Chapter Text
If you asked Betty, she'd tell you, mouth stained with Veronica's lipstick, that this all started with Veronica's damn puppy dog eyes.
(If you asked Veronica, she'd just smirk.)
-*-
"My sleuthing senses are telling me they were here." Jughead said, mist damp and ever the brooding-Modern-Edgar-Allen-Poe he was.
"Huh?" Archie raised his eyebrows, squinting at the straw Jughead had plucked out of the half finished milkshake that had been sitting at Their Booth™. Jughead held the straw up for him, gesturing almost sarcastically at the distinct maroon lipstick print on the end of it. Veronica. "Oh." Archie said as he looked at the straw still remaining in the cup, at the traces of light pink on it. Betty.
"So they're alive, but they aren't answering our texts." Jughead says, twirling Veronica's straw between his fingers. "Which can only mean one thing..."
"They actually got abducted by aliens this time?" Archie joked.
"That'd be a story."
-*-
Betty sighed, tapping her fingers on her steering wheel impatiently. The red light in front of the hood of her car almost seemed to be mocking her, taunting.
The intersection of Mendes Drive and Benoist Street, you cruel mistress.
The intersection was notorious for it's sluggish red light, everyone knew that, but Betty had been distracted and driven into it's cluches anyway.
"C'mon, Betty! Drive-ins are the best part of small town living!" Veronica insisted, grabbing Betty's arm for emphasis, looking at her with excited brown eyes.
"I don't know what issue of Teen Vogue you read that in, but that's not true." Betty said, pressing two of her fingers between Veronica's eyebrows to keep her from scowling at her.
"You're no fun." Veronica laments, grabbing Betty's fingers, curling her own around them. She doesn't let go, rests her chin on top of their hands and gazes at Betty. "It could be great! We could take a bunch of blankets and snacks and cuddle up in your car---"
"And get harassed by Reggie Mantel and his gang of girl-on-girl obsessed cronies again? No thanks." The corners of Betty's mouth tugged downward. (See: Reggie heard about the Tryout Kiss™ and yells "BERONICA" everytime he sees them together.)
"We'll park further back with the old people and out-of-towners." Veronica says and Betty raises her eyebrows at her eagerness. Betty thinks this must be on one of those Veronica Lodge Never Did This Seemingly Normal Thing As A Child And Is Now Obsessed With The Idea Of Doing It™ things.
"Veronica..." Betty starts, but she already knows it's a lost cause. Veronica's eyes had gone wide and undeniably puppy-like.
"It'll be so much fun!" Veronica grins, her eyes lighting up in that way they do and Betty knows she's romanticized this idea in her head. There was no use in trying to argue.
"Okay, okay." Betty says and Veronica's smile practically glows.
-*-
"Wow, Passion Pit Drive-In..." Veronica leans forward in her seat to peer up at the neon sign as they passed it. "Subtle."
"That's Riverdale for you." Betty smiles as she turns the steering wheel, sends them down the long lane leading to theatre grounds.
"It's okay, there was a place in the Upper East Side called Palos Verdes that everyone in my middle school would sneak off to during brunch."
Betty laughs and Veronica grins at the sound, chest warming.
-*-
It's colder out than maybe either of them anticipated. The chill bites at Betty's nose, her ears, the rise of her cheeks, and she frowns when she thinks she may be able to see her breath a little. Veronica's apparently not phased by it (or too caught up in the fantasy of Small Town Living™ that she doesn't notice) because she's out of the car before they've even really parked, pulling the snacks and blankets they'd stuffed into the trunk out in armfuls too large for a girl so small.
-*-
They settled easily into backseat of Betty's car, the front seats pushed forward to lie flat. The first feature is nearly over when Betty stretches her long legs out on it and--
"God, you're beautiful." Ronnie murmurs, studying the side of her face. She says it so casually too, Betty wonders if she meant to say it out loud at all.
"You're one to talk." Betty replies, and she doesn't sound nearly as clever or confident as she'd like. Her eyes meet Veronica's and she swallows down the surprised sound that tries to escape her mouth because jeeze, Ronnie is staring at me like---like I don't know what. Betty thinks, watching Veronica bite her lip and look up at her with darkened irises rimmed by even darker eyelashes.
