#and if my theory is anything close to how it ends I think veronica will stay with Archie in the 50s

[tandv]

I think riverdale s7 will end with there being a way home to the future but there will be a choice as to who wants to leave and who wants to stay. And Archie will want to stay, whether or not that’s what he chooses idk but he will toy with the thought of living in a universe where he can have a do over of his life without it having been ruined by trauma or mistakes etc.

[just-a-bookish-reader]

In These Hallowed Halls - Full Review

disclaimer: I did not post the full review on my instagram, only the ending overview

⭐⭐⭐

1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg ⭐⭐⭐

While finely and well told, I don't believe that this story was the right choice for the first story post the foreword by the editors. Early on I had certain expectations for the story to come full circle in a specific way, and when it didn't, I was left extremely disappointed. Mind you, I didn't need a specific ending, there were a couple different ways that the story could have been brought full circle but I won't list those here as there would be no way to avoid spoilers.

There's also the fact that this short story - as stated in the author's note at the end - acts as a prequel to The Truants by the same author. There are ways that one can write a short story that takes place within the same story or even with the same characters as a series - or as this one is, a prequel, without relying on the reader to know anything about the main story, but this short story does not do that well enough. I felt as though I was missing something so when I came across the author's note it made sense, but sadly didn't clear anything up about the story itself.

Pythia by Olivie Blake ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Out of all twelve of these stories, Blake's ranked among my absolute favorites. With a unique and honestly terrifying take on our future - whether near or far off - in regards to artificial intelligence and super computers, I enjoyed the easy back and forth snippets of unconventional dialogue and the main character's own recollection of events revolving around the sudden death of a girl, one suspiciously close to the disappearance of another.

So many wonderful yet unnerving ideas filled the 30+ pages - from cults around technology, a type of magic that links both technology and magic together, making technology mimic humans. A few lines of binary, a few softly muttered spells would then complete such tasks. But the most horrifying element of Olivie Blake's story is the idea of being able to - in a way - resurrect a person's soul, and insert it into AI, much less more than one someone's soul. Blake's writing style oddly reminds me of Veronica Roth's in the Chosen Ones, which only made this more enjoyable to read. To wrap it all up, there was an unsettling undertone throughout and I felt uneasy the rest of the work day.

Sabbatical by James Tate Hill ⭐

Sadly, this story was incredibly boring (I kept stating so to my coworkers while reading even), that I found myself trying to hurry through the story and honestly I don't think I retained much of anything from my reading of this story.

The Hare and The Hound by Kelly Andrews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was pleasantly surprised by the execution of this story, and how the writing kept my attention and hoping that the stories to come would be just as good if not even somehow better for the rest of the anthology. While most of my thoughts contain many spoilers and I try to not spoil ARCs, I will say that I was so happy that my own theories that I began to have quite quickly after Arlen was introduced weren't just revealed as correct, but merely implied, suggested that I had been right through my reading and analysis of the story.

I would love to see more to this story from Andrews in the future, maybe even in Arlen's point of view, and then picking up after the short story ended or even before. This story left me with so many questions and so many thoughts - and in the best way possible.

X House by JT Ellison ⭐⭐

This one was alright. I did find the idea of hazing so extreme that both a student and teacher ended up dead to be interesting though. I do wish that there had been more to this story than what almost felt like a "don't do drugs" PSA but for hazing.

The Ravages by Layne Fargo ⭐

So I genuinely remember nothing about this story.

Four Funerals by David Bell ⭐⭐

While the writing was fine, the topic didn't feel particularly dark academia. This is just something that can happen at any time, any school, for any reason, in any class. It happens frequently. If school shootings were more rare in the US then maybe I could consider the topic more dark academia. Otherwise it feels like it's just a dark real life topic. I also wasn't really a fan of the point of view it took, and there were too many things left unanswered and I really disliked our POV character.

The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang ⭐⭐

The writing was actually really good here but the story felt pointless. It didn't even feel specifically dark academia - though I suppose a mystery and an academic setting is really all that's needed for something to be considered. I think the only thing that really made this an interesting story was the main character's mental health and I wish there was actually more discussion about that, instead of the story ending the way it did.

Weekend at Berties by ML Rio ⭐

This is so distantly related to academia - with the murdered person being related to the characters academically, this was boring and odd.

The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant ⭐⭐⭐

Not really sure what to rate this one, as it did a particularly good job of scaring the living shit out of me and leaving me uneasy for the rest of the night - but in a different way than Pythia did. Though I'm not sure that is particularly a very strong compliment as I'm very easily scared and given nightmares, plus I still had Pythia's unease running through my veins at the time of reading. I will say the writing was excellent, but I also wish that the pacing had been different, not exactly faster or slower, just… different.

Phobos by Tori Bovalino ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of my other favorites in this anthology, I found Phobos to be excellently written and felt like a true dark academic story! I really liked the discussions of class and privilege had in this story as it related to the main character, and felt that they were only "quick" due to the nature of it being a short story and I would absolutely love to see a full length novel, or even just a novella diving into the whole story before and during and after.

I also really loved how she ended up committing her murder of a lower ranking student in the end, and god I could go on and on, and while I know most of these aren't linked to a bigger work I would just die for a full length novel or novella of this one, and I will repeat that until the day I die. (I also think this should have been swapped with Playing in order to close out the anthology)

Playing by Phoebe Wynne ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The plot twist of this one was great! And to be honest the plot twist is why I'm giving this story four stars. I really liked how the main character started to think about the funerals she played at, and even had moments that made it seem like she didn't know what she was doing (ha me trying super hard not to spoil), but in the end fully knew what she was doing, and someone else at the funerals seeming to catch on as well. A delightful story, though I feel like this should not have been the closer.

Overall

With an interesting premise, and many big name authors in the genre, In These Hallowed Halls promises much, but sadly doesn't deliver on about half of it. I found only about three stories that were five stars, with the majority of the stories being three or less, mostly less and less frequently three.

I really wish that they had been able to get the five star stories first, and then take them and go "we want the rest of the collection to match these vibes" even if it meant replacing some of the three and four star stories, because if I could get stories like Pythia, The Hare and The Hound, and Phobos for the entire anthology, I can sacrifice Playing and The Professor of Ontography. I will say that while this anthology was largely disappointing (I had extremely and possibly way too high of expectations for this collection) - I would love to see more anthologies in a similar vein.

Anthologies about other trends in literature right now, maybe light academia, cottagecore, fairycore, etc. Basically I would love lighter stories but I could also accept a second volume of dark academia inspired stories, if we got more authors.

While I loved that not a lot of these authors were well known, I would also love a second volume with other authors such as Leigh Bardugo (Ninth House), Mona Awad (Bunny), Dona Tartt (The Secret History, The Goldfinch), Antonia Angress (Sirens & Muses), even Daisy Alpert Florin (yes I did just write a review for her book My Last Innocent Year).

Generally, the concept and premise was spectacular, the execution - not as much, but also not as badly as it could have gone.

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Sweet Pea//i can't get her off of my brain

Request: Can I request a Sweet Pea/Reader with the song If U Seek Amy by Britney Spears, i can't think of anything plot wise but probably something to do with a party, maybe smut if you're up for it?

hey! enemies to lovers! i repeat, enemies to lovers! is that surprise though? do i know any other tropes? yes. am i going to use them in my writing? no. i hope you like it!! and have a great day everybody!! 

You’re not sure whose party this is. Rebecca’s, Ruby’s? No, it definitely begins with a J. Juliet? Nope. Jade! It’s Jade’s party. It was Juliet’s last night. Although you’re not sure how you can have two separate parties in the same house. Juliet and Jade being twins, they have to share everything, but their parties are separate, or at least thats what they tell people. Most of the time however, they blend into one. 

Its very rare that they have an empty house, but when they do they have weekend long parties. Both insisting that they’re nothing alike. But they both involve a copious amounts of alcohol, loud music, and drama. 

A flash of dark purple hair rushes past you as you walk through the front door and Jade sends you a quick wave and smile as she passes, she’s quickly followed by Juliet, with her pastel purple hair knotted in a braid and almost hitting you in the face as she chases her sister into the kitchen. 

“Give me that back. Its mine!” Juliet shouts angrily. You hear Jade laugh loudly over the music and then they’re both arguing. 

“If you wanted it, you shouldn’t have left it.” Jade replies, her voice teasing as she ignores her sisters tone. 

You’ve known them since you were a kid, and they’ve always argued like this. When it was their birthday, you had to bring the exact same present for both of them otherwise all hell would break lose. Even the box had to be identical.

“You don’t even drink. What do you want with vodka.” 

“I want to annoy you.” She shrugs. 

“Fuck off.” She snatches the bottle back and Jade pouts at her. 

“Someone’s touchy. Have you and Rebecca had a lovers quarrel?” 

“Shut up.” She huffs before storming off. She’s clutching the bottle tight to her chest when she passes you, her head hung low as she stares at the cream carpet and your eyes follow her as she makes her way through the large group of teenagers stood in the living room. 

You feel an arm around your shoulder making you look beside you, and you’re greeted with a very happy Jade. 

“Is she okay?” You ask, pointing in the direction that Juliet slumped off to.

“Yeah.” She glances towards the stairs and you see a slightly worried expression replace her smile. “Her and Rebecca had a very minor argument before the party about something idiotic and she’s been in a foul mood ever since.” 

“Oh.” 

“Anyway.” She changes the subject, the smile reappearing on her face and she greets a few people walking through the door. “Lets get drunk!” 

“You don’t drink.” You laugh, letting her lead you to the kitchen. 

“But you do though, so you’re drinking for the both of us. So, get this down you.” She hands you a shot of something bright red that burns when you drink it and tastes like a mix of fire and soil. “And this.” She shoves another one in your hand and you grimace, but down it anyway. “And take this for the road.” She gives you a red cup with an undisclosed liquid in it and pats you on the back. “I’m gonna go see if Juliet has stopped moping, but I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Have fun.” The two of you walk out of the kitchen and into the crowded living room. In the five minutes you’ve been in the drinking, there seems to be at least twenty more people just in the living room alone and you grimace as you watch the people dance and spill their drinks. 

You honestly have no idea how Jade and Juliet manage to clean up after their parties, and you’re even more confused as to how their parents haven’t found out yet. There’s been a few times where you’ve fallen asleep on the floor (or in the bath) and when you’ve woken up, the house has been spotless. 

Jade walks up the stairs, pushing past the couple’s making out before she disappears. And you’re left standing in the middle of the makeshift dance floor (the lighter patch of the carpet thats usually covered by a very expensive rug) trying to find your friends. 

You instead find Sweet Pea, looking smug as ever while he talks to some girl from your English class. The school year is coming to a close and graduation is looming. For some people, that means studying as hard as they can, getting ready for college and trying to cling on to the last bits of high school before they go off into the big wide world. 

For Sweet Pea however, he’s clinging onto something but its certainly not memories. He’s hooked up with somebody different at every single party you’ve been in the past month, and rumors are spread around the school like wildfire. 

People that have been to several parties in one night have seen him at every single one of them, all with somebody different. And it leaves you wondering what he says to these girls that gets them into bed so quickly or if he just doesn’t last that long when he actually gets to it. You’re favourite theory being the latter. 

He looks away from the girl he’s taking to, feeling eyes on him and before you can look away, the two of you make eye contact. A smirk takes over his appearance and you send him a disgusted stare when he winks at you before going back to flirting. 

The origin behind yours and Sweet Pea’s hatred for each other is unknown to everyone, even the two of you yourselves. But its notorious around Riverdale High. You don’t like him, he doesn’t like you. Its been that way since the serpents started, and even though the hatred between the two sides has long been over, you and Sweet Pea still can’t stand to be in the same room as each other. 

You find him cocky, arrogant and annoying. He finds you stubborn, irritating and very petty. When the two of you are in the same room you can bet that within two minutes there’s going to be an argument. Usually because you like to wind each other up, despite claiming to hate talking to each other. 

If there’s an opportunity to annoy one of you, the others going to take it, no matter the situation. Which has grown increasingly irritating to your friends when they can’t get through a conversation without being interrupted by Sweet Pea throwing something at you or you continuously flicking him in the head until he gets annoyed. And then it ends in name calling until one of you goes to far and the other storms off.  

You pull your gaze away from the tall serpent, now swapping spit with a blonde  and find Betty instead, sat on the sofa with a frown on her face while she holds a full bottle of beer. 

“Hey.” You don’t mean to startle her, but with the volume of the music only getting louder as you approach her, you have to practically shout. She jumps, seemingly being pulled from her thoughts and sends you a small smile as she watches you sit down. “Are you okay?” You lean in, until you’re practically shouting in her ear. It takes a few seconds for her to realize what you’ve said, but when she does she just shrugs and slumps back into the soft furniture. 

“I’m not really in the partying mood.” She replies and you send her a sympathetic smile. 

“Whats up.” 

“Boy trouble.” She huffs and looks out into the crowd. You follow her gaze until you find Jughead leaning against a wall, a drink in his hand as he watches Archie and Veronica dance. 

Large grins are on all of their faces and Betty lets out a deep sigh. The only problem is, you don’t know why one she’s referring to so you have no way to cheer her up. 

Betty’s relationship with Jughead and Archie is almost as complicated as yours and Sweet Pea-Wait. No, thats not right because you and Sweet Pea have the complete opposite of a relationship. You have an, un-relationship. Or, whatever. 

You shake your head, willing that thought and any other like it out of your brain forever, before looking back at Betty and hoping the right words to say will come to you soon. 

“Its okay.” You place a gentle hand on hers and she looks down at it. “I get it. Boys are complicated. But you are far better than any Riverdale High boy. Just think, you’ll be at college in a few months and you’ll have your pick of all the highly educated men that know what to do and how to treat you right.” You nudge her gently and a soft smile twitches at her lips. 

“I suppose so yeah.” She shrugs. 

“But tonight, we’re high schoolers. And do you know what high schoolers do at parties?” 

“What?” 

“They drink and make bad decision that they regret in the morning! So drink that and lets dance.” You say, pushing the bottle towards her. She rolls her eyes, but you can tell she’s suppressing a smile as she takes her first sip. “To peer pressure.” You bump your cup against her bottle before taking a drink. 

“Y/n!” Willow shouts from across the room gaining yours and Betty’s attention. Her red hair bounces as she pushes excitedly through the crowd and by the time she makes it to where you’re stood there’s a bright smile lighting up her entire face. She hugs you and then Betty, complimenting both of your outfits before finally remembering why she came over in the first place. “Have you seen Amy tonight?” 

“Nope.” You shake your head. “But I have only been in here and the kitchen so she could be anywhere.” 

“Damn.” She sighs. 

“She could be in the bathroom.” Betty suggests.

“Or smoking up outside.” You add and she ponders the idea for a minute before nodding. 

“Yeah.” She nods. “Probably. I’ll see you around.” She waves at the two of you before wandering through the house and disappearing out the patio doors. 

“Come on Cooper.” You grab the blondes hand, pulling her off the couch and into the sweaty group of people. She follows reluctantly, keeping her head down as she tries her best not to bump into anybody. 

“Baby, it wasn’t like that.” A guy you pass says desperately to his girlfriend who’s stood with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl stuck on her face. 

“What is ‘does she take a piece of lime for the drink that I’mma buy her’ mean?” She replies impatiently and you and Betty stop a few feet away from them, wanting to hear more of whatever this conversation is. 

“I was talking about you.” 

“You were talking about me?” She repeats and you and Betty share a look, both of you knowing where this is going. When your question is repeated, you’re in a big trouble. “I have a citrus allergy, you know this.” She shouts and storms off leaving the guy alone and you and Betty holding in laughter. 

“See, we haven’t even started dancing yet and you’re already cheered up.” 

“True.” She shrugs. The song changes to something even more upbeat and the two of you start dancing (jumping around). 

Halfway through though you get distracted by a familiar serpent, passing you and a wicked smile takes over your face. 

You stick your foot out while dancing and the next thing you know Sweet Pea stumbles, spilling his drink over himself and a few other people. You stifle a laugh while he apologizes to the people around him and Betty sends you a disapproving look. 

“What the fuck!” He shouts and looks around, his eyes instantly settling on you and a deep scowl takes over his face. A few people around you stop dancing to watch what is happening, all waiting for the inevitable argument thats about to break out. You however, are unaffected. You just look at him, a sweet smile plastered on your face while you watch him dab at his t-shirt. 

“Oops.” You mumble, looking him up and down as he mutters curse words under his breath. Betty moves closer to you, a part of her worrying that an actual fight is about to break out, and you notice that even Jughead, Archie and Veronica have shuffled a little closer to the three of you. 

Betty exchanges awkward glances with Jughead and Archie before looking down at the floor, and you and Sweet Pea continue the small staring contest you’ve found yourselves in. 

He gives up first, looking down at his now stained shirt and you smirk triumphantly. “I hate you.” He mutters before shoving past you, making sure to bump your shoulder. 

“It was nice bumping in to you Pea.” You tease, watching him storm off and he flips you off over his shoulder. 

“You guys are actually ridiculous.” Betty shakes her head at you. People start dancing again, the moment seeming to have been forgotten already and you just shrug at her. 

Amy rushes past you a second later, distracting you from dancing and your eyes follow her as she runs further away. 

“I found Amy!” You say to nobody in particular making Betty laugh. 

“What do you think Willow wanted Amy for?” She asks and you send her a look. 

“What everybody wants Amy for.” 

“Se-” 

“Weed.” You interrupt, before looking at her confused. “Where you about to say sex?” 

“What? No.” She says quickly and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “Did she look upset to you?” She’s changed the subject and you look in the direction she ran off to. 

“I mean maybe. I dunno. Is Willow around?” You ask and the two of you crane your necks to look around. You spot Willow stood by the patio doors. Her arms are wrapped around her, and she’s crying a little. You frown before slowly pushing through the stumbling teens “Are you coming?” You ask Betty, but she’s too distracted staring at Jughead. You sigh, and grab her shoulder, turning her to face you. “I think its clear who you want. Archie may have been the boy next door you had a crush on, but Jughead was your first love. Go talk to him, those college guys can wait.” 

“Are you sure?” She asks, looking at you quickly and you roll your eyes at her. 

“Yes. He looks a little lonely to be honest. If you know what you want, you should go for it.” 

“Maybe you should take your own advice.” She replies and glances at Sweet Pea sulking in the corner. 

“What are you talking about?” You frown. 

“Nothing.” She shakes her head. “Go see whats wrong with Willow.” 

“Have fun!” You smile, she nods before taking a deep breath and slowly approaching Jughead. When you get to the patio doors, Willow is no where to be seen and you let out a frustrated sigh. 

Why do high school parties always have to filled with angst and drama? Why can’t they be light, fun, easy? Why is there always something? Speaking of something...

“Sweet Pea.” You take a deep breath and turn around to face the very angry boy. 

“Y/n.” He says through gritted teeth as he clenches his beer bottle. 

“To what do I owe this pleasure.” You ask, really not caring about the situation. 

You want to know if Amy is okay, when she comes to parties she’s usually in high demand due to the stuff she brings with her, but sometimes that makes her a target. And if you’ve lost her, and now also a very upset Willow, you’re screwed. 

“The pleasure is all mine.” He smirks, looking you up and down. He’s back to his usual self and that only means one thing, he’s planning something. 

“You’re disgusting. Do you know that?” You huff. 

“Yep. You tell me at least once a day.”

“And yet you never listen.” You sigh and lazily pick at your nails. When you don’t get a reply you look back at him to see him watching a game of beer pong. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” He says, suddenly remembering what he was doing. 

“You’re an ass.”

“You also tell me that every day.” 

“I know. It’s a very tedious job but someone has to do it.” You send him a sarcastic smile and go back to looking around the crowded room. 

“What are you looking for? A life?” 

“Wow, I’m so hurt. Seriously what year is this and how old are you?” You roll your eyes. “And if you must know, I’m looking for Amy and/or Willow.” 

“Why?” His face lights up as he also looks around the dark room and you have to admit you’re glad he’s decided to help you. His height certainly gives him an advantage, and if anything does happen, you can just leave him to deal with it while you run away. 

You watch him look around, the way his jaw tightens and the muscles in his neck tense when he thinks he see’s her...oh god. What the hell had Jade given you? 

Your eyes widen as you try to ignore your drunken thoughts and Sweet Pea looks back at you confused as he waves his hand in front of your face. 

“Are you involved in the devils lettuce?” 

“The devils lettuce? Did you seriously just say that?” You snort, whatever lapse of judgement you’ve just had, has definitely passed. 

“Yes, I did. And I’m standing by it.” He huffs, moving to lean against the wall beside you. 

“Well, no. I’m looking for Amy because she looked upset. Willow was looking for her earlier but twenty minutes after they found each other, Amy stormed past me and then Willow was crying.” 

“What’s this got to do with you?” He asks rudely and you send him an annoyed look. 

“They’re my friends. I do have them things you know.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. It surprises me really.” He nods along. “Well, Amy told me that she’s going to meet me.” He says and your eyes widen as you turn to look at him. 

“Are you actually about to useful for once in your life?” You say, you’re tone becoming happier as he looks at you smugly. His smirk falters a little when the thought of you being cute crosses his mind, but he just does the same thing he does every time he has a thought like that. He locks it in a box in his brain and shoves it as far away as possible. “Where are you-” 

“I don’t know where or when.” He says and you huff loudly at him, punching him in the arm. “I’ve seen her once or twice around here though and I think she knows my face. I dunno, the person I used to get the dev-that stuff from, got caught and so he had to stop doing it.” 

“Was it Fangs?” 

“It wasn’t Fangs.” 

“It was Fangs wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah...it was Fangs.” He finally admits. 

“And it was Jughead that caught him wasn’t it?” 

“It wasn’t Jughead.” 

“It was Jughead wasn’t it?” 

