𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄, riverdale [2]

SIXTEEN

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The next day had begun with a surprise. Her father had shown up on her doorstep for the second time since he had come back to Riverdale. It was safe to say that he was completely fed up with the blonde, not that she cared.

"You've been avoiding my calls and texts," was the first thing he said to her. "What makes you think that?" She questioned innocently, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh come on, Mariah. Every time I call, you come up with some sort of excuse. That's if you even pick up," he said. "I've been busy. In case you've forgotten, I have school and homework and things," she said.

"I know you don't want to sit down and talk to me. But we had an agreement, you'd hear me out if I helped your friends. I helped your friends, Mariah," he said. She stared blankly at him and he shifted. "Come on, just, let me buy you lunch. Please," he said. She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine, I'll meet you at Pop's for lunch," she agreed.

He nodded his head and smiled. "See you there."

Mariah had contemplated completely blowing him off and not showing up at Pop's at all. But she didn't do that. Against her better judgment, she went to Pop's. Her father had already been waiting there for her. When he saw her, he smiled. "You came," he said and she nodded. "Okay so, talk," she said after sliding into the booth.

"Let's order first," he suggested. "Or, you can talk and I'll listen," she retorted. He sighed and nodded. "Well, first I want to say that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left the way I did. I should've called you more. I should've done things completely different but I didn't. And I can't take that back, no matter how much I wish I could. I'm so sorry for hurting you, Mariah."

Th blonde only looked at him and he sighed, continuing. "Things between your mom and I, they weren't great. We'd put up a front whenever you were around but, she and I were over long before I left," he said. "Why? Because you were cheating on her?" Mariah questioned. He looked down, "It started before that. But, yes. After your mom found out that I wasn't being faithful to her, we legally separated. And then I left. I'm not proud of what I did to your mother. She didn't deserve that. And there's-"

"So you weren't happy in your relationship with mom and then you cheated on her and used the fact that she wanted to legally separate from you as an excuse to just abandon your daughter. Got it, are we done here?" Mariah began to stand. "Mariah, come on," the man tried. "No! I heard your side of things. I held up my end of the deal, now I'm done," she said.

"Let me explain why I left," he tried again. "You were ashamed, right? And afraid of how I'd look at you after you cheated on mom. You didn't want me to hate you for that so you left and had me hate you for leaving instead. Not to mention what the town would think about the great Patrick Coleman being a cheater. As if abandoning your family and being a dead beat is any better. Am I close?" She said. He said nothing.

"That's honestly the stupidest excuse I've ever heard in my life. You're a grown ass man and you behaved like a child. Does your wife even know what you did? Probably not because, why would she?" Mariah stood up and glared at him. "There's no excuse for what I did to you and your mom," he began.

"Yeah, no shit," she sneered. "But I'm here to make things right. To make amends," Patrick said. "You had three years to make amends, Patrick. A little late for that now, don't you think?" She said. She grabbed her things and walked to the door. "Mariah," the man called after her. But she kept walking until she was out of the door and in her car.

She wasted no time starting the engine and driving out of Pop's.

••••

Mariah had been the second one Jughead had told about his father being let out of jail. And while Mariah was happy that he was happy, she still couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment for the man who played a part in Jason's death. Even though he wasn't the one to have killed Jason, he still covered it up and Mariah wasn't sure when or if she could move on from that.

Even so, she smiled, gave him a hug, and a 'That's great news' before telling him that she had to get to school. It was a lie, and he knew that. But he let her go, figuring she probably didn't want to talk to him about the situation. He knew that she still probably felt a certain way about had happened, and she had every right to.

Jughead had sighed quietly to himself and watched her walk away before going off to call Veronica and Archie to tell them the news. Jughead was still very pissed at the two, as was Betty, but Mariah had told them not to completely ditch their friendships with the two on her behalf. Besides, he needed their help so, he didn't have much of a choice.

Once Mariah got to school, she texted Cheryl to meet up, wanting to be the one to inform her that FP Jones was being released from prison. Cheryl texted her that she was in the girl's locker room so Mariah made her way there. Just as she was about to enter the locker room, a janitor named Mr. Svenson was quickly leaving it. Mariah watched in confusion as he scurried away before entering the locker room.

She spotted Cheryl and Josie and felt an awkward tension in the air. "What the hell happened?" She questioned. Both girls in the locker room were in nothing but towels and if Mr. Svenson was in there, then that means he must have seen them. "That creep of a janitor just barged in here while Josie and I were unclothed," Cheryl said with a scoff.

"It was an accident, Cheryl. He didn't know we were in here," Josie said. "He could have knocked, like any sane person," Cheryl retorted and Josie sighed. The redhead turned to Mariah who was trying to make sense of the whole ordeal. "You wanted to talk," she reminded. "Right, yeah. So... Jughead told me that his dad was being released from prison," she said awkwardly.

Cheryl froze and Josie turned to look over at the two. "Oh," was all the redhead could muster. "I, I wanted to be the one to tell you before word got out," Mariah continued. Josie placed a hand on Cheryl's shoulder before looking up at Mariah. "Are you guys alright?" She asked. Mariah only shrugged. Cheryl sighed, "Is there a reason he's being released?"

"Jughead said something about overcrowding. A judge reviewed his case and I guess, his crime wasn't as bad as the other criminals. I don't know." Cheryl scoffed and shook her head. "So covering up my brother's murder isn't a big deal? I can't believe this," she retorted. "That's not what she's saying, Cheryl," Josie said softly.

"I know. And I know that Mariah doesn't feel that way. I'm just, this is too much. Can we talk about something else?" Cheryl said. Mariah nodded and walked over to the girl. "Well, I had lunch with Patrick yesterday," she began. "What?" The redhead exclaimed.

"It wasn't really lunch. It was supposed to be but I didn't stay long enough to actually order anything. He wanted to tell me his side of the story, which is fucked up by the way. I just, I can't believe that I thought that he might have had a good reason for leaving. I didn't want to even go to that lunch but in the back of my mind, I had been hoping that there was a good reason. But there wasn't. It was just as selfish as I knew it would be."

"I'm sorry, Mariah," Josie said. "Don't be, it's okay. I've learned the hard way not to expect too much from people. They just end up disappointing you," the blonde replied. "Well, remember that you have us. And we'll never disappoint you," Cheryl said, referring to her and Josie. Mariah smiled, "I know. Thanks guys."

The three hugged briefly before Mariah pulled away. "You two should get dressed now," she informed. "Right," Josie said with a laugh.

°°°°

I say this way too much but I'm sorry for not updating. I've been even busier than normal because of the coronavirus pandemic going on. The transition to online classes has been rough and college is even harder than usual. But, I got into the nursing program at my school and I'm happy so I decided to updated some of my books lol. Updates will continue to be slow (or probably nonexistent) until summer vacation starts. Please DO NOT COMMENT FOR ME TO UPDATE!