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[personal profile] neighbor 2017-05-30 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Betty's never really been much at ease in Cheryl's company. Even now that everyone is ostensibly getting along again, even now that they've made the discovery of a family connection, Betty sometimes thinks that there might just be too much personal history there to ever truly overcome. But they're both trying, they really are... And Betty knows that a large part of that is also for Veronica's sake.

She can't really explain why it perturbs her so much that the two of them have become such good friends, since it's not like it really takes anything away from her own friendship with the other girl. Although she suspects that if Cheryl had her way, then it would be V&C, not B&V. But it's still Betty that Veronica calls for support at the end of a hard day; that she sneaks out of the Pembrooke to go out with on midnight drives together; that she shares countless milkshakes with at Pop's. So she has no real excusable reason for the immense feeling of relief that floods over her when the bottle passes by Cheryl and lands on her instead.

The closet isn't cramped by any means but she finds herself standing barely a foot away from Veronica, which she initially justifies as simply wanting to be able to actually see her friend in the dim lighting. But now, she thinks she might understand -- quite intimately -- what must have compelled Archie to want to kiss the other girl under such similar circumstances. Veronica's gaze doesn't waver and Betty swallows thickly around the growing lump in her own throat. ]


It's not like we haven't kissed before. [ She finally blurts out. ]
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[personal profile] neighbor 2017-07-03 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Things with Jughead are admittedly not the greatest right now. To some extent she understands why he's doing what he is -- ingratiating himself with the Serpents, accepting a place among them as family. It affords him the kind of protection that he sorely needs with his dad behind bars and his mom hundreds of miles away and seemingly uninterested in helping her son. Even though she still strongly believes that he would be better off in the long run if he'd let go of his pride for a moment and allow her, allow Archie, to continue to help as they've been doing so loyally all along, she tries not to begrudge his decision so much when she can't even begin to imagine how difficult everything's been on him this last year.

But it's hard not to let the negative thoughts creep in when he's had to make some sacrifices which have invariably placed a strain on their relationship, no matter how much he's promised her that nothing has changed about the way he feels about her. Maybe it's not his fault at the end of the day but then maybe it's not hers either if she finds herself longing for something more than he can apparently give her right now. She's a person, after all -- not just a dispenser of comfort and consolation when it's still convenient for Jughead to act like her boyfriend.

To Betty's credit, the thought of using Veronica to try and somehow make Jughead jealous never once crosses her mind. That being said, the thought of using Veronica to make herself feel better is a little less avoidable given the circumstances but then it isn't like she explicitly concocted this whole scenario for her own benefit. It's a game that they had both, for better or worse, allowed themselves to get dragged into playing.

But deep down she knows that isn't entirely true. Kevin has made more than a few veiled insinuations about the exact nature of B&V since the day that Veronica had first come sailing into their lives. Most of it had just been harmless teasing, never given a second consideration, but a few of his more recent comments in particular had struck her harder than she had wanted to admit at the time, drawing to the surface -- even if just for a fleeting moment -- the idea that her closeness with the other girl might fall somewhere left of 'normal.'

And it's true that she finds Veronica to be attractive. Anyone with eyes could plainly see as much. Even now, Betty's stomach flip-flops and her pulse leaps with the close proximity they share and the anticipation of what might be coming next. ]


Isn't it always? [ Betty's response sounds measured this time and her voice has lowered rather than pitched higher with nervousness as it's normally prone to doing. It's not that she isn't scared. She's terrified, honestly, but she's also quite suddenly filled with a certain feeling of inevitability. ] You and me?

[ Her hands gently settle on either side of Veronica's waist as if to underscore their connectedness. ]
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[personal profile] neighbor 2017-07-04 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Once upon a time the thought of their breakup might have brought her some selfish feeling of relief but the truth is that Betty has felt quite earnestly sad for the both of them. It certainly hasn't been easy watching the slow decline of Archie and Veronica from lovers back into some manageable semblance of friendship after everything that had transpired between their two families. Of course nothing has been proven quite yet but even just the suspicion of it had been enough to cause a strain. Not that Archie really blames Veronica for anything her father might have done. But Betty imagines that in either one of their shoes it might be difficult nevertheless to look at each other in the eyes and really sit comfortably with that knowledge -- at least right now when things are so fresh, relatively speaking. (It's been months since the actual incident but Betty knows that Archie still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder).

It somehow doesn't surprise her that Veronica is approaching this in her usual, even-keeled way. Betty's normally the one to always be thinking several steps ahead -- a practical necessity when you grow up with a mom like Alice Cooper who watches your every move like a hawk -- so she can appreciate the honest if unneeded warning. ]


I know. [ Betty shakes her head slightly. ] V... You could never be 'just a game' to me. [ She says sincerely, her pupils blown wide in the low light. No matter what else, at least that much is clear to her. ]