Blue Skies #27: Freedom (Archie)
Title: Anywhere
Author: L-chan (mellowcandle)
Prompt: #27, freedom
Fandom: Archie
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Betty, Reggie
Rating & Warnings: K
Word Count: 378
Summary: The love trapezoid is about to lose its supporting sides.
They stood watching the other two, a familiar, endless tableau.
Nothing ever changed. Archie was always gaga for Veronica, until he wasn’t, then she snapped her fingers and he went running back with his tongue hanging out like a dog hearing the dinner bell, leaving a cloud of dust where he used to be, which was usually next to Betty.
Second choice. The runner-up. The consolation prize. The good enough.
Why did she put up with it?
And she saw the same realization play across Reggie’s features as he watched, leaning against the hood of his roadster, trying to pretend like he didn’t care, like he didn’t have a heart beneath his arrogance and cruelty.
He was drawn to Veronica-all boys were-because like attracted like. Vanity, superficiality, fickleness.
But maybe… maybe… he was tired of it all, too. This going around in circles, this game the four of them seemed trapped in, destined to repeat forever.
Something had to change, and Betty knew she couldn’t wait for it. She had to be the one to make it happen.
She opened the passenger door and settled into the leather seat. He started at the sound and looked back at her, eyes wide and confused.
She pulled the rubber band from her ponytail and let her blonde hair fall across her shoulders, shook it out, ran her hands through it, all while he watched her. The attention was on her for once, not Veronica, but that wasn’t why she did it. Her life couldn’t be about what Veronica did anymore.
With a bright smile, she said, “Let’s go.”
He didn’t reply at first, instead glanced back at Veronica and Archie and the same scene he’d witnessed a million times before, and then he nodded. "Yeah." He slipped into the driver’s seat with practiced ease and revved engine. There was no reaction from the other two, but that didn’t matter.
Before his sunglasses covered his eyes, she saw the same determination she knew was in hers. “Where to?”
A place where she could feel the wind in her hair, the sun on her face, and freedom from this eternal torment. The horizon was a black line in front of them, and she was ready to see what lay beyond it.
“Anywhere.”
Author: L-chan (mellowcandle)
Prompt: #27, freedom
Fandom: Archie
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Betty, Reggie
Rating & Warnings: K
Word Count: 378
Summary: The love trapezoid is about to lose its supporting sides.
They stood watching the other two, a familiar, endless tableau.
Nothing ever changed. Archie was always gaga for Veronica, until he wasn’t, then she snapped her fingers and he went running back with his tongue hanging out like a dog hearing the dinner bell, leaving a cloud of dust where he used to be, which was usually next to Betty.
Second choice. The runner-up. The consolation prize. The good enough.
Why did she put up with it?
And she saw the same realization play across Reggie’s features as he watched, leaning against the hood of his roadster, trying to pretend like he didn’t care, like he didn’t have a heart beneath his arrogance and cruelty.
He was drawn to Veronica-all boys were-because like attracted like. Vanity, superficiality, fickleness.
But maybe… maybe… he was tired of it all, too. This going around in circles, this game the four of them seemed trapped in, destined to repeat forever.
Something had to change, and Betty knew she couldn’t wait for it. She had to be the one to make it happen.
She opened the passenger door and settled into the leather seat. He started at the sound and looked back at her, eyes wide and confused.
She pulled the rubber band from her ponytail and let her blonde hair fall across her shoulders, shook it out, ran her hands through it, all while he watched her. The attention was on her for once, not Veronica, but that wasn’t why she did it. Her life couldn’t be about what Veronica did anymore.
With a bright smile, she said, “Let’s go.”
He didn’t reply at first, instead glanced back at Veronica and Archie and the same scene he’d witnessed a million times before, and then he nodded. "Yeah." He slipped into the driver’s seat with practiced ease and revved engine. There was no reaction from the other two, but that didn’t matter.
Before his sunglasses covered his eyes, she saw the same determination she knew was in hers. “Where to?”
A place where she could feel the wind in her hair, the sun on her face, and freedom from this eternal torment. The horizon was a black line in front of them, and she was ready to see what lay beyond it.
“Anywhere.”