“Yes fine! It was Jughead.” He huffs making you giggle. The two of you look at each other, a begrudging smile playing on his lips as he watches you laugh. The changing lights dance across your skin and he feels himself getting lost watching you. 

“Its hard to see with all the people standing in my way.” You mutter. “You’re a giant. Have another look.” You interrupt his thoughts and he feels his cheeks heat up at the fact that he was was looking at you like that. “Come on.” You grab his arm and lead him towards the stairs. He looks at your fingers wrapped around his arm and his mind blanks. 

It seems whatever he’s been drinking was stronger than he thought. 

“Wait.” You stop suddenly making him walk right into you. You feel yourself fall but he grabs you just in time, steadying you before the two of you jump away from each other. 

“I found them.” You point to the red head and black haired girls sat on the fourth step making out. “Well, that was short lived.” 

“At least they’re happy.” He shrugs. 

“Very happy it looks like.” You agree, the two of you watch as the kiss gets more heated and then suddenly you feel like you’re intruding. Both of you turn around and make you’re way toward the kitchen, both in desperate need of a drink, maybe not as strong as your others. 

“Damn.” Sweet Pea sighs dramatically as he leans against the counter. You don’t acknowledge him, instead pouring two drink out and handing him one. “I said damn.” He repeats and you suddenly remember why you don’t like hanging out with him. 

“What?” 

“I’m not gonna get any tonight.” 

“How awful. I’m sure your parts can take a day off.” You glance down and he rolls his eyes at you. 

“No, not that.” He shakes his head. “Thats fine, and it never takes a day off.” 

“Thats gross.” 

“I’m talking about weed. If Amy’s busy, where am I gonna get it?” 

“I dunno.” You shrug, now very bored of this conversation. 

“You can get it wherever you like as long as you do it outside.” Jade interrupts, saving you from a very tedious chat with someone that annoys you more and more with each passing second. Or at least thats what you’re trying to tell yourself. Because the five minutes you spent not arguing and actually helping each other, was actually quite pleasant. 

“Of course.” He says. She looks between the two of you and a knowing smile settles on her lips. Her and Sweet Pea seem to have a silent conversation while you just stand and stare at them confused. 

“How was Juliet?” You ask and Sweet Pea lets out a soft breath. 

“She fine. More than fine actually, when I found her she was already making out with Rebecca.” 

“Ohhhh.” You laugh. 

“What about you two. Have you been up to anything exciting?” 

“We watched two girls make out.” Sweet Pea shrugs, not realizing the implications and you and Jade just stare at him. “Not like that.” He blushes. 

“Willow and Amy.” You say, deciding to help him out of the hole he’s dug himself. 

“Ohhh. Aw. Thats cute.” 

“Yeah I know right.” You nod. “I think its been something thats coming for a while though.”

“What is it with everybody boning at my parties.” She wonders. 

“I think it shows how good your parties are. How many people hook up at Juliet’s?” 

“Very true.” She agrees. “Speaking of boning. You’s two seem oddly close.” She looks between the two of you and Sweet Pea and you both look at her disgusted. 

“We were both looking for Amy.” You defend yourself. The tone in your voice makes Sweet Pea’s chest ache. He no longer wants to talk to you, or anyone really, so he stays silent, trying his hardest to blend into the kitchen cabinets and figure out why he’s feeling all of these things all of a sudden. 

He’s been in the same room as you countless of times before, some would say too many times. And all of those times he’s wanted to kill you, but as cheesy as it sounds, the way you said that killed him a little and he can’t quite understand why. 

“Sure you were.” She teases. 

“Shut up.” You grumble.

“Jade, somebody’s thrown up in Aunt Vera’s vase.” Juliet rushes into the kitchen. Jade huffs loudly, placing her drink on the counter before following her sister out, leaving you and Sweet Pea in silence. 

You hum along to the Britney song playing, awkwardly looking around and trying your hardest to think of something to say that isn’t insulting. You haven’t quite realized why you don’t want to insult him yet, but when you try and thing of anything nice to say, you’re mind goes blank. 

He does look good though, even if his t-shirt is stained. And now you feel a little bad about doing that. His hair isn’t styled meticulously like it usually is. Its more hurried, less effort in it but you think he suits it more. He still has the curl at the front and you have a need to brush it away. 

nope. nope. this is not happening. nope.

“So...” You trail off, your lips forming a pout while you stare at the tiles on the floor. 

You can feel him watching you, and a blush creeps up his neck. He’s waiting for you to do something, say something, anything. But nothing happens. There’s no big, magical moment that you’re both apparently desperate for. You just stew in silence, letting the awkwardness fill the room until its almost unbearable.   

“I’m gonna look for Betty.” 

“I’m gonna go find Fangs.” 

Both of you say at the same time and rush out of the room, heading in different directions in search of anyone to talk to. 

You find Betty pretty quickly, but she’s sat on Jughead’s lap making out with him so thats a bust. Jade is busy cleaning vomit up with Juliet and Rebecca  and as much as you’re want a distraction, you’re not that desperate. Willow and Amy have just walked up the stairs so they’ll probably be locked in a bathroom or bedroom somewhere in the next five minutes. 

You’re only option is Veronica and Archie. And to your surprise, they’re not dry humping. They seem to be having an actual conversation. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey.” They reply in sync. It creeps you out but you push past it, sitting down beside them. 

“Have you seen Amy tonight?” Archie asks quickly and you nod your head, not really paying attention to what he’s just said. Its only after a few seconds do you realize whats he’s said that you look at him confused. It seems Archie Andrews is not the boy next door everyone seems to love.

“I have.” You nod. “But any dealings are cancelled for the time being. She’s busy.” 

“Doing what?” 

“Willow.” 

“Ohhhh.”

“What dealings? What are you two on about?” Veronica asks, only now joining in the conversation. She spaced out after saying hi, staring at the lights as they bounce around the room. 

“Nothing V.” You laugh, making eye contact with Archie. “What have you guys been doing?” 

“Drinkinggggg!” She cheers excitedly, lifting her cup up. Liquid spills out the side of it, landing on her shoe and the next thing you know she’s crying uncontrollably. 

“Some of us more than others.” Archie adds. “Come on Ronnie. Lets get you home.” He picks her up easily and she laughs loudly while flopping backwards in his arms. 

Soon its just you, sat on the sofa with half of your drink and nobody to talk to. A part of you kind of wants Sweet Pea back and you suddenly find yourself looking for him in the crowd. 

From across the room, he’s doing exactly the same thing, and when the two of you make eye contact, you find yourself smiling. 

“Why the hell did you do that?” You mumble quietly as you quickly look away. “Oh god, he’s coming over now. Fuc-Hi Sweet Pea.” 

“Er-hi.” He’s nervous. None of the usual confidence he has is in sight. He’s stood in front of you awkwardly, with his hands in his pockets while he thinks of what to say. “Bye.” He says quickly and turns around, whispering curses to himself while he moves through the crowd. 

Okay, maybe being alone isn’t so bad. That was weird. Really weird and you don’t like it. You need it to go back to normal, so you decide to follow him. Managing to catch him just before he goes back into the kitchen. 

“Pea!” You grab his arm, spinning him around. He looks slightly startled and you find yourself staring at him confused, its an unfamiliar expression on him and you feel an unfamiliar feeling stirring in your stomach. “It seems those five minutes we spend helping each other has fucked up our dynamic and I can’t stand it anymore. So I’m giving you permission to insult me.” You know you sound insane, but maybe its something you need. 

“I don’t want to insult you Y/n.” 

“What?” Your jaw drops as you stare at him in utter shock. “Why the hell not? I have plenty of things to insult.” 

“Because I don’t feel like it.” He shakes his head.

“There’s got to be something that you don’t like. What if I start?” You suggest. He just stares at you, eyebrows raised and arms crossed. 

“Why are you doing this?” 

“Because this.” You motion between the two of you. “Us being awkward and weird around each other. Its not normal. We insult and upset and sometimes cause physical pain. Thats our thing. But not knowing how to talk to each other isn’t. And not wanting to say awful things to each other, certainly isn’t. The world doesn’t feel right if we’re not verbally abusing each other.” 

“Have you just made a romantic speech about hating each other?” 

“Yes. And I’d do it all again...for you Sweet Pea.” You say, a smile twitching at the corners of your mouth while you wait for a response. 

“I have been wanting an excuse to tell you that your hair look absolutely awful tonight.” He mumbles making you grin. You move to hug him, but catch yourself in time. Sweet Pea looks at you weirdly and you send him a forced smile, trying to laugh it off. 

“So, where’s the blonde you were sucking face with earlier?” You look around. 

“I dunno.” He shrugs. “Why? Are you jealous?” 

“Yes.” You deadpan. “I’m just so desperate for you that I get jealous of any other girl that so much as looks at you. 

“Aw, babe.” He teases. And odd feeling washes over you when he says babe, a mix of butterflies and breathlessness. “You should have told me sooner. There’s plenty of Sweet Pea to go around.” 

“Have I told you today that you’re disgusting?” 

“Yes, you have in fact.”

“And yet you still don’t do anything about it?” 

“Love me or hate me, its not my fault everyone wants me.” He shrugs and you roll your eyes.

“Please. The only people that want you are either moronic or desperate.”

“Ohhhh, so that explains why you’re constantly flirting with me.” He says cheekily and you look at him offended. 

“I would honestly rather flirt with Reggie than you.”

“Ouch. You’d really chose Mantle over me?” He asks. 

“Definitely.” You nod confidently. 

“Well, thats good because look who’s coming over. Hey Mantle!” He shouts over the music, waving his arms around and your eyes widen when you quickly look around. Reggie is slowly making his way towards the two of you.

“What do you want Sweet Pea?”

“Y/n was just telling me how much she likes you.” Sweet Pea replies and you send him a death glare. He glances at you, sending you a quick wink before looking back him.

“Oh, really?” Reggie asks and turns to look at you. 

“I-”

“Yes. She would not shut up about you. Just constantly, Reggie this, Reggie the-ow! Anyway, gotta go.” Despite hitting him as hard as you could, he seemed relatively unaffected by it, instead walking away and leaving you alone with Reggie.

“So, you like me huh?” 

Yep, Sweet Pea definitely won this round. 

After half an hour of small talk with Reggie, you finally managed to get away. Sending him to get you a drink so you could slip off and hide upstairs for a bit so he could find somebody else. 

You’ve decided to sit in the spare room for a bit. Your thoughts about Sweet Pea are going a million miles a minute in your head and so you need some time to think. To figure out where they’ve come from all of a sudden. Or maybe you’ve been thinking them for a while and you just haven’t paid much attention until now. Until you saw that he could actually be nice, and that you wanted to see more. 

Ever since Sweet Pea left you alone with Mantle, he’s been thinking about you. About the way you look at him when you’re annoyed, or your smile when he says something funny. Or the look you get when you’re about to insult him. You always look so pleased with yourself.

He remembers the way you looked at him when you thought he knew where Amy was, and he remembered the way his chest hurt when he couldn’t help you. 

He then remembers that you gave him a speech as to why the two of you need to insult each other. In a very sad way, its the most romantic thing anybody has ever done for him. 

But he wants more. He wants real moments with you that aren’t just filled with childish name calling and shoving. He wants sweet nicknames, and story sharing and getting to know more about you. But when he thinks about, he knows a lot. He knows you’re favourite film, you’re favourite band. He knows the reason you don’t like that one song from them and why you’re favourite is your favourite. Your memories behind you’re favourite place in Riverdale and he wants to take you there and add to them and oh

He’s the worst. He left you alone with Mantle of all people. He doesn’t mind Reggie now, but he knows what he’s like. And he knows he can get practically anybody in bed. 

“Have you seen Y/n?” He doesn’t care that he’s interrupting Betty and Jughead. He doesn’t even register the way they’re looking at him, annoyed expressions mirroring each other. He’s too busy looking around the dark and busy room, scanning the crowd for you. They shift slightly to look at him properly and a knowing smile appears on each of their lips. 

“Can’t get her off your brain huh?” Jughead teases. 

“Shut up and just tell me if you’ve seen her.” He snaps. 

“She went upstairs.” Jade chimes in as she passes and Sweet Pea sends her a thankful smile as he hurries past her. 

He takes the steps two at a time, narrowly avoiding kicking people in the head and just as he’s about to search every single room, scaring himself in the process when he interrupts couples, he see’s you walking out of one of the rooms. 

“Sweet Pea. Hi.” You say startled. “Thanks for leaving with Reggie by the way.” You grumble angrily. “For twenty minutes he talked about football and girls he’s hooked up with.” 

“Shut up.” He shushes and you stare at him offended. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Y/n. I hate you.” 

“Thanks?” 

“Or at least I thought I did. I thought I hated you more than I hate peas and rich people.” 

“You hate peas?” 

“Yeah.” He nods his head. “Thats not really the point I’m trying to make though.” 

“Sorry.” 

“I thought I hated you, and maybe I did for a bit. But then I think somewhere my hate got confused with a different emotion and I found myself looking forward to seeing you. Even if it was to insult you. And then tonight, we were nice to each other for the first time ever and even though it was only for five minutes, I liked it. Despite how weird and awkward it was. And I want more. I want more of it until it stops being weird and awkward and its just us. Being nice. I want to hate you less Y/n.” 

“I think what you just said was nice.” You say unsure, trying to figure out what exactly he’s trying to say. “But either way I have a need to kiss you so I’m going to do that okay?” 

“Okay.” He nods eagerly and within seconds your lips are on his, your body pushing him into a door as your fingers tangle in his hair. His hands grip your waist tight as he kisses back with just as much desperation.

You pull away first, breathless and panting and he’s looking at like you’re the only person he sees. But the sweet look is soon replaced by his smug smile and you know whats coming next. 

“I thought you’d rather choose Reggie over me.” He teases making you roll your eyes playfully. 

“Yeah, well I guess I’m moronic.” You shrug and his smile grows. 

“You’re only just figuring this out no-” He’s interrupted by you kissing him again. And he figures that whatever insult he had, can wait until afterwards. 

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Barchie Theory

Full disclosure here, this isn’t my theory. It’s something I’ve seen going around on twitter in various different comments that I’ve decided to put all in one post because I think all these smaller theories or details could be linked together to make one big theory if that makes sense and I was wondering what others might think of this theory as I am still a little unsure of it myself.  

Ok so the theory is that in 5x14 we will get a love confession. To be honest when I saw that tweet that is literally all it said just ‘I think we’ll get a love confession in 5x14.’ So I’m not really sure where the original theory came from but there are other tweets as well that could be relevant to this theory. Another thing people have pointed out which could support this idea that 5x14 will be a big episode for Barchie is because madchen amick posted this:

This reveals that the episode she is directing is 5x14 and it’s called The Night Gallery. Some twitter uses have made the suggestion that title could be related to this picture that was released a couple of weeks ago by the set designer:

This picture shows a collection or a ‘gallery’ of pictures. The title like all the other titles of Riverdale this season is linked to an existing media. This one is a TV show called ‘the night gallery.’ The premise of this tv show was the host would show three paintings and each painting would be linked to a story which would be told (it was mostly horror stories). I could see how this picture could be related here. My theory going off of this is that the episode will follow a similar format as the tv show the night gallery. I have heard that the actors who played little Betty and Archie in 4x18 were seen on set so we can assume at some point we will get Barchie flashbacks. Now to be clear it is not confirmed that the picture above is from 5x14 and its not confirmed that the child actors will appear in 5x14, this is just speculation. But I could see them showing us one of these pictures then it flashing back to the memory/ story that is in that picture. Then showing us another picture and us having another flashback to another moment in Barchie’s past. So yes in my opinion I could see there being a link between the title of the episode and the picture of all the photo frames. 

Another twitter account pointed out that Ted Sullivan one of the writers said this about 5x14:

 Again this doesn’t say anything in particular about Barchie but seeing as Betty is such a big part of his life I again could understand why people might come to the conclusion that something important with Barchie will happen in 5x14. Especially if you combine it with the title and the photo of the picture frames. On top of that Ted also said this about a certain episode in season 5: 

When questioned further he elaborated a little more:

So naturally with the hmm at the end many people are speculating that its in reference to Barchie as most comic book fans are Barchie fans and this implies that the comic fans will also be very happy. 

Now me personally not to be a debbie downer but I do feel like alot of this information is too vague to say for definite that this means we are getting Barchie in episode 14 but again I can see where people are coming from with it. For me I think the most convincing ‘evidence’ is the title and the photo of the Barchie pictures but it is also worth noting that Ted posted the tweet about Archie having a powerful storyline in episode 14 the day after he posted about a ‘VERY special’ episode, so that could be an indication that episode 14 is the very special episode he was referring to. I mean the language he uses to describe the two episodes is very similar, describing something as ‘very special’ and something as ‘near and dear to your heart’ definitely, to me, has similar vibes. But again on the flip side of that its also worth bearing in mind that there could be at least some degree of baiting going on here so take it with a pinch of salt.

Also this is a sort of side note but as I mentioned baiting. Yesterday Evan did post a picture of Cheryl and the bulldog mascot and zoomed in on the mascot and put the caption ‘me patiently waiting for tomorrow’s episode (and #barchie)’ before later editing it to remove the Barchie part. Now why he went back and edited it I’m not sure maybe because he knew that there wouldn’t be alot of Barchie in this episode and realised it properly wasn’t a good idea to tag it with Barchie for an episode that didn’t have any content for them? But this could be an indication that there is still more of Barchie’s story to tell. But again this could also just be them baiting us, I’ll be honest I am very wary of the writers right now.    

I mean as far as timelines go episode 14 could be the perfect time for Barchie to have a love confession. I’ve said a few times now that I could see something happening between Barchie in the season finale like a kiss or confession from one of them as they think they are dying that is then ignored after like with Leyton in season 3 of OTH. If this were to happen in episode 10 then that would give four episodes of Barchie being confused about what happened and their feelings about it before the ‘big confession’ where they both finally lay it all out on the table. Then you have another five episodes after that where they are together for the remainder of the season. So that would be 4 episodes where they are FWB, 4 episodes of them being confused about their feelings after a spontaneous kiss and 5 episodes of them as a couple which to me seems like a logical timeline. 

Whilst I am not sure if they will have any scenes in this episode I really do think they will have something in ep 10 because the show is going on a longish break so they are going to need to keep the fans interested. By having Veronica and Archie get together last episode, then having Betty and Jughead investigating this week, if they then have something happen between Barchie in the midseason finale then the will have all three sides of the fandom itching for more because they want to know what will happen next for their ships. I really don’t think its a coincidence that they’ve brought back the og ships this close to the midseason finale and so that’s why I think they’ll also bring in some Barchie content to keep everyone invested whilst they are on break. 

Anyway think I’ve waffled on long enough what does everyone else think, do you think its possible that Barchie will have a love confession in episode 14 or are you still thinking it’s done and dusted for Barchie?  

[barchie-fanfiction]

in case you missed it...

hello from your barchie-fanfiction admins! thanks for following us - over the next few days we’ll be posting some author masterlists of some heavy hitters in the fandom (think 5+ fics!), but until then... we thought everyone needed some more season five in their lives.

so, in case you missed them... a collection of completed fics (as of march 5th) that take place somewhere in season five canon (or not canon)!

pre time jump

(stop fighting) and know our love is real Author: Littlebarchie07 Rating: General Length: 2,019 Summary: 3 times Archie starts coming to terms with potentially losing Betty and the 1 time he realises they will always be connected. Notes: Part 2/2 of The Truth series. 

(stop pretending) and let our love begin Author: Littlebarchie07 Rating: General Length: 1,244 Summary: 3 times Betty lies, and the 1 time she finally admits the truth. Notes: Part 1/2 of The Truth series.

but we were something, don’t you think so? Author: societysgot Rating: General Length: 1,718 Summary: "Why didn't you tell me?" She tries to look him in the eye but finds that she can't, "That you were leaving." "Well I—" "Why Arch?" Notes: An alternate take on the bus scene, and before.

closing walls and ticking clocks Author: inthehallway Rating: Teen Length: 3,365 Summary: Maybe you need to consider why you’re really so terrified of him finding out. Is it only because you know you’ll lose him? Or is it also because you’re scared of the feelings you’ll be forced to face once he’s gone? After prom, Betty can't hide from the truth anymore. Notes: An alternate take on prom. AKA, everyone finds out.

Dancing is a dangerous game Author: Littlebarchie07 Rating: General Length: 1,081 Summary: Based on the lyrics from “you’re a cowboy like me”. Betty-Barchie centric of an AU prom scene. Notes: AKA Archie and Betty actually dance like they should have.

for what it’s worth it was worth all the while Author: bettycooopers Rating: General Length: 1,030 Summary: Betty slips into the back door of the Andrews house the way she has a thousand times before, but this morning it feels different...despite the fact that it still, somehow, feels like the most natural thing in the world. Notes: Takes place the last day of school. Aaaaand we’re sad again.

i’ve been looking sad in all the nicest places Author: societysgot Rating: Teen Length: 1,399 Summary: "It's not that simple," She went to place a hand on his arm, but he felt himself pulling away before she made contact. His voice was hoarse when he spoke. "Well, it shouldn't be this hard." Notes: They talk!! They discuss things!! Betty actually knows that Veronica knows!! A gift.

If This Was A Movie Author: booksnshows Rating: General Length: 3,228 Summary: Betty Cooper has been dreaming of prom since she was a little girl. The truth is...she always pictured going with Archie Andrews. Notes: An alternate take on prom. Written early post S4.

so give me tonight Author: bettycooopers Rating: General Length: 2,392 Summary: They (whoever they are, exactly,) say that prom night is supposed to be one of the best nights of your life. Archie Andrews would like to go on record saying that is absolute bullshit. Notes: Did someone say prom porch parallel?

there’s no warning when everything changes Author: bettycooopers Rating: General Length: 1,525 Summary: The song sounds different coming from Veronica, so it doesn’t occur to Betty until she hears it: he’s not made for this world, and neither am I. Notes: A look is worth a thousand words. Sometimes, 1500 of them.

valentine Author: spideychoni Rating: Not Rated Length: 2,333 Summary: when things fall apart in archie and betty’s relationships, will they find each other again? a graduation after party changes everything for the blonde haired girl and the redheaded boy. Noted: A graduation after party?? Eyes emoji.

