I need you

Back in town

Hiram was finally about to go to prison for the criminal business deals he had the last few years up in Montreal. It would be the first time she would have to handle her and her daughter's life on her own without his help. She knew she could do it, no matter how challenging it might be. She hoped it would help to do it at place she had known her whole life, which was completely different from the place they had lived up to this point. They could make a completely fresh start. Even if people knew what Hiram did, these people knew her before and maybe they wouldn't judge her that much for what Hiram did and pulled her and Veronica into it with him.

Hiram and Hermione had moved to New York after they had graduated from Riverdale High. Even in High School, he wasn't the good boy. He always was suspicious and also bought fizzle rocks for all of them back when they played Griffins & Gargoyles. But after the whole thing with G & G went down and she broke up with Fred even though she loved him with her whole heart, Hiram didn't seem to be the worst option. His parents had money and it was obvious he would somehow be successful too.

But now was the time to go back to Riverdale. Her hometown.

It's been a few days since Hermione and Veronica moved to Riverdale. Veronica didn't like it at first. It was a small town and not at all like New York, where she had lived her whole life. Their apartment was as luxurious as the one in New York but smaller, yet she liked it. She needed a few days to connect to the people there. There was one girl she kinda liked from the beginning. It was that Cooper girl Betty and her best friend didn't look that bad either. Little did she know how these people or more their parents were connected to her mother's past.

For Hermione, it wasn't as easy as for her daughter to get used to this kind of life in the small town again. She tried to keep up the lifestyle they had back in New York, which was quite difficult. She had no access to Hiram's money so she had to earn the money on her own. She first thought Fred would give her the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't, which she could understand if she was honest with herself. She wasn't always the nicest to him and broke his heart back then. Maybe it also wasn't the best idea to let her work with his books after what Hiram did. She wasn't him, but she could understand his doubts.

Nevertheless, she was happy to even just see him again. He was a lot more grown-up than he was the last time she saw him about 25 years ago. He looked even better now than back then. His beard fits him almost perfectly. And his smile...as sweet as it was before. She liked how he still looked at her. Even if he turned her down for the job it didn't mean that she wasn't planning to see him again soon. He seemed to care for her and wanted to know how she was doing after what happened.

She was working at Pops as a waitress to get some money for her and Veronica. She didn't tell her that they were, in fact, living from the money she had taken from Hiram over the last two decades to prepare them for something like that. She wasn't dumb and knew that if the time would come that Hiram would get into trouble she would need her savings to keep her and her daughter on the bright side of life. She only worked to show her daughter that if time gets tough you still have to keep your head up and go on without hesitation. And Pops wasn't the worst place to work if you want to update yourself about what is going on in your hometown. This was her way of surviving.

When the Twilight Drive Inn was about to close its doors forever she had asked Fred if they wanted to go together. He was surprised but agreed. What could speak against going to the Twilight closing night with an old friend? It's better than going alone.

He picked her up one hour before the movie started so they could get some takeout from Pops to snack during the movie. When they got there Fred looked for a place for his truck in the back rows. He stopped the car and they tried to get a bit comfortable in his truck with some blankets he bought with them.