CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DATE
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Sweat dripped down Chris's face, masking into the dirt and grease on his cheeks as he groaned standing up. Squinting as he took his hard hat off and ran a hand through his hair. A shaky sigh leaving his lips as he tried to keep the thumping of his heart down and keep his eyes open. Sleep hadn't been a problem for Chris, it was just trying to adapt to the whole work schedule he was given.

A couple of days had gone by and Chris had opted out on breaking into Ms. Grundy's car with Veronica and Betty. As much as the idea sounded fun, Chris had more important worries on his mind, for example, that he and a bunch of Fred's crew were tearing down Twilight Drive-in. Fred had told him yesterday, and Chris was still trying to grasp it. The one place he could consider a place that held most of his best memories was going to get destroyed and he would be apart of it. Pretty hard to come to terms with, but he knew that it would be a matter of time till it had to get taken down.

Feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket, fishing inside to grab his phone to see if it was Veronica. A smile forming on his lips as he pressed answer and placed his phone to his ear. "Well, I didn't know you were going to ever call me, beautiful." He flirted as he grabbed his cigarette pack from inside his pocket and took one out.

"Oh, CJ." The girl sighed, but Chris was able to tell she was smiling. "So, what does a beautiful girl like you need from me?" He asked as he lit his cigarette and took a puff. "I was going to ask if you wanted to be my date to the Drive-in tonight?" She asked nervously.

Silence filled both sides of the phone as Chris smiled widely. Knowing if he didn't answer, Veronica would become flustered and start backtracking on her offer. As if he could tell the future, the Lodge girl did so. "But you don't have to. We can go as friends or you don't have to go. I would understand-" Before she could finish, Chris chuckled.

"Ronnie, chill. I want to go and I'll meet you there." He reassured her and heard the girl let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, well, um...see you later. Bye." Like that, she hung up and Chris stared at his phone with a large grin as he stuffed his hand into his pocket before taking a puff of his cigarette.

Glancing back at Fred's trailer to see Jughead enter. Frowning and out of interest, Chris followed. Entering the trailer, both Jughead and Fred turned to see him standing by the door. "Now, Chris. You know what I say about smoking in here." Fred reminded and Chris nodded as he walked to one of the desks. "Sorry, boss." Smudging out the end of the cigarette and placing his half-smoked cigarette down before taking a seat at one of the chairs.

"Mayor McCoy says you won the contract to tear down the drive-in," Jughead told Fred who nodded as he turned away from the coffee machine he stood at as he sighed. Turning to the boy as he nodded. "I did." He confirmed as he made his way past Chris and to his desk. "Look, I'm sorry, Jughead. I know how much you and Chris love the Twilight. And so do I." Fred sympathized.

"Mr. Andrews, just give me one week to track down the person who bought the land and convince them not to demolish a holy house of cinema." Jughead pleaded and Fred raised his hands. "It's a big contract for me, Jug, and for my guys including your brother." Fred stated. "Whatever they build in place of the drive-in could mean more jobs."

"Yeah, in what? Some hypothetical future?" Jughead snapped as he scoffed. "You put one Jones out of work. Why don't you put out another, huh?" Jughead questioned and Chris sighed as held his head in his hands. His nails scratching his scalp before holding his chin in one of his hands.

"Jug, your dad was taking materials from one of our job sites. I had to let him go." Fred explained as Jughead pursed his lips. "Right." He nodded. "Did what you had to do. Like you're doing here now?" Jughead asked as he scoffed. "Later."

"J." Chris tried to stop his brother as he stormed out of the trailer. The door slamming shut with a loud bang and Chris sighing as he ran a hand down his face. Looking to Fred who had a guilty look on his face that Chris shook his head at. "It ain't your problem, Mr. Andrews. Your hands are tied and it's a big deal for you and the rest of us working on the construction." Chris reassured as he grabbed his half smoked cigarette and made his way to the door.

"CJ," Fred called out and Chris turned to the man with his hand resting on the doorknob. "I'm sorry. Truly, I am. I know how much you guys loved that place." He told the boy who shook his head. "I didn't go much. FP didn't care to ever take me. Don't need to worry about me, boss." He reassured with a tiny smile before exiting the trailer.

𖥸

Pulling into the drive-in, Rebel Without a Cause played on the large screen with cars in lines watching it. His red sweater hugging his body as he wore his casual denim jeans and white vans. Eyes scanning each car to try and spot Veronica.

Coming to a halt as he pulled in front of Kevin's truck and seeing Kevin, Veronica, and Cheryl all sitting in the bed of the truck. Rolling down his window, Chris glanced around before looking to Veronica with a smirk. "Why are you hanging out with these kids?" He joked earning a sarcastic laugh from Kevin while Cheryl sent him a glare. "A lot coming from a Southsider."

Chris put his hand on his chest with a fake hurt expression. "Ouch, Cherry. Thought we were friends." He teased as Veronica got inside. "In your wildest dreams, Jones." She replied, a faint smirk on her lips before he chuckled and rolled away.

"Took you a while," Veronica spoke up. "Thought you wouldn't show up." She told him and Chris smiled as he glanced at her. "I wouldn't miss out on spending more time with you." He smirked as he saw the blush fan her cheeks as she smiled.

Finding a spot, Chris put the car into park as he sighed. "How was your day?" He asked as he turned her head to her. Veronica sighed as she nodded. "Long. Very, very long." She stated with a bland expression which made Chris smile. "What about you? How was work?" She asked, a slight tilt of her head as she became interested in what the mysterious older Jones boy did.

Shrugging, Chris looked back at the screen. "Work was work. Carry shit here, carry shit there. Hold something, put it back down." He explained earning a giggle from the girl. "Oddly relaxing in a way, but nonetheless, tiring." Chris sighed as he leaned his seat back the full way.

Glancing at Veronica who was staring at him intently. A tiny smile on her face as she admired the boy from her spot. Her eyes drifting across his body before seeing something h a bit of his stomach was exposed. Frowning at the sight of a scar that she mindlessly reached for. Upon contact, her wrist was tightly grasped with Chris breathing heavily and staring into the girl's eyes. "Don't. Please." His low tone and plead was enough for Veronica to nod and have her wrist release.

There was so much hidden within the Jones boy that Veronica wanted to just force everything out of him. If he got pissed by the simplest touch, then she wondered what triggered his anger. What got him so pissed by someone touching a scar?

Brushing the thoughts away, Veronica sighed as she started climbing over to Chris. "What are you doing?" He asked as she was practically straddling him at this point. Both her hands resting on his chest, with her face hidden by the darkness and her copper eyes being the only thing he could see. "Wanted a better view. Scoot over." She demanded and he did so.

Once settled in, Veronica laid in Chris's arms as her head rested on his shoulder. Ignoring the fact that her heart was pounding in his chest at an uncomfortable rate that could scare anyone. But she noticed how Chris's heart was at a steady beat.

While Veronica was to worried about Chris's heartbeat, Chris was shocked by how this night turned out. In his head, he was expecting a simple hangout and flirt before Chris dropped Veronica off, but now. He was happy it didn't turn out how it did in his head.

Holding this girl in his arms was all he ever wanted and was happy to experience it. It felt like he was in a dream and questioning if all of this was real or just his imagination. If so, he hoped it would never end so he could hold Veronica in his arms as long as he could.