Burning Letters

Chapter 4

Veronica sat at home paseing her room. She regretted texting jughead the minute she did it but knew there was no way to take it back.

After ten minutes she began to calm down thinking he wouldn't ever show up. There was no response. Why would Jughead ever want to talk to her anyway, he hated her and she hated him. She just needed answers.

She was getting ready to go to sleep when the doorbell rang. Her whole body went stock still at the noise. It took her body a minute to catch up and be able to move again.

She checked her hair and makeup before opening the door (gotta keep up her image).

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Jughead stood in front of the Pembroke, staring at bricks in front of him. It seemed bigger, more ominous, the longer he looked. When he couldn't take it any longer he walked through the doors.

He wasn't immediately greeted by Veronica, and even though, logically, he knew she wouldn't be there, he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed. He walked straight on through the lobby to find her apartment by himself.

The building was empty and eerily quiet. Smithers must have left. He found 305 quickly for never having been there before and rang the bell. He stood outside the door pulling himself together. Putting on a mask of calm.

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She opened the door to see a smiling, smirking, Jughead on the other side. He decided to show. She just stepped out of the doorway extending an arm as if to say come in, stay a while. He did just that.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked already walking to the kitchen.

"Sure." He said while staring at all the different, expensive, things she had.

Just minutes later Jughead sat on one side of her island while she stood at the other. She leaned on her elbows keeping the coffee close to her face. The fumes kept her awake and concentrated. The silence drove on and on neither one of them saying a word since he walked in.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked suddenly. She looked at him with vulnerability.

"Because I hate you." It was simple. He said it like he told her it was raining or that he wore a damn crown beanie. It was the only answer she ever could have expected and she knew what it was but still, she couldn't help but feel hurt by the lack of emotion he put in his answer.

"If you hate me so much why did you come?" she whispered barely loud enough for herself to hear. But he heard.

"Because..." he hesitated and for some odd reason it gave her heart hope, for what, she didn't know. "I had nothing better to do." He looked up at her just to punch it in, just to say I'm not here for you.

"Jughead we have to talk about it. We have to do something." damn was she glad it was dark in her kitchen so he couldn't see the redness in her eyes.

"Do we Veronica? I don't see anything we need to talk about. I don't love you, hell I don't even like you." his voice gradually got louder the longer he talked.

"I'm not saying I love you either but don't you think we should tell Archie and Betty? Don't they deserve to know?" she was trying to keep calm but she could feel the tears in her eyes threatening to drop.

"Why hurt them?" he said bluntly.

"Don't you think it will hurt them more if they find out later because they see our marks?" it was Veronica's turn to get loud.

"You've been hiding yours pretty well haven't you? I hear all about your little activities but never once have I heard about the soul mark you don on your chest." He sounded hurt, jealous but she knew that wasn't possible. He hated her. "Just forget it okay?" he stood up off the chair and started towards the door. "If they ask just tell them you didn't think it was important because you love them." and with that he walked out the door.

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Weeks had gone by and neither person had talked to the other. No one had sensed that anything changed between them.

Jughead sat in a booth at pops next to the beautiful Betty Cooper staring into the face of Archie Andrews on the other side of the booth. Archie had spent the better part of an hour talking about how distant Veronica had been. It took a lot of effort on Jughead's part not to burst out laughing at some of the theories he had.

"Maybe she's waiting for you to say or notice something. Have you forgotten anything lately?" Betty asked trying to help out a friend. "Oh my gosh wouldn't it be so cute if you guys were soulmate!" Betty practically screamed. That time Jughead couldn't hold it in. Jughead physically laughed out loud at the sheer idiocracy of it.

"What?" Archie looked at him worried.

"Nothing it's just don't you think you would have noticed your mark before? Or even a mark on her for that matter?" Jughead was trying to help a friend out. He didn't wanna see him hurt.

"What if it's somewhere I can't see it? And what if it's somewhere on her that I hadn't noticed?" he sounded serious and that worried Jughead a little.

"Look from what you've told me you would have noticed it on her." That was the last thing Jughead contributed to that conversation.

A few moments later Veronica came in, the bell on the door ringing in greeting. Jughead was the only one to look up and watch her as she walked to the table.

"What are we talking about?" she asked sitting down next to Archie.

"Soul marks." Jughead responded with a smirk. She didn't look at him. It was the first interaction between them in weeks.

"Oh my god Veronica! You're from New York City do you know anybody with a soulmark?" Betty asked excitedly.

"Yeah I do." She responded smiling.

"You have to tell us who. I mean no one in small towns like this get them." Jughead cringed at her words. If only she knew.

"Ju-... just some old friend from New York." Jughead looked at her then. He could tell she wanted to tell Betty all about her Soul mark, have fun girl talk about everything to do with it but she couldn't. He could see her die a little inside when she had to hide it.

Betty kept going on, pressing Veronica to tell her. Veronica never once cracked. She caught his eye and for some reason he felt bad.

"Betty why don't you just leave it. She's obviously not gonna tell you so it's useless." He tried to sound nice but knew he didn't, not all the way.

Sorry, it's so late I just forgot to post it here sorry again.