Welcome home

She thought she had fallen asleep in her granddaughter's car, on her way to see Riverdale one last time, but instead, she woke up in her bed, in her house and she saw someone familiar standing in front of her bed. There was a hundred ways she could've recognized him, but she recognized his beanie.

"Jughead?" She asked, incredulous. He smiled at her, the same smile he used to give her when they would laugh together.
He approached her, and touched her hand. It felt real, too real. How was it possible? Wasn't he dead a few years ago? Why was he looking so young?
"Do you remember your last day of high school, Betty?"
The question was stupid. He knew damn well she was sick that day. She missed her last day of high school.
"Do you wanna see, what it would've been like?"
She couldn't talk, she just nodded, her mouth opened wide in shock. He extended his hand for her to take, and she did. She can't remember how, but she ended up in front of her old bedroom door, with her name written on it with wooden, pink painted letters. Her heart started to race a mile an hour, grabbing the doorknob with trembling hands. As she entered her old room, everything was just like she remembered it. She let out an audible gasp, looking around her excitedly. Her eyes landed on her mirror, and she saw her figure was much more different than when she looked at herself yesterday.
"I used to look that good?" She stated, looking at her 17 years-old self reflection. Jughead just laughed a little at Betty's astonishment.
"Don't worry, you get used to it with time."
That sentence was weird, but she didn't have time to ask question, she wanted to see everything she could do in this weird world she was in, hoping it wasn't just another dream she'll wake up from, deceived.
So she opened the door again, and then she heard them. Tears ran down her cheeks as she ran down the stairs. Betty was met with the sight of her mother in her flight attendant outfit, and her sister, Polly, both sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast.
"Mom! Polly!" Betty shouted as she hugged her mother forcefully, almost knocking her down.
"Wow, Betty!" Alice said in a huff, surprised by her daughter's strength. "You might get some karate lessons!" The oldest Cooper joked.
She had breakfast with her mother and sister, like she always would at this time of her life.
Then Alice had to go to work, so she kissed her daughter goodbye, and Betty hoped she would see her again.
Arriving to school, she saw Veronica waiting in front of the school entrance. She looked as gorgeous as ever in her yellow dress.
"Betty?" The raven haired girl questioned as she saw her best friend arriving. "I thought you were sick!"
And once again, Betty ran over to her and hugged her tight.
"Oh my God, Veronica! I missed you so much..."
Veronica looked at her quizzical, but affectionately as she reciprocated Betty's embrace.

This day was like a dream. How much had she missed? A lot more than what she thought. And if the entire day, everyone tried their best to look happy, when Cheryl's party arrived, and Archie made his speech, everyone ended up crying and hugging. It was the end of a part of their life. They would all go separate ways. Would they ever see each other again? No more lunch together, no more River Vixens practice, no more gossiping in the lockers room, no more boring classes spent watching Archie, no more musicals... Veronica hugged Betty tight, whispering in her ear: "I don't wanna leave you..." and Betty could swear her heart broke at the admission.

The next day, she was with Veronica, sitting on a sofa with her best friend sitting in front of her. The Lodge girl had red puffy eyes, and she was on the verge of crying again.
"Betty..." She started in a little voice.
The Cooper girl looked at her with all her attention, waiting for her to find her words.
"Im... I'm going to LA."
Betty's heart broke again. LA? It was so far away from Riverdale! How could they possibly see each other more than once a year? How could they keep in touch with Veronica's busy life?
As if sensing Betty's panicking, Veronica took her hand in hers and pressed on it gently.
"I don't wanna... Ronnie..."
And a tear escaped Veronica's eyes.
"No matter what, Betty, we'll always be in each other's life."
The conviction in her tone made Betty want to believe her, but she couldn't. How could it be possible? How was she supposed to live so far away from her?
"I can't..." Betty said, her voice cracky with emotion.
Memories of their year spent together rushed through her mind. From simple laughters, to more intimate experiences, their bond, so strong and unbreakable, that crossed every barriers of the society.
"Come with me, Betty."
Four words. Just four simple words she had denied her. The only words she regretted for the rest of her life. She turned her head towards Jughead, who was standing in the corner, silently asking him if she could change her life. He nodded. So she looked back at Veronica, green eyes melting into brown eyes, and she smiled.
"Yes."
three letters she had always wished she could've said. Three letters she finally got the chance to say to the only girl that never left her mind for all those years.

They say the rest is history, but all I could say is that they lived happily. In LA, they bought a studio, not too far away from the beach. Veronica became more and more famous and produced a lot of movies, Betty always by her side at ever award ceremony she was attending. We could say they helped America in the acceptance of LGBTQ+ community. Betty became a journalist and writer, trying to help people through her books, like she did back in her teenage years.
They had a baby, a little girl named Clara. She was their sunlight, their whole universe. Let's say that baby was a loved one. Veronica was the first one to die, and even though she was heart broken, she wasn't regretful, not like she was when she visited Veronica's grave after decades without seeing her. She had spent a life with her.
We can say Betty and Veronica had a good life, and every passing day, Betty had thanked that day her life changed forever. She had almost forgot about everything she had lived before it all happened, but she remembers that particular scene, every night when she goes to sleep, of herself entering the car of someone she called her granddaughter. She was telling her they were going back to Riverdale, but the dream stopped before they could arrive their destination.

That night, when she went to sleep, she dreamt of that same car, those same roads, the same tunes on the radio. But this time, she arrived in front of Pop's Chock'Lit Shoppe, the dinner lightened by his signature's red neon lights. When she exited the car, she was a teenage self for the third time in her life (lives?) and she walked carefully towards the door.

Inside, everything was like in her memories, but the place was also packed with every single one of her friends. She hugged them one by one, relishing in the sight of the familiar faces and decorations of this place which saw her grow up.
Then she noticed her, with her black hair, black eyes and her always perfectly colored lips curved in a smile. She looked as radiant as ever, sitting in a red booth.
They embraced each other, and Veronica whispered: "Welcome home."

Stopping the car in front of Pop's, Betty's granddaughter looked at her grandmother, smiling at the sight of the elderly woman asleep. But then she realized that something was off, she wasn't breathing.
She passed away peacefully, living the life she always thought she had missed. Betty was now, and forever, in her favorite place on Earth, with her favorite persons.

She was home.