#retro jdonica

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Milkshakes and Slushies

chapter 48--------------

“Veronica, what time did you tell J.D. to come over?” Mother asks, stepping into my bedroom.

“I told him three o’clock,” I respond, sitting up on my bed to check the clock and see that it is already nearing two o’clock.

“Well, I suppose you better start getting ready.” She comments, silently acknowledging the fact that I was still wearing pajamas.

“Yes ma’am,” I reply quietly, standing up from my bed. Since I’m not going out anywhere and the girls aren’t here, I decide to wear a dress that wasn’t blue for once. I wander into my closet and find a dark olive dress with small black flowers all over it. The dress has short sleeves so I pair it with a deep wine colored sweater so that I’m not cold. I haven’t been able to wear non-blue things for months and I feel like this has a nice fall feeling. I get dressed before walking back out into my room and over to my dresser where I find a nice starburst brooch to pin on my sweater.

I sit down at my dressing table and brush through my hair before twisting and pinning it partially up into victory rolls. After doing my makeup, I check my clock and see that it is only half past two. There isn’t much time to start on anything or read much so I decide to go downstairs to see if mother needs any help in the kitchen.

“Oh, Veronica, good. Would you put an apron on and come crumble this cornbread for the dressing?” Mother requests the second she sees me enter the kitchen, clearly wasting no time.

“Of course.” I smile, taking off my sweater and replacing it with an apron. I go over to wear mother is standing and does as she directs. As I assist, I watch her hurriedly go from place to place around the kitchen, working quickly. “Mother, we have almost two more hours before we eat. There’s no need to rush.” I attempt to calm her.

“Oh, you’re right.” She replies with a small laugh, checking the oven clock. “It’s getting quiet and your father is still in the bedroom. Would you be a dear and go turn on the radio.” Mother smiles kindly, taking everything I had prepared away so she could actually make food with it.

“Sure,” I reply, taking off my apron and putting my sweater back on before stepping out of the kitchen and into the living room. The soft music makes the house slightly less lonely. Since I am not needed at the moment, I sit down on the couch as to stay out of mother’s way in the kitchen. A few minutes late there is a knock at the door and I rush up to go answer it. Upon opening the door I am met with a slightly uncomfortable J.D. dressed in a suit. “You’re still not used to wearing them?” I ask with a small smile, pointing out his awkwardness.

“I don’t suppose that I’ll ever be.” He laughs, stepping inside.

“Come on, we can just go watch television until it’s dinner time.” I direct him as we walk into the living room.

“You know, when I was a teenager we didn’t have televisions in our homes. We had to actually talk to people.” Mother jokes, making her presence known in the house as she walks into the living room with us. Both J.D. and I laugh softly as we all sit down in chairs. “Hello Jason, how have you been recently?” She asks, striking up a conversation.

“I’ve been doing quite well.” He responds briefly, causing mother to smile understandingly and nod as she looks over the few injuries that still remained on him.

“So, dinner should be done in about an hour and a half so we’ll be eating a little after four. Mr. Sawyer should be coming out any minute so we can have some nice time to catch up.” Mother informs us and we nod silently. Feeling the air grow tense over the next minute or two, I decide to begin a conversation amongst the three of us.

“Did y’all hear about the murder of the Clutter family last week, down in Holcomb, Kansas last week?” I ask, recalling all of the news coverage that had been going on about it.

“Yes, terrible thing.” Mother replies, keeping her eyes down.

“Wasn’t it a robbery that went wrong?” J.D. asks, getting in his part of the conversation.

“Apparently, they still haven’t found who did it yet?” I inform him. Barely a second later, we all hear the master bedroom door open and out walks father.

“Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while.” Father smiles, acknowledging J.D..

“Hello, sir.” J.D. greets him, standing up to shake his hand before sitting back down. Father immediately walks over to the television and turns it on to flip through channels before finding the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“This is the thirty-five year anniversary, right?” I ask openly, not seeing that being advertised but recalling having heard about it.

“Yes, it’s been happening since 1924.” J.D. responds promptly, which is oddly funny to me.

“You know your parades well, huh?” I tease him with a smile.

“No, it’s just that I was living in New York around this time last year. I remember that being the thirty-fourth, my history teacher talked about it a lot the day before Thanksgiving break.” J.D. informs mainly me, fore father and mother weren’t paying very much attention. I’ve always loved whenever he stops thinking so much before speaking and, possibly accidentally, tells me a story from a place he used to live in or a school that he used to attend.

Eventually, mother and father disconnect from the parade and engage in conversation with J.D. and I. Luckily, J.D. eventually became comfortable and I could tell that his discussions with my parents came very naturally which was tremendously beneficial to my reassurance of mother and father’s acceptance of J.D. Not only was he comfortable with talking to them, they were happy when talking to him. Father pretty much smiles and nods along in any conversation, unless it’s about business or family, but mother was talking a lot to J.D. and seemed very pleased to be doing so. It was beyond wonderful to see J.D. smile and to be getting along with my parents.

[abyssal-ambience]

I miss Ronnie… I’m so sorry my dear

[scouts-mockingbird]

How about.... favorite JDonica fics? Angst, fluff, pure, anything? Or, favorite weird headcanons?

I hate this ask because I literally always say that my stuff is my favorite, which sounds so arrogant, but like… that’s why I wrote them? 

But other than that, I obviously adore everything written by my friends. If you want angst, you’re looking for Chris @penguinpatrolerarmy, angst king of tumblr

You want fluff I’d say @retro-pure-jdonica (both on tumblr and AO3)

General and variety, go for @fangirlahead (SadieeJanelle on AO3)

Weird headcanons is just too vague, sorry. 

[chanelmelody]

1950′s Jdronica and the Heathers

this is something I made because I’m reading this awesome fanfiction by @retro-pure-jdonica

[fangirlahead]

i’m currently debating if i want to make a book on AO3 where i just put all of the prompts i’ve written up there. i saw @retro-pure-jdonica do this, i think, and it seems like a good idea.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Milkshakes and Slushies

Chapter 47-------- (I’m back bitches)

“Fair warning, if you crash this thing my father will actually kill you.” I laugh to J.D. as we throw blankets into the truck bed.

“Thanks, that really helps alleviate some of the stress.” J.D. smiles as we sit down in the front seats.

“What, have you never driven an actual car before?” I ask, putting my seatbelt on.

“No!” J.D. remarks with a smile. “I’ve only ever ridden my motorbike.”

“Well, I don’t even have a license, regardless of the fact that I’m already sixteen, so you may only take this with a grain of salt but I can’t imagine it being much harder.” I attempt to ease his fears before we back out of the driveway and go off to the drive-in. J.D. pays admission for both of us before parking the truck facing away from the screen so that we could sit in the truck bed to watch the movies. After parking, we go to the concessions stand to get popcorn and Coca-Colas.

“Are you okay?” J.D. asks me right as the movie begins. I nod and smile lightly before reverting my attention back to the screen. Everything goes quite smoothly until about fifteen minutes in when I feel it starting to happen again. I hear myself breathing louder and louder and my heart is beating so fast that it’s almost hurting my chest. “Veronica, Veronica?” J.D. says incredibly concernedly, shaking my arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m fine I just…” I trail off after turning to face him. I look down slightly and attempt to calm my breathing.