"Betty," Veronica says in that I'm about to propose something spontaneous and silly and grand and you're going to say yes, because you adore me, don't you? way that she uses on Betty entirely too much.
"Hmm?" Betty raises her eyebrows, vaguely aware of the movie coming to an end in her periphery.
"Have you ever made out with anyone back here---in the back of any car?" Veronica asks, feigning innocent curiosity. Betty tries not to let the surprise show on her face. She should be used to Ronnie's push and pull at any boundaries Betty thought herself restrained by.
Betty laughs a little, shakes her head and turns her face toward the huge white wall several meters in front of the hood of Betty's car. Sleeping Beauty's ending credits play and Betty pretends to watch as she says, "You know I haven't."
"Right." Veronica settles next to her, pressed close to her under their mass of blankets.
"My life's just not the 60's-teen-movie-made-in-the-80's you think it is, Ronnie." They both laugh at that, smiling fondly at each other. Silence falls over them for a few minutes as the next movie begins. Betty thinks it's the end of that moment of tension, relaxes into the leather seat beneath her and--
"It could be." Veronica says suddenly.
Betty's eyebrows draw together in confusion and she turns her head to look at Ronnie in the screenlit shadows that surround them.
"What?" She questions, not sure what she meant.
"If you wanted," Veronica shrugged. "I wouldn't be opposed to christening the backseat of your car with you." Veronica meets her gaze with a sly smile, waggling her eyebrows. Betty let out a breathless little laugh.
"Are you serious?" Betty's stomach starts doing flips again, like it always does when they toe at that line between romantic friendship and real bisexual kissing.
"If you wanna," Veronica reiterates. "I mean, we could both check something off our buckets list and I can work through all my horny-teen-hormones without the risk of another round of public slut shaming." she smiles wider, the expression curling into her cheeks and Betty's heart ththumps.
"It would be a good tension reliever for both of us, I'm sure." Veronica gives Betty a knowing look that Betty doesn't even want to begin trying to read into.
"Okay." Betty murmurs after a long beat of silence.
"Wait...what?" Veronica seems surprised and Betty briefly panics, thinks maybe Veronica was just joking. "Woah, I didn't think you'd agree." and then she's grinning that devilish grin and Betty feels her stomach flutter. "Didn't think you still had it in you, Betts."
-*-
Veronica shivered, barely concealed a whimper into Betty's shoulder, mumbled, "Your hands are cold, Betty." into the curtain of blonde Betty's hair became when she took it out of it's high ponytail.
"S-sorry." Betty murmured, pulling her hands away. Veronica's grip on her wrists tightened and she pulled them back toward her body.
"I'll warm them up for you." Betty could hear the smirky grin in her voice and if that weren't enough to send heat rushing to her cheeks, finding her hands suddenly slotted between Veronica's thighs was certainly doing the trick.
Veronica's mouth is against hers again suddenly, hot and insistent in all the right ways. Her lips are soft, moisturized and painted to perfection, of course, but also soft in the way they mold to Betty's, give and take in equal measures. Their lipsticks are no doubt a smeared and smudged blur of pink and maroon, and Betty moans at the taste.
Kissing anyone else had never been like this. Betty kissed plenty of boys (read: 4) in games of spin the bottle and truth or dare, even kissed Cheryl and Josie a few times during those games. But not one of those kisses felt anything like what it felt like kissing Veronica Lodge.
Veronica moans into her mouth and Betty finds herself echoing it. She would be reminding herself that this was only kissing between gal pals, totally platonic, just meant as tension relief as Veronica had said but her brain was currently melting down the back of her neck and all she could think about was how nice Veronica's hands felt against her jaw, tugging her close.
"I'm just gonna---mnn...here just---" Veronica mumbles against Betty's lips and suddenly she's straddling Betty's lap, there lips barely coming apart as she maneuvers and honestly Betty would be impressed if she could think anything other than oh, good golly right now.
Betty hovers her hands in between them awkwardly, unsure of what to do with them now.
"You can touch me, it's okay." Veronica sounds so, so good breathy and panting against Betty's lips, Betty can hardly focus on her words. Even when she does, she doesn't know how to proceed. Things were confusing when boundaries were so in flux like they always were with Veronica.