You Were The Someone Waiting For Me Author: darlingfilms Rating: Teen Length: 1,123 Summary: Picture this, it’s the senior prom in Riverdale and Betty and Archie go with their partners, but it’s clear who they’d rather be with. Notes: The author mentions there’s another chapter, but it’s marked as completed, so! Enjoy!

time jump

'tis the damn season Author: bettycooopers Rating: Mature Length: 13,878 Summary: you could call me babe for the weekend 'tis the damn season A Taylor Swift inspired "we're dating, but only during the holidays" AU told in five parts. Notes: Liberties taken - namely, they do talk within those years, and Archie doesn’t get deployed - but otherwise follows canon. Also, it’s epic.

all i want for christmas Author: bettycooopers Rating: General Length: 3,527 Summary: Archie’s heard of an orphan Christmas before, but he didn’t actually think he’d have one...at least, not yet. Notes: Written pre-S5, so FP doesn’t leave! 

come home to my heart Author: inthehallway Rating: Mature Length: 9,248 Summary: He’s only been here for a few hours, and she already feels like a piece of her that’s been missing for too long is shifting back into place. But he's going to leave in a few days, and they'll have to say goodbye to each other all over again. She wonders if this will even be worth the pain it's going to cause them both in the end. Two years after graduation, Archie visits Betty at Yale. Notes: Sequel to didn’t know you were golden ‘til i tore your heart open. Written after S4, so Archie goes to the navy, not the army!   

post time jump

all the bad dreams that you hide Author: bettycooopers Rating: General Length: 2,708 Summary: Betty has control of the nightmares. At least, that's what she tells herself. Notes: Based off of that Roommates Theory we all fell prey to. What happened in Albany, Cher?! Tell us!!!

Honey Author: JemmaLynn13 Rating: Mature Length: 6,755 Summary: A post shower fic where Betty finds herself wearing Archie's bathrobe with no other clothes to change into. Notes: Seriously, how did this girl get home? Alice is gonna find out by 5x07, at this rate.

Hush, I’m Here Author: NewObsessed Rating: Teen Length: 1,350 Summary: He stares up at the ceiling. Everytime he closes his eyes, all he sees is the battlefield and his fellow soldiers laying motionless across the grounds. Still he tries to let sleep come. After what feels like mere seconds, his eyes pop open again. Only this time, it isn’t because of his nightmare. It's because of someone else’s. Her scream slices through the silence of the house. Notes: We may have lost roommates in canon, but not in fic!!! The potential, friends.

i am your secret, baby, watch me unfold Author: bettycooopers Rating: Explicit Length: 3,151 Summary: Betty turns on her stereo and pours herself a drink, smiling – the idea of parading around her empty house in lingerie with her makeup done and a highball glass of gin while she waits for Archie is appealing, to say the least. Notes: You know what we didn’t lose, though? Friends with benefits. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

“If I kissed you right now, what would you do?” Author: bettycooopers Rating: Not Rated Length: 765 Summary: It’s past midnight when Betty texts him and tells him to meet her outside the auto shop. He shrugs on a sweatshirt and texts her back (for any particular reason, betts?) as he’s making his way out of the house, not bothering to wait for her to answer. He knows he’s going to end up there, anyway. Notes: A fun mini ‘verse where Betty pretends for all of five seconds that 5x05 was a one time thing. Whatever you say, Cooper!

jump into the heat Author: MaiaSpeedster Rating: Teen Length: 444 Summary: As they kissed and undressed each other, Betty couldn’t help but to think how dumb she had been to waste all of these years. She already knew how good Archie was at kissing, but the way he ran his hands over her figure and pressed his body to hers… God, she had never felt anything like it. Notes: Betty’s thoughts during 5x05. Y’know. About that scene. We think you know the one.

just for now Author: staryu Rating: General Length: 713 Summary: where Betty leaves but Archie is sad and really wants her to stay. Notes: Everyone, including Archie, wanted him to ask Betty to stay during 5x06, right? It’s okay, Arch, fic’s got you covered.

let’s go somewhere they might discover us Author: bettycooopers Rating: Explicit Length: 3,670 Summary: Archie’s synapses are clearly slower than usual, but he manages to look over at her subtly enough and raise his brow in a want to get out of here sort of way and Betty smiles, looking over to Kevin. “I think I’m going to let,” she pats Archie on the shoulder and raises her brows, “Sergeant Andrews here walk me home.” Notes: Based off of 5x06 stills. Drunk Archie! Exhibionist Barchie! A Betty who is terrible at friends with benefits! Yeah!

light my fire  Author: bettycooopers Rating: Explicit Length: 2,797 Summary: Betty wakes up frustrated. She goes to bed frustrated. Riverdale is frustrating, in general – but the fact that she’s living in her childhood bedroom with Archie Andrews only a few hundred yards away, looking frustrating all the time is making it worse. Much worse. Notes: Based off of that still Roberto posted of Archie in firefighter gear. Yeah, you know the one. 

lock the door (and throw out the key) Author: bettycooopers Rating: Explicit Length: 8,269 Summary: Cheryl’s always been one for chaos, and this key party seems like the kind of thing that will cause it no matter who winds up together. Notes: What’s going to be more chaotic, the actual key party (if it happens), or the events of this fic? Place your bets! 

Love’s under a lock and key Author: creative_soul Rating: Mature Length: 3,306 Summary: Seven years have past since Betty left Riverdale behind. Seven years have passed since she last saw Jughead, Veronica and Archie... but now here she is seven years later on the steps of Thistle House. Notes: So... you’ve heard about the key party theory by now, right?

Our place, we make the rules Author: Littlebarchie07 Rating: Teen Length: 1,816 Summary: Betty goes over to Archie’s house for a *not* midnight hookup the night of the shower scene but is surprised when Jughead answers the door. Post 5x05. Notes: Betty is the least subtle she’s ever been, and also made us laugh out loud with one line in particular.

tell me you love me on the bathroom floor Author: soldierwitch Rating: Mature Length: 804 Summary: It’s been seven years since Betty’s had Archie. Though in hindsight she realizes that what she had back then was just a taste. A chaste kiss on the lips, a slip of the tongue. Underneath the stream of water coming from his shower head, she wonders what she really knew of him physically. Notes: Set during the shower scene.

That Shower Scene Author: ThisCalmsMe Rating: Explicit Length: 3,420 Summary: Barchie shower scene, that's it. That's the summary. NOT for underage viewing. Notes: The author said it themselves, but you know what scene this is. Can you believe we get to tag this as canon? Us neither!

The Small Hours Author: network_connectivity_issues Rating: Teen Length: 2,632 Summary: Just a little angsty bonding between Betty and Archie based on some of the snippets and speculation coming out of the Time Jump trailer. Notes: This fic is god tier. End of.

Through Fire and Rain Author: Littlebarchie07 Rating: Teen Length: 1,218 Summary: The aftermath of the fire at Archie’s house, Betty asks him to stay with her. Takes place after 5x06 Notes: The 5x07 subplot we deserve!

Who’s That at the Door? Author: CanaryWidow Rating: Teen Length: 1,853 Summary: A 5x07 speculation fic where Betty and Archie are tiptoeing around their true feelings for each other in a FWB relationship. Reality, in the form of Glen, comes knocking at their door--literally. Notes: Give us jealous Archie, we’re here for jealous Archie!

“You didn’t have to do this, you know.” Author: staryu Rating: Not Rated Length: 473 Summary: here have jealous betty at a bar! Notes: Give us jealous Betty, we want jealous Betty!

“You didn’t have to scare me like that.” Author: bettycooopers Rating: Not Rated Length: 485 Summary: Betty wakes from the nightmare (the nightmare, the one she always has) gasping for air and presses her hand to her face. She sucks in a long breath, the way Dr. Starling had instructed – why she had even mentioned the nightmares to her mandatory therapist, she’s not sure, but the only thing that’s even come close to useful from their sessions has been the deep breathing. Notes: Okay, but we all had at least considered that Betty could’ve been pointing that gun at Archie, right?

you ought to keep me concealed just like i was a weapon Author: bettycooopers Rating: Explicit Length: 4,037 Summary: “We’re getting that fucking house back,” Betty says, her voice low. “There’s no other option.” Notes: We’re still yelling about this one.

[sleuthingenigma]

𝙱𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙰𝚄

𝐉𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐩'𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐮𝐢𝐭.

Like the true, independent force she was, Betty Cooper was seated in the driver’s seat of her mother’s car, driving  herself to her “prom” — the floor length gown and heels one of the smaller inconveniences she’d had to deal with, not daring to compare to the more pressing obstacles she’d had to face in the last four years of high school.

Unlike some of her closest friends and basically everyone else in her graduating class, Betty wasn’t headed to Riverdale High for the big night. She had been banned from prom, thanks to that slimeball, Bret Weston Wallis — one of the most spineless human beings she’d ever come across, and she’d certainly met her fair share of them. But hey, why change up her totally deranged high school experience now? She may as well continue her streak straying far from the status quo.

As she pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of Pop’s Diner, only taken up by her lover’s motorcycle and Pop Tate’s dark blue van, Betty’s heart was already racing with excitement for whatever Jughead had planned. He’d insisted that she didn’t lift a finger preparing for this night. He wanted to give her a complete night off from everything. Whatever needed their attention could be dealt with after her carriage turns into a pumpkin. The only thing she could think about right now were the lips of her darling prince. Well, now her 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜.

After putting the car in park, Betty eased herself out of the vehicle, careful to tug the entirety of her dress out of the car so it wouldn’t get caught in the closed door. When she opened the door of the diner, that familiar smell of fresh burgers and fries wafted right into her nostrils— a specific smell no other diner could recreate. Pop’s would always stand out from the crowd, and no diner could even try to compare. She didn’t realize how much she was going to miss this place when she moved out of town, until now… so many memories were made here.

Jughead was already sitting in 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 booth, looking right at her with wide eyes nearly bursting out of his head at the sight of her. He carefully slid out of the booth, holding his hands in front of him politely. As she slowly made her way over to him, her baby blue gown just barely grazed the floor, a mix of lace floral patterns, and modest sparkles filled the entire bodice, the lacy pattern trailing down her arms in off the shoulder straps.

He didn’t waste a second before pressing multiple, eager kisses to her lips. Her hand lingered on his shoulder as he swarmed her face with his lips, a bout of giggles leaving her as she tugged away from him.

“Save some for later, handsome,” she chuckled, shaking her head at her corny darling as she carefully slid into the booth, Jughead holding her hand to steady her as she settled in.

After she was comfortable, Jughead sat across from her, and her hands immediately took his. She stared at him longingly, his thick waves slicked back with just the perfect amount of wild and tame to the look, and he wore a dapper black suit, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 nicely fitted to his body— Jug’s tie the same soft blue as her dress.

“Jug, are you always going to take away my breath like this?” Betty blushed, caressing his hands with her thumbs.

His eyebrows shot up and a smirk worked its way across his lips. “I hope you still have that mindset when you wake up to my poofy hair and smelly breath every morning in New Haven. Just keep remembering me like this, all spruced up for you.”

Betty rolled her eyes, the smile never leaving her lips as she shook her head. “I don’t care if you’re dressed to the nines or just rolling out of bed… I’m always going to look at you fondly. Your handsomeness hasn’t faltered since the day we met. In fact, I think you somehow keep getting even 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. What’s your secret?”

“You know…” Jughead began, a sly look on his face as he looked over her shoulder. Pop Tate would appear a few moments later with their usual orders. “I think I’d have to credit my 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸 to none other than Pop’s burgers. I’m doomed to wither away once we leave this town and I can’t consume my signature triple burger on the regular. Nobody makes em’ like you do, Pop.”

Pop chuckled, beaming at the compliment, looking at the two of them like he couldn’t be more proud of who they’d become. “Now, don’t you two forget about ole’ Pop… you’d better stop by here when you’re in the area for a visit. Promise me?”

Betty and Jughead gave each other endearing, heart-warmed looks, before nodding at Pop simultaneously. “We’re definitely going to stop here, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, Pop. You have our word,” Betty said.

The bubbly man smiled ear to ear at the two, before returning behind the counter, leaving the two of them to their meal. Betty and Jughead sat there in that booth where they’d discussed many of their theories for whatever sleuthing ordeals they’d been working on at the time, sharing milkshakes over notes they’d been comparing on cases… A few booths down was their usual spot they’d shared with Veronica and Archie, their meetups with them a reprieve from the intricate, heavy thinking that came with their sleuthing endeavors.

As Betty sat there with Jug, just about finished with her meal, she began to wonder why she didn’t feel the bittersweet feelings that were supposed to come around graduation time. There wasn’t much in this town, let alone at the school, that she was particularly sad about letting go of.

Most of her best, fondest memories were with the man sitting across from her.

A smile formed on her lips as she watched her lover pick at every last bit of food on his plate. Once he’d finished up and his attention was back on her, he gazed at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. The same way he looked at her when she and Veronica were sitting in the booth, and he and Archie joined them. A first glance that she had never forgotten.

“You know, Jug,” she started, letting her fingers aimlessly trail up and down his arm. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you by my side all these years. Our lives have been… constantly turned upside down, attacked from all angles… but at the end of the day, it was you that I found my solace, consistency, safety and absolute ease within. I couldn’t have gotten through any of what I did without you, Jughead.”

Jughead immediately shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing in rejection to her statement. He grabbed onto her hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “And 𝘐 couldn’t have stayed sane without you, my little enigma. Even in the darkest, most bleak times in this hellish town, you were constantly that shining light in my life— and I have always held onto that. I will always hold onto you. We have proven time and time again that we can get through anything together. I love you, Betty Cooper.”

Jughead lifted her knuckles to his mouth and peppered gentle kisses upon them, eliciting a small bit of laughter from her, closely followed by glassy eyes.

Before she could say a word, Jughead was already getting up and out of the booth, standing right at her side with his hand held out to her. “None of that, beautiful. Only smiles tonight.”

Betty took his hand and let him guide her out of the booth, and downstairs to La Bonne Nuit, giving a wink to Pop as they walked past him.

It was weird seeing the place completely empty— the chairs were stacked up on all the tables, the stage bare, no one cozied up by the bar. Jughead left her standing in the middle of the wooden dance floor as he made his way over to his laptop, typing away until music came out of the speakers surrounding them. 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 by Novo Amor played, as Jughead headed back to her with wide open arms, ready to take her in them.

Betty’s smile hadn’t faltered all night, beaming so much that her cheeks were beginning to hurt. She slinked her arms around his neck and took a step toward him, to close most of the space between them. His warm hands rested on the small of her back, holding her close as they swayed back and forth to the gentle rhythm of the music.

As overjoyed as Betty was, she couldn’t help the pang of pain that registered in her chest, thinking about how the two of them had been robbed of these dear, youthful experiences they should have been able to indulge in way more often than they were able to. She must have let out an audible sigh, because Jughead slowly pulled back so he could look into her eyes.

“What is it, love?” he whispered, tucking a stray, curled hair behind her ear, searching her eyes.

Betty’s shoulders dropped a bit, a frown finding her lips. “I don’t know, Jug— I just hate that some of us in this town were just forced into a nightmarish life that none of us should have had to endure. And, because of that, you and I didn’t get to have moments like this more often. We were always sleuthing, which I loved… I loved so dearly. I just wish we could’ve found a way to escape more often, you know? And not feel so much weight on our shoulders constantly? I don’t know.”

Jughead leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, running his hand down her arm to comfort her.  “I know. Trust me, I know. This town has been unfair and cruel, especially to you. But… soon enough, you and I are going to be worlds away from this seventh circle of hell. You’ll be buried in your Criminal Psych books, discussing cases with me when you’re stumped, and I’ll be sharing my latest stories with you. And in between all that, we’ll indulge in the most authentic college experience we can get our hands on. Junk food, cheap beer, football games, late night wanderings around campus… finding the best pizza place in town, not stopping until we’ve tried them all. We’re going to have it all, Betty. We’re finally going to 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭. And I wouldn’t want this beautiful new beginning with anyone else but you.”

Sliding his hands around each side of her face, Jughead slowly pulled her in for a lasting kiss… which would eventually turn into quite a few opened mouth, euphoric lip locks. When they finally parted, the two nearly collapsed into each other’s arms with how breathless they were, eventually falling back into a sway with the music.

“Jughead, I already have it all… in 𝘺𝘰𝘶. But, trust me when I say that getting out of here and starting our new lives together… this is just the beginning of our adventure. Like Romeo and Juliet, but we live happily ever after instead… well, it looks like we’re on our way to doing just that.”

His lips turned up into a soft smile, chuckling fondly as she repeated the old phrase she’d spoken to him. “Only with you, Betts. It’s only ever been you, and will only ever be you.”

Betty let out a deep, endeared breath, willing herself 𝘯𝘰𝘵 to tear up again. Bringing her lips to his once more, and removing them only when she desperately needed a breath, Betty finally, for the first time in forever, felt like a real teenager.

“As much as I hated this town… I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all again. Everything that happened led us to each other— and that is the one good thing Riverdale has ever done for me,” Betty chuckled, before covering her lover’s face with little pecks.

The two lovestruck teens would spend a couple more songs getting lost in each other’s eyes, relaxing in their embrace as they moved to their own, casual pace, until Jughead’s specially curated playlist ran out. And even then, Betty would ask for just one more. One more song. One more dance. One more beautiful memory.

And just the beginning of the multitude of joyous moments to come for the two lovers. The ones who had beaten all the odds, and came out nothing short of invincible.

But until then, they were content in each other’s arms. No matter where they happened to be in the world, it could never compare to their true home that could only be found within 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

[statticscribbles]

Bet On It

Summary: Veronica/Reader; Bet on it High School Musical

Veronica had promised herself that she wouldn’t be like how she had been before she’d come to Riverdale. Of course tangling herself up in her parents schemes; faulting her wealth in front of Cheryl, hadn’t boded well. Everything that had gone on with Betty and her father had left veronica alone.

Which is where you came in. You’d seen her slumped in pop’s half awake and trying to clean up someone’s spilt milkshake, she always seemed close to crying these days and you weren’t sure why it hurt you so much.

”Hey Ronnie, how’re you doing?” You’re sitting off to the side in the student lounge, Jughead and Archie sitting on either side of Veronica. You decide to wait watching her from the side until the bell rings at which point Jughead and Archie leave. Veronica makes no move to leave, and you take the opportunity and your free period to sit next to her.

“Hey Veronica, you doing okay?”

“Yeah; just.. People don’t trust me anymore..”

“And who’s been telling you that? I’m pretty sure it’s your parents, specifically your dad that people don’t trust. And barring the conspiracy theories that your friends create to make everyone avoid their snooping… There’s really not a lot of mistrust directed at you. I would say Jughead is more mistrusted than you. You’re welcome to bet on that.” You wink trying to cheer her up and she manages a little smile before she swallows it and shakes her head sitting up and packing up to leave school.

“You coming?”

“To where?”

“Pops.” She grins and you nod smiling back at her.

After that lunch, you’d managed to secure another date with her, an official one. You’d had it all planned out and everything had gone smoothly.

You’re enjoying lunch with her, in the park and everything is going wonderfully until your parents show up to pick you. Something flickered in Veronica’s eyes, and those of your parents and before you knew it, they were dragging you away from her hissing about a boarding school as far away as possible.

Veronica had called you that night hissing and shouting about how she couldn’t believe you were from a rival family, and that she knew you had only been trying to get close to her to take her family down and how she’d never wanted to see you again, before she hung up you caught her father mumbling how much of a good job she’d done. You didn’t know if she believed the threats and hatred that she had just spewed to you but you decided to be safe about it and avoid going out over the weekend.

You slunk back into Riverdale high on Monday. You were avoiding everyone, you’d skipped meeting Veronica after Vixen practice; unsure if she and by extension Cheryl would welcome you into the gym.

You manage to avoid Veronica and her friends until lunch. She intercepts you on your way to Pop’s desperate to avoid her.

“Y/N.” You freeze.

“Listen Veronica I figured my name didn’t mean anything like yours doesn’t to me and-” You blurt out before she can say anything, of course you fold when she opens her mouth shouting over you, you hope she doesn’t draw a crowd, you’re not lucky.

“You really think we can just pretend out names don’t hold weight?” She hisses just like she did on the phone and you understand that not all of what she was saying were her father’s words.

”I’m ready to go mama.” You mumble and your mother pats your cheek.

“It won’t be forever darling, just a few months, just until you finish school… then you’ll be back for summer.” She assures and you nod heaving your suitcase into the car and letting your parents drive you out of Riverdale.

You can see Veronica in Pop’s and she’s staring out at you as you drive past.

“Dad, can we get a burger before I go?” You wonder if he recognises Veronica but you decide he doesn’t when he pulls into Pop’s.

“Get it to go.” You nod as his order and when you step through the door you try to act casual and hope your father assumes you’re making small talk with the waitress.

“You can’t be serious? You still want to be with me?” Veronica tilts her head and you nod.

“Yes, I don’t care if our families end up as Romeo and Juliet, hell even macbeth. I want to be with you Ronni, isn’t that enough..”

“Enough for me to defy my parents? And potentially be disowned by my own family…” You swallow nodding, realizing you can’t compete with that. She catches your arm when you turn, holding out your order. She leans forward kissing your cheek and when she pulls back you can see the familiar spark in her eyes, the reason you’d fallen for her.

“Bet on it.”

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[artificialqueens]

Aloha, Part 1: Sand Angels (Bitney) - Veronica

A/N: An Undone sequel that probably makes more sense if you’ve read the main story, set during the holidays, while Bianca is still pregnant with Ruby. Here’s a link to the story on AQ and here’s a link to it on AO3.