“Don’t say that you’re sorry. I’m right here with you, okay?” J.D. replies in an attempt to comfort me.

“I know, thank you.” I smile lightly before placing my hand behind his neck and leaning forward to kiss him. After pulling away, I rest my head down on his shoulder and try to pick back up with the movie, letting it serve as a distraction. As the minutes progress into hours, the majority of my worries and fears dissipated, fore I had begun trying to make the memory of this visit override that of my past visit.

“Are you tired?” J.D. asks as the ending credits of the final movie begin to play.

“I’m tired about ninety-five percent of the time.” I laugh, sitting up straight and rubbing my shoulders that had become sore after leaning against a truck for the past three hours. We climb out of the truck bed and get back into the front seats before returning back to my house.

“I guess I’ll see you on Monday then, unless you want to go do something this weekend.” J.D. suggests as he walks me up to my front door.

“I don’t know, I have a lot of homework and with finals coming up-” I begin to reply before J.D. cuts me off.

“Finals? Veronica, it’s only November.” He laughs.

“Yes, and I’m an overachiever.” I reply with a smile. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Bye, Ronnie.” J.D. says, handing me back the keys to my father’s truck. I turn around to walk inside and hang the keys on the hooks by the garage.

“Veronica?” Mother calls out and I trace her voice back to the living room. “You were out quite late.” She remarks, looking slightly confused.

“There were two movies and we stayed for both. Besides, it’s only about ten o’clock.” I respond, sitting down on the couch beside her. “Oh, by the way, I put your keys back on the hooks. Thank you for letting us borrow the truck.” I smile to father who sat in a chair watching the news, only half paying attention to me.

“No problem, Veronica.” He replies, only making eye contact for about a second.

“Veronica, while you were out your father and I were talking. We thought it would be nice to see some more of J.D., we have only seen him the one time when he came over for dinner. So, if it’s alright with you, we would like to invite him over for Thanksgiving.” Mother explains to me. I highly doubt that J.D. has any plans for Thanksgiving, and even if he did he may appreciate the opportunity to a, get away from his father and b, possibly give a good impression to my parents now that they don’t despise him.

“That sounds like a swell idea, I’ll ask him about it at school on Monday.” I smile before standing up and returning to my room. I could call him to ask tomorrow, but I would like to talk about this in person.

***

“Veronica!” I hear a familiar voice call out my name as I just barely cross through the front doors of the school. I turn around to find J.D. leaned against the brick exterior of the building.

“Oh, I was just about to go find you, I need to ask you about something,” I quickly smile as I begin walking back over to him.

“I just wanted to ask how you were. You said you had a lot of school work to do and I didn’t want to bother, that’s why I didn’t call. What did you need to ask?” J.D. questions me, tapping the end of his cigarette off on the brick before dropping it on the ground.

“I’ve been doing quite well, and trust me you never bother me when you call. I wanted to ask if you have any plans for Thanksgiving yet? I know it’s kind of short notice.” I reply.

“No but let me guess, you want me to come over to your house for it.” J.D. smiles, standing up straight.

“Well, more accurately my parents want you over, but I like the idea too. They don’t really know anything about you, you’re still kind of a mystery to them.” I explain to him. “As of right now they approve of you, maybe over the visit you can make them like you.” I lead him on. I really want J.D. to not just be on their neutral side, but actively on their good side because that will greatly decrease the chance of them getting weird and rejecting towards him again.

“Well, if you want me to be there then I will be. What time?” J.D. agrees, but I have no clue when he should come over.

“Um, maybe around three o’clock that way you have time to chat? I don’t know, I’ll call to verify this afternoon.” I respond slightly cluelessly.

“Alright. Come on, I’ll walk you to class.”

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 41

warning: child abuse mentions and semi-graphic injury descriptions

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With immense hesitation, I walk over to the front door. I can hear the deafening sound of my heartbeat echoing throughout my skull, and it sounded louder than anything I’d ever heard before. Taking a deep breath, I place my hand on the handle and open the door. On the other side stands an alteration of J.D., a not only emotionally but also physically damaged J.D.. I examine his face and neck, where a few new cuts reside. Nobody had taken the time to attempt to bandage them.

I finally gather my thoughts and begin speaking; “I-I know what happened.”

J.D. begins to show a combination of fear, worry, and regret as if he were caught in a lie. “What do you mean?” He asks, clearly struggling to form words.

“Your father.” Is all I can manage to say before I begin crying silently. If I couldn’t comfort him through words, I could comfort him through actions. I step outside and throw my arms around his shoulders, pulling him as close to me as possible. He almost immediately returns the actions. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask him, my words muffled through his jacket.

“I didn’t want to worry you.” J.D. responds quietly, his voice breaking slightly. A few moments later we both pull apart from the hug.

“J.D., there are some things that you can’t deal with on your own, and that’s okay. That’s why I’m here, so that you have somebody to talk to about those things.” I attempt to explain to him, feeling myself pushing the line of starting to cry again. “You don’t have to deal with your problems all by yourself, I definitely don’t.”

“I know, I know, I’m just not used to it. But you already have your own problems, me telling you all of mine would just make you worry and you don’t need to do that.” J.D. expresses his point of view on the events. His facial expressions and tone suggest that he is on the verge of tears too.

“J.D. it is my job to worry about you. Please, come inside.” I request of him. Wrapping my fingers around one of his hands, I lead him inside of my house and up to my room. I leave him in my bedroom for just a moment as I quickly enter my bathroom to retrieve a small tin box full of hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and the like. “Sit down, please.” I instruct J.D..

Once he sits down on my bed, I sit next to him and carefully look over his larger injuries. Trailing along his hairline and his jaw were already scabbing areas where his skin had been busted open. The band-aids that had previously covered some of the older marks had since been removed. I remove the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and cotton rounds from the case and soak a few of the pads in the peroxide. “It’s going to sting.” I warn J.D. before sliding the cotton rounds over his various cuts. Each time I press the cotton to one of the marks I see him wince and I have to force myself to continue.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask gently as I throw away the cotton pads and begin to pick out small band-aids from the kit. J.D. shakes his head and barely audibly mutters the word ‘no’. On all of the new or very bad cuts, I cover them in Neosporin and band-aids. Once everything has been bandaged up, I lean forward and kiss his forehead. “Please stay right here, I just need to run downstairs and then I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” J.D. responds, still very soft spoken. I run down the stairs and into the kitchen where I grab an ice pack from the freezer and a washcloth to wrap it in.

“What are you getting, Veronica?” I hear mother ask, startling me. I look up to see that at some point in the past few minutes she had moved into the living room and was now sitting on the couch reading a magazine.

I pause to quickly think of a cover story. “Oh, ran into a door frame and came to get ice for my foot.” I blatantly lie. I needed to make up something that wouldn’t lead her to want to help me or go into my room with me so I told her a slightly common injury.

“Uh oh, are you alright?” She asks, finally turning to face me.

“Yes, it just hurts a little bit.” I smile before walking away, faking a small limp. I travel back up the stairs to kind J.D. still sitting on the bed, but now fidgeting his hands anxiously.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I reassure him as I close my bedroom door and sit back down next to him. I find the darkest of the bruises and rotate the ice pack across them: one on the collarbone, one on the right side of his jaw, and a new one on his left temple.

