Homecoming Can Wait (Riverdale F/F Betty & Veronica)

[Whysprr]

Hermione for the win! Thanks for the update! I love your work!

[shadow99]

Love it!

[supergiirl]

Really loving this! Im currently in my Riverdale phase too, haha. Hope you continue!  

[20andsickfic]

I love your work SO MUCH wannablessedbe please keep writing it makes me so happy!!!! 

[Ellathenerd]

This is so amazing! Please write more!

[sickprincess]

Hermione taking care of both of them is the cutest thing I've ever read <3 

[wannablessedbe]

Hello darlings! I have not forgotten about this story! Just been busy with holiday travel. But this little tidbit has been rattling around my head the whole time…enjoy!!! Thx for all your great feedback!

 

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Homecoming Can Wait

Part 7

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            Veronica could barely finish half of her soup before her head started spinning; and her eyes grew so heavy, she felt like a low battery that was about to power off. “Can I go back to bed now?” She murmured, dropping her head against Betty’s shoulder beside her. The blonde girl took her hand and traced sleepy patterns over her palm with a soft yawn.

            “Of course, mi amor. Come on, let’s get you both nice and cozy, hmm?” Hermione’s voice was gentle as she stood up and put one steadying hand on her daughter’s back while Veronica stumbled to her feet. Betty followed, without any comment except for a bout of rattling, congested coughs.

            “Mom, did we bring the good humidifier from New York?” The dark-haired girl asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she was guided gently down the hall and into her room to sit on the edge of her bed. “B really needs it…” She sighed softly and reached for a tissue from the bedside table; but her eyes closed before her hand was halfway there.

            “Chhxiishu!! …*Snghf*…” Veronica snapped forward and sneezed woozily into her pajama sleeve, her free hand still stretched absently toward the tissue box.

            “Bless you honey,” Hermione smiled gently, watching Betty weave her fingers gently through Veronica’s messy hair.

            “I hate this,” Veronica whispered miserably, grabbing a tissue. “Aah’txchshh!!!” She shivered when she sneezed, wiping her runny nose in the damp tissue with another soft sigh.

            “C’mon, lie down,” Betty murmured; and Veronica didn’t need to be told twice. Her head felt so heavy. The blonde girl sat beside her on the mattress, pulling up the covers and playing with her girlfriend’s shiny dark hair protectively.

            “Honestly, I’m not sure if we brought the humidifier or not, querida,” Hermione admitted, putting one steadying hand on Betty’s back while the blonde girl bent forward with another rattling cough into her sleeve. “I’ll send Smithers out for another one. The drug store will be closing soon, I don’t want to wait until morning. ”

            “Ndoe, it’s okay…I have to go home soon anyway,” Betty admitted, her croaky voice sounding exhausted and thoroughly miserable. “Ugh, I’mb gonna be in so much trouble if I’mb late again…*snnghf!*” She rubbed her forehead and sighed, dropping down limply onto the bed beside Veronica even though she’d just said she had to leave. Her body clearly didn’t care about her brain’s commands right now. Hermione hated the fact that the first thing on the blonde girl’s mind was getting in trouble, when she shouldn’t be worrying about anything right now but what kind of tea she wanted.

            “Uh-uh…you cad’t go,” Veronica murmured, echoing her mother’s thoughts exactly as she rolled over and wrapped one arm possessively around Betty’s waist, nuzzling up against her side. “You’re too sick, B. Just stay…we’ll take care of you…”

            “I think Ronnie’s right, mami,” Hermione seated herself on the edge of the bed beside them, resting one hand lightly on the blonde girl’s head. “You shouldn’t even be going outside like this…you’ve had a fever for days, and it’s below zero out there. You’re going to get a chill the second you walk out the door, you’ll just make yourself worse with that cough. You can’t keep running yourself into the ground like this, querida.” Betty’s tired eyes welled up with exhausted tears, and she immediately squeezed them shut, trying to shut down her feelings and focus on what was expected of her, the way she had been doing her entire life. But she was just so tired, and she felt so sick and horrible…and she knew she was safe here with Veronica and Mrs. Lodge, in a way she had never really known before. Something hard broke open inside her, and she started crying, really crying, not just squeezing her eyes closed to hold in her tears and digging her nails into her palms.

            “Está bien, mi amor…no te preocupes por nada,” Veronica murmured, her dark eyes cracking open briefly as she curled herself more snugly against the blonde girl’s shivering body. She rubbed her thumb sleepily over Betty’s stomach for  a minute, before withdrawing her arm to press the end of her sleeve under her nose with a little huff. “Khiishhu!! *S-snf*…” She shuddered weakly against Betty’s side, rubbing her runny nose against her pajama cuff again. “Ughhh…*snghf*…sorry.”

            “Bless you,” Betty sniffled, smiling weakly at Veronica’s sleepy affection, the familiar tight feeling of anxiety in her chest loosening its grip the more her girlfriend cuddled her…even if she didn’t know what Veronica was actually saying. “You remember that I don’t speak Spanish, right?”

            “Right…sorry. My brain is, like…slippery right now,” the raven-haired girl yawned. Betty chuckled a little at Veronica’s woozy adorableness, and coughed again, hard. It felt like being punched in the chest.