Summary: Courtney and Bianca spend Christmas in Maui, discovering their new favorite spot.

(Thank you to @artificialpuddle for being an amazingly patient beta!!) 

TW: Discussion of past emotional abuse, trauma, and physical violence. (Side note: I know I said that these sequels would be fluffy, and they mostly are, but this is set before the end of the main story, so uh...we still got some major issues to work out.)

***

Bianca is exhausted by the time they wrap on season two of Silver Screens. She’s already embroiled in litigation with Jared’s family over exactly what’s happening with, not only his money, but their joint property. She’s considered giving up, just letting them win so that she can walk away, but ultimately, none of it is for her. Every time she looks down at her growing belly, she remembers who she’s fighting for, and it fuels her anger and her determination.

However, it’s draining. And she’s now almost six months pregnant, and the idea of flying to New Orleans for the holidays just sounds horrible. She knows that her family means well, but the constant checking up, the absolutely nonstop advice and questions, make it all worse.

After confiding all of these concerns to Bob, her therapist makes another suggestion: why not go somewhere else? A real vacation, just her and Courtney, somewhere they can truly get away from everything stressful and take some time for themselves?

She’s still not sure, but then she mentions the idea to Courtney, who is 200% on board, and by the end of the week, they’ve got flights to Maui, a hotel booked, and two weeks of pure, blissful lazing around time. Which all sounds wonderful in theory, but Bianca can’t help feeling a bit guilty about ditching her family.

However, the second her feet hit that white, powdery sand, she sighs in relief, turning to Courtney with a dimpled grin.

“Okay, you and Bob were right. Coming here was the right decision.”

Courtney leans forward to brush a gentle kiss against her lips.

“I suppose you don’t wanna race to the water,” she murmurs.

“I’ll race you when I’m not the size of a goddamn whale,” Bianca says, and Courtney giggles softly against her neck.

“Don’t even start, you know you’re perfect…”

A gentle tug pulls Bianca towards the ocean, which is warm and calm and as the waves lap against Bianca’s thighs, she starts to feel perfectly at ease.

“God, it’s beautiful…” Bianca sighs, staring out at the sparkling water.

“Sure is,” Courtney says, only she’s not looking at the scenery. Her eyes are fixated on Bianca’s face, watching her with a dreamy expression as a cool breeze blows her hair around.

Bianca tightens her grip on Courtney’s hand, trying to tell her without words how grateful she is, how lucky she feels. And Courtney seems to understand, pulling her close and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Aloha…” she sings softly, and Bianca shakes her head, the smile on her face feeling permanent by now.

“Aloha yourself, cheeseball.”

***

Later, laying on a towel in the warm sand, Bianca sighs happily. She hasn’t been this relaxed in ages. Years, maybe. And the best part is that she has Courtney by her side, face tilted to the sun. She reaches languidly for her.

Courtney turns, gazing down at Bianca, and wraps a lock of still-damp dark brown hair around her finger.

“How are you feeling?” she asks softly, and Bianca smiles.

“Relieved...that we’re finally here.”

The past few months have been rough. Sometimes excruciatingly so. Courtney knows that no matter how hard Bianca tried to take things one day at a time, to not get so caught up in worrying about outcomes, that most of the time her mind was racing a mile a minute.

But now, there’s only the gentle breeze, the sound of rolling waves and the occasional bird, the fragrant air. It’s truly paradise, especially when Courtney’s lips find Bianca’s for a slow kiss, one hand resting on her belly.

“She’s kicking up a storm today,” Bianca says. “I guess we forgot to tell her that this is the chill zone.”

Courtney giggles, rubbing her belly in slow circles.

“Maybe she just heard how nice it is and wants to come join us.”

“You think she gets yelp reviews in there?” Bianca asks.

“Listen, this new generation is very technologically advanced. You have no idea.”

“That’s terrifying.” Bianca pulls Courtney in for another kiss, the baby kicking again.

“Wow, Dame Edna Del Rio really likes it here,” Courtney giggles.

“We both do. Thank you for suggesting this,” Bianca says, thumb stroking Courtney’s cheek lightly.

“All I want is for you to be happy…” Courtney tells her, seeking out her pulse point for another kiss that leaves her tingling.

And in that moment, Bianca is happy. Truly, deliriously happy.

It can’t last forever though--that feeling of perfect calm. The lovely bubble has to pop sometime. It does, of course, only a little while later, as they’re strolling on the beach hand in hand.

“I really worry about you sometimes,” Courtney admits, fingers laced with hers.

“You don’t have to worry.”

“But you’ve been through so much. You must have so much you need to deal with, and I just want you to know that you don’t have to do it alone.”

“I don’t want to spend all our time together talking about my stupid trauma,” Bianca says.

“I get that. But B, it doesn’t have to be all the time. Just sometimes. When you need to-”

“Can’t we just enjoy the fucking sunset?” Bianca groans. She stops, turning to face the water, watching the golden rays reflecting off the waves.

“Sure.” Courtney wraps her arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss to her neck, letting Bianca lean back into her touch.

It goes on like that for a few days. Any time Courtney tries to get deep with her, Bianca deftly changes the subject, cajoles her to live in the moment, or simply distracts her with physical affection. After awhile, Courtney catches onto her game.

They’re snuggled in bed after a long and wonderful day--exploring the island in the morning, followed by a lively Christmas luau. Courtney’s fingers card gently through her hair. Bianca’s face is tucked into her neck, inhaling her, almost sinfully relaxed, when she brings it up again.

“B…”

“Mmm?”

“I’ve been thinking about Jared.”

Bianca’s eyes pop open, spine going rigid. That’s not the name she wants to hear right now.

“Do you ever like...miss him?”

“No.”

Bianca’s hands slide around Courtney’s waist, pulling her closer.

“It would be okay if you did, you know-”

“I know, but I don’t.”

“Sometimes I feel really guilty. Like maybe if I wasn’t around, you’d have...I don’t know.” Courtney sighed.  

“Stayed with him? Lived happily ever after? Are you fucking nuts?”

“No, of course not, but maybe it wouldn’t have ended in such a terrible way.”

“You know what would be more fun than this conversation?” Bianca asked, fingers digging into her waist. “You and me, fucking and then getting into that spa shower.”

“Bianca.”

“What?” Bianca’s lips have found her pulse point now, nibbling teasingly on her most sensitive spot.

“Just stop for a second,” Courtney says, wriggling away slightly. “I’m trying to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“I know, but you never want to talk about it, so-”

“Why can’t we just have sex instead?” Bianca whines, tugging on Courtney’s shorts. She purses her lips, giving her sexiest bedroom eyes. “I’ll make it worth your while…”

“Bianca! Stop.”

“Is this because I’m fat?”

Courtney rolls her eyes to the ceiling, seems to say a little prayer to herself before replying, “Do not even try that bullshit, you know damn well-”

“It is! I’m fat and hideous!” Bianca exclaims, hoisting herself off the bed, pacing around the room like a madwoman.

“B, come on, I’m serious…”

“So am I! I’m trying to fuck you, but all you want to do is talk, and-” Bianca stops. It’s the cheapest sort of deflection, the kind of game she used to play with Jared. Worse, it was the kind of game Jared used to play with her. Gaslighting.

The only upside, the only thing that prevents her from completely losing it, is that Courtney, for all her softness, is not buying one bit. Bianca suddenly feels as gross and hideous as she’s pretending to, all at once. Tears spilling down her cheeks.

Courtney waits, letting her have her little tantrum. When she finally returns to the bed, sinking down next to Courtney with her head in her hands, she feels fingers trailing gently up her spine.

A soft voice whispers, “I would love to know what you’re thinking right now, B. Really.”

Bianca looks up, her tear-stained cheeks blotchy, eyes red and swollen. She opens her mouth, but it still won’t come. Courtney takes her hands, kisses her fingers, keeps waiting.  

“I’m a terrible person,” Bianca finally says.  

Courtney has a pained expression on her face, like she’s doing everything she can to listen without arguing. She finally settles on, “Why do you think that?”

“Because I’m happy. I really am. And the more time goes by, the happier I am. He’s dead, and all I can think is...I’m fucking free. We’re free. This baby, she never has to know...”

Tears are falling faster now, blurring her vision. Courtney doesn’t say anything, just holds her for the longest time. When Bianca finally lifts her head, Courtney silently helps her to her feet, tugs her toward the door.

“Where are we going?” Bianca asks, but follows easily, wiping her eyes.

They’re both barefoot, walking down the stone path to the beach, powdery soft sand cool in the moonlight. The edge of the sky is still slightly glowing from the recently set sun, streaks of violet and dusty orange, the whole beach calm and beautiful, in that ethereal way where you can’t quite believe it’s real.

Courtney reaches the edge of the water and sits, helping Bianca down beside her. She stretches out her legs, letting the waves lick gently at her feet, tilting her face towards the sky, the glittering stars just beginning to appear.

“You’re not a terrible person, Bianca,” she finally says. “You’re just...a person.”

“And we’re all sinners? Is that it?”

“No. No, that’s not it at all. You’re a person, with flaws, but those flaws do not include a desire to hurt other people.”

“But I did.”

“You were just fighting for your life. Fighting for my life. The fact that we were even in that position--none of it was your fault. You’d worked so, so hard to avoid anything like it. I saw you.”

“Sometimes I worry that I’m...some kind of sociopath. Because I’m so glad he’s gone, and I...I can’t make myself feel anything different.” The tears are flowing freely down her cheeks again. Sometimes Bianca tries to fathom how she has any tears left about this, after the rivers and oceans she’s already cried. And this from someone who always described herself as ‘not really a big crier.’ Maybe a better description would be ‘generally out of touch with her emotions.’

“Do you think I’d be with you if you were violent? Dangerous?”

“I don’t know.”

“Look, I’m not saying you’re perfect. Nobody is. But every flaw, every little weird idiosyncrasy...all of that makes you who you are, and who you are…”

Courtney edges closer, taking Bianca’s chin and tilting it towards her.

“I love you so fucking much, B. And it’s not because I’m some kind of sadist. It’s because you make me…” Courtney bites her lip, a crease furrowing her brow.

“Frustrated?” Bianca tries to break the tension, as much as she can with tears still glistening on her cheeks, falling faster than she can wipe them away.

“No,” Courtney counters. “I mean, yes, sometimes, but also...hopeful. And appreciated. And challenged. And...so fucking happy.”

“Even tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Even though I brought a whole world of chaos into your life?”

“Look at where we are.” Courtney gestures to their surroundings. “If you think I would trade away one second of this, of our lives right now, just to avoid some of that chaos, then...you don’t know me very well.”

Bianca swallows, looking at Courtney’s eyes burning bright in the moonlight, and she knows. She knows it’s true because she feels the same way. But she’s too mentally exhausted to explain how much she needed that reassurance. So instead, she finally just nods.

“Yeah.”

Courtney smiles and orders, “Lie back.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re gonna make sand angels.”

“Sand angels are not a thing, Courtney.”

“Yes they are! They’re a time-honored Australian Christmas tradition, just go with it.”

Bianca laughs softly, spreading her arms and legs, feeling ridiculous and childish and almost giddy. Not that she stops complaining.

“We’re too close to the water. They’re just gonna wash away, like, immediately.”

“Yeah, well…” Courtney gets up, drawing halos over first her own angel, and then Bianca’s, kneeling above her head, giving her an upside-down grin in the process. “That doesn’t mean they weren’t beautiful while they were here.”

“You’re so deep,” Bianca teases.

“I know, right? Sooooore deep. You’re very lucky.”

Bianca laughs, feels something akin to a knot unwinding in her chest, making her feel lighter. Younger. She sits up and spins around, grabbing Courtney’s face and pulling her in for a messy, slightly sandy and very salty kiss.

“I am.”

[takadasaiko]

Growth and Comfort Do Not Coexist (a Veronica Mars oneshot)

FFN II AO3

Summary: When Logan and his Navy buddy get volunteered for the Career Day fair at Neptune High on the same day that Veronica is hired by Principal Clemmons for a case,  Logan's two worlds cross with some soul-searching results.

Notes: When I started this series the plan was to keep it as a pretty strict extension of canon, but after going through S4 again I feel like it's more accurate to say that it's a very subtle AU with most of canon intact. Most of the time, you may not even be able to tell, while others I'm going to splinter off a bit more. This is one of those times. I haven't finished the novels yet, but I understand that Logan provides a bit of backstory on how he joined the Navy in the second one. At least in spirit it lined up pretty closely with the head canon I was already getting attached to, so I decided to keep the head canon for this series. I'll try to let you know in any future fics as well if it splits for information I know was provided.

Growth and Comfort Do Not Coexist

One of the countless ironies in his life was that it had been his father that had started him on his love of quoting others to find his own way. It made sense, even if he hated it. An actor regurgitating others' words in his own voice and making a mint of people for doing so, but Logan hadn't stopped with movies. He watched everything, read more than admitted to in his younger years, and stored every word, every syllable that he could away in the library of his mind to work into his own vocabulary. He'd honed a quick wit and sharpened his tongue to a razor's edge of protection over the years. It hadn't defended him at home, but it left him ready to take on anyone outside of those walls willing to come at him. Anger had fueled him and made him deadly to the point that he'd driven off nearly everyone that was willing to challenge him for whatever reason.

Almost everyone, and those rare few that had remained had been his saving grace. All these years later he could acknowledge that. Duncan Kane who had been willing to walk off when he'd crossed that line into total jackassery, Dick Casablancas who had done what he could - if he even knew he was doing it or not - by harassing him out of the deep funks he fell in, and that shining beacon of light named Veronica Mars that had reminded him of his own mortality while simultaneously easing the sting of the wounds inflicted by his life. It hadn't always been easy, especially with Veronica. Aaron may have led him to a love of words, but as Logan closed the door to his convertible - tucked in a line of clunkers and high-end cars that made up the Neptune High parking lot - he knew that he never would have made it this far on words alone. He had always craved support. Needed it. And even after Veronica had left, fleeing the black hole that Neptune felt like at times, he'd found it.

He just wondered what kind of quote he could rattle off that could somehow find peace between his then and his now as he stood looking onto the high school that he'd graduated from, the life that he'd left so far behind in so many ways, but he was drawing a blank. No, this was what it was, and really he couldn't even trace it back to a place where he could remember agreeing to this potential powder keg of a day. The order had come down and he'd said yes sir like a good soldier.

"The rest of the squad and I have a bet going on just how much trouble you got into back in the day."

Logan turned to look at Dave Riley, one of the very few people on the planet that he would be willing to die for. He straightened, showing himself to be a good three or four inches shorter than Logan and skinny as hell. His strawberry-blond hair and green eyes that were too big for his freckled face gave him an air of innocence that Logan knew he used to his advantage. That Midwest drawl did it too. People always underestimate him, but Riley had scored even higher than Logan had on the ASTB-E - Aviation Standard Test Battery - which was saying something. He wouldn't have had anyone else watch his back in the air. Thankfully the Navy had agreed when they assigned Riley as his Weapons System Officer.

"Yeah? You really think it's a fair bet for you to weigh in on?"

Riley shrugged and flashed a wide grin that would have put anyone else at ease. Logan knew better. The more innocent he looked, the more shit Riley was likely to pull. "I'm just here to be the honest voice to deliver back anything I learn."

Logan snorted. "Uh-huh."

"Trust issues. You've got them, my friend."

"I've just known you too long."

"Maybe, but you do trust me."

"Doesn't mean anybody else should."

"Maybe I just want to see pre-bottom-of-the-barrel Echolls. They all saw you after you enlisted, but me? I saw you before and it was not a pretty picture."

Logan snorted, the corners of his lips quirking up as he caught Riley out of the corner of his eye. "Weird. See, I thought you were into me, because I kept telling you to fuck off and you kept coming back."

"You wish," Riley chuckled and shrugged. "Seriously though, what was I supposed to do? No telling what you would have done if I'd just left you there by yourself."

"Flunk out and drink myself to death?"

"Yeah, probably."

Logan finally turned to meet those amused, green eyes and his smirk eased out a little. "Rather have you at my back than anyone else."

"Better believe it, brother," Riley answered and reached up, ready for Logan to tap the back of his hand off of his in an old ritual. "You ready to go talk up the Navy to a bunch of teenagers that remind you of yourself?"

"'Originals cost more than imitations.' Suzy Kassem.'"

Riley snorted. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You're one of a kind," he chuckled as they started towards the building.

Logan flashed him a broad grin as his gaze swept the parking lot that they were walking through, finally falling on a familiar blue Hyundai that didn't belong there. Or maybe it did. Maybe a student there just had the exact same make and model of car that his girlfriend had. Coincidences happened. Sometimes. In theory, at least.

"Remind me again how we got roped into this?" Riley asked, drawing his attention back around.

"Pretty sure Wallace - Veronica's friend - put in the specific request. He's a teacher here."

"And here I am. Dragged in because of you," Riley sighed dramatically and Logan popped his fist against his shoulder, receiving a shit-eating grin and response dripping with false cheer in return. "And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

"Logan!"

"Speak of the Physics teacher and he appears. Like magic," the man in question muttered, receiving a muffled laugh from his cohort as Wallace Fennel broke into a light jog towards them. "I hear we have you to thank for this," Logan directed at Wallace.

"I just put your name into a hat. No clue what had to happen to get a couple of aviators in."

Logan opened his mouth to take advantage of the oh-too-easy joke that Wallace had left open for him when Riley cut him off. "Technically, he's the aviator. I'm the Wizzo." Okay. So maybe he brought some of his Midwest propriety with him. There was a first time for everything.

"The what?" Wallace asked, tilting his head a little to the side in question.

"Weapons System Officer," Riley clarified. "WSO. Wizzo."

"Because we're in the Navy and we nickname everything," Logan popped off and tilted his head towards the man standing on his right. "Lt. Dave Riley. He literally watches my back."

"I shoot the assholes, Echolls makes sure we don't get shot by out-flying them," Riley added.

"So you're Goose?" Wallace asked.

"Yeah… just with less death."

"What do you need us to do, Wallace?" Logan asked, watching students filing in towards their first classes of the day.

"Are you going to hate me if I tell you that I didn't warn Clemmons it was you?"

"Pretty sure if you had he would have shut it down."

Riley straightened, interest piqued again. "And exactly why would this Clemmons fellow hate you?" It took less that two seconds for Riley to turn that inquisitive look on Wallace and, while Logan knew the man had to be able to keep up with Veronica in order to stay in her life as long as he had, it would have been nice to think that he didn't have to worry about fielding questions all day. There was a reason he didn't intentionally connection his life with the Navy to his life in Neptune with the exception of Veronica. Ah well. No turning back now. Good thing he was well versed in pretending things didn't phase him.

"I got some dirt," Wallace offered.

"And here I thought you came along to have my back," Logan grumbled, his glare sliding towards Riley.

"Always, man, but the rest of the squad is relying on me."

"Yeah, when'd you get promoted?"

"Even the squad leader has to own up," Riley teased, nudging Logan's shoulder as he strode forward. "Whatcha got for me. Wallace, was it?"

Logan did not like the look Wallace wore as he said, "How 'bout a trade? I'll tell you about the time Logan and one of the other guys from our class put the lit teacher's car on the flag pole -"

Riley's grin only broadened. "On?"

"On," Wallace confirmed, "if you tell us his call sign. Man will notshare. Can't be that bad, right?"

Logan snorted and started back towards the buildings, hearing a far-too-amused Riley agree to the terms and Wallace's story began. This was going to be a trip.

---------

Some days being a PI was exciting. An unexpected client dropped into the office with an interesting story, lots of holes in it that they didn't think you could possibly discover, and a whole puzzle to solve. And then other days it was your old high school principal who showed up with the Case of the Missing Lockbox. What was in the lockbox, she had no idea, just that it was connected to Career Day - she had zero recollection of having a career day at Neptune High. Wow. - and that it mustbe found.

And it was. Almost before Clemmons had finished rattling off his explanation of just how important it was. There was something in that someone needed and he needed…. Really, she'd lost track. Whatever the reason he wanted it, she found it hidden under a loose floorboard in the gym. The rest was history as soon as he'd signed and handed her the check. As soon as she found where Mac had gotten off to, she had no interest in sticking around.

At least until she spotted a very familiar figure standing at the Navy booth talking to an excitable teen about the F/A-18 Hornets that he flew.

Veronica felt her lips turn up at the corners without permission as she inched forward, waiting behind him until the kid was gone. "Take me to bed or risk losing me forever," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

Logan turned, cringing as he did. "I swear, if I never hear another Top Gun reference today…."

"You can live a long and happy life?" she offered.

"Exactly. What are you doing here? I thought I spotted your car."

Veronica leaned against the booth, never breaking eye contact. "Oh, you know, solving cases. Stopping crime. Paying the rent." She waved the check in her hand in front of him.

"One of the kids steal something from Clemmons?"

"You know they did, but I fixed it." He snorted a laugh and Veronica cracked a full grin. "Wallace rope you into this?"

"He did. I'm a good friend. Please feel free to remind him of that at any and every possible moment."

She felt her playful smile soften a little, but a voice broke in from the other end of the booth. "Hey, V!" Riley called, offering a wave when she looked over.

"Look at you standing on two legs," Veronica returned and motioned at the potential recruits. "Ask him how he broke his leg a few months ago. Go ahead. Ask him."

"You're not helping," her boyfriend grumbled with feigned irritation.

Veronica turned back to look at him. "So you and Wallace are friends now?" she asked, circling back around to their conversation. "I like the sound of that."

"I like Wallace. I may have even won him over with this one. It's Mac I'm hesitant about. What'd I do to her?"

Veronica cringed a little. "I think it was Parker."

"Seriously? She knows Parker broke up with me, right?"

"There was something about me involved, I don't know. She's around here somewhere bolstering the campus security. You'd have to ask her."