“I should’ve told you, I know.” J.D. remarks suddenly, causing me to pull away from him.

“I know why you didn’t. It’s just- if it ever happens again, or almost happens again, or nothing happens and you just want to talk about when it did happen, I’m here for that. I’m always here for that. Anytime you need somebody, even if you just don’t want to be sitting alone and want company, you can just call me or come over. You know that, right?” I explain to J.D..

“Yes.” J.D. responds quietly after a slight pause. He leans forward and wraps his arms around me tightly and I quickly reciprocate the hug. As I rest my head on his chest, he supports his chin atop my head. There on my bed sat Jason Dean, bruises scattering across him as if they were freckles and cuts framing his face, but he remained unmoving because for one fraction of a moment he was almost okay.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 44

“I have a surprise for you.” I inform J.D. as we approach his front door.

“Does this have anything to do with why you made me pick you up a block away from your house?” J.D. asks with a smile as he loses door, locking out the cold, dark, fall evening.

“Maybe,” I respond teasingly. “I told my mother that I was sleeping over at Heather McNamara’s house, so we, quite literally, have all night.”

“We do?” J.D. smiles suggestively as he turns around to face me again. He places his hands on the sides of my waist to pull me closer to him as he kisses me.

“Not for that.” I laugh as I push him away slightly. “For company. I also just wanted to check up on you.” I remind him. I take the moment we are close to look over his injuries. All of his cuts had healed over slightly so he no longer had any bandages on his face, and some of his bruises have begun to shrink as the edges of them healed themselves, but a majority of them were still there.

I look down and take his hand in mine to examine his knuckles. I barely have time to see that they’re no longer bruises before he pulls away. “Oh, uh, sorry.” I apologize softly, lowering my hand too.

“No, it’s just, it’s the one thing that I can’t shield you from; Me. Try as I might.” He laughs uncomfortably. I try to not pester him about what exactly he meant by that. Tonight wasn’t meant to be for healing, it was for a distraction.

“Why don’t we go find some movies to watch?” I suggest after reminding myself that I was supposed to be distracting him.

“Sure, I’ll go get us drinks.”

I trail beside him into the kitchen to get Coca Colas before going into the living room where we flip through channels until we find a station that is a little less than an hour into Gone With The Wind. Before J.D. even has the opportunity to ask me if this is alright, I say ‘yes’.

As the movie continues, I watch J.D. become involved in the story but I am still struggling to handle his current physical appearance. “What is it?” J.D. asks, quickly snapping me out of my observational trance.

“I’m sorry, what?” I request for clarification, not quite sure I heard what he said.

“What’s wrong, you were looking at me strangely.” J.D. asks again. I’m not sure if I should tell him the truth or not.

“Oh, sorry, I was just, um…” I stutter before trailing off. He appeared to see right through me, though, when he smiled softly and sighed.

“I’ll be fine, trust me. Almost all of this will be gone in about a week, maybe a tiny scar will remain from one of the cuts, but that’s at absolute maximum.” He explains to me. I’m not sure how much trust I have in his accuracy but I hope that it is true.

Going completely against what I reminded J.D. about when I arrived, I gently wrap my hand around the back of his neck and push my lips against his. I quickly begin to move down the side of his neck, making sure to not put on too much pressure in fear of hurting him, fore something in my mind had convinced me that kissing him would heal him. I pull away a moment later too see that bruises still scattered across his chest and face and become visually upset, as if I truly believed that I could make them disappear. I return to kissing him again and feel him wrap his hands around my lower back. Again, I pull back and frown at the sight of him still injured.

“You can’t make them go away, at least not like that.” J.D. laughs, catching quite easily onto what I was doing.

“Well, I can at least try.” I smile back before looking down to check my watch. It was already 10:00 and his father was still gone. “Is this normal for him?” I ask, not realizing my vagueness until after I had made my statement.

“What?” J.D. counters back, already showing discomfort at the topic of my question.

“It’s past ten o’clock and your father still isn’t home.” I point out.

“Is that a bad thing?” J.D. says humorously, obviously attempting to use a joke to reject some kind of sadness. I, again, decide to not go too deep into the matter and instead decide to allow the night to progress at its own pace.

“I guess not.” I reply with a small smile.

“You don’t want to just sit here watching tv all night, do you?” J.D. asks abruptly.

“Um, I suppose not, why? What else do you want to do?” I question him back. It’s already ten o’clock at night, there aren’t many places we can go in Sherwood at this time.

“Let’s, I don’t know, talk about stuff.” J.D. shrugs and I take the chance to see if he is open to the idea of discussing the events of the past week. It’s a very serious and sensitive topic and I don’t want J.D. to keep it all inside. Maybe not heal just yet, but take the first step by accepting that it happened and opening up about it.

------------

I apologize for the super bad cut off, I wrote chapters 44 and 45 together and had to find somewhere to cut it off

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 39

“Oh it was so boring, but I preferred it much more than any party Kurt or Ram could’ve hosted.” Heather McNamara complains about how she spent Halloween night home alone as we enter the cafeteria. “Enough of my problems, how was your night?” She asks considerately as we enter the lunch line.

“I can’t say it was very different from yours, I just spent Halloween night at home too.” I shrug. We get our food and then go to sit down at the lunch table where Heather Chandler was sitting with her head in her hands.

“What’s the matter, Heather?” Heather McNamara asks, and I have to admit that I was quite concerned too.

“Well, since neither Kurt nor Ram had a Halloween party this year, Tommy invited me to this party at Remington and I drank a little bit too much.” She complains, rubbing her forehead to relieve tension. “But until last night I never realized that college boys were such heavy petters.” Heather laugh, shocking us.

“Heather!” I smile, taken aback by her vulgar comment.

“Calm down, I’m just kidding.” She replies with a smile as Heather Duke comes to sit alongside us. As the three of them engage in conversations of their own, I examine the room we’re in. Naturally, my eyes are almost magnetically drawn to the corner of the cafeteria in which J.D. usually sits. I see him eating alone at a table and as he lifts his head up, he reveals a large purple bruise on his temple.

“Um, I-I’ll be right back.” I stutter to the girls as I stand up and begin to walk over to J.D.. “What happened?” I ask J.D. in a serious tone the second I sit down next to him, my eyes fixating on his bruise.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I tripped and fell down in my house because I’m boarder lining incompetence and it left a bruise.” He laughs, clearly very uncomfortable.

“Well, it looks pretty bad, have you iced it or anything?” I continue with the questions.

“Yes I have, it’ll be gone in a few days. It’s just a little bruise.” He shrugs it off again. I suppose that if J.D. doesn’t think it’s a problem then I have no reason to think it’s a problem.

“Oh, okay, I’ll see you this afternoon.” I smile softly before standing up and returning to the Heathers’ table where I am sucked back into their dramatic lives.

***

Tuesday arrives rather slowly and I’m filled with a mixture of dread and happiness as the school day ends; I would be going over to J.D.’s house to watch The Twilight Zone but before that I had to attend the trip to Rosie’s for milkshakes. Upon entering the diner, Heather Chandler had taken on the responsibility of maintaining a conversation about schoolwork but as we sat down the topic quickly changed into drama. “So Heather, I guess that you’ve moved on rather quickly.” Heather Chandler smiles wickedly at Heather Duke across our booth.

