[ The relief of being home is a little overwhelming. Archie thinks about how easy it would have been to have gotten stuck in Chicago and never come back. But he's here, in his room, in his bed, with Veronica and her book and his dad on his feet, and Archie thinks he can give himself at least a night to savor all of it. Tomorrow he'd have to start tracking down the person who hurt his dad. It had waited all summer, and it couldn't wait that much longer.
Sleep isn't really on the table. At best he dozes, never quite dropping off to sleep. He's hyperaware of their bodies side by side on his wash-worn coverlet. When she turns into him, it's with her book to block him off from her. It's just as well. Archie's hands seem to have forgotten he's not supposed to automatically reach for her. He drops his hand back to the blanket to trace a seam restlessly as she touches him, smiling crinkling under the trip of her fingers. ]
I really missed you, Ronnie.
[ It would probably be a lie to say he'd like to have told her every day. His time had been eaten up and his focus scattered. And it was probably better he hadn't been texting her constantly. She deserved a summer without the kind of distraction Archie knew he could be. He hopes she managed to have a good one, even if he hadn't been a part of it. ]
Hi.
[ A little nervously, like Archie's just realized he's stranded in some strange space where they're a little more than friends but not quite tipped back into territory where he could kiss her. He wants to kiss her badly, but that's not a particularly new impulse. He ignores it in favor of knocking his knuckles against her book, taking in her face like he's looking for any hint of a change in her. ]
no subject
Sleep isn't really on the table. At best he dozes, never quite dropping off to sleep. He's hyperaware of their bodies side by side on his wash-worn coverlet. When she turns into him, it's with her book to block him off from her. It's just as well. Archie's hands seem to have forgotten he's not supposed to automatically reach for her. He drops his hand back to the blanket to trace a seam restlessly as she touches him, smiling crinkling under the trip of her fingers. ]
I really missed you, Ronnie.
[ It would probably be a lie to say he'd like to have told her every day. His time had been eaten up and his focus scattered. And it was probably better he hadn't been texting her constantly. She deserved a summer without the kind of distraction Archie knew he could be. He hopes she managed to have a good one, even if he hadn't been a part of it. ]
Hi.
[ A little nervously, like Archie's just realized he's stranded in some strange space where they're a little more than friends but not quite tipped back into territory where he could kiss her. He wants to kiss her badly, but that's not a particularly new impulse. He ignores it in favor of knocking his knuckles against her book, taking in her face like he's looking for any hint of a change in her. ]