            “She said you shouldn’t worry about anything,” Hermione supplied helpfully, pulling the covers up more snugly over their shoulders and smoothing her daughter’s hair back protectively. “And she’s right. As usual.”

            “But my mom…” Betty began feebly, trailing off as her nose started to run teasingly, and she reached for a fresh tissue from the bedside table. “Aahh’chxshht!! Aaah—iihshhiiuh!!!” Her stuffy sneezing sucked all the breath from her lungs, and she immediately coughed again, feeling Veronica’s sleepy hand trailing lightly up and down her back as her chest rattled.

            “Let me worry about your mom, preciosa. I’ll call her, all right?” Hermione soothed the dazed, anxious girl, smoothing her hair back the same as she had done for Veronica a moment ago. “If she’s going to get mad at anyone, she can get mad at me.  I’m not letting you out of this apartment tonight, Betty Cooper, and that is the end of the story.”

            “Okay…thandk you,” Betty sighed, reaching for another tissue from the bedside table to blow her nose. Her eyes were very heavy now, red and puffy from crying. “I…I really…d-dod’t wadt to go…hhheh…hhxiiuh!! *snghhf.*” The blonde girl shivered wearily with another sick sneeze into a fresh tissue, followed by a string of harsh coughs that curled her into a semi-fetal position on the bed. Veronica just kept one hand on her back, rubbing her thumb in sleepy circles over the blonde girl’s soft flannel pajama top. After a minute, Betty’s reverberating coughs stopped suddenly, her breath sticking in her chest; and her eyes narrowed to sleepy slits as she took in a wheezy gasp and sneezed again helplessly, the damp tissues pressed snugly to her runny nose.

            “Aaah—ahhxchiew!!! *S-snnfl*…” She sniffled, coughed a few times more, and sighed.

            “Bless you, pobrecita,” Veronica murmured, snuggling up against her back and wrapping one arm around her from behind, nuzzling the back of her neck. Betty blew her nose wearily before wrapping her arm over Veronica’s, holding her there, and lacing their fingers together, both half-asleep with their eyes already closed. Hermione quietly took her phone out and snapped a silent picture, grinning at the sight they made, curled up together like a couple of puppies.

            “Hh…hhiishxu!!!” Veronica sneezed sleepily against the back of Betty’s hair, unable or unwilling to move her hand back from the blonde girl’s grip.

            “Bless you, cupcake,” the blonde girl murmured croakily. She was losing her voice pretty dramatically now. Veronica sniffled wetly, finally pulling her hand away from Betty’s when her breath hitched again, and her runny nose twitched irritably.

            “Chxshht!! *Snf*…” The dark-haired girl cupped one hand absently to her face and sneezed again, shivering against the blonde girl’s back.

            “Bless you…” Betty murmured, her voice soft and mumbly as she drifted limply off to sleep. Hermione passed her daughter a few more tissues, since she was too far from the bedside table to reach them without sitting up, which clearly was not happening.

            “Thags,” Veronica mumbled, wiping absently at her runny nose and keeping the crumpled tissues bunched in her hand as she settled back down with a soft yawn. “We cad’t let her leave, mom…”

            “We won’t, mi amor. Don’t worry yourself, please mija, just rest now. I can handle Alice Cooper.”

            “Mm…” Veronica mumbled in agreement as she followed Betty into sleep.

 

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            The lights were dimmed in Veronica’s room when the two girls woke to the sounds of yelling floating down the hall. “Is that my mom?” Betty yawned softly, rubbing her eyes. She coughed, but it wasn’t quite as deep as before, and the jagged pain in her chest had receded a bit. As the room came into focus, the blonde girl realized that a humidifier had been brought in while they were sleeping; and she smiled.

            “I thig our paredts are fighting,” Veronica sighed sleepily, blinking slowly as her surroundings came into focus in the dim light.

            “Yeah, you thidk?” Betty teased gently, trying to play it off like it was funny. But it wasn’t funny. The blonde girl felt her stomach tie itself into a painful knot, and she shrunk back a little deeper under the covers, unconsciously imagining her mom storming in here any second and dragging her out of Veronica’s bed.

            “Dod’t worry, B…you’re safe here,” the raven-haired girl murmured, rolling towards her girlfriend with a sleepy smile and cuddling her protectively. “I…*snghf*…I promise.”

            “I know…thadks V,” Betty snuffled shyly, shifting under the blankets and kissing Veronica drowsily on the lips. Then the bedroom door slammed open and bounced back off the wall, making them both jolt woozily under the covers.

            “Elizabeth Cooper, get up this instant,” Alice snarled as she stormed in, her expression suggesting that she’d just waded through a river of raw sewage to reach them, rather than walking through the Lodges’ lovely apartment.

            “Mom, what are you doing?” Betty asked croakily, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes as her pink nose twitched and started to run. “Hh…hhitxchOOoo!!! *Snfl*…” She wrapped one arm across her face and sneezed breathlessly with a sharp jerk under the blankets, rubbing her trembly nose in her sleeve.