“What are you talking about?” Heather Duke replies hesitantly as she begins blushing. Heather McNamara and I give each other slightly confused looks, signifying that neither one of us know what Heather is hinting around.

“I heard about you and Peter Dawson. Well didn’t he swoop in at just the right time.” Heather says, trying to press all of Heather’s buttons at once.

“Heather, that’s her decision to make.” Heather McNamara intervenes and I see Heather Duke slyly mouth the words ‘thank you’ to her.

“Well, it’s a bad one at that.” Heather Chandler replies sassily, admitting her defeat. I turn to Heather McNamara and decide to start up a conversation with her since she is always quite easy to talk to.

“So, how have you and Doug Hilton been?” I ask her with a smile. She is often asking me about J.D. and I rarely get to hear stories about her personal life so I would like to seize one right now.

“Oh, Veronica he’s so nice and sweet. He’s not like Kurt or Ram in the sense that they have this reputation or think that they’re some alpha male and it’s so easy, and simple, and calming.” Heather replies, wearing the most genuine smile I have ever seen on her. “You probably don’t want to hear me ramble though.”

“No, I actually would, if that’s alright. Tell me everything.” I request, edging her on and preparing myself for the glorious and nearing perfect stories from the life of Heather McNamara.

“Well, he likes to go out to the movies so we have a new thing where every Friday night we go out to the drive-in. Oh, and look here.” She smiles, gesturing to a thin gold necklace with a cluster of pearls in the center. “He got me this last week, just as a surprise gift.” Heather gushes on. Her life is like that of a teenage girl on a tv show: happy, carefree, and just full of life. “Now I insist that you tell me about how you and J.D. have been.”

“Well, how you and Doug have your drive in dates every Friday, J.D. and I get together every Tuesday to watch The Twilight Zone at his house so when you drop me back off at home I’ll practically be getting right back up and going.” I Inform her with a smile of excitement. “Overall we’ve been quite happy too.”

“I can drop you off at J.D.’s house if you like.” Heather McNamara offers kindly.

“Oh, would you?” I ask for reassurance and she nods happily. “There’s a payphone just outside, let me go call my mother and tell her that I won’t be coming home in between.” I inform her before taking my purse and walking just outside of the diner. I call mother and tell her that Heather will be dropping me off at J.D.’s house instead of home and, slightly surprisingly, mother is alright with it. I’m still getting used to her being accepting of J.D..

Afterward, I head back inside to our booth and see that the girls are all almost done with their drinks. I sit back down and in no more than five minutes we are splitting the tab and walking back out to Heather McNamara’s car. She drops all of the other girls off, leaving me last. I’m not sure if she did it on purpose but I’m very thankful that I was the last one because it avoided the others making unwanted comments about me visiting J.D..

“Goodbye, Heather. Thank you for the ride.” I smile before getting out of her car and walking up towards J.D.’s front door.

-------------------------------------------------------

C L I F F H A N G E R 

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 43

I’m pretty sure that this is the last one, but warning: child abuse mention

------------------------------

The next morning, mother comes into my room to wake me up. As soon as I gain full awareness of my surroundings, my immediate worry is J.D.. “Veronica, I assume you do not wish to tell your father about last night’s events.” Mother opens up and I nod. “Well, I know it’s a little bit earlier than usual but why don’t you go ahead and get ready so you and J.D. can come get breakfast and leave before I wake up your father?” Mother suggests, her care and generosity are quite surprising. I expected to have to take care of the matter myself, but she had already done it for me.

“Alright, I’ll get dressed now.” I respond, rubbing my eyes as I sit up on my bed. Mother leaves my room so I stand up from my bed, brush my teeth, get dressed, fix my hair, and put on makeup before lacing on a pair of saddle shoes, grabbing my bookbag, and going downstairs. I find J.D. already standing by the breakfast table. For some reason, seeing him still covered in bruises and bandages was strange. I couldn’t tell if I expected everything to magically be fixed after last night or if I had convinced myself that it was a dream.

“Good morning.” I smile softly at him before we both sit down. He doesn’t respond. Mother brings over plates of eggs, bacon, toast, and a few jars of jelly. She then removes her apron before sitting down next to me. J.D. and I get our food, but I assume that mother is waiting until father arrives and we have left to eat. The meal stayed deadly silent the entire time. There were plenty of things to talk about, but nobody wished to discuss such unpleasurable events so we didn’t.

As soon as J.D. and I finish our breakfast, mother is quick to grab our plates and take them over to the sink. “If you two go ahead and go now, I can get father. Veronica, I will just tell him you had tutoring of some sort.” Mother explains to me. I nod silently before putting my bookbag back on and walking with J.D. out to his motorbike. I look down at my watch and see that we still have a half an hour left before school starts, but staying outside of the house leisuring for a while was far too risky.

Little verbal exchange is made between J.D. and I, even as we enter the school library to waste away the still remaining twenty minutes before class starts. J.D. clearly wasn’t ready to talk about anything yet and I was not going to force him to or pressure him into discussing his father.

***

The other events of the Thursday carry on as usual, but I felt so disconnected from everything. Throughout all of my classes I was taking notes, doing problems, and being semi-active but I wasn’t really engaged in those things. Instead, I was worrying about J.D. and if he was okay right now, if he was going to be okay, and mentally replaying the events of last night. It was torturous. Eventually, the end of the day comes and as J.D. brings me back to my house after school, I attempt to actually talk to him.

“Do you have to go back?” I ask, quite worriedly.

“I’ll be fine. My room has a lock and if anything happens I can always leave or call you, if that offer still stands.” J.D. replies. His statement is only half reassuring, but I again decide to not force him into anything that he does not wish to do.

“Of course it still stands, it always will.” I tell him with a warm smile. I kiss him goodbye before heading back inside of my house. “Hello?” I call out, wandering into the foyer.

“Veronica! Could you come here for a moment?” Mother responds, her voice emitting from the living room. I suddenly fill with anxiety at the thought of how many things she could possibly wish to discuss. After last night, the list is virtually infinite. “Sit down, please.” She requests, gesturing to a spot beside her on the couch.

“Yes?” I ask, desperate to know what she wanted so I could calm down slightly.

“Now I know I said that I wouldn’t make you tell me anything, but I have to ask for the safety of Jason, who did that to him?” She questions me. I could tell by her voice that it was very difficult for her to even ask me that question, let alone hear the answer.

I take a deep breath before responding. “It was his father, it has been going on for a little over a week now. Last night was the worst I had ever seen it.” I inform mother and she nods, keeping her head slightly down.

“I see. Have you talked to Jason about it today?”

“No. In fact, we barely talked at all today, which is quite strange. We only held one conversation and that was just now when he dropped me off. I had asked him to stay but he said he would be fine and he left.” I explain to her.

“Okay. Veronica, the next time that you see him could you please tell him that if something bad ever happens again or he needs a place to stay, that our house is always open?” Mother requests of me and I nod. The immense leniency and acceptance that she was showing towards J.D. were very new to me, and hopefully permanent. If the incident of the previous night had occurred a month ago, she may have let J.D. stay but would have shown immense displeasure, not kindness and a welcoming attitude.