Veronica takes pity on her, grabs her hands and places them on the tops of her thighs, just beneath the hem of her skirt. Betty blushes despite the fact she'd just spent the last 8 minutes with Veronica's tongue doing ungodly things inside her mouth, and keeps the pressure of her hands light.
"Is it okay if I touch you?" Veronica asks, running her fingers lightly along the structured seams running down the sides of Betty's dress. Betty nods as enthusiastically as she can with Veronica's face still so close to hers.
Veronica takes the consent and runs with it, instantly rolling her hips into Betty's as she presses their mouths together again, swallowing Betty's gasps. Veronica's nimble fingers make quick work of the zipper of Betty's dress and suddenly Betty finds herself naked from the waist up save for her thin cotton bra. Veronica leans back to let Betty breathe, and scans over the new expanses of exposed skin appreciatively if not a little predatory. Betty remembers that look, remembers how Veronica looked at her in Ethel's pool house. She shivers.
"Damn." Veronica breathes, and if Betty could blush any harder, she would. She runs her fingers along Betty's ribs and Betty does her best not to squirm, biting down on her lip when Ronnie's fingers trace over the edge of her bra. She closes her eyes and moans and--
"Fuck. M-maybe we should stop." Veronica says suddenly, and Betty is confused. She opens her eyes and tries to catch Veronica's gaze.
"Wait...what--did I...did I do something wrong or...did---" before Betty can even really form a sentence, Veronica is waving her off.
"No! No!" Veronica shakes her head. "God, Betty--You're so...good--" Veronica's hands press to her cheeks lightly, her black nails tapping lighting against her cheekbones. "It's just...I need to cool down for a sec..." she says, and Betty's eyebrows press together. "I don't want to get carried away and cross any lines." Ronnie explains.
Betty actually laughs at that and Veronica gives her a look, half confused, half a little offended.
"Since when do you care about lines, Veronica Lodge?" Betty asks incredulously.
"I just don't want to have you smacking me and storming off when I try sliding my hand under your skirt, Betty Cooper." Veronica rests her hands on the seat on either side of Betty's neck.
"I wouldn't smack you..." Betty mutters.
"You know what I mean." Veronica says. "This is fun. I like kissing you," Betty blushes at that, like a goddamned loser. "But, I don't wanna make you uncomfortable trying to step further."
"I'm not uncomfortable."
"Betty..."
"I wouldn't be half naked in the back of my car with you if I were uncomfortable, Ronnie."
"Groping and making out are little different than having my head under your skirt, Betts." And Betty doesn't even blame herself for blushing at that or the imagery it puts in her head.
"I'm not uncomfortable." Betty insists, pressing her fingers into Veronica's thighs, almost moaning at the feeling of hard muscle.
"Are you sure...?" Veronica asks, even though she's already leaning in, her dark eyes on Betty's lips.
"Absolutely."
-*-
"Raj said he saw Betty's car pull in, they've gotta be here." Jughead said, pointing to the Passion Pit Drive-In Theatre sign.
"Maybe there's a reason they aren't returning any of our calls." Archie says, turning into the long lane that led down to the theatre grounds. Shadows danced across Archie's face, making him look even more like the tortured YA hero Jughead knew and loved.
"Exactly, Arch. Exactly."
-*-
"G-god...Fuck...mnnn...Betty--nnng." Veronica moaned, her nails digging into the leather seat behind her head.
"Shhhh. There's another car a few feet away." Betty murmured, more teasing than actually chiding. Veronica shivered as Betty's breath blew across the tender skin of her inner thighs. Betty's leaned back down, kissed over the hickies she'd peppered across Veronica's skin, nipped at her when Veronica got a little too relaxed again.
"Jesus....mmnn...w-what are they teaching you in journalism class?" Veronica groans, trying to keep her hips from rolling into where Betty's hand is rested against the juncture of her thigh and her pelvis. Betty's been teasing her like this for what felt like hours and she honestly doesn't know how she ended up on the receiving end of all this.
(Veronica vaguely remembered it all going downhill when Veronica said: "No hickeys on places I can't cover easily." and Betty, grinning, said: "Have I ever told you how much I love your thighs?" as she sank to her knees in front of Veronica.)
But Veronica wasn't complaining.
-*-
"Oh, there's Betty's car." Archie pointed.
-*-
Now, Veronica was complaining.