The Forgotten Blossom | A Riverdale Story

Chapter 27: Christmas Day Part 2

"Betty hasn't text me yet" Alice frowned.

"Have you text her?" Hermione asked, Fred chopping vegetables and ignoring what was going on. 

"No, I probably should but she wouldn't miss dinner" Alice shrugged. 

It wasn't long before the entire dinner was ready and Alice was getting worried. She decided to eventually call Betty. Betty and Jughead were several hours into their journey when Betty's phone rang.

"Jug" she nudged Jughead and showed him her phone. 

"Don't answer it" he replied and with a straight face, he kept walking. "Just let it ring" Betty looked at her phone. Even after everything, her mom hadn't done anything wrong and with a wave of guilt she answered it.

"Hi mom"

"Betty, where are you?" Alice asked desperately. 

"I'm- I'm sorry mom" Betty began to cry as she stopped walking. 

"Why? What happened?" 

"I ran away with Jughead" Betty sobbed to her mother.

"Oh my god, where are you?" Alice waved Fp over.

"Somewhere in Greendale" Betty looked around to see any clues as to where exactly. "There's a school here called Baxter High"

"Okay, stay there. Fp is on his way" Alice told her daughter. 

"Okay, see you soon" Betty hung the phone. Hermione noticed Alice looking worried and saw Fp leaving.

"What's wrong? Where is she?" she asked, turning to her friend.

"She ran away with Jughead" Alice explained. 

"Come here" Hermione pulled the woman into a hug as she began crying. "It's okay, it's okay" she whispered

"I didn't realise she was so unhappy, am I a bad mother?" Alice weeped.

"Of course you're not a bad mother" Hermione consoled her.

Betty and Jughead were waiting for Fp when they saw a blonde girl about their age approach them. There was a taller boy with her who was holding her hand. 

"Hey, are you lost?" the girl asked.

"No, we're just waiting for someone" Betty replied, smiling at the pair. 

"Well it's no good waiting out here, you'll catch a cold. Greendale gets chilly around winter. Come with us, my aunties won't mind you waiting at our house for a bit" the girl persisted.

"Umm well, okay. Just for a little" Betty agreed reluctantly, earning a glare from Jughead. 

"Great, I'm Sabrina by the way" she outstretched her arm.

"Betty, and this is my boyfriend Jughead" Betty introduced herself.

"I'm Harvey" the boy with Sabrina spoke up and shook Betty and Jughead's hands. Harvey and Sabrina led Betty and Jughead to a large house in the woods. Betty started to get nervous, her heart pounding in her chest as she saw a sign that read Spellman Mortuary. Sabrina opened the large front door and threw her keys down on a table. 

"Aunties! I'm back and I've got some visitors" she shouted, her voice echoing through the hallways. Two women appeared in an archway.

"Who's this?" one asked.

"This is Betty and her boyfriend Jughead. They're waiting for someone but it's freezing outside so I thought they could stay here for a while" Sabrina explained. Jughead looked around at shelves full of strange artifacts.

"I need to text my mom, she'll be wondering where we are" Betty said pulling out her phone.

Betty: We met a girl and she let us wait in her house, tell Fp to look for Spellman Mortuary

Alice: Elizabeth! I thought I told you to stay where you were!!

Betty: Sorry..

Alice: Fp is on his way, we'll discuss this later. We're having dinner now.

Alice put her phone down on the table and shook her head.

"What's happening?" Hermione asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now, lets just have dinner" Alice smiled. Hermione gave her a faint smile before gripping Fred's hand. "This may not have been the way we expected things to turn out but I don't know about you but I've had a great day. If it wasn't for you guys this past year wouldn't have been bearable" Alice lifted her glass of wine. "Here's to another great year" Everyone else lifted their glasses and cheered, trying to forget about Betty and Jughead. They were about halfway through dinner when Fp returned, Betty and Jughead in tow. "Sit down, dinner is ready" Alice gestured to the empty seats beside her. Betty hung her head in shame as she sat down in front of her cold plate of food.

"I'm sorry mom" she murmured. 

"Not now Elizabeth, just eat your food" Alice replied. They all in silence and Fred and Hermione took the plates into the kitchen.

"I feel like with everything that's happened today we haven't had a moment to ourselves" Hermione turned to Fred. 

"You're right" Fred pulled her towards him. "Merry Christmas, my love" 

"Merry Christmas" Hermione smiled and kissed lightly before pulling him further into their embrace. "This time next year we're going to have a little baby" Hermione fondly touched her stomach.

"And I can't wait" Fred smiled back at his fiancee, his hand on top of her's. "Do you think that we should go home and leave Fp and Alice to deal with Betty and Jughead?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's probably for the best" Hermione said just before the front door slammed. The couple went back into the living room to see Betty crying in Alice's arms and Fp rubbing the back of his neck. Archie, Veronica and Claire stood awkwardly in the corner. Everyone heard the sound of Jughead's motorbike speeding off down the street. "I think we're going to go" Hermione picked up her handbag and a few gift bags of presents. 

"Oh- okay" Alice looked at them sadly.

"I'm sorry about all of this, we ruined the day" Betty sobbed.

"No no, it's not your fault Betty" Hermione consoled the young girl.

"It's Jughead's fault" Fp added. No one objected. Hermione, Fred, Veronica and Archie got their things together and said their goodbyes before leaving. Claire sighed.

"Merry Christmas guys" she smiled slightly before going upstairs. Claire picked up the phone that sat on her nightstand and dialled Cheryl's number. 

"Hello" Claire heard her older sister answer.

"Hi Cheryl, it's Claire" the girl replied.

"Hey Clairikins! Merry Christmas" Cheryl chirped.

"Merry Christmas, sorry I didn't invite you round. It's been a hectic day. Betty and Jughead tried to run away" Claire gossiped, sitting on her bed with the receiver in one hand and the phone in the other.

"Oh wow, how far did they get?" 

"Greendale!"

"Woah, and are they back?" Cheryl quizzed.

"Yeah, Fp picked them up. But anyway, is Toni there?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, here she is" she heard Cheryl whisper "It's Claire" before passing the phone to Toni.

"Hey Claire" Toni greeted her girlfriend's sister.

"Hi Toni, Merry Christmas" 

"Merry Christmas" the conversation between the three went on for while longer.