I retreat back up to my room and have to fight the urge to call J.D. out of fear of either his father would answer or nobody would answer, knowing that J.D. would be home by now. I don’t know which one scares me more.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 28

"Are you excited?" Heather McNamara asks me as we walk out to her car. On the inside, I'm scared to go back there. Being at the drive in for the first time since Kurt attacked me there may trigger the memory, and I'm trying to forget it. When I told J.D. that I'm going to the drive-in when I was on the phone with him earlier today, he seemed to be slightly concerned too. I decide to keep my personal problems to myself, I haven't told anyone other than my mother and J.D. and I don't plan on telling anyone else, so I lie.

"Yes, this will be my first time going to the drive-in with all three of you. Do you know what they'll be playing?" I question her, attempting to distract myself from Kurt.

"I know they're having a sci-fi night, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be The Day The Earth Stood Still and It Came From Outer Space." Heather informs me as we get into her car. Sadly, I was the last to be picked up and the only open seat in the car was the back seat behind the driver, the same seat I was sitting in the night it happened, only in Ram's car.

I again try to forget about it and kindly greet Heather Chandler and Heather Duke. When we reach the drive in, we all give Heather Mac money for our own admission. Once we park, Heather Chandler semi-forces Heather Duke to go get sodas and popcorn for the four of us. We came quite early, it was only about 6:30, so the cartoons that play before the movies were still going.

The other two strike up a conversation, something about yearbook committee, and I begin to feel myself breathe quicker. I raise my hand to my chest and feel my heart pounding. I was starting to panic. I squeeze and release my hands in rhythm with making myself take deep, long breaths.

"Veronica, are you okay?" Heather McNamara asks very concernedly, turning around to look at me in the back seat. Her doing so also forced the attention of Heather Chandler onto me, who turned around to look at me.

"What? Yes, I'm fine, why do you ask?" I completely lie. Being under instant pressure to appear as if I was normal makes my breathing quickly settle.

"You were just breathing really loudly and your face was very pale." Heather softly replies.

"Oh, I don't know, I was just thinking. But no, I'm alright." I falsely reassure her. She kindly smiles before returning to her conversation with Heather Chandler.

A few moments later, Heather Duke returns with two large Coca-Colas and two bags of popcorn so we could have one of each for the front row and one of each for the back row. Heather Duke quickly joins some discussion involving rumors about some senior boy sneakily going out on dates, all of which only happened at drive-ins which may suggest some things, with a freshman girl at Remington University even though he was going steady with some girl at Westerburg. The entire conversation could not have bored me more. Sadly, I was forced into it a couple times but listening to it was a nice distraction.

After what seemed like an hour, the opening title for The Day The Earth Stood Still flashes onto the projector screen. We all roll down our windows to we could hear which makes the inside of the car awfully chilly. I desperately try to get into the plot of the movie but all I end up going back to is what happened the last time I was here. I start breathing quicker again, but the others can't really hear me over the sound of the movie and the outside noise from streets that was spilling in through the windows. I begin to become scared that I'm somehow going to be assaulted again which is completely irrational considering who I'm in the car with.

Slipping in and out of a worried and slightly fearful state continues for the next almost three hours since the girls insisted on staying for both movies. About an hour into this odd spiraling of emotions, I'm taken over by a strange feeling of sadness mixed in with that same fear. That new emotion being spun in made things all too much for me and I began silently crying. It only lasted less than a minute, but it was all so confusing. Sometime around when the second movie started, I began to think about J.D.. I want to talk about what happened again with him and I know very well he would want me to tell him if something bad happened to me or upset me. If I tell J.D. about it, then it will somehow be okay again.

Heather McNamara finally drops me off at my house when it's almost 10:00 at night and all of the lights in the house are out. Even if they were on I wouldn't bother looking for mother, I don't want to talk to her about what happened. She won't understand and the conversation wouldn't benefit either one of us.

Instead, I rush upstairs to my room and call J.D.. It's not until after I dial his number that I realize how rude it must be to be calling him so late at night but it's a Saturday night so there are large chances his father isn't even home right now.

"Hello?" I hear J.D. say on the other line, slightly confused. I definitely would be too if someone called my house at 10:00.

"Hello J.D., it's Veronica. I'm so sorry, did I wake you?" I question him, somehow all I can think of right now are concerns.

"No, not at all. It's everything alright, Veronica?" He asks incredibly worriedly. He probably knows that I wouldn't be calling him again today unless something wasn't alright.

"Um, do you know if you could possibly come over to talk? So-something happened when I went back to the drive-in." I request and explain to him.

"Yes, absolutely. I'll be there in five minutes, just- don't, don't do anything. Okay?"

"Okay."

------------------

i think we got some emotional shit coming up pals

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 32

This chapter is dedicated to @ask-veronica-sawyer-heathers for leaving such sweet messages in my inbox and also to @scouts-mockingbird because the conversation Ronnie has with her mother at the end is very Aunt Alexandra-esque

-------------------

"I thought about this the night after the drive in and just yesterday. I'm scared that I've become dependent on you, like, emotionally dependent." I vaguely explain to him but J.D. doesn't appear to catch on.

"What do you mean?" He asks unsurprisingly.

"That night of the drive-in after I called you and you came over and talked to me, you went to leave but I couldn't handle it. I ran over to you and stopped you from leaving, you had to give me your jacket for it to be okay. I couldn't cope with what happened on my own, I felt the need for you to be there with me." I elaborate on the subject.

"Well, why is that a bad thing? I'm always going to be here for you so you needing me is fine, in fact, it's good. It makes me feel like I have a purpose." J.D. informs me on his perspective on the matter.

"J.D., you can always find a purpose in me, that is good, but it needs to be in moderation. If I simply want you and you help me, that still gives you a purpose, but needing you, while it still gives you a purpose, makes me unstable. We don't know that you're always going to be here, I could also move. I need to be able to handle some of my stuff on my own, and for a while there I wasn't able to. Don't worry, I'm still going to be very open with you about my life, and I hope you will be open with me about yours. Now that I've said all this I'm not quite sure what the purpose of the conversation was..." I trail off, laughing slightly about me not thinking this through.

"No, no, thank you for telling me this, I truly appreciate your sincerity and openness." J.D. smiles, taking my hand in his. "Say, why don't we go out to Rosie's and just forget about all of these troubling matters for a while?" He suggests.

"That sounds quite fun." I reply, standing up from the couch at the same time as him. We go outside to his motorcycle so we can drive off to Rosie's. Since it was just me and J.D., we sit at the bar instead of a booth.

"So, I know I said this was to forget about our troubles, but what is the current standpoint of your parents when it comes to my presence around you?" J.D. asks me. "I'm only bringing this up because, well, I believe that we are pretty serious now." His words suddenly remind me of what mother requested just before I left today.

"Well, I did tell mother that I was actually going to be with you today and she gave me permission, but just before I left she told me that when I get back she wants to talk to me about you." I inform him, suddenly being filled with dread and worry at the thought of conversing, more accurately arguing, with mother about J.D. yet again. "Oh, Veronica, I didn't mean to remind you of that if you were trying to forget about it." J.D. quickly begins apologizing.

"Oh, no, don't worry. It's not a problem, even if it were one it wouldn't be your fault." I smile in an attempt to make him feel better. Before our conversation could continue a waitress came to take our orders.

