Recreating History, Repairing Mistakes

Part 21

When Jughead walks into the door, thescene on the sofa has dissolved enough for mother and daughter tocomfortably be watching some movie, patiently waiting for the boy toarrive home. And looking at the boy's face it's a good thing theyhave resolved their conversation from earlier. He's not crying andAlice is glad for that, because she has promised to take care of himand be there for whatever he needs, but she knows him good enough tohave figured, that crying is nothing he'd normally do, and it makesher just that bit uncomfortable and a lot scared to see the boy breaklike that. What he is however, is visibly angry and neither of thewomen know what about.

Their best guess is of course hisfather, maybe he'd been to see him. But he'd been mad at the man lastnight, too and it looked nothing like what's happening right now. Hisbeanie is clutched in his hand and it's all the indication Bettyneeds to know that it's serious. He doesn't take it off for nothing.When Alice pauses the film, Betty immediately gets up from the couchand her mother's embrace and envelops Jughead in a hug withoutthinking about it. The boy hesitates for just a moment beforerelaxing into the motion, but then he sinks into his girlfriend'sarms and lets her comfort him. She doesn't know yet what has him soupset, but it doesn't matter. There's nothing she wouldn't comforthim over. Betty leads Jughead over to the couch, sitting down in theseat she'd vacated moments before, pulling him down beside her andwrapping her arms back around him. Alice leaves them to it, givingthem some space and alone time to talk about it. If she's supposed tobe part of this conversation, they know they can come to her, but shewon't impose herself on something that, quite possibly, doesn't haveanything to do with her.

That had been her the last twentyyears, always being kept in the loop about any going ons, never ableto keep her mouth shut and her thoughts on the matter to herself. Ithad been a great way to show the world around her that she's betterthan them and, in turn, maybe make them forget that she ever used tonot be. And she hadn't really cared, that most of the people inRiverdale seemed to not like her, because not associating with themin general was better than having people walk up to her and call herout on her bullshit. She even has to, reluctantly, admit that therehad been a time where she didn't even realize how she behaved anddidn't understand why certain people hated on her so much. Today,after leaving all that behind her and feeling so much more thanherself than she had the last two decades, she knows, she would havehated herself then, too. Bitchy and stuck up is everything she neverwanted to become, but when it happened she hadn't even consciouslyrealized it.

But that's not her anymore. It mightonly have been a few weeks, but she has felt the change almostimmediately. The moment she's discarded the designer costumes and theimmaculate outside appearance, she'd known her view of other peoplehad changed, too. She's wearing jeans and shirts that reveal glimpsesof her snake tattoo, hair falling around her face just the way itdoes, and a leather jacket showing her affiliation with a biker gang.So even if she wanted to, who was she to look down on others? She'dlost that right ( not that people actually ever have that anyway) themoment she decided to leave her husband and she finds she doesn'tmiss it. It's a refreshing change not to overthink anything she doesand calculate what other people might think of her for it. Herboyfriend's in jail, on trial for murder, for the father of hergrandchildren of all people, too, and she's not running back to thelife where people weren't looking down on her. If that isn't anyindication that she's so much different than the Alice she's been thelast two decades, then she doesn't know what is.

So, she lets the children have theirprivacy. She can't deny she's curious as to what happened, buteveryone probably would be, but she's also not controlling anymore.The days where she tried to tell her daughters what they were andweren't supposed to do, who they were and weren't supposed to hangaround with are over, just as much as she doesn't mind them keepingsome things secret from her. Just like every mother would. If thatmeans she needs to wait for one of them to come to her with theirproblems, then that's what it takes. And if neither Jughead nor Bettywould ever tell her what had him so upset when he came home, she'dhave to live with that, too. She registers the surprised look fromher daughter when she steps into the hall and makes her way into thebedroom, but she just encourages her with a smile and it's all Bettyneeds to know she'll still be available if they need her. And she'ssure she can see the gratitude in the girl's eyes, too, for notgetting involved just because she * has * to.