I sit at the bottom of the stairs, listening into Fred and Archie talking later in the evening. Fred had admitted he feared the black hood but was more fearful of Archie's behaviour. And I can't say I disagree. Once Fred leaves for a meeting at town hall, I walk into the kitchen and hug my brother.
"What was that for? I thought you'd be more likely to hit me." He says.
"Don't doubt that I want to. You just looked like you needed a hug. I'm gonna watch some TV. Care to join me?" I ask.
"I need to call Ronnie. But thanks." He says.
"Suit yourself!" I sing, sitting down and deciding to check on Betty.
N: Any updates?
B: Might have a lead. Will update you soon x
I smile, Nancy Drew strikes again.
*
"Are you kidding me, Archie?" Veronica asks, storming into the house.
Archie had eventually joined me in the living room after talking to Veronica, but as Veronica bursts into the house, I switch off the TV.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"At least you were smart enough not to keep it in your locker. But a gun, Archie? Why? What for?" Veronica says.
"You took the fucking gun to school?" I yell, leaping off the couch.
"You knew?!" Veronica asks.
"Not until I spotted Red Vigilante over there getting interrogated by Sheriff Keller and Weatherbee about waving the damn thing on the southside." I grumble.
"What? Archie why do you have a gun?!" Veronica asks.
"To protect myself." He says.
"Against the black hood?" Veronica asks, Archie looks away from her. "Archie. That video, the gun. If I'm following you, I need to know where. I need to know the truth!"
"I want him dead, Veronica!" Archie yells, leaping off the couch. Both Veronica and I are taken aback.
"A- Archie." I gasp.
"I want the black hood head." He says. "And I want to be the one who does it."
"I want him caught too, Archie. But killing him? He's a fully-grown man, you're 16...-"
"I don't care, Nova. He almost killed our dad. I wanna be the last thing he sees, the last thing he ever sees." Archie says.
"Spoken like a true vigilante." Veronica sighs.
"No, you wanted the truth. I made that video and showed my face, so he'd make me his next target. I went to the southside hoping he would come for me." Archie tells us.
"Archie you're giving yourself a death wish! You're not a killer!" I yell.
"So what? You find the black hood and you shoot him, then what? You go to fucking jail, or you miss, and he kills you, Archie!" Veronica says.
"Doesn't matter what happens to me." Archie says.
"It doesn't matter? Yes, it does-"
"She right, Archie. It does! Are you kidding?! You say you're doing this for Fred, for me, for Riverdale. But what if he KILLS you, what then? How am I, how is Veronica, Fred, Betty, Jughead- How is everyone meant to deal with you getting murdered Archie?!" I yell.
Archie flops back on the couch. I press my hands into my eyes.
"Meanwhile, like an idiot, I'm over here trying to support you by designing T-shirts." Veronica says.
YOU ARE READING
Resilience | Sweet Pea.
FanfictionResilience; (n.) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. "I came to the place I felt the safest." I tell him. "With you." Nova Daniels, the adoptive sister of Riverdale's very own Archie Andrews, has had trouble after trouble...