We then spend the rest of our afternoon chit chatting over burgers and Coke floats. At the end of our date, which lasts nearly an hour, J.D. picks up the tab and drives me back home. I thank him for the date before walking back inside my house, bracing myself for the conversation with mother. Per usual, I find her sat on the couch watching the news on tv and crocheting some new piece. Doilies were her favorite, and our house was covered in them. Turns out that when you're the housewife of a decently self-sufficient family, you have a lot of free time.

"Oh, Veronica, you're back." Mother smiles, placing her work down in the basket on the floor. "Come sit." She requests as she scoots over and pats a spot on the couch right next to her. I do as instructed silently. "I suppose you remember what I told you before you left?"

"Yes." I quietly reply as I fidget with my hands in my lap.

"I assume you think that I'm trying to keep you away from that boy because I'm some horrible mother, after all, you're just a teenager and that's how teenagers think." Mother prefaces the lecture she is about to give. Her words are quite degrading but I attempt to brush them off, knowing that what she's said isn't true. I'm not sure why she dislikes me seeing J.D., she's never actually said why. "But that's simply not true. Even though you are just a teenager I do think you will be able to understand what I am about to explain to you: family pride." She says and it takes all of my power to not roll my eyes. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about my surname. "Back in the 1870s, the Sawyers were one of the first families to arrive in Sherwood, they were easily the wealthiest of all of the families to first arrive. The name Sawyer in this town should attract more respectable men with rich family history."

"And you assume that just because J.D. wears leather jackets and drives a motorcycle he is not a respectable person?" I ask, not caring how rude I sound.

"People who carry themselves in that manner tend to not be." Mother shrugs. I know she is wrong but there is only one thing I can say to someone with the opinions on wealth and family like mother to prove them wrong. Pushing back the disgust for what I'm about to say, I raise my left hand up to mother's face.

"Mother, this is the diamond ring J.D. gave to me as a going steady ring. Would you like to know what he said when he gave it to me?" I ask rhetorically, not waiting for an answer before continuing speaking. "He said whenever I'm alone I don't have to be scared because now a part of him is with me. Now, may I ask, what kind of disrespectful man lacking wealth would give this diamond ring with such meaning simply to a girlfriend?"

Mother pauses before picking up on her side in the conversation. "I see." She quietly replies, realizing that she had been wrong about J.D..

"Mother, I really like J.D. and I am not prepared to nor do I plan to end my relationship with him just because of the fact that our family has been here possibly the longest. It means virtually nothing now. And do you recall asking me to have a conversation with him about my limits? Well, I did, and the entire time he sat and listened and in later... situations he abided by everything I had requested of him." I state my ground.

"Alright then. I suppose I did not accurately understand,” She pauses before continuing “J.D.'s personality." Mother finally gives up on her grudge against him. It felt strange to hear her refer to him as J.D. instead of Jason. "Veronica, you have my permission to continue seeing him." Mother finishes the conversation and I smile widely.

"Thank you." I reply, leaning forward and hugging her. I have never until right now, stood up for something so strongly, not caring if I sounded rude or disrespectful and it truly paid off. I may have to start doing this more often.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 17

"How are you getting home today?" J.D. asks me as we walk down the crowded halls of Westerburg high at the end of a far too long Monday.

"The bus, it's how I always get home." I tell him.

"Well why don't you start riding with me. It'll be much quicker, less crowded too." J.D. laughs as we walk out of the front doors.

"Alright then, but I don't think mother will like it too much." I smile as we walk past the buses and into the parking lot.

"Do you mind if we make one stop first?" J.D. asks, I shake my head no before we get onto his motorbike. Unsurprisingly, the one stop ends up being the local 7-eleven. "Would you like another cherry slushie?" He questions as we climb off of his motorcycle.

"I would love one." I smile as we walk into the front doors of the store. He buys a cherry slushie for me and a coke slushie for himself and we take them outside with us to drink in front of the store.

"So, anything upsetting going on with the Heathers?" J.D. asks me as he leans against the concrete brick walls of the building.

"Nothing upsetting, but I'm afraid that homecoming may make everything semi hectic in the group." I roll my eyes. "By the way, while we're on the subject, I assume I will be getting your boutonnière and you will be getting my corsage for the dance?"

"If that's how these things normally work." J.D., slightly awkwardly, laughs in response. We talk back and forth until both of us are done with our drinks. When we are, we throw away the cups and get back onto his bike. Right before we drive away, I check my watch and see that it's already 4:00, so mother may be slightly concerned.

We arrive at my house very quickly and J.D, walks me up to the front door. "Um, Veronica, before you leave could we talk about something?" J.D. asks me, which makes me worry, but I try to conceal it.

"Sure, let's sit down." I say as I sit on the porch bench, J.D. does too.

"I wanted to ask you if you would like to go steady." J.D. tells me. I feel my heart start beating very quickly, J.D. is the only boy I've ever even gone on a date with and now we may be going steady. It's not that I'm opposed to the idea, I'm quite open to it actually, it's just that I'm nervous about it and scared as to how mother will react to it.

"As in being exclusive to one another?" I ask him for clarification, and he nods. I look down in my lap and contemplate what us going steady would be like. I wouldn't be worried about J.D. seeing other girls, and he wouldn't be worried about me seeing other boys. It would be very nice to know I constantly have someone who cares about me, and I won't worry about not having any plans and being home alone on a Friday night because I know there is someone who will ask me on a date. The more I think about it, the more I realize J.D. and I were pretty much already acting as if we were going steady. After thinking about it, I look back up at J.D. and begin to smile. "I would love that." I reply.

J.D. starts to smile too before quickly and slightly roughly pulling me close to him and kissing me. I raise my hands and place them on his chest to gently begin to push him away from me, fore this was more than I was used to. "I'm normally home about fifteen minutes before now, I think my mother may be getting worried." I laugh as I stand up from the bench, J.D. following my actions.

"I suppose you better be getting inside. I'll see you tomorrow, Veronica." J.D. replies. I say goodbye before opening the door and walking inside the house. I trail into the kitchen, where I find mother cooking dinner quickly before father gets home.

"Veronica, where have you been?" Mother asks me as she sees me walk into the kitchen. I could lie and say that I was with a girlfriend of mine, but I decide to tell the truth and see if she has anything new to say about J.D..

"Oh, I rode home with J.D. and we had stopped at 7-eleven to get drinks." I inform her.

"Hmm." She sighs with a neutral look on her face. I decide to leave the news about J.D. and I going steady for another day, seen as she stills seems to not think very positively of him.

***

"So, Veronica, do you have a date for homecoming or are you going alone?" Heather Chandler asks me as we walk into Rosie's.

"I do have a date, J.D. asked me yesterday." I inform her and the other two Heathers as we sit down in a large booth.

"What about you, Mac?" Heather Chandler asks Heather McNamara. I assume Heather Chandler will be going with Tommy Millard, and Heather Duke with Ram. I hope Heather McNamara isn't going with Kurt, I didn't tell her about what he did to me, but I don't want what happened to me to happen to her so I may have to warn her. I don't know if Heather Duke even saw what went down in the back seat of Ram's car, but if she did she may not have remember it the morning after drinking.

"Well if you insist, Doug Hilton asked me after school yesterday, and I said yes." Heather McNamara smiles. I don't recall ever having spoken to Doug Hilton, but I know who he is.

"Have any of you guys gotten your dresses yet?" Heather Duke asks us, we all shake our heads no.

