s head and pulled her even closer. Just when she wanted to move her hand down Betty’s stomach, her door was opened and pushed against the wall with a bang.
The girls jerked away from each other but it was too late. Hermione Lodge had already seen them, lying on top of each other kissing.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Veronica asked with a shocked expression written all over her face. She was pretty sure that Betty next to here was red as a tomato and she even felt herself blush a little bit.
There was a few seconds of silence before the older woman in the doorway burst out laughing.
“You should see your faces” she smiled and walked into the room before she stood in front of the bed. “Is that why you two are always meeting for ‘doing homework’ on nights I have to work?” she asked.
“Really, mom?” Veronica asked but Hermione could see the relief on her daughters face.
“Listen, it’s none of my business what you two are doing but you’re better not going to hurt each other.” she stated.
“We won’t, Mom. It’s just nothing that other people should know about, so please don’t tell anybody. Especially not Betty’s parents.” Veronica explained. She looked at the girl next to her to see that she was still in shock. She slowly brushed her hand against Betty’s and gave her a reassuring smile.
“Ah, I see.” Hermione responded and looked at the intertwined fingers of the girls in front of her with a smile.
“I won’t say a word, but you could’ve told me earlier, Ronnie.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just… I don’t know, it felt safer this way.” Veronica said with a shaky voice.
“Thanks for not telling my parents.” Betty whispered.
“Why would I? It’s your decision if or when you want to tell people about…whatever that between the two of you is” Veronica’s mother said.“
Now I’m gonna leave you two alone. Have a good time with your girlfriend” she said in a teasing voice and walked out of the room.
The last thing she heard before the door fell shut was her daughter’s embarrassed scream.
"Mom!!”