            “Save the theatrics, Elizabeth. We’re leaving right now,” Alice said sharply, crossing her arms tightly while Betty snuffled and reached for the tissues. Hermione stormed in right on her heels.

            “Jesus Christ mom, id’s ndot theatrics…I cadn’t help it,” Betty grumbled, blowing her stuffy nose in a fresh tissue.

            “That’s enough, Alice,” Hermione said quietly, clearly in better control of her temper than the other furious mom in the room. “For God’s sake, look at her. Listen to her voice. She’s sick. She’s not going anywhere tonight. If you keep pushing her like this, you’re going to push her right out the door, just like you did with Polly.”

            “How dare you”—Alice gasped, her blue eyes flashing furiously; but before she could finish insulting Mrs. Lodge, Veronica sat up beside Betty, taking her hand protectively.

            “Mrs. Cooper, please, stop yelling…we wod’t let anything bad happen to her. We love her. Why cadn’t you just let us?” The raven-haired girl murmured, holding the tissue box out to Betty when she felt the blonde girl suck in another deep breath beside her.

            “Iiiihshxuh!!! …*Snfl*…” The woozy blonde girl shuddered and snapped forward with a fresh sneeze into her tissues, and immediately broke into a jagged cough. “Ow…sorry…” Betty groaned weakly, wiping her pink nose gingerly.

            “Bless you,” Veronica murmured, stroking her girlfriend’s blonde hair back to kiss her fever-flushed cheek.

            “Elizabeth, you listen to me right now”—Alice started to say nastily; but Hermione cut her off.

            “No, Alice. It’s time for you to listen. What’s between us is ancient history, it has nothing to do with our kids. It doesn’t matter anymore. You have a smart, sweet, beautiful daughter who deserves to be happy…and so do I. They make each other happy, Alice. You’re not getting in the middle of that. The only question left is, do you want to be part of your daughter’s happiness? If you do, you’re welcome to stay. Otherwise, get out.” Betty and her mom were both staring at Hermione Lodge with the same expression of blank shock; except that Betty’s shock held a sparkle of sheer delight at the way Mrs. Lodge was defending her, while Alice looked like she’d just been hit in the face with a blunt object. Veronica smirked sleepily, raising one dark eyebrow smugly as she took Betty’s hand in both her own.

            “Don’t expect to come crying to me when the Lodges destroy your future,” Mrs. Cooper finally spat at her daughter, turning on her heel and marching out just as furiously as she had marched in, her cheeks burning with humiliation.

            “Wow…” Betty whispered after a moment of silence; then she coughed again, and Mrs. Lodge handed her a water bottle from the bedside table. “Thag you…*snghf!*…that was incredible. I’ve never seen anyone talk to her like that before,” The blonde girl shook her head incredulously. “That really just happened, right? I’mb ndot having a crazy fever dream?”

            “You’re not dreaming, mija,” Mrs. Lodge shook her head with a sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed next to the two dazed-looking girls. “Don’t worry about your mom, she’ll calm down. I know Alice Cooper. Just get some rest, and we’ll worry about the rest when you’re both feeling better…everything’s going to be all right, queridas.”

            “You’re the best mom ever,” Veronica shook her head dazedly. Beside her, Betty sniffled and took a fresh tissue.

            “Chhxshht!! *Snghf*…thags, Mrs. Lodge…that was aah…ahhh…ambazig…hh-hht’xchiuh!!! Hhiiishxuh!!” The blonde girl shivered and sneezed into the tissues cupped in her hand, already reaching for another one in between as she gasped in a soft breath, and sneezed twice more. Veronica wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her warm temple.

            “I think we’re past propriety now, hmm querida?” Mrs. Lodge smiled at her two girls. “Call me Hermione.”

 

           

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by wannablessedbe

[Germophobe]

This is phenomenal! I've lurked on your stories (here and on FF.net) since 2013ish, I'm always excited when I see an update from you, and this update didn't disappoint!

[venuskiddo]

im still so in love with this story ugh

[SexyGodlikeHair]

AMAZING

OMG

even though I know you might stop here bc it's such a sweet ending, I still can't wait to see more nurse!b and sick af!v - in this story, or in any future one you might write .

Thank you so much for writing this

[20andsickfic]

OMG THIS IS AMAZING PLEASE PLEASE CONTINUE!!!! 

[4000tacobells]

I keep coming back to read this because it's so dang good  I especially love Hermione in this fic, because I love familial care-taking a lot

I would looooove to see you do a Cheryl/Toni fic, especially with sick Toni because I can totally see her being a handkerchief devotee for some reason. Also, Cheryl would be a really enthusiastic nurse.

[Y31]

I have to admit that I never thought about putting Betty and Veronica together as a couple, or really all that much about using them for sneeze stuff.  I have to admit, I was evilly waiting for Veronica to catch the cold through the first few chapters.  When she finally did get sick she did not disappoint.  In addition I was pretty hopeful that Cheryl would end up catching it too at some point even though I knew it was a fool's hope.

I think that this story is wrapped up nicely so I'm not really expecting or asking for any continuation of it, but I'm sure if it was continued you would do an excellent job.  🙂