"Well then, why don't we go dress shopping tomorrow?" Heather Chandler suggests. We all agree and Mac kindly offers to drive us to the mall to get out dresses. We spend the next hour or so sitting in our booth, drinking milkshakes, and talking about school, clothes, boys, and the like before we all agree that it is time to go back to our houses.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 35

Friday seems to drag along just as slowly as Monday had, probably due to the anticipation of the weekend. Majority of the Westerburg student body seemed to not be too affected, seen as the cafeteria was filled with loud energetic conversations.

"First lunchtime poll after fall break." Heather Chandler smiles, slapping a piece of paper and a clipboard down on our table. "Are you ready?"

"I think I'll pass on it today." I sigh, not having the emotional energy to walk around the room engaging in conversation with virtually every single student.

"That wasn't a request, Veronica." Heather sighs, her smile quickly fading.

"And my denial wasn't either." I snap back, quickly realizing what a mistake it was to mouth off.

"Get up." She replies. Her face showed no obvious emotion but her tone was terrifying.

"What?" I reply, not knowing if she was forcing me to do the poll with her or something else.

"Get up." She says again. "You're not sitting here, go find somewhere else."

I sigh and attempt to prevent myself from rolling my eyes. Picking up my tray, I stand up and scan around the room. I quickly find J.D. sitting by himself in a corner opposite the cafeteria doors and beeline over to him.

"Wow, you're choosing to sit at the social pariah table?" J.D. laughs as I sit down next to him, but his humorous comment doesn't yield a great effect on my current mood.

"It's not like I had much of a choice." I complain.

"What, did something happen?" He asks, his voice changing to be much more serious.

"Heather Chandler happened. I was just in a mood. She told me it was time for the lunchtime poll and I said I wasn't going to do it so she made me leave." I explain to him.

"Speak of the devil, well, devils." I hear J.D. say with a potentially troublesome smile. I look up and am met with none other than the Heathers.

"Hello there, would you two care to answer this week's lunchtime poll?" Heather Chandler asks as if we were complete strangers.

"Oh, we would love to." J.D. responds on behalf of both of us, putting stress on every single one of the words. I can practically feel tension building around me.

"This is a repeat question from the first week of school to see if anyone's opinions have changed." Heather Chandler prefaces as she places her pen against the paper to start writing.

"Oh, and not because you're bland personality and incompetence prevented you from coming up with any original ideas?" J.D. asks sarcastically and it takes all of my strength to stop myself from laughing. Heather gives him a disgusted look but asks the actual question as if he hadn't said anything.

"You inherit $600,000 the day aliens land on earth and say they're going to blow it up in two days. What do you do with the money?" She asks. Almost immediately J.D. responds.

"Hmm, that depends. How much money would it take to euthanize three teenage girls?" J.D. questions Heather Chandler, a wicked smile playing on his lips, causing me to laugh. The other two, who were standing behind Heather Chandler, looked as if they took slight offense. "You can go now." J.D. responds, clearly stating his ground.

"Oh my goodness, they're never going to let that go." I sigh, looking over at J.D.. I'm torn between continuing to laugh at his hilarious comments and becoming terrified of what Heather is going to say or do to me later because of this conversation.

"Oh no, did I create a problem between you two?" J.D. asks me as he places a hand on my shoulder, seeming slightly concerned.

"No, no, I gave her a reason to come over here in the first place." I brush it off. "And your responses were really funny." I smile. "Don't worry, I'll deal with it later."

***

The weekend passed by far too quickly, and was then followed by another slow Monday, and as Tuesday rolled around I found myself back at a familiar place: in a booth with three other girls at Rosie's Place drinking milkshakes. Unfortunately, I hadn't dealt with what happened in the cafeteria last Friday and apparently, that wasn't settling well with Heather Chandler.

"So, Veronica, how have you and psycho been?" Heather Chandler asks very passive aggressively. I try to reply calmly but her making fun of J.D. puts me on the defensive.

"Heather, he made a joke." I sigh in response.

"He threatened to kill us." Heather violently overreacts to the situation.

"Whatever." I mumble, trying the avert the topic of discussion away from the incident with the lunchtime poll. Apparently, that wasn't the response that Heather was hoping for.

"You should be apologizing you idiot!" Heather snaps at me, keeping her voice low as to not cause a scene but it just caused her tone to even further represent that of a snake.

"I'm sorry." I lie, making it sound as sincere as possible.

"Do you know how lucky you are that I even let you stay after your fit at Kurt Kelly's homecoming party? The only reason you're not back to being some social plebe is because you have some use, unlike these two." Heather continues with her verbal harassment, deeply insulting the other two Heathers. "I swear to god Veronica, you step out of line one more time and you're cut. If you think I'm kidding, just try it."

Her final words left a deep mark on me. Westerburg was brutal and nobody had ever risen to be level with the Heathers and were then kicked back down towards the bottom. In fact, if that were to happen to me, I would create a new low. Not just a nobody, I would be an ex-somebody. If I ever felt as if I were walking on eggshells 24/7, it was now, and it was terrifying.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 37

I enter the cafeteria the very next day and am met with all three Heathers already sitting down at the usual lunch table, looking as if they were about to interrogate me. "Are you sure you want to sit there?" Heather Chandler asks as I pull out a chair. I look at it and there is nothing on the chair so I assume it was a cruel comment referencing how she refused to let me sit with them last Friday.

I fight the urge to reply in the same tone and instead ask for permission to sit there which seemed to greatly please Heather. I take a deep breath and prepare myself to apologize for the past week in hopes of losing the constant fear of being kicked out.

"Heather?" I grab her attention.

"Yes, Veronica?" She replies, putting excess emphasis on the syllables of my name, making it sound hateful.

"I would like to apologize for how I've spoken to you the past week and what J.D. said to you three last Friday. I, and he, completely stepped out of line and I hope you can forgive me." I apologize, only dragging J.D. into the situation because I knew that, in Heather's eyes, he was my responsibility and in this situation, I was the one who should be speaking for him.

"Alright." She shrugs before continuing a conversation with Heather Duke, leaving me immensely confused. I don't know if my apology wasn't good enough, if she had forgiven me for the situation, if she wanted me to apologize more, or any other obscene response that she may have to the situation. However, I do know that if I interrupt her conversation again that she will become angry with me so I decide to leave the situation be and revisit it tomorrow.

My plans to forget the situation were foiled when, at the end of lunch, Heather McNamara approaches me and brings it up again. "Do you want me to tell Heather to let you off?" She asks, incredibly graciously.

"Y-you would actually do that?" I ask her. I thought that she may also be slightly mad at me because J.D. also insulted her last Friday.

"Of course, we're friends and I didn't take any offense from the jokes J.D. made last week." Heather replies.

"I mean, if you could that would be wonderful." I smile graciously.

"Alright, I'll talk to her about it after school." Heather says. I show my thanks by hugging her before heading off to my next class.

***

Apparently, Heather had kept her promise and told Heather to forgive me for the incidents. When I sat down at our table during lunch, I didn't even have to bring up my apology before Heather Chandler began discussing it.

"Go ahead." She said, already knowing that I was going to start spewing out 'I'm sorry's.

"Heather I messed up, I messed up a lot. I didn't realize how generous and kind you were when you let me into this group and being disrespectful towards you was completely out of line. I can promise you that nothing like that will ever happen again." I ramble on, half of which was a complete lie but it was building her ego which may help me out.

