Varchie Oneshots

Here for you

It was 3 am when I got the call. Archie's dad had died in a car accident, and Archie was in the car with him. Somebody was driving drunk on the already slippery roads from the pouring rain, and they were driving 80 in a 50. Archie and his father were stopped at a red light, and the other driver was driving so fast that they couldn't stop, and just crashed right into their car. Archie was almost completely fine but his dad suffered from severe brain damage, and didn't even make it to the hospital.

"Hello?" I said when I picked up the phone. The phone's ringing had woke me up at three in the morning, and it was an unknown number but something told me I needed to pick it up, even though I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Is this Veronica Lodge?" A unfamiliar mans voice asked.

"Yes? Why do you have my boyfriend's phone?" I replied, confused.

"I am a doctor at Riverdale general hospital. You boyfriend has been admitted with a concussion in a car crash. He was brought in with his father who passed away earlier from brain damage. Archie has been completely silent except for calling your name a few times, so I decided to call you to come here." the man explained.

"Oh my goodness, I'll be right there." I said, not even bothering to change out of my pajamas before running out of the Pembroke with only a pair of slippers and my wallet, heading to the hospital.

I was very worried for Archie. Last time something like his happened, he completely spiraled in the timespan of less than a couple of weeks, and his turned turned out to be totally fine. This time, his dad was dead. I didn't know what I would be able to do or say to comfort him. I just knew that I couldn't let in the pain of losing the person who was a second father to me, because Archie who had lost his actual father, and nothing can compare to that.

As I pulled into the hospital, I decided that I would stay strong as possible for him. I would be there for him in ways that I hadn't been last time, emotionally.

"Hi, I'm here to see Archie Andrews." I said when I got to the registration office.

"Room 2158 on the second floor." The receptionist told me, kindly.

I took the elevator up to the second floor, where Archie had been admitted because he had a major concussion and they wanted to observe him.

"Archie?" I said softly as I walked into the room. He was staring blankly at the crisp white sheets on the hospital bed.

He didn't answer me at all, and the only indication I had that he had even heard me was the fact that he scooted over on the bed and held his arms out towards me.

Getting the message, I sat on the bed next to him and let him burry his head in my hair. I stroked his back gently as we sat like that in complete silence. I knew that anything I could possibly say at the moment wouldn't comfort him, but my presence would mean everything to him.

The next few says had felt like a blur.

I called Archie's mother, Mary, and she decided to move back to Riverdale from Chicago, where she moved before she split up with Fred. She didn't want to uproot Archie's life to move him out of state, after all this was already disorienting enough.

Archie had barely said anything to me, Mary, or any of our friends in the past few says. He'd hardly eaten or drank, besides the stuff I had to force him to eat or drink. We were home now, and had countless visitors, but Archie did not care for any of the pity that came from these people who had barely known Fred. Tomorrow would be the funeral, and nobody was looking forward to it. The last few days were so emotionally draining, and there would be even more of it tomorrow.

"Veronica, can I have a word with you?" Mary asked me softly. I had been sitting by Archie's bedside, holding his hand as he slept.

I nodded and gently released his hand before following her out of Archie's bedroom.

"I know that you and Fred were especially close. You were like a daughter to him." She said. "This must be a terrible loss for you too."

I nodded again, not wanting to speak, knowing that if I said anything the tears that I had been holding back for five days in attempt to stay strong for Archie would come out. He was a second father to me, there for me when my own father wasn't even.

"I wanted to ask you to write a eulogy. Archie is writing one too, and we both agreed that Fred would have loved for you to write one." Mary said softly.

"Of course." I managed to say, tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

Mary wrapped me in a hug. "It's okay to cry. I know you've tried to stay strong for Archie, but it's just us right now."

That was all I needed to be told before breaking down crying. This had truly been on of the worst weeks of my life, and I've had some messed up stuff happen to me before.

---

The next morning I woke up early, getting ready for Fred's funeral as quick as possible so that I would have time to practice my eulogy.

The entire funeral service was a blur, and before I knew it, I had to give my speech.

"When people think of Fred Andrews, they think of a kindhearted, selfless soul who put everybody first. That is exactly what he was. Ever since I first met him, I knew that he was always willing to do whatever he could to protect his son. Later, the love he had for his son spread to me as well, and he became a second father to me. Even though I've known him for only three years, it feels like I've known him my whole life. I can't imagine living without Fred Andrews, but I know that his memory will be with us as we put him to rest." I said. I walked away from the podium, shaking, and as I walked back to my seat, Archie walked past me towards the podium. I let my hand brush against his as I passed him.

"My dad was an amazing person. Never wanted anything but the best for me, for my friends, for my mom, and for this town as a whole. There will truly be a piece of each and every person in this towns heart missing from his loss. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for my dad." Archie spoke. The attendees at the funeral were silent to the point that you could hear a pin drop. Not a single bit of drama or gossip going on, which is how you know that everybody respected Fred Andrews, because it's rare that an occasion occurs that there isn't drama in Riverdale.

While I was lost in my thoughts about this, I noticed that the audience had began to get up, making their way towards Mary to show their support. Archie was nowhere to be seen, so I got up and left to find him, sure that I know exactly where he was. Our spot in the woods by Sweetwater river.

---

"Archie?" I breathed out when I saw him. He was sitting by the water, pulling grass out of the ground.

"Veronica." He replied. This was the first time he had said my name since this all began.

"It was a beautiful speech." I said, sitting on the ground next to him and taking his hand.

He didn't say anything, but I saw that he was staring at the water with hard eyes.

"Archie, it's okay to cry." I told him, quietly repeating the advice that his mother had given me. "It's just you and me."

"I just- I can't even think about life without him." He choked out. "I have never seen life without him and I don't want to."

Before I knew it, he was sobbing in my arms, and I was consoling him by holding him.

As much as it tore me apart to see him like this, I'm glad to see him open up because it will help him continue to recover from something that no teenager should ever have to go through. A death of a parent.