Riverdale One Shots

VII

Last Day of innocence

December 7th 1941
ᴿᴵᵛᴱᴿᴰᴬᴸᴱ ᴺᵞ

Elizabeth Cooper sat by the side of the river, hugging the soft pink fabric of her coat around her tightly to keep warm. Archibald Andrews chuckled at her lightly, glancing over her blonde hair and blue eyes that blended with the snow and ice.
"Come on Betty, it's not that cold," he laughed with a grin, shaking his head at her lightly as he nudged her.
"That's easy for you to say." She muttered quietly, pulling her knees up to her chest with a frown. "I can barely feel my toes." She complained under her breath. Archie sighed, stepping towards her and pulling her to her feet,
"Just look at it will you? The river's so pretty in the snow. I reckon a few more days of this temperature and the ice will be thick enough to skate on." He laughed softly, grinning happily like a child on Christmas, not that Archie Andrews was any different than a child. Although muscular and tall, his eyes still lit up and he grinned like a bobcat when with their friends. He still retained a beautiful, childish purity that was lost so easily. She admired that about him, envied it even. Sometimes she wished to see the world how he saw it, enchanting and sparkling with life and opportunities but she hadn't been so lucky. Life was, in as little words as possible, fleetingly kind.

Archie kept his eyes on her intently, carefully watching her with a frown. "What's on your mind bets?" He asked lightly with a confused look in his eyes. Betty smiled softly,
"it's wonderful Arch." She lied convincingly, her eyes glancing over the cold, bitter landscape with outward fascination. She refused to destroy his innocence. He nodded with a smirk, "i know it is. I love it out here." He laughed happily, quickly grabbing her arm and pulling her across the frozen ground. She stumbled carelessly after him, her eyes widening a little with surprise. "I want to show you something!" He exclaimed with excitement, continuing to pull her along the river before diverting suddenly into the shadowy woods. Two 16 year olds sprinting through the forest, Archie laughing breathlessly causing Betty to grin a wide and happy grin. She loved the sound of his laugh.

Archie stopped suddenly, causing Betty to fly to halt.
"Careful," Archie chuckled lightly as he steadied her, putting his arms around her shoulders with a smirk. Before them was a waterfall, one Betty had seen many times whilst in fox forest and had vastly lost interest in. Although now the once cascading water had frozen into glittering shards. She gasped softly, genuinely admiring the beauty of such an object. She hadn't known the water froze in the winter, if she had she'd probably come out here more often.
"Wow," She mused lightly with a warm smile that seemed to melt the snow around them. Archie chuckled,
"I know," he laughed lightly, he suddenly frowned glancing at his watch. "We've gotta go, Jughead and Veronica'll be waiting for us," he smirked slightly causing Betty to chuckle.
"Come on then," she mused, heading away from the waterfall and further into the trees towards pops.

*****

Veronica Lodge sat in a booth in pops, her ravel hair across her shoulders as she glanced at her friend across from her carefully. Her and Jughead Jones couldn't be further apart. He was apart of a dangerous gang and she was the daughter of a rich business man. She glanced out of the window briefly, the soft yellow glow from the diner partially illuminating the car park outside. A part of her wished there'd be a brighter light out there, like a big sign. She heard the familiar ring of the bell, her and Jughead turning their heads to look over the blonde and ginger that had entered. A smile spreading across Jughead's lips,
"Hey Arch!" He called cheerily with a grin. The boy turning his head with a matching smile before he and Betty walked over and sat down with the others.

Across the diner sat a red haired girl and a red haired boy, any passerby would suspect they were a couple from the single strawberry milkshake sat between them with its two straws. The boy, Jason Blossom, was well known in town, being the star athlete on the Riverdale High football team and the top academic in his class, despite being a year younger than the rest. His sister, the girl across from him, was definitely the lesser known Blossom, second to her twin brother always. Cheryl straightened out the red skirt she wore, nervously glancing around the diner and specifically towards the door as of waiting for someone.
"Cher relax," Jason chuckled lightly with a warm smile, reaching out and taking her hand gently. Cheryl sighed, looking back at him.
"I missed her JJ," she admitted quietly so only he could hear her. Jason chuckled lightly, grinning at her.
"She'll be here soon, she was probably busy is all." He suggested lightly, "I promise that Antoinette will be here," he mused again. Cheryl nodded hesitantly, squeezing Jason's hand before looking back towards the door expectantly.

The familiar ring of the bell finally filled the diner a few minutes later as a small, pink haired girl appeared. She brushed her hair behind her ear, brown eyes darting around the diner before spotting Cheryl and Jason, smiling as she approached them.
"Hey," she chuckled lightly, hugging Jason as he rose to greet her. She let go of him and smiled warmly at Cheryl, sliding into the seat opposite her secret girlfriend. Toni and Jason had been pretending to date so the two girls could be around each other with Cheryl's homophobic parents getting suspicious.
"I'll be back in a moment, I'm going to the restroom." Jason chuckled lightly before walking away from them. Toni smirked slightly before fully turning her attention to Cheryl,
"Hey princess," she mused softly, wishing she could just hold Cheryl's hand like straight couples did. Cheryl smiled warmly,
"Hello TT, How are you?" She asked curiously, tipping her head to the side slightly with a grin.
"Tired, I really need someone to cuddle at night to help me sleep," Toni teased playfully, smirking at the red head happily. Cheryl rolled her eyes, sipping the milkshake across from her with a dramatic sigh.
"Whatever will you do, ma petit un?" She chuckled lightly causing Toni to gasp quietly.
"How dare you call me little!" Toni complained happily, shaking her head at her in mock disgust. Cheryl shook her head at her slowly as a waitress came past, ordering a chocolate milkshake for Toni. The smaller girl frowned slightly befor sighing, deciding not to complain about the redhead doing it for her. The two spent hours laughing and chatting, conveniently Jason never reappeared. He wanted his sister to be able to spend time with her girlfriend without him being there. Cheryl was unbelievably happy with Toni, she smiled like she had never done before.

Word Count
1112

Date Posted
Monday 23rd September 2019