"I'm going to think about it." Heather says, another incredibly vague reply which will no doubt keep me on edge for days. I was still slightly scared that she may kick me out, but the chances of that were lowering drastically. "Oh, and we're going to Rosie's right after school today so tell your greaser scum boyfriend that you won't be riding with him." She informs me. Her word choice showed that she was still definitely mad but going to Rosie's was a chance for me to apologize some more.

Towards the end of lunch, I was able to excuse myself from our lunch table to rush over to J.D. and tell them that I won't be riding with him. He was slightly upset but told me to call him when I get back from Rosie's, which I was planning on doing anyway.

At the end of the school day, we rode in Heather McNamara's car to the familiar diner and I braced myself for the confrontation which was most likely about to occur. We took our regular booth and ordered the same snacks as always.

"So, Veronica, do you have something you would like to say?" Heather Chandler prompts me with a wicked smile. I was slightly shocked that she wanted me to apologize for the third time, I thought it would be annoying by now but I suppose not. I guess she was having fun playing this strange game.

"I would like to say that I'm sorry for the way J.D. and I talked to you last Friday, and I'm also sorry for taking so long to apologize. I should've done it on Tuesday when we were here, like you asked of me." I reply, making sure to cover all of my bases.

"Okay." Heather states simply, but this time she seems much more pleased than in my previous attempts at apologizing. "Oh, you'll be paying for my part of the ticket today." She demands, and I was in absolutely no place to refuse. If getting back on Heather's good side just meant paying for her milkshake then I was fine.

I stayed quiet for a majority of the time in Rosie's, if I wasn't saying anything then I couldn't say the wrong thing. Nobody really invited me into a conversation, either, and I didn't want to intrude. After about thirty minutes Heather, Heather, and I split the tab before all retreating back to our homes.

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 25

"Veronica, where are you going?" J.D. stops me as I attempt to walk past his motorcycle.

"Oh, it's Tuesday. I always go out with the girls on Tuesdays for milkshakes." I remind him with a kind smile.

"Always? As in you're obligated to?" He continues. He has the same facial expression and look in his eyes that he did when discussing me going to the movies last weekend.

"Well I wouldn't exactly use the word obligated." I laugh, attempting to make the matter seem less serious.

"Why don't you just not go this one time. Who knows, something may go wrong, they may start being mean to you again." J.D. requests. His reasoning for suggesting that I cancel is absurd and incredibly unlikely.

"J.D., Heather Chandler is already upset that I didn't go out with them to the movies last Friday, I really need to go today." I explain to him. He continues to sound and look concerned, but now it's pushing into slight anger and annoyance because I won't ditch them.

"Veronica I don't like you seeing them, just come with me." J.D. says as he offers his hand for me to take. The last time something like this happened he wasn't showing these angry emotions, now I'm becoming fearful of how he may react if I refuse to go with him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going with the Heathers." I state my ground before turning to walk away. I feel J.D. grasp onto my arm and turn me around.

"Veronica please don't. I'm sorry I shouldn't have become mad I just, I don't like you going places where I can't look out for you, especially with those girls who are mean to you." J.D. quickly rambles on. His attempt at patching up the situation and making me stay with him failed, seen as I turned around again and walked over to Heather McNamara's car without a word.

***

"You've been awfully quiet Veronica, what's going on with you?" Heather Chandler asks in casual conversation in our usual Rosie's booth. I decide to not inform her about the little road bump I just experienced in my relationship, so I tell a small lie.

"Nothing, just a little bit tired I suppose." I respond as I sit back straight up and try to pretend as if it has just been a normal day. I force myself to momentarily forget about the discussion J.D. and I had and join the discussion the Heathers were having.

After about thirty minutes of semi-fake conversation, seen as we weren't really talking about anything of any importance in our lives outside of social matters, Heather McNamara drives me back home. I thank her for the ride before entering my house, finding mother to tell her that I'm home, and then fleeing upstairs to my room.

Seeing my telephone with that same sheet of notebook paper tucked underneath it reminds me of J.D., he calls me every single night and will probably be calling early today to apologize after what happened. I lay down on my bed and allow myself to truly think about what J.D. said to me today.

He gave a reason as to why he's trying to get me to cancel all of my plans: he doesn't like me going out without him because he's not there to look out for me and something may go wrong, but that's not normal. No matter how hard I try to convince myself that it may be normal because I've never been in a relationship before and this may be what is supposed to happen, I know it's not.

Now I know what's running through my head, but God knows what's running through J.D.'s and we need to talk about this. I sit up on my bed and reach over to the telephone to dial his number after lifting the phone to my ear. The phone barely rings for a second before I hear J.D. pick up on the other line as if he were expecting someone to call.

"Hi J.D., it's Veronica." I reply nervously.

"Veronica, I'm so sorry, can we please talk about what I said?" He quickly requests.

"Yes, we need to, but not over the phone. Could you come over to my house?" I suggest. This is a conversation we need to have in person, I need to make sure he is okay and see what he is feeling so he can possibly explain some of this to me and a telephone won't allow that.

"Yes, of course. I'll be there in five minutes. Goodbye, Veronica." J.D. says. He waits for me to say goodbye too, which I do before hanging up.

Not even three minutes later there is a knock on the front door. Assuming it must be J.D., I rush down the stairs to answer it before mother. I beat her to the door and on the other side is, to no surprise, J.D..

"Hi Veronica, are you alright?" He asks, his voice very choppy.

"I suppose, but J.D. you asking me to cancel all of my plans with other people isn't an okay thing to do." I tell him, cutting straight to the chase as I step onto the porch with him.

"I-I know, believe me. I'm so sorry that I did, and I promise I won't don't ever again. Can we sit down to talk?" J.D. requests, pointing to the bench. I nod and we both go sit down before continuing the conversation. "I've told you that I've never had a serious relationship of any form with anybody before I met you, so I'm asking you to please give me some slack if I make a mistake like this again because I'm still figuring this all out. Also because of the fact that you're the first person I've had a relationship with, you're very special to me. I was scared of losing you now that I have this connection with you, I already sort of depend on you. I was scared that if you went out with other people and I wasn't there to look out for you, somebody may hurt you, but then when I did it upset you and that was the last thing I would want. I realize now that that is not okay, I am in no way allowed to tell you what you are able to do."

J.D. made a very good point while talking, that I must understand that he doesn't know what it's like to even have a friend and that I need to give him room to understand what is okay to do and what isn't. He also said that he did what he did in an attempt to protect me, which I can partially understand, but he knows now that it was wrong.

"It's alright J.D.." I sigh with a small smile. "But protecting me as a girlfriend is something you do by asking me how I'm doing and standing up for me, not monitoring my connections with my friends."

"I know and I promise you I won't ever try to stop you from just going out with friends anymore, and raising my voice and putting my hands on you to turn you around earlier today was not okay. I'm so sorry for doing that." J.D. continues his apology.

"It's fine J.D., I know you didn't have bad intentions and you know to not don't anymore.”

"Say, why don't I make it up to you with a cherry slushie?" J.D. suggests, making me smile.

"I suppose that would even this out." I laugh as we stand up from the bench and walk down to his motorbike before driving off to the 7-Eleven.

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don’t worry, everything will be fixed