Blind Love

Two Hearts

Why were they constantly in between life and death? Why does one have to lose someone to learn to love them? Why did the worst things happen to the worst people?

Now that Veronica had time to sit down outside the operation room, where no medical staff had dared to try move her, and think about what had happened these few months, she realised how blind she had been.

Well, yes, she was literally blind in one eye, but that aside, she was metaphorically blind as well. How had she been so blind to the chemistry between Jughead and her? She had been blinded by Archie Andrew's charms to notice how well Jughead and her personality fit together. They read the same literature, had the similar sarcastic humor, and constantly worked hard to rid injustice.

Veronica admitted it, she was usually the kind of girl who fell for looks before brains. Maybe that was why she had rushed into a relationship with Archie Andrews after seeing him all athletic and sexy at Pops her first night at Riverdale. But with Jughead, she had fell for his brains instead of his looks. She was blind the whole time they were together in that prison for God's sake. It was the connecting of two souls craving for each other in pitch darkness, and the connection created sparks that lit the whole room.

God. How she missed him. She did not think it was normal to need someone this much. Was this how Jughead felt when she was in a coma? She could not imagine how much pain he went through waiting for her to wake up for a whole month. The past few hours had been enough torture for her.

She was such a fool for realising that she loved him back when she woke up on the plane. She had realised she was in denial and blind to her feelings for Jughead, just because she was still dating Archie and was not supposed to fall for another boy. But she was glad that he did not give up on pursuing her as it was his flirting that made her heart flutter out of her control. Forget the freaking butterflies, he gave her the whole damn zoo! Unfortunately, the loud roaring of the animals were not enough to give her a wake up call. Everyone knows in times of danger, you go straight to the one you love the most. Veronica had pushed Archie away straight to Jughead. It was obvious which boy she had chosen.

"So...I guess that's goodbye as lovers and hello as friends?" Archie offered Veronica a bottle of water and an energy bar from sitting outside of the operation room so long.

Veronica smiled bashfully and a bit guiltily up at her ex-boyfriend. "Thank you," she whispered as she pulled him into a farewell hug.

Archie Andrews was too selfless sometimes, but Veronica was relieved that she was free to get her man now.  It was the perfect, mutual and peaceful breakup that did not cause any complications or hard feelings.

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New York Casino Owner Elio Serves Life in Prison for Attempting to Take Over Riverdale

Veronica put the newspaper away, satisfied. Elio could finally pay for the immense pain he had caused the whole of Riverdale. Who would have known he was capable of such destruction? All along, Veronica had thought it was her dad who was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and the chaos in Riverdale, as all the signs had pointed to Hiram, but it turned out the New Yorker controlling Riverdale was not Hiram, but Elio.

Elio had seemed so insignificant, but Veronica learned the hard way not to overlook a man like him. With the wealth he had earned from his casinos that ripped people's money off, and other sketchy businesses, his ambition to gain more had expanded and he had wanted to control the whole of Riverdale. To do that, he must first force the two dominant men of Riverdale—FP and Hiram—to bow down to him by kidnapping their children. It all made sense now that the story was revealed.

"He's awake, but extremely weak, and not very responsive," a doctor finally told Veronica after a whole day of waiting.

Veronica scrambled to her feet but struggled to get up, as her limbs were asleep from sitting too long and her body was weak from sleep and food deprivation. She managed after a few tries and rushed into the ICU to Jughead. No doctor tried to stop her—they were used to Jughead and her not following any orders.

She wore the crown beanie that Jughead had slipped into her bag when he sent her off to London.

"Jughead," Veronica sat beside his hospital bed. This time, their roles were reversed from when Veronica was in a coma.

She took off the beanie to place it on his head, but Jughead lifted a frail hand to stop her.
"Keep it. My girl deserves my everything."

Jughead's voice was not more than a whisper and his heartbeat was consistently slow on the heartrate monitor, but just seeing him, Veronica knew he would be fine.

When a doctor unfamiliar with Jughead and Veronica attempted to shoo Veronica out of the ICU, Jughead placed a hand protectively on her thigh and said, "Let her stay, she makes my heart beat faster."

Veronica rolled her eyes and could not help giggling at his corny lines. "How can you still joke around when you're in this state? You could have died, you idiot, I could have lost you!"

"Well, I'm alive. Date me," Jughead responded to Veronica's last words to him before he was out cold on the hospital.

"First date is when you get released from the hospital," Veronica took his hand in hers. "You better get well fast."

The weight of the situation seemed to have a delayed response on both Veronica and Jughead, as it finally hit them how close to separation they could have been. They held on to each other dearly and carefully (Jughead was pretty fragile at the moment).

"You know how I survived that stab in the heart?" Jughead asked the beautiful mess whose head was lying on his pillow.

Veronica hummed in response to his question to indicate a 'no'.

"Because you gave me your heart. I have two hearts to survive the impact."

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A/N: Song reference: Starving by Hailee Steinfeld