"I think I'll leave it as one of life's many mysteries."

She laughed, inching in. Hell, she did love him in those Navy whites. Her hand reached forward of its own accord, fingers touching the fabric there and ready to curl into it to pull him closer to her, but he caught it before she could. "I'm technically on duty."

"You're technically on duty when you get home from deployment and haul me off the deck to kiss me," she reminded him, her voice low and he'd have to be an idiot to miss her meaning. Logan Echolls was a lot of things, but an idiot wasn't one of them.

"They give me some leeway there. Not so much when I'm telling kids why they should enlist."

"You telling them to get shot at for a living?"

"Hey, now. Technically I have never gotten shot."

"And you've jinxed yourself."

"It's really not as likely if they're on the ship," he answered, his smirk more cocky than she would have liked. She knew all too well that they had come under fire.

"You're not funny."

"Seriously? I hear you find me hilarious."

Veronica held his gaze, those perfectly thin lips of his stretched out into a smile that made her want to drag him back to some secluded corner right then and there, but she knew she couldn't. He couldn't. Or wouldn't. For all of Logan's flippancy towards authority in their youth, he'd found something sacred in the Navy. She wasn't sure if it was the authority, per se, or something deeper that was just reflected there. He'd grown up alone in many ways, even before his parents had died, and certainly without the usual limitations that most children received. He had never told her the full story of how he'd tumbled into the Navy of all things, but her working theory was that it had something to do with the structure and direction that it provided.

Whatever the case, he loved it. His job, his squad, every inch of it. He didn't just love it, he respected it, and for that reason he would respect the fact that he was there to represent it. Oh, if only sixteen-year-old Logan could see himself now. What would he say?

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Mars," he teased, drawing her attention around.

"There was nothing to say that it was inthe gutter, Echolls," she countered, grinning up at him.

"You need a mirror? All the evidence you'll need for - what do you call it? - a money shot."

Her grin grew as her voice dipped. "Usually fewer clothes for that."

"Give me a couple hours," he promised.

Veronica loosed a laugh out on a breath and leaned against the booth, her gaze drifting out to the crowd of kids. They looked like them years before in so many ways. In others, nothing at all. For the first time in a long time she found herself desperate to see the ghost of Lilly Kane dancing through the throngs of students, laughing and teasing and alive. She'd missed so much.

"So, your buddy Wallace told me about the car on the flagpole incident," Riley's chipper voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "but even as spectacular as that is, it couldn't possibly warrant that look."

Veronica followed where he was pointing to see a very nervous looking Van Clemmons standing with Wallace, the principal's gaze fixed on Logan who was chatting with a student.

"Oh, you know, started a few fights, kept getting charged with murders he didn't commit."

"There was more than one?"

"Well, only one in high school," she answered with a shrug. "Looks like you boys may get let go early. Hiya, Mr C."

The principal looked over on his way to the booth, startled and he mumbled something about a dangerous pair. Veronica snorted a laugh and looked back at Riley. "So how do you like the old stomping grounds?"

"It's an experience. Never thought I'd see kids driving Teslas and Beamers nicer than Logan's to class."

She liked Riley, but she didn't often get time alone with him. She wasn't sure if Logan intentionally kept his Navy and his Neptune life a little bit separate, but she did know that as soon as Clemmons could pry his students away long enough from the Navy table he would politely thank the guys for their time and send them on their way. If she wanted to pick Riley's brain at all, now was a chance she hadn't expected. "You guys met sophomore year, right?"

"Yeah. After you left." His gaze slid over to her. "You fishing for intel, Veronica?"

"Just curious. Tell me you didn't sign on to get a few new stories on him."

"Where Echolls goes, I go," Riley answered with a shrug, but as Veronica waited a little of the mirth washed off. He turned to meet her gaze fully. "A few fun anecdotes are one thing, but this? It changed his life. That's his story to tell, V."

She nodded slowly, turning back to find a missing Logan and Mac having appeared at some point, now patiently waiting with Wallace. Wallace started forward. "Hey, Veronica. Didn't know you were going to be here today."

"Missing something or the other," she answered offhandedly. "Where'd Logan go?"

"Not sure. Fair's wrapping up so the kids can get back to class. Clemmons let you guys go early." Wallace extended a hand. "Lt Riley—"

"Just Riley's good, after the stories I got from you." He happily shook the offered hand, his grin returning. "So if Echolls wandered off, who's the lucky volunteer to drive me back to my car at his place? Unless you have extra keys to the Beamer, V. I'd be willing to slum it."

"But would you be willing to stake your life on it if you wrecked Logan's car?"

"Fair."

"We can take you," Mac offered. "If you're parked at their place it's not too far out of the way."

Veronica shot her a questioning look before filing she dug in her purse for her keys and tossed them at Mac. "You two kids be good. I'll grab a ride home with Logan."

She watched Riley turn a funny sort of smile on Mac who fell into step with him towards the parking lot. She would have to file that away in things to figure out later. For now, she had a Logan to track down.

----------------

Veronica had been busy chatting with Riley when Clemmons gave them the all clear to head out - not a huge surprise and probably the reason Wallace had tried to keep quiet who he'd managed to snag out of the aviation department to come in - and he just needed a couple of minutes to work through the thoughts that he'd shoved down below the surface since arriving on the campus. The students had been called back into their classes and had left the halls deserted, Logan standing alone on the school crest with one hand stuffed deeply into his trouser pockets, the other holding onto his uniform cap.

He hadn't been here since graduation, not that many people made an effort at returning to their high schools, but Logan had made even less so. Hell, he wouldn't have bothered with his ten year reunion if Sean Freidrich hadn't released those videos of Carrie to his instagram account. He didn't have a lot of positive memories associated with it. Sure, early on he'd been popular enough. Money tended to do that in Neptune, as did prestigious parents. Logan had had both. Funny, he'd still had to face most of the battles that had rolled in alone. Especially the ones that counted for anything.

"Hey handsome," a familiar voice chimed behind him and he felt Veronica's hands touch the small of his back lightly as she circled around, her smile flirty and light. "Deep in thought about all the scandalous things that happened here?"

"Yep. I'm pretty sure we made out in that corner. That one too. Oh, and there's the infamous women's bathroom that you kept dragging me into."

"You liked it."

"I did."

Veronica circled around him and he couldn't help but feel his smile turned a little more real. Well, one good thing had come out of it all. Her.

"What are you really thinking about?" she asked, her tone a little less teasing now and damn her. She did see right through him, didn't she?

Logan felt his smile even out, the weight of his thoughts settling back into place from their momentary relief. He let the feelings roll around in his mind for a long moment until they got enough traction to form something like words. Another moment or two and they even started to make at least a fraction of sense. "I've been trying to reconcile who I was with who I am," he said slowly, tasting each word as it left his tongue to make sure it was the right one that best coincided with the emotions that had bubbled up like a geisser ready to shoot towards the sky.

Veronica was uncharacteristically silent as she settled in next to him, both standing on the emblem in the middle of the hall and looking down the long stretch.

"I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. It's easy to say I was young and stupid, but I think…. It used to be easier to keep it all separated. Even living here, when I dated Carrie…. It was different. She had no interest in the Navy. The two worlds were completely separate. Riles only met her maybe… two or three times."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. It was awkward and forced. In the end it was just easier to live two lives, but since you came back it's been… complicated."

He could feel her tense at his side and he risked a look. Well that wasn't a happy look. More of a hurt-desperately-shoved-under-irritation look. "Sorry I complicated things," she groused and Logan scrambled.

"That's not what I mean. I mean, it is, but not like that." He pulled in a breath, trying to find a way to express it in a way that she might be able to understand. "I mean I want Riles to know you. I want you to know him. I want to be friends with your friends and vice versa until they're ours. I just… don't know how to do that without opening myself up for a hell of a lot of shit toted out for everyone to see."

There was another moment of silence from her and Logan shifted from one foot to another, feeling exposed. Finally, he heard her draw in a breath. "'Growth and comfort do not coexist.'"

Logan blinked hard. "Ginny Rometty," he cited, surprise lacing the name.

"I guess? You had it as your voicemail one time. One of your inspirational quotes." Her careful smile flooded him with a sense of warmth. "Seemed to fit."

"Yeah," he breathed.

"I get it," Veronica murmured, looking back down the hall. "When I went to Stanford, I cut ties with everything. I didn't want the two worlds colliding. I never dated anyone for long enough for him to feel like he should meet my dad or anything. To come home. Even with Piz who knew so much of it. I just… kept it separate."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't think I wanted to be that person."

"I love that person."

A small smile tugged her lips out and she reached for the hand still stuffed in his pocket. "Can I ask you something?"

Funny, that question would have terrified him a decade ago, but he heard his response roll off his own tongue without reservation. "Anything."

"Why'd you choose the Navy? I'm glad you did. I've seen…. What it gave you. What it did for you. I just wanna know how you got there."

Logan pursed his lips and considered the question for a long moment. It wasn't the first time she'd asked and she wasn't the only one curious. Just earlier that day Wallace had tried to press Riley for it. Good man Riley. He'd run his mouth about a lot, but not when it counted, and this did.

And because it counted, he knew Veronica deserved to hear it from him.

"I was okay all summer," he started, feeling a little numb as he spoke. "I thought you'd come back. I thought we'd...do what we did back then. Fall apart, come back, try again."

"I transferred."

"Yeah."

"Without telling you."

"I got the hint," he murmured, trying not to sound too bitter. He tightened his hold on her hand in his. "I never really… learned how to process things, I don't think. Not things that mattered. Hell, my go-to when my mom threw herself off a bridge was to hire my best friend's ex girlfriend to prove she wasn't really dead." A mirthless chuckle left him and he felt her tighten her hold on his hand. "I fell apart. Hit bottom. I was on the edge of flunking out, drinking waytoo much, and then this asshole sat down at my table in the cafeteria and just started babbling on about the design of a jet. Honestly, I was so hungover I couldn't tell you what jet he was talking about. All I remember is telling him to fuck off and he thought it was hilarious."

"Riley," Veronica said softly and Logan nodded.

"Riley. He's a stubborn bastard. He kept on me until somehow we became… friends, I guess? Something close to it. Found out later we'd had a class freshman year. The one Wallace and I had where I lost the bet and went streaking through it?" Veronica snorted a laugh at that. She had rolled her eyes pretty hard at the time. "He saw something, through all the bullshit. I don't know why or how, but he had… faith. Ended up convincing me to join ROTC and it was the first time I think I really found structure in my life. I always thought it'd be exhausting but it was… nice, somehow. Not just some assholes that had no business telling me what to do getting off on it, but these people had my back. I eased off the drinking, got my grades up, and did what I had to to get my wings."

"That's… amazing."

"You hear me say Riley saved my life and sure. In the air, definitely, but before that. He got me in the air."

The bell rang. "I'm glad he did," Veronica said earnestly as the doors started opening all around them and she tipped up on her toes to press the briefest of kisses to his lips before the students started to flood out. "Let's go home."

He nodded, words escaping him in that moment as she took him by the hand and led him towards Neptune High's exit, the chatter following them out.

----------- 

It felt like a weight had been lifted off that Logan hadn't even known was there. He had always known what had drawn her into the life she lived, what had driven her to find an outlet for the questions that raged after Lilly's death, but that small, lying voice in his mind had told him that she'd be upset if he explained how he had gotten to where he was. She'd be hurt, thinking that he blamed her for finally scraping rock bottom. Or angry that he had. Whatever the case, it would be his fault and clearly it would drive a wedge between them.

But it didn't. Instead she'd taken it in stride, seeming to be more grateful that Riley had been stubborn enough to help him through it than upset that he'd crashed and burned after she had left. They had both done what they had needed, and they had needed it. As much as they'd loved each other they had been so young and so angry and hurt by the world around them. Jaded and pained in ways they couldn't work through together, not at that point. No, they had had to work on themselves, to find themselves, before they could come back together. And they had. Of course they had. Their story was epic.

Logan pulled the BMW around to park it on the street, brows drawing together at the sight of both Veronica's blue Hyundai and Riley's Mustang. "I thought he'd be halfway back to San Diego."

"Yeah, and I thought my car would be at the office…."

They slipped out of the convertible, finding the steps leading to the apartment empty of waiting guests. Logan heard Veronica's voice and glanced over to see her phone pressed to her ear. "Uh huh. Suuure," she answered with a wide grin. "See you in a sec." She ended the call and motioned towards the beach. "Riley forgot his keys in the apartment and Mac decided to wait with him."

Logan tilted his head and they started the short trek to find his Wizzo and one of Veronica's best friends sitting on a beach towel that must have been in her trunk, deep in conversation. Mac was the first to turn at their approach. "Hi there, Hollywood!" she greeted, her grin quick and mischievous.

And suddenly he knew what the conversation had been about. He locked eyes with Riley whose grin was a bit more sheepish. "Traitor," Logan muttered even as Veronica barked a laugh.

"You finally got it out of him. 'Bout damn time." She turned a clearly fake apologetic look at him. "It's not so bad. You've told me some of the other guys' call signs and they're a lot worse."

"It wouldn't have stuck if he hadn't been such a baby about it early on," Riley chuckled.

"Asshole," Logan huffed without any real spite in his voice.

"Yeah, you love me." Riley stood, brushing off his uniform. "I should head back. Good meeting you, Mac. Loved the story about the scavenger hunt. We should do it again sometime." He glanced back pointedly at Logan. "Cross the streams a little, huh?"

Logan rolled his eyes a little, but he knew the smile inching into place was going to give him away. It was nice to find some weird equilibrium between two pieces of his life. "C'mon. Let's grab your keys."

"Oh, wouldn't you know it?" Riley stuffed his hand deeply into his pocket and returned with his keys. "Oops. There the whole time. See ya next time."

Veronica snorted a laugh as Riley sauntered his way up the beach towards the road. "He's a sneaky little bastard."

"I warned you, " Logan chuckled. "He's been looking for high school stories all day."

"And freshman year of college," Mac offered as she stood, stooping back down to grab the oversized beach towel. "But he does pay well with stories from after you ghosted everyone. How did you stay in ROTC with some of the stuff you pulled?"

Logan flashed her a smug grin and Mac laughed, shaking her head.

"You wanna stay for dinner? We can order Thai," Veronica offered.

"I think we have chicken. I can cook," Logan countered.

"You cook?" Mac asked, the amusement still strong in her eyes. "This I have to see."

"I even know how to wash dishes," Logan countered.

Veronica nodded at the distant figure just reaching the street. "Bet we can grab Riley before he leaves. Swap a few more stories?"

"There's no stopping you now, is there?"

"Flood gates aren't open," she agreed.

"I'll go catch Dave," Mac offered and she was gone before either of them could get a word in.

Logan looked to Veronica, finding those clear and curious blue eyes on him too. "Did she just call him Dave?"

"Pretty sure she did."

"Huh."

They started up the beach towards their friends, Logan risking a glance at the woman he loved out of the corner of his eye and feeling a strange sense of peace washing over him despite what would likely turn into a one-up-manship of stories that evening. Growth and comfort didn't coexist, it was true. It had nearly killed him to find a way to survive everything life has dealt him, He couldn't go back and change the past, and he didn't think he wanted to. Without the struggles he faced, he never would have grown like he had, and that growth had brought him here. It had brought him back to her, and for that he would endure any pain.

-----

Notes:

Hat tip to @his-beautiful-girl_Beautiful_Girl for the Suzy Kassem quote and all of the fantastic folks in the VM Fic Club that were willing to help me find the best quote to use there 3

[she1smyscar]

Reasons Why I Don’t Like Barchie

Let me start off by saying that I don't really have a ship for any of the teens really. There are some that I like more than others and there are a couple that are 100% my NOTPs (Barchie being one of them), but I'm not a Bughead stan, a Varchie stan, a Beronica stan, a Choni stan, etc. I mainly focus on the plot and the parents. Ships aren't my main focus most of the time. But I haven't been able to watch this season since Barchie got so much bigger and I'll tell you why.

When I started to watch Riverdale, I was 100% in Betty's shoes. I had a big crush on my best friend and I thought that eventually we'd end up together and when I thought he liked me back, I got rejected just like Betty and was expected to continue to move on as best friends as if nothing happened. But just like Betty, it was too hard and too painful. That happened to me irl only about a few weeks before I watched it happen on Riverdale and I went through that heartbreak all over again. I've seen shippers praising the exact scene where Archie broke Betty's heart after the dance. I don't understand why you could praise a scene where he HURT her. It would be the same vice versa....if she had broken his heart. Either way, it's not romantic at all. She went into her room and probably cried that night. Something I know well about feeling unwanted.

I know several people blame Grundy for that, but that doesn't make any sense. Here's why. Archie never looked at Betty the way he looked at Veronica THE SECOND, she showed up in Pop's her first night in Riverdale. Right there is a clear sign that he wasn't interested in Betty. He proposed to her when they were younger, yes. But they grew up, still really close to each other, and he never asked her out. Meaning he either didn't see her the way he saw Veronica that first day, or he really did just want to stay friends with Betty. Back to Grundy. People say that Archie felt drawn to Grundy so he rejected Betty. But if it were because of Grundy, why, only two episodes after Grundy leaves, did Archie go straight for VALERIE and NOT Betty? Grundy left in Season 1, Episode 4. Which means Archie could have gotten with Betty (if she really was his first choice) in Season 1, Episode 5. I know, I know. It was too soon, right? Hm? Then why did Archie get with Valerie in Season 1, Episode 6? That's not even that much longer after Grundy left. So when people say that Archie has loved Betty this whole time, it doesn't feel true to me, because if she really was his first choice, he would've gone right to her once Grundy was gone, but nope. He chose Valerie first. Also...he kissed Veronica in Episode 1, which shows that Grundy was definitely not stopping him from kissing other girls. They both KNEW Betty liked him yet they kissed anyway even though they WERE just gonna stand in the closet and not do anything till time was up, but they kissed anyway because they were attracted to each other. If Archie was attracted to Betty from the get-go, he wouldn't have held back from kissing her the moment he knew she liked him. He liked Veronica that way, not Betty. So I'm debunking the Grundy theory.

Another thing that bothers me is when people call Jughead "Betty's rebound" off of Archie. Hm...if that was true, I doubt she would've stayed with her "rebound" as long as 4 years. Especially since Betty and Archie have both been single at the same time yet she still chose Jughead over him. She fell for Jug after he finally gave her back the stuff she's been waiting for from Archie. So Jughead was and is not a rebound. If anything, Veronica was ARCHIE's rebound. But not from Betty. FROM VALERIE. He got drunk af at Jughead's birthday party because it was right after Val left him for being a terrible boyfriend (which he clearly is) and after Val threw her drink in his face, he got more drunk and then Veronica kissed him and he was like "Oh, sure. I'll sleep with you since you kissed me and I'm upset and Val left me."

Back to Archie being a terrible boyfriend (aside from when he was with Josie). With Val...he ignored her and only gave her attention when he was gaining something with his music. Then Cheryl's family gave him an opportunity to go to a good music school, so boom, he ignored Val's wish not to be Cheryl's date to her family Maple Gathering. Dumb move. No wonder Val told him she was done. Then...with Veronica, he kissed Betty. But then Betty was not interested (Hmmm, because she loves her “”rebound”” Jughead so much). And then Veronica told Archie to stay away from Hiram and what did Archie do? Completely ignored her and got stuck in some big mob mess and illegal shit. Then he broke up with her over the phone when she was trying to support him. So she got with Reggie who treated her so well (yes, they had problems too) but he was so whipped for her, let's be real. He did everything she wanted and he would've done anything for her. Then they had their issues and broke up but they were about to get back together, LITERALLY, just as Archie showed up and was all "I love you. Come back to me" and Veronica was obviously still not over him, so poor Reggie had no chance and then Veronica got back with Archie who she should not have gotten back with. She was amazing to him (all of his friends were) when his father passed away. But VERONICA talked him out of saying that his father would be ashamed of him and she made him see otherwise and told him that Fred would be proud of him. That's a GOOD girlfriend. Meanwhile, Archie still has eyes for other girls (Betty now apparently). But anyway. I'm just saying that Betty AND Veronica both deserve a better guy than Archie Andrews.

I just don't see why any girl on this show would be shipped with him. Remember when Veronica decided to kiss Jughead to even the playing field after they told Jug about Barchie kissing? Archie looked pissed. Like wtf? You kissed Betty when you were STILL WITH VERONICA. At least Betty and Jughead were over at the time. I don't believe Archie had a right to look so mad about Jeronica's little fun/platonic kiss when what he did was behind Veronica's back and while they were still together. Her and Jug "getting even" was right there in front of the other two and playful. Nothing to be angry or possessive about Archie. Jeez.

The only time he was an outstanding boyfriend was with Josie and that was the only time I was actually EXCITED to watch Archie scenes. They were great together and they both EQUALLY supported each other and helped each other through things. Not to say that Archie doesn't have good qualities, because he does. He's been trying to clean up Riverdale and he helped Veronica figure out how to get Hiram to fight through his sickness. But I just really can't see him with Betty after everything they've been through without each other. They barely talk anyway till now when they're FAKING being together.

Bonus: There are people who talk about how Archie and Betty doing investigations together are better than Betty and Jughead. But the only time Betty and Archie did an investigation together was to figure out who the Black Hood was and they ended up unmasking the wrong person. Their janitor, who was actually innocent. So clearly, Betty and Jughead are a better team. Not to mention, Archie can really be one of the biggest dumbasses in Riverdale.

THE COMICS: Yes. I know they are canon in the comics. But we well know that the comics and the show are VERY different (Did you know that Penny Peabody and Fangs Fogarty are supposed to be endgame like they are in the comics??? But Riverdale made Penny a 30 year old and Fangs a 16 year old, so that became a "NO" right away. Hence...the difference between the show and the comics). Also....there are comics where Betty kisses Archie behind Veronica's back when Varchie were together and she kissed him without his consent in the dark when he thought he was kissing Veronica (A BIG "NO"). So the comics aren't really a good template to follow. Especially since nowadays, I really don't see chemistry between Lili and KJ. Their fake kiss in the music room (I've seen it on Twitter, because I still haven't seen 4x16) was so awkward and weird to watch. It was so bad. Idk. I can't get behind it.

