Snakes and Ladders - Falice

A Broken Wing

She'd tell him about her dreams, he'd just shoot them down. Lord, he loved to make her cry. You're crazy for believing you'll ever leave the ground, he said only angels know how to fly. And with a broken wing, she still sings. She keeps an eye over the sky.

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The ring on Alice's finger was weighing her down more than it ever had before.

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Fred and Mary Andrews. What everyone assumed to be Fred's post-Hermione rebound quickly turned into a relationship that rocked the halls of Riverdale High. From their senior prom to their wedding and now to their tenth anniversary. The two of them made sense; together, they were safe. They were alike, shared the same values and aspirations, and seemingly had nothing but love for one another. Unfortunately, many couples in Riverdale – including Fred and Mary Andrews – were not all that they seemed. Or, rather, they were much more.

But, everyone so loved to pretend that things were picture perfect. The Andrews were not on the brink of separation, the Coopers were not fiending their love for each other, and the Jones' were doing just fine raising their two children. In reality, all was crumbling. It was days like today that they all put on a smiling face, secured their wedding bands around their fingers, and braced themselves for the storm that was their complicated adult lives.

Funny, they were all such rebellious teenagers though most of them had turned into well respected adults. Although, in the case of Alice Cooper, her newly polished image was nothing but counterfeit. In the beginning, no one bought her pristine attitude complete with the picture perfect life, but after so long, they all began to forget who she really was. They all had a part to play.

Alice was no longer the wild teenage girl who got arrested on the night of her sixteenth birthday for taking the school van for a joy ride, Fred was no longer the lovestruck boy who would do anything for Hermione Alvarez – now Lodge. Gladys was no longer the unruly Southside Serpent, she was a mother supposedly doing her very best under trying circumstances. FP hadn't changed and neither had Mary or Hal, but they were also guilty of pretending that they were happy with the decisions that they had made.

In Riverdale, it was as if everyone had grown up overnight. After high school graduation, they were all ready to settle down with whomever they'd chosen to spend the rest of their lives with, get married, and start families, never looking back on their pasts again. And, perhaps that was where they all went wrong.

Now, Fred and Mary were usually pretty docile people. They didn't like anything big or shmaltzy, especially if it was in their honour. But, they'd both agreed that they would have to do something special for their tenth anniversary. It went unspoken that this was because they were afraid it may be their last. In reality, it was not their last, but maybe it should have been. After that, everything really began to fall apart. Calling it quits earlier on could have prevented years of painful couples' therapy sessions, endless nights filled to the brim with harsh arguments, and a very conflicted young boy named Archie Andrews. But, one cannot change the past; they can only try to fix the mistakes that they once made.

The party had been months in the planning. Of course, with the help of Alice Cooper who not only loved being a part of anything that had to do with organizing an event, but who also just couldn't help but stick her nose into her old high school friends' business. The guest list was long and complicated. For the first time in years, nearly everyone from their high school was going to be back in one condensed setting – it would surely make for some interesting outcomes. This was no PTA meeting, and this was certainly no somber event.