See You Again~Archie Andrews

15.

(Picture of Jonas for reference 😊)

Ricki•
"She'll be okay, Mr. Hemmings. I assure you."

"When can I bring her home?"

"We aren't sure. At least not yet. We'll keep her here for the next two weeks. There's been some relatively minor injuries to the head that some stitches and gauze will clear up pretty good. As for her leg... the limb has been broken severely. Almost in pieces. The surgery performed is keeping it in place but it will most likely be very painful as there isn't much holding her bones together at this point. Learning to walk again may not happen right away. Or even at all..."

I stopped listening after that. I didn't want to think about what happened. About all the things I won't be able to do anymore. About how stupid I was for trying that cheer when I knew I couldn't do it. And now I'm never going to walk again. Because of some silly shit I did.

"Rick? Are you... are you awake?"

I open my eyes, focusing on the figure in front of me: Jonas, his icy blue eyes wild, dark waves disheveled and appearing as though they hadn't been combed in weeks. Seeing him like this, because of me, just made the pain exceedingly worse.

"Yeah. I'm here." I say softly, eyes looking down to the stiff hospital gown they must have changed me into at some point, the huge cast on my entire leg, and the iv needle in my arm.

Jo rushed forward and hugged me tightly, yet carefully so that he didn't injure me further. "I was so fucking worried. I thought I'd lost you. Oh my god you're okay. You're okay."

There were tears in his eyes and I felt terrible, knowing I'd caused them. I leaned in to his embrace, nestling my head in his chest. "I love you, Jo."

"I love you more."

•Archie•
I'd been sitting in between Veronica and Betty for the past hour and was very quickly losing my patience. Ricki was in a hospital bed, barely there at all and I was out here, yearning to be at her side. The last I'd seen of her was a mixture of fear and screams and running and ambulances and blood. So much blood on such a small girl.

The lady at the front desk refused to let any of us see Ricki yet. "Only family." She had told us. I tried to shove past her when we'd first arrived. They were taking Ricki into surgery and I needed to be at her side. Three security guards had needed to hold me back as I fought desperately to get to her. Eventually they brought me back here and threatened to kick me out if I tried something else. So yeah. I'm sitting in a too-clean waiting room with Betty and Veronica, all of us nervous as fuck to find out what would happen next.

Moments later, Jonas stepped out, looking as much a mess as I did. The three of us looked up, eyes wide in dread as we waited for the verdict.

"She's going to be okay. Might not be able to cheer for a bit though. But you can see her one at a time." Jonas smiled halfheartedly.

Betty and Veronica both sighed in relief, having been worried for their friend. I quickly stood, needing to see her. "Betty, can you make sure Jughead's got an eye on Soph?"

She nodded, "I need to be getting home anyway. Mom will be asking loads of questions." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "But check on Rick for me, okay?"

I smile exhaustedly and nod, standing up to head to Ricki's hospital room, exchanging places with Jonas.

•Ricki•
I hear a gentle knock at the door and look up from the movie a nurse had put on for me. One of the Star Wars films, a sequels not a prequel.

Jo and I used to have marathons together when we were little. I remember I never liked the fight scenes (which was really the majority of the movies) and used to always sit in Jo's lap. He would feed my four year old self popcorn and I'd sip orange soda through a straw.

These nights were always so clear in my mind because they happened so often. It was around the time my dad left and since Mom was always working, we were usually home alone. It's part of why Jo's such a good cook. He kinda had to be. It's strange because I never really noticed. Jonas was six when dad went away. I was only four.

But anyway. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in,"

I look up to see a familiar tangle of ginger hair walk in and sit by my bed. "Arch.." my icy blue eyes lit up and I pull his huge figure into my bed, nearly pulling off my iv. Not that I cared.

Archie laughed, falling into the bed with me and immediately winding his arms around me, pulling my body close to his. "Careful, babe."

I bury my head deep in his muscled chest, inhaling his forest-y scent that I love so much. "Mm. I missed you."

"Holy shit, I'm so glad you're okay." He says softly, chin resting on my head.

"Yeah.." I say quietly, thoughts falling back to the fact that I may never walk again, let alone cheer.

"You are okay, Rick. We're going to fix this... we-were gonna figure this out. Okay?" He looks at me seriously, brown eyes boring into mine as he wipes the tears that had slid down my cheeks.

"Arch... I'm not what's really important... we need to find the Black Hood. I'm hurt but it was a complete accident that had nothing to do with him. You might be next.. and... and I c-can't lose..." I'm cut off as I feel his soft but firm lips on mine, my face cupped in his cheek.

"You'll never lose me, Ricki. I can promise you that." He whispers as he pulls away.

"I love you, Archie."

"I love you Ricki."