THE FORBIDDEN LOVE: I don’t understand why people call them forbidden, when they’re both Northsiders who grew up next door to each other and they were never forbidden from being friends. They’re not a forbidden love. Bughead was at first because he was from the Southside and Alice didn’t want Betty to be around Jug or Serpents. But Barchie is definitely not forbidden love. If it is now, then it’s because they would both be cheating and that is disgusting.

Anyway, I haven't been able to watch the season since 4x15, because all of this fake Barchie nonsense legit makes me ACTUALLY sick to my stomach. Cheating really is not okay at all and them pretending that Archie cheated on Veronica and that Betty would get another boyfriend SO FAST after she was framed for MURDERING HER OWN really does not sit well with me or my stomach. The writers are NOT doing this right. If they wanted Barchie to be together....the best way to have done that would have been through them ACTUALLY breaking up with their s/o and then becoming close friends again AND THEN moving around to that romance. But this fake dating and fake cheating stuff is disgusting and I don't think I'm gonna continue season 4 if they become canon that way. Just no.

[alastairsqueen]

Katy Keene Predictions

If the show gets picked up for a second season, I have some predictions/plots for the show.

I’ve seen some speculations that Pepper’s mother might be Gloria and her father Leo Lacy, that Gloria gave her up to avoid shame. I don’t think people realize the actress’s name is Julie Chan (her father is Chinese), therefore it’s likely at least one of her parents would be Asian. That means the likelihood that both Gloria and Leo Lacy are her parents is unlikely. 

Since Pepper just came to terms with her who she is and her adopted father truly caring about her regardless of everything, I think it’s likely there might not be further exploration of her birth parents until later in a 2nd season. Pepper starts to become more comfortable with her life, and then BAM, someone shows up claiming to be one of her parents and tears her world apart. Now that she’s been arrested - and if she does that exclusive article for the paper - it could be that one of her parents realizes she might be their daughter via a newspaper article, especially if there are details about how she was adopted after being left inside a hotel.

Now, I have one other possible theory about her parents. We see her end her ties with Ms. Freesia, but what if Ms. Freesia seems upset because she’s actually Pepper’s mother? It could be why she taught Pepper all those cons and helped her out throughout the years, why she also seemed genuinely upset. Of course, that could be just because she has no potential partner now, but in some ways, it makes sense. If you’ve built your life on all these hustles, it seems likely you wouldn’t want to raise a child on your own, especially if you’ve grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle. 

But yeah, I don’t think we will have anything right away with Pepper’s parents. I think she will take some time to grow into her own with her changed ways, and focus more on the Pepper Plant and being Josie’s new manager.

Speaking of long lost parents, next we have Katy. There was an exchange between Leo Lacy and Katy at the end of the episode, and the way he looked at her suggested he recognized her name. One of two options could happen here; either Leo Lacy is her father, or they play out a season-long plot where the two get to know one another only for her to find out he is not her father. Perhaps he just knew her mother and the two were exceptionally close. Maybe they even dated, and he did give her the sewing machine, but I think Leo Lacy being her father seems almost.........too obvious.  With that said, if the two did date and he isn’t her father, it still provides an entry point for Katy to learn more about her mother. 

As far as romance is concerned, I know K.O. is a huge part of the comics, but I feel like not many people liked the actor/character in the show, and so I don’t know if K.O. is going to come back, or they might take Katy’s love interests in a different direction. I feel like they intended for K.O. to eventually be endgame, but I’m not so sure. I’ve seen Zane Holtz in other shows, and I feel like there is definitely something off about him in Katy Keene. It’s like he’s just sort of......there. 

With Errol now owning Lacy’s, that opens up opportunities for Katy and him again, even if he supposedly did marry Patricia. I honestly wouldn’t care for a back and forth between Katy and past love interests, but that’s just a personal opinion. I do think her story line with Guy is done for now, or he might pop up randomly at some point or another for them to have some closure. Even though she turned down his job offer and did the fashion show for all those designers he stole from, he did claim to love her, and obviously she didn’t feel the same. I’m not sure his sentiments were genuine, but I do feel like there wasn’t any closure on Katy’s end. Granted, her moving on without his help could be the show’s form of closure, but I feel like maybe there should be a little something more.

I think Katy will continue to work between Lacy’s and going to school at Parsons, but I have a feeling Parsons won’t be what she expected and she might end up dropping out. I feel like the show will have a hard time juggling all these different locations, especially adding on a school. A school means the potential for more cast members, and more cast members means time taken away from an already decently sized cast. Riverdale suffers from not enough character development at times, and I’d hate for Katy Keene to meet the same fate. 

As for Josie, I hope she’s honestly done with the Cabots. I think watching that back and forth between those three was probably one of the least enjoyable aspects of the show. Am I the only one who thought the actress playing Xandra could not act? It’s like she tried to be a villain but fell short most of the time with her delivery. Like the plots were there, but she personally didn’t work for me. And I hate that the whole point of Josie coming to New York was to work on her music career, and then they attach her to Alex to hopefully jump start her career, but it kind of ruined it for me. It seems like almost every time Josie was on Riverdale, she was associated with some guy or her singing, and that was it. I feel like the one downfall of Katy Keene this season was how they still kind of missed the mark until later in the season with Josie. I hope that’s something they work on for season 2.

Personally, my hope is that in season 2, Josie moves on from Alex and when she does create new songs, she’s out on her own and the Cabots have no future control over her. The redemption they tried to pull with Xandra and her in the finale really didn’t work. “You can be part of my band.” You mean JOSIE’S band? I could have seen a middle ground being reached if Josie was properly credited for the song and earned some kind of residuals for her credits. 

Josie and the Pussycats really need to shine in season 2, or bringing Josie over to Katy Keene was kind of pointless. Their band is exclusive to the Pepper Plant, yes, but I’d love to see them play in other locations. 

As for Jorge, we saw both of his ex’s in the finale, one at the show in the park, and the other Jorge asked for help. I hope both of his ex’s are gone in the next season and he moves on and finds someone who treats him right. Bernardo wanted to try again and Jorge even said he needed to work on himself. I think the fact Bernardo was already running with Buzz right after they had been broken up for a day speaks volumes. Sure, he treated Jorge alright, but the threesome really messed them up. I don’t think either man is right for him. Jorge needs to be with someone who is already out but also doesn’t make him feel insecure about himself either. 

I’d like to see Jorge trying out for more broadway too. I love Ginger, but I feel like the second half of the season took a step away from most of the broadway stuff aside from Kiss of the Spider Woman, which was technically put on by the Pepper Plant. Like we need to see him doing more auditions and pursuing that part of his life still.

And then there was the other shoe dropped at the end of the finale with Hiram Lodge showing up as the man who wanted to buy the building. Honestly, NO ONE asked for Hiram Lodge to be a potential villain in Katy Keene. I’m sure he’ll be around trying to make their lives a living hell. It also means Hiram isn’t dying or that whole plot is going to change in Riverdale. I think the biggest issue I have with this is Veronica and Katy being friends, and obviously Veronica would know where Katy lives, and yet Veronica didn’t give Katy a heads up? I guess that could be a hint that maybe Veronica gets out from under her father so she has no idea what he’s up to, but that is some pretty bad inconsistency, otherwise. Obviously Jorge’s family owns the building, but Jorge and Katy have been friends for years, so it’s likely Veronica would at least know about him too, unless they’re not intending Veronica and Katy to be THAT close of friends, even though they are technically cousins in the comics. 

[espejonight28738]

Sounds of Someday meta 15x04

This is a 15x04 meta, Dean meta and Destiel meta, with a little bit of a Sam meta too I guess, so if you don’t like that, just don’t read it.

Bet you though that just because there was no mention of Cas, which I’m totally no bitter about what do you mean, you wouldn’t have to read my over analysis, right? Well, think again.

My object of study this week is Jensen’s song, and what is it telling us in regard of the story.

 All gone is here today Finding room to breath Go on beyond your way And see

“All gone”, everyone gone. Everyway we look, we see the people the boys have lost. Jack’s presence this episode was really strong. The parallels with the vampire boy who killed someone he cared about because he couldn’t control his powers, him kneeling in front of Dean accepting his death, thinking he deserves it and not recriminating Dean about being the executor.

The “you don’t have children” was a really low blow for both brothers, even if the father of the vampire boy didn’t know it when he said it.

In the beginning of the episode, they mentioned Mary, Rowena. For the first time in who-knows how long Sam mentioned Jess. Even Benny came back in some really strange and confusing way for Sam’s dream/vision. And if we are a little bit more flexible with the range, it was a few days ago they finally saw Kevin again.

We are surrounded by “All gone” today, everything finding “room to breathe” (to be mentioned). Sam and Dean are seeing all of them “beyond their way”.

They mention everyone. Everyone… except—

 Even the fires on the road Trying to get away And all the stars seem on a roll Out of control today

Trying to get away… maybe like trying to move one? And a fire on the road must be something very fierce, passionate, that had big impact on the road…

Okay, Cas was not mentioned at all in 15x04 (Except for Becky’s comment, and as a Cas’ stan I love her for that) but it would be careless to say his absence wasn’t notable.

Last season Dean said Cas was dead to him, and now that he is gone, and for the first time leaving Dean willingly, Dean under all that anger must be devastated, he must be feeling as if Cas was really dead, maybe even worse, because this time Castiel is still alive and it was Dean who pushed him away. He must really feel like if he is grieving him.

If a had to make list of characteristic of Dean’s grieve of Castiel in the series, I would have to go to season 7 and season 13 (Specially 13, but there were some few chapters in s7 where there was actually something like coherence in the characters and the plot, and Sam and Bobby made some important comments about Dean’s behavior related to Cas betrayal and death), it would look a little bit like this:

He drinks more

He eats his “comfort food”.

He becomes crueler. 

He behaves a lot more reckless.

So now we take this and compare it to Dean in “Atomic Monsters” and see that

1.    Dean drinks more. Like, we had already seen his flask when he offered it to Rowena, but to actually be drinking mid case? It had been a while since that.

2.    He eats his comfort food. @verobatto-angelxhunter already made that comparison here.

3.    He became crueler. Let’s be clear here, a Dean from mid-season 13, for example, wouldn’t have just kill a child that knew what he did was wrong, and that really wanted not to do it again. Now the kid (and for those who may be thinking it, yeah  know high school is not exactly “a kid”, but he was physically more or less Jack’s age, and to a 40 year old man like Dean they are almost kids) is trapped in Purgatory and the Winchester didn’t try to help him. Sam, I believe, didn’t say anything because, poor boy, he lost so much, and now he is having these terrifying nightmares… he needs a hug, not a fight with his brother, who is literally al he has right now. But Dean? I’m not saying he was bad, or that is was the wrong thing to do to killd the vampire. But not even trying to help? He was crueler than normal… colder, if you prefer. And with Jack’s parallel, being that in s13 is was the Nephilim the receptor of this coldness…

4.    Dean didn’t become more reckless. He didn’t. So, now he must ask ourselves why didn’t he. In this list, I said I took the characteristics from s7 and s13. In both Sam was obviously hurting too, yes, but Dean was drastically more affected by Cas death. For real. Sam was here a more emotionally stable presence. But now Sam is equally, or even more, affected by all this mess. He can’t be the calm and stable presence now, you can’t ask that of him. Sam need to be vulnerable, and in Dean’s book that means he has to be the strong one, the stone Sammy needs, he can’t be feeling things. (And that’s bullshit, but that’s how Dean brains works. Veronica also made her analysis about that in the post linked in number 2.)

How can someone be strong when about to break down? Denial.

He won’t say Cas’ is one of the people they lost because he can’t accept right now that he truly drove him away. Like, he knows he did, that’s why he is already “grieving” him, but to actually say the words out loud? It would break him, and he need to be strong for Sammy, so he can’t.

Castiel is not mentioned, not because Dean doesn’t care, but because it hurts him too much.

As of why Sam didn’t say anything either, I think he is either actively avoiding confrontation with Dean for previously exposed reasons, or Dean didn’t tell him the truth about Cas’ departure, but I don’t think he can draw a conclusive answer to that from this chapter.

And though the sounds of someday May be home And though the sounds of someday May be home

This is… trickier. Sounds of someday? If I had to define the all of this, I would call it more like an echo of the past, not the sound of the future.

Unless, we think it with a little more of a cyclical view. The “sounds” we are hearing is people close to them, their closest friends, loved ones and family. Their “sound of someday” must be their family, they will end up with their family (I mean, part of it. I assume Cas, since I refuse to accept that he will be killed off, and Jack, since I’m pretty sure he’s gonna come back. The rest are pretty dead, although if my theory about Eileen coming back as a romantic partner for Sam, and who will parallel Cas ending with Dean like I explained in last episode’s meta, the family can still expand). And their family is going to be their home. A true home.

And the other “sound” is they cycle of Cas leaving Dean behind (every time before unwillingly, this time by choice), and Dean grieving him in his unhealthy Dean style. But Cas always come back, this is the storm before the rainbow (no pun intended). The “sound of someday” is Dean and Cas fixing their problems and coming back together. And Cas coming back to Dean and Sam, Team Free Will together (plus Jack if he does come back), that will be home.

When their someday arrives, Dean and Sam will be home.

(Hopefully).

Tagging: @metafest @agusvedder @legendary-destiel @magnificent-winged-beast (But please tell me if up you dont want me to tag you in my future metas. Also, if someone wants me to tag them, just ask and I will)

[lovelykristenbell]

ET Interview with Jason Dohring after the revival

"It is sad to have to have a sacrificial lamb in order to keep the show pumping, but Jason's so gracious about taking one for the team," star and executive producer Kristen Bell told ET on Friday when she and her Veronica Mars co-stars stopped by the Comic-Con video suite. "But we love each other so much. We were mourning him on set." Dohring, who has played Logan off and on over the course of 15 years, admitted during a lengthy sit-down interview with ET that he didn't initially understand why his character had to die for Veronica Mars to continue on. It wasn't until he had a conversation over the phone with creator Rob Thomas that the puzzle pieces started to fit together, and he came to accept and understand his character's fate after some time. "When Rob said that, my f**king heart just fell out of my body. And I was like, 'Oh my god,'" the 37-year-old actor recalled. Here, in an in-depth chat, Dohring opens up to ET about the pain of saying goodbye to Logan Echolls, why he hasn't told close family members about the stunning ending and why he understands that fans will have opinions "one way or another" about how his story wraps up -- "even though it's not necessarily what people [may] want." 

ET: What did Rob tell you about this season of Veronica Mars, since it ends quite tragically for your character in the end? 

Jason Dohring: Rob called me. He was like, "We're going to do this. I feel like we're far enough along now," and he started to lay out the story of where Logan was. His idea was Veronica's in a bad place, we're going to see her move from there and into a different state. That's the the arc. And then he said, "They're getting married. Then, Logan goes out to check the car and Logan is killed in the blast." When Rob said that, my f**king heart just fell out of my body. And I was like, "Oh my god." He spent the next five minutes explaining the reasoning for it. And I cannot say that I understood or agreed with what he did. Rob wanted to shed the teenage drama aspect of the show with this on-again/off-again [relationship between Veronica and Logan] and as long as either one of them is still around, I feel like we've told those stories. They're kind of meant for each other. So I think, in that way, it's cool that Logan's exiting this way, and also that he served a role to get Veronica to reevaluate her life. I think that's really cool. Rob also talked about her being an underdog and that people really respond well when she is in that sort of determined state. I think that this really throws her in that and yet opens the door to a brand new life, a brand new setting, a brand new possible list of characters that she could be involved in. It really gives freedom and determination from her point of view for a new start anywhere. 

You mentioned that Rob called you ahead of time. How long were you sitting on this secret that Logan dies?

JD: Before we even started shooting, by a few weeks at least, or a month or so. You're thinking with that secret the whole time, and then just getting to the end of that four or five months of production.

What was your initial reaction when you learned Logan wasn't going to survive the season? 

JD: Devastated. And then for about three days, I was sort of sitting with it, digesting it. 

Were you mourning a little bit? 

JD: I had a hard time telling my wife because she has certain family members -- there are family members I haven't even told yet -- who are going to see it. They're so excited, and they're having these huge parties. I'm like, "F**k. I'm really sorry." That party's going to have a sour ending, at least on my family's point of view. I eventually came to terms with it, in no small part, thanks to Rob's explanation of it, and understanding it for the greater good of the show. I told a couple of the cast members who didn't even know. I told Percy [Daggs III] and I told Ryan [Hansen], and they were devastated. They'd come up to me hours later and be like, "J, I just can't believe it. Like, I just can't believe it." And I'm like, "Man, I know buddy. I know." At first, they were like, "That's bullsh*t, man. That's bullsh*t. I don't believe you." And I was like, "No man, it's true." And they just kept saying, "That's bullsh*t, man. You serious man, you f**king serious? Oh f**k." And then it hit them. It was crazy. 

You've been in and out of this world over the past 15 years, playing this character for four seasons and a movie. Did you have any worries or concerns about Logan's fate?

JD: I have complete faith in Rob's ability to write the story and when you have somebody like Kristen Bell leading the show the way she does, that's the driving force. I think they're going to be super fine with whatever direction they choose to go, especially now that they have a new possible lease on where they can go with the story. 

Had you thought about where you wanted Logan's journey to end at any point? 

JD: Adding the military aspect to the role was very cool, and gave a new dimension and helped ultimately serve the story with Veronica's character. I think I did everything that I wanted to do with the role. I got to fully explore this guy in various ways. 

It's disheartening to know that the Echolls family has basically been wiped out. Well, with the exception of Logan sister, Trina (played by Alyson Hannigan in the original series). It's almost like there's an Echolls curse. 

JD: I know. And when you're on a drama for a few years, that's just what happens. Your character's f**king life just goes downhill. 

Because Logan's death was such a violent one and we didn't see a body, fans may speculate or theorize plausible theories about why he's not really dead. Are you anticipating those types of conversations? 

JD:I don't know. I mean those are all beyond me. I just hope ultimately the fans are pleased with the whole project. You can look at it that way, and understand that this will launch the series in a new way that's not tired or redundant. 

It's hard to swallow knowing that Logan's death is the catalyst for Veronica to finally make that leap and work through her inner turmoil through therapy, even though he had been pushing her all season to look inward. In that sense, Logan is a martyr. He ended up serving that purpose. 

JD: There was another scene where we're on a couch. I don't what was understood from that scene, but I feel like Logan was, at that point, willing to sacrifice their relationship if it meant that she'd be happy with her life, and that she would move on. Maybe move out of Neptune, do something that she wants to do and fulfill her potential. I think that's pretty sweet that he would be willing to sacrifice their relationship for that. It's a heroic death that sparks new life. 

You're so positive about it all! I'm like, I just need to curl up in a ball on the corner and cry. 

 JD: Yes, I know. When you're in a corner and you're crying, it's like, what do you do then?

If this is the end of your time with this character and the show, are you ready to say goodbye? If there is another season, do you hope there's room for you to come back in some way? 

JD: I think that would be a question for the team, you know what I mean? If that could fulfill any purpose in a story... I have to see what they want to do, but I assume that it would be happier times. Flashbacks to a good life? I can't really speculate, but I would hope it would be something joyous if it were to be anything. 

I do want to ask you about Veronica and Logan's wedding at the courthouse. How did you feel knowing that they at least had a moment of bliss, however temporary it was? 

JD: It's so funny that you ask these questions and I never really think about it as an audience member. (Laughs.) 'Cause I'm never thinking, when I see it, "Veronica and Logan really had their time..."

It was a long time coming for a lot of Veronica Mars fans... 

 JD: I think so too. I always felt that they were so awesomely compatibly incompatible, you know what I mean? In the best way. Both had strong wills, which is just fireworks ready to happen. She has care for the world and he has care for her. She has ways that she wants things done and it's not necessarily the way he'd do them, but yet there's this love [between them]. And Logan's relationship with her, everything rolled into it and made it something special. I think that's what you see in the audience appreciation for it. 

Was any part of that wedding scene ad-libbed?

JD: No, it was all scripted. Rico was doing his thing. He was crying. Kristen was telling stories about her real wedding in a similar setting in a courthouse. She showed us a picture of her literally crying and [her husband] Dax [Shepard] is laughing at her. I thought that that was pretty funny. 

Did you ever think that Veronica and Logan would ever reach a point in their lives where they would both actually agree to say "I do"?

JD: Hopefully, they were on that track. And I think giving Veronica that scare toward the end got her to have this mini wake-up call. But I go back to that conversation on the couch right before. I thought that was noble: I'm willing to sacrifice us, but I want you to be happy. And if you're not going to be happy, then goodbye. When I was rehearsing that scene, I was f**king crying. As much as I love you, I care more about you than that. Brutal. 

 What was the toughest or most challenging scene from this season?

JD: I think that. Working on that. Sometimes it would really hit me as we're rehearsing, like, what he's really saying is he wants her to leave him right now if it's not going to make her happy, because that means more to him than us.

Logan's journey has been the most dramatic out of all the characters on Veronica Mars. Has that been gratifying for you as an actor seeing how far he's come? 

JD:Yes. I appreciate variation. To start out being the antagonist and then getting this romance that was never intended to be. Then feeling that so strongly. Then that's all on the rocks and shredded... And then the military, and then on top of that having a ridiculously sharp sense of humor and looseness of morals. All that is such a joy to play as an actor. I was always trained to look for those choices, so that's where I would try to branch out and make some of those decisions where I could. 

I was rewatching the pilot recently and Logan is a completely different person from then until now. 

JD: He'd be like, "Where are the hookers? Where are the boobs?" 

What do you want to say to fans after they've finished watching the season and may need a second?

JD: I don't know. I mean, they'll have thoughts one way or another. I think if you really step back and you look at what was told and where the show may be going, and how this opens up the door for Veronica... this relationship between Logan and Veronica is just one aspect of Veronica, right? But her helping the world and solving cases and her personal happiness, I think you may see more storylines there. I think that was what really helped me understand the whole thing with Logan -- putting it in context for the future. 

You're so glass-half-full about it all, when you could be like, "Ugh."

JD: I know. I was like that. But if you really think about it, you can't just play that over and over. (Pauses for a moment.) I mean, you can... Part of the cool thing is Veronica Mars is a smart show. Rob is very creative and he has his ideas, and I think that people like that. At the end of the third season, the CW came up to him and said, "We're probably going to end the show at the end of this third season, so if you want to wrap it up, you can do that." And he did the exact opposite. He f**king left it open. And that's probably the reason that the movie was made, which is the reason that season four comes. Really it ties back to the creative aspect of an artist who has integrity to his vision. So I respect that and people respect the result of that, even though it's not necessarily what people want all the time.

[orangenfrottee]

I had 3k of cracky theories forgotten from last week. Here's the fun bits Here's essentially everything I wrote barely updated because it's fun as it is (my humour is weird).

We know this is what happened that night:

Jug had a plan. He had his knife he previously used to find his wrangled manuscript. He put on his serpent jacket and went to the party. When he went into the woods with Bret he put on that bunny mask first.

Betty went into the woods with Donna who then used Devil's Breath on her, killing her short term memory for the time being and might have made her more amendable and posable (Charles' guess).

When Veronica and Archie go into the woods later, they find Betty with the stone in hand over Jug's 'corpse' and the four preppies are all together at the party.

Betty calls Charles for help. (And despite what we know now, maybe at that moment they actually thought he was dead? He actually got hurt after all. )

They cover everything up. Pretend to hide the corpse, burn their clothes, throw the stone into the swimming hole and wash the blood of their bodies. Archie drives them home in their undies and they have to come up with badly made up stories. Or was it part of the plan?

Theories:

"Bring your friends" together with the way we were shown Jughead donning his serpent jacket again would make it very reasonable to assume there might have been more Serpents around, possibly wearing bunny masks. Fangs (and no-name Serpents) should be close enough to Jughead's height to pass.

There could have been some switcheroo fun or they might have circled Bret or something. But nothing really makes sense with what happened so far.

I think in between getting hit with Devil's Breath and standing over Jughead's corpse, Jughead told Betty his whole plan which she conveniently forgot all about.

What if Jughead's corpse is a doll with a latex Jughead mask (I've just seen Pretty Little Liars), anyway it just needed to be good enough to work for a few seconds on the Stonies and on Archie respectably. (Betty was drugged, Veronica didn't see the body up close at first in the scene we've seen, everyone else could very well be in the know when they find the corpse or in the mortuary.

A latex mask could have been made last second by Sweet Pea due to a before unknown talent and hobby or it was made a long time in the making by Bret who was sharing a dorm room with Jughead and might have made one when Jughead slept/ was drugged. If this is the case, Moose might actually be dead ie someone else was wearing a Moose mask when they talked with him at Pop's.

I don't think Moose is dead, so my money is on Sweet Pea - or Jughead playing pretend.

Of course the morgue scene is no problem because Dr. Curdle jr is into corpse play and small bills.

The Jones' way of dealing with corpses is liquifying them using natriumhydratesomethingsomethingwhateveritscalled, not dumping it in the woods. But of course Charles' help seems designed to make Betty seem even more guilty ie her horrible call to FP asking if he heard from Jughead and complimenting her on how natural that was. This makes sense since we know him to be evil since he's Chic's lover.

In this he could be helping the Stonies, either through chance and circumstances or maybe because he actually went to Stonewall Prep himself. We don't know anything about his past, but he's smart and pretends to work for the FBI, so it's not unlikely he's gotten a stipend for Stonewall himself and if he did, he definitely was part of the secret society. His secret admission could easily have involved wanting to take revenge on his birth family. I don't think this is likely to happen on the show, but it's a possibility.

When Betty called him he was likely introduced into the "Jughead's dead" drama through her eyes only, meaning I think he doesn't know anything more than what she told him. I think he didn't go to the woods etc, he doesn't know what actually happened and I think he never saw the corpse.

Of course Charles could have also been involved in Jughead's plan from the get go, being aware where Jughead is etc and keeping Betty in the dark for fun/ evil plans. While that's possible and would fit Charles' character Jughead hasn't been interacting with Charles so I don't think this is the case.

And really, with what we've seen in the newest episode... How did the devil's breath play into any of this? When did they know what happened? And what exactly happened? Jughead got actually hurt.

Jonathan smeared Jughead's actual blood onto a stone, angered Donna somehow after and is dead now. Will anyone ever find out? Will Bret become a good guy now?

Will Donna team up with Evelyn in the long run and become Chic'n'Charles 2.0? Maybe due to getting caught and ending up in the same cell in Shankshaw together - or maybe she breaks her pal out before that?

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Riverdale 5x09 Review

Well I didn’t hate this episode like I hated the last one but I wasn’t exactly blown away by it either. It wasn’t a bad episode but I think my issue with it is if you dropped it into the middles of season 3 or 4 it would have fit in. It was fine it was just nothing new which you know doesn’t exactly make me excited to watch more. It was definitely one of those episodes where I either found myself checking to see how long was left or was rolling my eyes at something. Still there were moments I enjoyed. But without further ado lets jump in. As always these are just my own opinions and interpretation also there are clearly spoilers. 

 Betty and Polly

So a good chunk of this episode was following Betty as she continued to investigate what happened to Polly after finding the crushed telephone booth. Betty hears back from Glen and is told that the blood found on the booth is a match to Polly’s so with the amount of blood that is there it is likely she is dead. When she tells Jughead he tells her that he might have a lead, someone who might have seen something. So they go to see My Dreyfuss. He tells them on two other occasions a phone booth has been shredded like it was with Polly, in the summer of 77 and 82. He explains that its caused by the Mothmen ship’s antimatter fusion reactors which create a gravity field that allows them to levitate but anything that gets caught in that field gets crushed. Which you know sounds legit to me. Though I will say I did think the look Betty sent Jughead when Old Dreyfuss started talking about the Mothmen was hilarious. Needless to say Betty wasn’t exactly sold on this version of events. Which again I found kind of funny considering she hunted down something called The Gargoyle King in high school but apparently aliens are even too weird for Betty. 

I am not at all surprised that Polly’s storyline is linking up with the Mothmen one, I’ve been saying for a while now that I thought all the storylines would converge at some point and I expected that Jughead’s and Betty’s would be the first to do that. My theory is that the Mothmen mystery is to do with military testing and that will tie in Archie as well, I also think as the Mothmen body Nana Rose had was found in the maple groves, and Hiram has an interest in the maple groves, that Hiram’s storyline will also be linked in, which will also link in Veronica and the other characters who are going up against Hiram to save the town. I did wonder if maybe its not really Hiram that wants Riverdale to be shut down but rather some rogue section of the military who want to cover up the testing they’ve been doing and that’s why Hiram unincorporated the town, maybe the military are paying him to help them. 

So in her grief at what has presumably happened to Polly has sent Betty off the deep end. Now here’s the thing with this I appreciate that not every character’s development goes in a straight line. That’s what makes a character’s storyline interesting. There are twists and turns and they have set backs. That being said this return to dark betty didn’t really work for me. I mean I can understand that she is grieving for her sister, she’s going through trauma because of TBK and all that is making her turn back to her dark side. But for me I thought they wrote a good end to that whole storyline with her going under the hypnosis and kind of telling her younger self she could go play, and basically ‘killing’ dark betty before she is ever born. I liked how, well how I thought they had brought a close to that part of Betty’s character development. I honestly thought we were done with ‘dark betty’. But I guess not. I suppose we see where they take it maybe it will be well written but I’ll be honest it did kind of make me roll my eyes a bit in this episode, I just feel like it was a bit too on the nose and predictable especially after her speech last episode to Archie about how this thing with her sister would probably be the darkest she’d ever have to face. I said to myself then watch them bring back dark betty, so when they did I was just kind of like of course they are going there again. I think that was the issue was it is just more of the same stuff which I just find boring. 

There was one thing that I did find a little interesting though and that was the way she was thinking in that moment. The idea that the person in front of her was a horrible person who had hurt someone she loved and so deserved to have justice brought to him in the form of death. Sound familiar? Because it should, its exactly the same way Charles thinks. I do wonder if that was deliberate and we were suppose to draw a comparison between Betty and Charles there. 

I think in that moment when she is about to kill the trucker, Jughead’s call telling her that Logan had gone missing reminded her of why she was an FBI agent, to protect people and I think that kind of snaps her out of it. In that moment she could have killed that man or she could go and find the missing child who really needed her and who needed protection which is what she was saying earlier in the episode, that she wouldn’t let what happened to Polly happen to anyone else. At first she decided the best way to stop anyone else from getting hurt is by going after the truckers and stopping the women who are tricking there. But her method has flaws in it and I think getting that phone call reminds her that its not as black and white as she was looking at it.   

So poor Alice, I felt really bad for her in this episode she does seem like she was very much giving up hope. I mean Alice has been put through the wringer so I don’t really blame Betty for lying about it being a match to Polly’s blood I mean it wasn’t advisable because the truth was going to come out eventually but I could understand why Betty did it, she just couldn’t bear to take away the little hope that her mother had left. I am glad that Betty turned to Cheryl for this. I said that I thought if it came out that Polly had been killed then I thought Cheryl would be the best person to help Betty through that. You know different people can help with different things and like I keep saying how I really do think Archie will be the best person to help Betty through the TBK trauma I do think that Cheryl was the best person to help Betty here. She gave her some good advice even if Betty didn’t follow it. I think it was important what Cheryl said about how it is best to know the truth because then that allows you to grieve and heal and move on. I also loved that hug Cheryl gave Betty. If anyone needs a hug right now its Betty. Also I do like when they show Betty and Cheryl actually acting like family. 

So lastly I want to cover Glen. I’ll be honest Glen and Betty’s relationship confuses me. Because in the first episode of the time jump they seemed to have something going on between them in that they kissed. But I said then that it didn’t seem like Betty was that interested in him. But since then it seems like she just doesn’t like him at all. I could understand why she was angry in this episode when he says he’s sorry about Polly and she says that if he cared that he would have done something to help. I know Riverdale are trying to paint Glen as this bad person, like how he shows up at the end and tells Alice about the blood and takes over the case. I just know that they are trying to do this because they either want Glen to seem suspicious or they are actually going to go the route of he is evil and somehow involved in it all. What I will say to that is oh for the love of god please no, not this crap again. I just if they make another FBI agent a killer in this series I just no. Can we not keep rehashing the same damn storylines over and over. Can we please introduce a character to the show and not have them turn out to be some psycho because its just boring now. Also like I said I know they are trying to paint Glen as being the bad guy here, but it makes perfect sense for them to take Betty off this case. For one she is still a trainee who is severely traumatised by her capture by a serial killer. On top of that this case involves her family member, there is a reason why irl certain professions don’t allow you to work on cases involving your family members and that scene where Betty had tied the trucker up was seriously considering killing him is why. Firefighter, police, doctors, paramedics and I am going to assume FBI agents aren’t allowed to work on cases of a personal nature for that very reason, they are too invested and that clouds their judgement. Glen should have taken Betty off the case when Polly first went missing, or rather Betty should never have been on the case at all. Also the other question I have is if Glen is here who the hell is feeding Toffee? He better have brought that cat with him. When I made my prediction post for episode 10 I hadn’t seen the episode and so was very confused at the opening shot of the promo where Betty is slapping Glen squarely across the face but I am going to assume it has something to do with this situation. Or maybe he tries to make a move on her and she isn’t down for it? Or another situation is he could find out about her and Archie’s arrangement and make an unfavourable comment about Betty which she decided to set him straight about? Either way there is most certainly going to be some tension between Glen and Betty next episode. What I do find interesting is that apparently the only actors Glen’s actor is following are Lili, KJ, Hart and Wyatt so I am assuming that he has scenes with Archie, Charles and Chic. I do wonder if instead of having Glen turn out to be bad they just have either Charles or Chic kill him. 

To be honest I am still in two minds as to whether Polly is actually dead. On one hand that was a lot of blood on that phone booth and we do know that she was in that phone booth and someone was coming for her. On the other it seemed like they were being very careful to say it was the same blood type as Polly’s and not that it was Polly’s so there is that uncertainty. I mean if they have the blood surely they would be able to DNA match it not just go off the blood type? 

Jughead and Lerman. 

Ok so I’m not hundred percent sure what the point of this storyline was, I feel like its just another piece of the puzzle and we won’t really know the significance of it until the rest of the mystery is revealed. But what did annoy me was the fact that Jughead was reprimanded for talking to his student who he was worried about. I mean when the parents were like oh if you were worried something was wrong at home then why didn’t you come talk to us instead of ambushing our son. I mean the answer to that is obvious if the parents were mistreating their son then talking to them isn’t going to do any good because the parents would just lie. Even if they aren’t really doing anything wrong like these parents they might be wary about telling the truth out of fear of being judged, I mean they didn’t offer up that information about Lerman sleep walking until he went missing, so I think talking to his student was exactly the right thing for Jughead to do. Also since when was there another English class, I mean I thought the school was struggling with staff and that's why they needed the core four to become teachers? 

It does seem like something odd happened with Lerman with him going missing and then not being able to remember anything. What is very odd is that you’ve got two sets of missing people. You’ve got the women who keep showing up dead usually with some catastrophic injuries. Then you’ve got the men who disappear for hours at a time but then return but have no memories of where they’ve been. Yet all of it seems to be connected so the question is why are the women dying but the men are surviving? It because physically the men are able to take whatever the testing is but the women can’t and so their bodies end up with these terrible injuries. Or is it that whatever they use to wipe the memories of their test subjects doesn’t work on the women so they are forced to kill them after? I mean physiologically women and men are different so maybe the difference in the hormones or something is what’s causing this difference in outcome between women and men. 

By the end of the episode Lerman and his parents have moved out of town and haven’t left any forwarding details. This does seem a little weird but I guess maybe the parents are worried about what will happen to their son if they don’t get him out of there. 

Veronica, Archie and The Bulldogs.  

Ok I know I said I wasn’t a v*rchie shipper and that as a barchie I didn’t want to see any of that, but Riverdale you didn’t have to stick them in the darkest room ever to have them kiss. Like I know that Riverdale is known for bad lighting but that one scene between them was even more ridiculous than normal. Look if you like V*rchie then that’s all good, there were some scenes that I think were probably enjoyable for you and I am happy for the V*rchie shippers. For me though I don’t know if its just because I’ve seen so much of them at this point that its made my mind go numb to them but I just found their scenes boring. I was actually surprised they didn’t talk more, especially seeing as they’ve just got back together, she’s going through a divorce, but none of that was brought up. Their scenes seemed to be really short and not much happened in them, it was just a couple of kiss scenes and then one bed scene were Veronica says oh I have a plan and then that was kind of it. I thought they’d at least have a scene where they say something like ‘I’m so happy we got back together’ or ‘I’ve filed the divorce paper’s I just have to wait for Chad to sign them’. Just anything to get that continuity, but nope nothing.    

To be honest I really wasn’t that fussed about the football storyline. I did find it kind of funny that when presented with the problem of the team losing every game Veronica’s solution was to just throw money at it, like somehow that would magically make them better players. That being said there were some elements of it that I did enjoy. I loved Archie making that speech to encourage people to support their team. It is true that having a crowd behind you and supporting you makes a difference in sports so I liked that they put some attention on that. I also love Britta and I am so happy she was the one that scored. The other thing I liked was that when the kid who was like their star player, Derek transferred to Stonewell there wasn’t any tension between him and his old team. Like I think Hiram was expecting there to be but instead when they met on the pitch he and Britta were really respectful and just fist bumped and got on with the game and I loved that. Also after, he came and spoke to Archie and again he recognised that Archie had taught him something valuable that he was going to keep with him. Again it was very respectful and supportive. Both Archie and the team recognised that it wasn’t personal, it was just that Derek knew he had a better shot at going to college with a football scholarship if he was playing with the Stallions. 

Speaking of things that I liked, lets give a hand for Reggie. I have so much respect for the fact that when Hiram was saying he wanted Reggie to basically beat up some of the Bulldog players, Reggie refused and said it wasn’t necessary. Then when Hiram fired or ‘benched’ him as Hiram put it Reggie still didn’t back down and even said that he would be standing with the Bulldogs. Also it was good to see him back in that Bulldog jacket and even though it was a very small scene I loved the three way hug between Veronica, Reggie and Tabitha. 

Ok the other thing we had was that part of the plan to raise the teams spirits was to fill the stands, which you know makes sense, like I said I do think having a crowd supporting you makes all the difference. Cheryl decides that one thing that will fill the stands isn’t just a Vixen’s performance but one that includes her. Now me personally I don’t think she’s wrong, like if I heard that the new Vixen coach who was the town recluse and had spend the last seven years holed up in her gothic mansion of horrors was going to be putting on a performance with her Vixens, I am there, front row baby. This I want to see, at best it might actually be good and at worst it’ll be a cringefest but either way it’ll be entertaining as hell. I just think that scene with Cheryl performing was peak Riverdaleness. I know alot of people complain about those kinds of scenes but me personally I think they’re part of what makes Riverdale, well Riverdale. So I just choose to embrace the Riverdaleness of it all.   

Overall I think the issue with this whole football storyline is it is once again the same thing we’ve been seeing for the last four seasons. It’s Veronica and Archie vs Hiram and that’s just nothing interesting about that anymore. 

Kevin

So Kevin got his own storyline this episode and we got a little background story on him. I’m a bit conflicted about his storyline and this idea that he is ashamed of being gay because I never really got that sense before. To be honest I always thought he was proud and confident of being gay. However I could see him having this experience with his mother where he feels ashamed of being gay when she makes a insensitive comment and then him getting into the whole cruising in the woods as a coping mechanism. It also explains why he still continued with the cruising when the Black hood was around. But then if I remember rightly he did stop for a bit. So maybe he started to heal a bit and become more confident and then that incident with the director from Katy Keene happened and that made him feel ashamed again and brought all that back up again and Fangs was away alot Trucking so he asks for a open relationship so that he can turn back to that old coping mechanism of cruising. That would make sense to me but they don’t really touch on that trauma he experienced in New York with the director in this episode. 

Cheryl acting as a relationship councillor was sort of amusing. I mean it was sweet that she wanted to fix Kangs, I think she recognised that what she did was wrong and so she wanted to help mend it. But like Fangs said the games Cheryl played just brought up deeper issues that were already there. I feel so sad for both of them. I mean Kevin is clearly struggling but I really felt for Fangs when he said that Kevin had never really been all in and that he wants to know everything about Kevin the good and bad. In that moment I could see that Fangs really does love Kevin. Also I think the fact that Fangs hit the nail right on the head with Kevin being ashamed of being gay shows that Fangs really does know and understand Kevin. I do feel like Kevin’s view on things right now is very similar to how Betty was seeing things with Archie. I think like Betty didn’t want her darkness to effect Archie, Kevin doesn’t want his to effect Fangs. Both of these views are flawed though because when you’re at your darkest that’s when you need someone to draw you back to the light. I do hope he talks this through with Betty and little because I think they could both help the other see the truth of their situations. 

The scene in the sauna was rough to watch. Kevin didn’t deserve that, it was an obvious mistake, he misread the situation and there was no need for that guy to react with violence unfortunately, its sad to say, but we live in a world where this kind of thing happens, where toxic masculinity results in males reacting with hate and violence towards gay men and that is never ok. I don’t think this helped Kevin in dealing with his shame at being gay, it most likely made it worse and that just makes me so so sad.   

I’m not gay, so Kevin’s story didn’t hit me on a personal level like I think it might have for other viewers, but his scene with Tom when he was talking about how he was made to feel ashamed of being gay really moved me to tears. I think it was a very touching scene and both actors did a good job. I am so glad that Kevin did open up to his dad. I also thought it was really good how when Tom worried that he might have done something to make Kevin feel that way Kevin reassured him that he had always been supportive of Kevin and had never judged him and I do think that is why Kevin felt he could open up to Tom. Just everything about that scene was done really well. I really do hope that he does find the courage to talk to Fangs about it though. I think Kevin does still love Fangs and its not that he doesn’t want to be with him, its that he doesn’t think that he deserves to be and that is just heart breaking. I still have some hope for Kangs though and I’m really hoping we get to see Kevin healing and working through things. I do think next weeks episode might help Kevin realise what he really wants. We know that he is in a potentially life threatening situation with a gunman in the school so maybe that makes him reflect on his life choices. Seriously though nothing better happen to Kevin. 

Little bits

Ok so these don’t really relate to any of the other sections really so I just figured I throw them all together at the end here. 

I loved that little parallel to season 1 with Barchie where Betty hears Archie over the speaker and sort of looks up at the sound of his voice. Also that shot of Betty working on the car I don’t know why but she looked really pretty, I really like her hair in that shot. 

Sticking with Barchie this one is a complaint about continuity. Riverdale seems to really struggle with this for some reason. But like I said with Veronica and Archie and how there didn’t seem to be any connection with the events of the previous episode this is the same kind of thing. Last episode Betty said she wouldn’t go through everything with Polly alone she would still go through it with Archie and yet despite there being big changes in the case Barchie didn’t interact at all. It could have been something really small like Betty giving Archie a call to let him know that Polly’s blood was a match and him offering her help, her saying no it was ok focus on the bulldogs, him telling her he was there if she needed anything. It isn’t much it wouldn’t have taken up much screen time but it would have given a link back to the previous episode. The same can be said for Minerva. Last episode her and Cheryl kissed which to me was a major development in the relationship and yet in this episode she’s no where to be seen and she isn’t even mentioned. Again Toni, where’s Toni? I thought they would at least mention something like she’s on maternity leave or something. Nope nothing. In fact the only link back to last episode we got was Cheryl talking to Kangs about the games she played causing problems for them. It’s just one of the things that frustrates me with Riverdale the lack of continuity.

No idea what this might mean if anything but did anyone else notice that when Dreyfuss started talking about the Mothmen ship his little burner with the teapot on it, suddenly the flame became higher before it went back to normal? Like there was some kind of energy in play there maybe? 

I was really glad to see Tabitha interacting with people outside of Jughead and I liked the little scenes she got with Veronica. I know Erinn said in her instagram takeover that Tabitha would be interacting with alot of the other characters too soon so I am looking forward to that. As much as I love her and Jughead’s dynamic I think it’ll be interesting to see her with others. 

Ok well that’s it for this week. I am still looking forward to next weeks episode. I do feel like this episode was a bit of a filler episode but next week looks like its going to be action packed so it should be a good watch.   

[all-of-the-imagines-for-eve]

Forget About It ~ Sweet Pea (part 6)

A/n: Oh, you didnt expect this? Well, remember how I saw I wrote a different part 5? Well it was after the part Five I posted so I took what I already had and I changed it to fit what I established as the new part five. I really hope it fits because I desperately tried lol. Tell me what you think!

Word Count: 4586

MASTERLIST

School kept up like that all the way until Christmas. Kids messed with me less and less as Archie stepped in more and more. And then Betty, too. And then Veronica. Veronica less than the other too.

As winter came and people started chucking snowballs at me, I decided to keep my Serpent jacket at the house. Now I just let faded jeans and Sweet Pea’s jacket swallow me whole. The ends of the sleeves covered my hands, and I’d never felt so soft and warm… except when I was in his arms and not just his sleeves.

Despite my strengthening relationship with my brother, school and Serpent business kept me from seeing the other Serpents. We texted and called all the time now but I wanted to hug Sweet Pea. Kiss him....

As time passed without Sweet Pea and Christmas drew closer, I drew quieter and sadder. People just let me fade into the background. Maybe it was the cold weather but god I just missed my boyfriend.

I found myself alone a lot, things happening and time passing without me paying much attention to it. My dad had noticed my little depressional episode and had tried to help, but I was shutting him out too. Kids at school left me alone, unwilling to make me snap even if I was a traiter because it wasn’t fun to bully someone who stared at you blankly with a dead look that sent a chill into your bones and made you feel guilty for doing it.

I was thankful for that. It seemed that after the winter holidays the antagonizing might be gone altogether between the growing guilt that was surfacing as well as Betty and Archie working together to get people to back off. I was sure Cheryl would always have something to say to me but who cares about Cheryl Blossom?

I spent a lot of time in my room these days though. It might have been some of the reason as to why I didn't see Sweet Pea, honestly. I'm sure Archie would have taken me for at least a visit if I'd asked, but I didn't even think about it until I was in bed and it was late and then I'd forget about it the next day, trying to keep my head above the water as I worked on school and lived for the phone calls I had with the others I missed so much.

Speaking of my room, I wasn’t getting much sleep. As my angst grew, my sleep lessened, and I spent that time changing my room around. I stripped the bed of all the pillows and blankets and settled for one pillow and one blanket and a sheet- all from the closet in the hallway. It looked better now. Less like it used to.

I’d started to wear my old clothes but only when I couldn’t bring the energy to spend on watching clothes, and then I’d wear Sweet Pea’s jacket and it would cover the color and North Sider feel of the top I’d doned. It was a nice compromise and I didn't mind it as much as I thought.

Despite my dip in mood, it was an obvious relief to my dad and brother that I was reinstating myself in my room. They'd never said anything about the make shift bed I'd made on the floor but I knew they knew, and they had winced every time I flinched as pain from cricks and sore spots. Now, despite being tired, I wasn't in pain. I was very quiet though. They simply talked to each other, trying to loop me in and cheer me up and mostly failing.

That all changed when Christmas came.

It honestly took me by surprise. When Archie has asked me to help them make cookies, I'd had to ask for what. "It's Christmas tomorrow," Archie told me, concern on his face.

"Oh." So I'd made cookies with them, and I'd be straight lying if I didn't say it didn't cheer me up a lot. We laughed and made jokes and messed with each other and honestly, it was EXACTLY what I'd needed.

When we finished, we watched Christmas movies we'd seen a million times and then talked conspiracy theories and pointed out new things we'd seen this time around. I was feeling way better and that gap that had extended forever before was quickly closing. By some miracle, I was finding out how to balance my blood family and my Serpent family.

When nighttime came, I caught Archie's arm. "Remember when we were kids and we'd camp out in the living room together to wait for Santa? We'd try to stay up all night and always failed but then we'd wake up in the morning and be together?" His face softened at the memory and he nodded. "You wanna do that again?"

His face broke into a smile. "The couches might be a little small for me now... but definitely." I smiled too. We moved pillows and blankets - every single one we could find - into the living room. Instead of leaking on the couch. we made a mass bed in the floor with couch cushions and pillows underneath to make the floor comfortable.

We stayed up late, surprisingly, to talk about my life on the South Side. Before the lack of texts and calls that had been broken when I'd confronted them at FP's party, the only interaction with them was when Jughead had brought me my box. I told him about the clothes and how I'd collected all of them and the progression of it. I told him of sleeping (innocently; I had to enunciate that several times) with Sweet Pea and how warm he was and how happy he made me. I talked about falling for him and going on adventures with him after school sometimes and all the gossip I'd learned from Toni and my prank war with Fangs. I told him about making breakfast for Jughead and wrestling with Hotdog, who probably wasn't at the trailer anymore now that I thought about it.

"It sounds like you had a whole life there," Hw whispered after a while.

I looked at him, both of our happiness strained. "I did," I admitted.

"And they were... nice to you?" I knew he was thinking about the bullies at school and I looked away. I didn't know how to say it without hurting him but I think my silence was answer enough.

We went to sleep after that.

I woke up to my brother and dad by the tree. It seemed they had put it up and taken out the boxes of lights and bulbs but were sitting on the floor, talking. Waiting maybe?

“I just want her to be safe,” my dad mumbled tiredly.

Archie nodded. “But she's not safe dad." He paused a long time. "The kids at school... are terrible to her. Betty and I are trying but there's too many students for the school to do anything about it and honestly I don't think they would even if they could. She’s not happy... Have you heard her tell stories about the South Side? She had a whole set up there. She WAS happy, there. I just- I don't know."

It got awkward and quiet so I interrupted, pretending I was just waking up. Sitting up, I yawned loudly. They both looked over. “Morning fellas. A little early, yeah?”

My brother stood up, forcing himself to cheer up as not to ruin my mood so early. “It’s Christmas. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up to have breakfast and set the tree?” He picked up a gift from the floor and handed it to me. I rose an eyebrow, and he motioned me to open it. I did and inside was a bright green Christmas sweater. I couldn’t help but smile. It reminded me of a time when I would traipse around in cotton candy pink and bubble turquoise. It reminded me of smiling and laughter and a green snake on a black jacket. “Do you like it?” Archie asked.

Looking up at them, I saw them melt with relief at the first sign of the smile they had grown so used to seeing on me before everything went to shit. “I love it,” I whispered tenderly. I tugged Sweet Pea’s jacket off and then a faded, blank grey t-shirt off as well, leaving me in a tank top for just a moment before I pulled the sweater over my head. I sighed, settling into the festivity that had evaded me for so long until last night. “Let’s decorate.” So we did.

We spent the morning pinning lights and baubles and eating popcorn instead of putting it up. We laughed and pushed each other around and messed each other up. For just a moment, we felt like a family again. We were one again united and… and… it was amazing. For just one second.

Then the moment ended when Archie and I walked to school, my arm around his waist and his arm around my shoulders. It stopped when we walked into Riverdale High, and Archie left, and I was left alone, facing my peers in my green sweater and black jeans, hoping no one would look at me in my bright colors and see a Northsider. Or worse, see a Southsider dressed like a Northsider. A threat. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

My worries were dashed away when someone I recognized waved at me, a small smile on their lips. I nodded in return. Kevin said hi to me by name as he passed. He hadn't really recognized my return yet. Betty touched my shoulder, getting my attention so she could compliment my sweater. Not that her interaction wasn't normal but that it felt so much more casual than standing up for me against bullies that it really stuck with me. Veronica laughed at a joke I'd said quietly in class at the teacher’s expense.

I felt normal and- well, not safe and not apart of these people I couldn't stand on any other day. But not in danger, at least. And I could lie to myself, just for a second, that I was a Northsider. Naive and unaware and innocent and good. As young and small as I had been not even three months ago when I WAS one of these Northside idiots. I felt like my earlier comparison was odd. Not a hidden danger- a wolf in sheep's clothing. No, I felt a fool, denying I was surrounded by obvious danger. A sheep in wolf’s clothing, pretending just for a second.

After school, I joined in on the work at the Christmas Tree farm. One day he asked me to take the work for him because he had something to take care of so I stayed even after he left. It was a nice distraction and really good exercise. I enjoyed it.

That peaceful bliss was messed up when, that night, I found out about all of the chaos with Betty and Archie and the Black Hood. I was waiting anxiously for my dad and brother to get back home and when I saw Archie, I tackled him in a hug. “Oh my god I just heard are you okay?” I gasped, leaning back and scanning his body for any significant injuries.

He chuckled. “Acting like my mom as usual.” He smiled, and we both calmed, reveling in the moment we had just had. It was eerily like so many we had had countless times before. Back then it had been normal. Before the Black Hood. Before the Red Circle. Before the Serpents.

Archie put his hand on my back, moving out of the way. "I talked to dad on the way over here. There's constant chaos and it seems we're never gonna get a break but I thought I'd give you one last present..."

I turned to see Sweet Pea of all people standing there, Toni, Fangs, and Jughead around and behind him. I was absolutely thrilled, my eyes widening as I faced Archie. He nodded at me and then I raced to my friends, tackling Sweet Pea so hard it knocked a laugh out of him. "Hey there, Princess."

I was so overwhelmed. I ran a hand through my hair, looking back at Archie. He had followed after me but kept a respectful distance from the other Serpents. Even if he was on relatively good terms with me and Jughead, Fangs and Toni didn't much like him and Sweet Pea was negatively decided on him thus far. I pushed those thoughts away. "You guys came?" I asked, looking at the others. I pulled away from Sweets to move to them as well, hugging Fangs, Toni, then Jughead. It felt amazing to be in person with them again.

"Nice outfit," Jughead joked when I pulled away from him. I looked down. I was startled to realize how Northside I looked. My jeans were fresh, a pair I’d snagged from the drawer I hadn’t touched until this morning. The collar of my sweater covered my tattoo. I felt… like part of the garden. Where I’d felt like that black smudge when I first came back, I felt out of place around the Serpents again, too neat and put together and pristine. When had I put my hair up? I usually wore it down these days…

I swallowed, looking back at Sweet Pea. His easy expression was unfazed though and suddenly I was relaxed again. He hadn't missed my moment of anxiety and when I returned to him, he quickly whispered, "You look really good."

I whispered back, "I look like a North Sider."

He rolled his eyes. "Wherever I am. Remember?"

The promise we'd made what seemed forever came back to me and I smiled. "Yeah." The last bits of my balancing between South and North side dissipated. What had I said? A North Side Serpent? Yes. They had seen me in the house I’d grown up in, messing with my brother. In my perfect house with my perfect brother in my perfect neighborhood, where everything was pretty and purposeful and pristine. A stark difference to the Southside. I'd thought it would have thrown them off again, but it seemed to cheer them up. Seeing me happy and lively... It had been made clear. I was not half a Serpent, but I still knew where I'd come from. My friends did too. And the friends that mattered didn't care where I started or where I was now. They cared about me.

Jughead cut off the quiet moment between me and Sweet Pea, smiling softly and handing me a small gift. “Toni, Fangs, and I wanted to get you something special. Open it later.” He kissed my forehead.

"Thank you guys," I whispered softly, genuinely touched.

Jughead waved it away. There was a slight pause where he tilted his head. “You’re different today." I rose an eyebrow. "It's just good to see you doing well here. When Betty told me..." He swallowed. "I'm glad you're doing well.

The others stared at me but I shook my head. "Later," I begged them all. They instantly complied.

To distract, Sweet Pea stepped up, pulling me into him. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered. He kissed my hair and I melted into him. He moved away and then behind me, holding me in a way that I would still be able to talk to the others. I wasn’t complaining.

“We just wanted to drop by and say Merry Christmas,” Toni explained. “We’re off to… do some stuff and-”

Jughead’s hand shot out to catch hold of mine. The mood suddenly changed and I realized that there was more to this visit than a social visit. “Y/n..." His eyes were worried. I pulled away f ron Sweet Pea, getting serious. "Penny. It’s blown up. She took a video and is using it as blackmail. She has my dad doing drug runs for her-”

I moved closer to him. “Oh my gosh Jug." My face hardened in anger. No one touched my friends. My family. Especially not some bitch like Penny Peabody. "what can I do?”

He smiled, looking at the others. “Told you she would want to help.”

“Of course,” I agreed. “No Serpent stands alone.” I put my hand up, offering it to him. He grasped it, his eyes meeting mine with pride. We exchanged a nod. “Tell me everything.”

-

After it was all laid out, I went inside to confront my dad. “Hey, the Serpents dropped by.” I paused as he hummed, acknowledging me with a nod. “They were wondering if I could spend the night?” He looked up sharply and I rushed to give my reasons. “Sweet Pea will give me a ride to school in the morning, and I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ve missed them, Dad.” My eye widened in desperation, and he sighed.

He looked at me for a second. “You promise you’ll stay safe?” I nodded. “And… have a good Christmas?” I nodded a second, my face softening. He sighed again. “We have been working all day, figured we’d just head to bed anyway. Archie’s a mess…" He relaxed. "Sure.” I grinned, thanking him, and then took off to my room, ripping off my sweater and putting on a black shirt from the floor and then my Serpent jacket as it hung on the banister of my bed. I pulled my hair out, catching my reflection in the mirror. Damn. Such small changes really had such an effect on how I appeared…

Outside, everyone was waiting for me. I hopped on Sweet Pea’s bike, and we all took off toward Penny Peabody’s place with intentions to destroy. It was messy, and I’m not proud of everything that happened, but I had agreed to be here, and so I was.

After we dealt with Penny, I found myself in the bliss of Sweet Pea’s bed again, wrapped up in his arms. I turned to him. "How doesn't it bother you that I'm a North Sider?"

His hand traced my face. "Because you're not like some North Siders. You don't think you're better than us just because you have better circumstances than us. And, I mean, you're a Serpent." He shrugged as if that covered everything. And it actually did. I thought he was done but then he spoke again. “Your family is the Serpents... But you’re also a Northsider.” He paused. “You have family there too. You’re a...

"Northside Serpent?" I offered.

He smiled. "Yeah." And that was it. He brought up an even less pleasant topic. “I heard you were getting bullied.” I jerked, looking up at him. He grew sad. “It’s true then.” He shook his head, his hand running down my face.

"It's stopped," I whispered. "Archie and Betty helped."

He nodded. "Okay." He smiled a little. “You know, you looked pretty. Looking like a North Sider. Delicate. It actually sort of caught me off guard, but I don’t mind it.” He got closer as he spoke, his next sentence spoken against my lips. “Wherever you are.”

Our words were soft. "I was so scared you were going to forget about me."

He kissed me then, so hard that it knocked the breath out of me. I moaned and his fingers pressed into my skin. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you at all, let alone long enough to forget you,” he mumbled through the kisses. “Not even if I tried.” He moved over me, pausing. “I love you.”

I smiled. “I love you too."

His nose brushed against mine. “I’ve missed you. Your smell. Your lips. Your smile. Your eye. Your hair. Your voice. I’ve had a hard time sleeping. It’s too cold, and I can’t get comfortable without you…” When I met his eyes again, they were darker. I cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again.” He looked at my lips and then the parts of my body he could see, and then back to my face. “I’m ready.”

The air in the room changed immediately. I was NOT expecting that. “Are- are you sure?” I asked.

Leaning down, he nodded. “I want you so bad it’s driving me crazy. Is… it okay with you? If we…?” I chuckled, pulling him closer. Our lips met, and I wasted no time in getting heated.

“Yes,” I answered, muffled by him. “Fuck me, please.” He shivered, his gaze zeroing in on mine a second before he dipped down, attacking my neck. By now, Tall Boy’s bruises were gone, but Sweet Pea made some of his own. He decorated me in love bites, not even trying to hold back. He ground against me, and I gasped, eyes closing.

My hands moved to tug on his shirt, pulling it up his body until he had to lean back on his ankles to take it off. I scrambled out from under him, trying to follow after him. I tugged off my shirt, throwing it into the shadows on the floor. We gazed at each other as I moved slowly to straddle his waist.

Suddenly I burst out laughing, and it startled Sweets. My forehead went to his shoulder. “What?” he asked, the humor in his voice evident as he failed to not smile along with me. I leaned back, running my hand down his face, my fingers tracing his jaw. He was so beautiful. So gentle and kind and so in love with me. How did I get so lucky?

“My dad told me to have a good Christmas,” I told him. He grinned as he realized the irony of his encouragement as we sat in our current situation, moments from crossing a boundary my dad would not approve of.

He pulled me closer. “I have a gift for you,” he told me. “I wasn’t going to give it to you because I got scared but… I have one.”

A frown came onto my face. “I didn’t get you anything.” I looked away. “I didn’t even realize Christmas was coming.” My eyebrows knitted.

Sweet Pea pressed our foreheads together. “I don’t expect you to get me a gift. You’re here- what more can I ask for?”

My smile grew. “Keep my gift for the next holiday,” I whispered. “I just want you to tonight. I want my gift to be you and me, here, now, and nothing else. No worry or stress or Black Hood or Northside. No tomorrow when I have to go back. No Penny Peabody. Please?” He didn’t even pause before nodding, leaning to put me back on the pillow. “I just want to have a good Christmas with the man I love.”

Sweet Pea beamed. “I can do that.” His lips were on my neck and my eyes closed, a sigh passing through my lips. The noise was breathy and smooth, half in pleasure and half in contentedness.

Merry Christmas indeed.

-

Christmas really boosted my spirits.

After our night together and my anxiety as he took me back to school, Sweet Pea's calls and texts came more often. We called in the morning as I walked to school, every night, at lunch. I felt myself relaxing and easing. The distance didn’t hurt so much. I started to mix the Serpent clothes with the ones I already had. I wore both and if I did it right, I could see what people meant when they said clothing choice was self expression. These clothes FIT me.

Unfortunately, my happy disposition on top of my developed confidence seemed to draw people in. Instead of tripping me or pushing me or treating me like I was a disease, people were actively trying to be apart of my life. Curious girls who thought I was super cool and flirty guys who thought I was super hot. Archie was by my side differently than before. Now we stood together, heads up and shoulders back. I didn’t walk behind him, hiding behind him. We had each other’s back.

His actions encouraged Betty to slip more into my life again. For real. Not just in passing or to defend me, but in class and walking to class and at lunch. Texting and calling, gossiping and getting advice and hanging out. Through them I grew a comfortable acquaintance with Veronica, and distantly, Josie as well.

The Bulldogs had actually had my back once or twice when a guy had gotten too in my face and insistent. Reggie had talked to me after but I told him I wasn’t interested and he backed off.

All of these connections I had though felt less genuine and more like a business agreement. With Betty, maybe, but... Where had they been those first few days? Those first few weeks? Where was Reggie when his own Bulldogs were whistling at me and calling me pet names to make me uncomfortable? Where was Josie when I was being pushed around- literally? When I was being trampled? I could only count on Betty and Archie. Veronica too. Maybe.

The Serpents always had my back. I couldn’t help but still think that. They would have my back no matter what side of Riverdale I looked or acted like. They had my back no matter who I was facing. Even before I’d been a Serpent, my own brother had abandoned me while the Serpents had my back. If they were here…

And then they were.

When the announcement sounded, I sat in the lounge, with Betty, Archie, and their friends. I heard the words ring through the halls and I froze, my heart stilling as I dared to hope.

South Side High was being shut down, and some students from there were coming here.

Could I get so lucky? To have my biggest wish come true? To have my brothers and sister here, with me, along with the love of my life? Being in these halls to be in a good school like I’ve wanted to happen for so long?

...How could this go wrong?

This was Riverdale- nothing good happened here. Especially in high school. I couldn't help but wait for a catch.

While everyone freaked out and Veronica tried to calm them all down, I stared at the wall, trying not to bring attention to myself and my complete joy.

Betty noticed me first. We both smiled- after all, Jughead would be coming too. Even in the precarious situation they were in, she couldn’t lie to me at least that some part of her was very excited.

Archie noticed me next, smile just as wide. He was glad to have Jughead back as well. And heck if I could finally have the people I'd missed so much back in my life? Hell yeah! The three of us were ECSTATIC!

Then I saw everyone else's faces. Eyes seeking me out and burning into me. I thought if the weeks of torture and my smile fell away. Nervousness nudged at me.

I called Sweet Pea that night and he confirmed that he, Toni, Fangs, and Jughead were coming to Riverdale High. Honestly, I wasn't as happy about it as I wish I could be. They'd be around again and in a better school. But the students...

My mind filled with the worst scenarios possible and I went to bed the night before uneasy.

Why couldn't I just be happy?

When had my life gotten so complicated?

-

FTL: @alexa-playafricabytoto @chipster-21 @bitchyseawitch @justanotherdaydreamersoul

Story Tags: @reblogserpent @xprblmatcprincess @black-kitten-imagines @foolsgoldxo @90skpophoe