if you leave, don't leave now (please don't take my heart away)
If you leave, don't leave now
Please don't take my heart away
Promise me, just one more night
Then we'll go our separate ways
We've always had time on our side
Now it's fading fast
Every second, every moment
We've gotta make it last
-If You Leave, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
When Mary got a call from Archie, she was in her home back in Chicago.
"Archie?"
"Mom?" Her only son, his voice started shaking which alerted Mary instantly. "Mom, it's Dad. He got shot."
The floor seemed to move from under her feet. Everything was a blur in Mary's mind, one minute she was in Chicago and the next Mary was already walking into the hospital in Riverdale. It took hours to find a direct flight from Chicago to her hometown, but she finally found it, with her having to land at around midnight.
But she did not care, her son needed her.
Fred needed her.
Hal Cooper picked her up, Mary wondered who Archie was staying with. "He's with us. Had to get him to sleep and eat, Alice and Archie almost duked it out right in the Hospital." Hal chuckled warily. Everyone didn't know how to act around her, being the ex-spouse of the man who was fighting for his life from a gunshot wound.
"How is he doing?" Mary asked him. Hal looked straight ahead to the road, Mary could tell he had been crying. Hal's eyes darted to her before resuming position ahead of the wintery road as they passed the sign that welcomed them back to Riverdale.
"He just got out of surgery Mary. Archie wanted to stay but you know Alice, so she volunteered to stay behind." She let out a sigh of relief even though the knot in her stomach said otherwise.
They got to their street. Hal helped unload her stuff from her car, she grabbed her luggage and got to the front of the house. The door swung open, Betty Cooper greeted them both. Mary found Archie hunched over the table, his palms planted on the table. Veronica, Jughead, Kevin Keller and Tom were all standing around him not knowing what to do. Well, Tom tried to get him to eat but Archie didn't want to.
When he noticed his mom, his face crumbled into agony. "Mom," he said as the redheaded teen enveloped her in a hug. Mary fiercely hugged her only son tightly.
"I'm home. Everything will be alright." She just kept repeating it because if she stopped it might not come true and who would want that?
Why would someone shoot Fred Andrews? Why?
Those were the questions that ran through her brain as she walked through the room and noticed almost all of Riverdale waiting to hear about Fred Andrews status. She wanted to cry because Fred was the heart and soul of Riverdale, loved his town just as much as he loved Archie.
Oh, god Archie. Her only son was one of the only witnesses that saw what had happened to her ex-husband. This was something that would scar him for life, just anxiety written all over him, as they walked into the hospital the next day. They got word from the hospital the Fred was doing better out of surgery but was in a coma. It meant that he still hasn't woken up which left a horrible feeling for Mary and Archie as they entered the room where Fred was in.
She wanted to cry. Fred laying there with a machine that was making sure he was still alive, breathing.
They sat down, Archie hunched over his dad, holding his hand. Mary's lip wobbled at the same time trying to be strong for her son, who was in tears.
The doctors told her that his signs were good, that any day now Fred would wake up.
"It just needs time," They told her. She kept repeating it in her head as she took Archie home, to get some sleep.
The house, once familiar to Mary was foreign to her. She usually slept in the guest room but without Fred, it didn't seem right. She walked to their bedroom-his room, as she corrected herself. Climbing on his side of the bed, she could still faintly smell his scent. Clutching the pillow tightly, Mary prayed to the universe or God that Fred would wake up soon.
Because living in a world where Fred Andrews was dead, was one that Mary never wanted to see the light of day.
It would be two weeks until Fred woke up. Archie called her, she was having a small lunch with Sierra McCoy when her phone went off, Archie's tearfully excited voice on the other end when she answered it.
She hastily drove over there, Sierra understandingly told her to go.
Fred was responding well to the doctors, Archie grinning as she stepped into the room. The last nurse left, leaving the Andrews family alone in the room.
"Mary?" Fred squinted at her as if she just evaporated out of thin air. It was the same confused squinty-eyed look that Mary knew all too well, one that she had missed seeing. She started sobbing, seeing Fred alive. She walked over, grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, feeling that if she did let go he would somehow leave. Her forehead touched his, carefully as she wept.
No words were said as they were left just like that.
"You've been in Riverdale for almost a whole month Mary." Fred stated one morning as she helped him to the couch. He was still using his crutches, as he went to physical therapy.
"Well, I can't leave you alone by yourself while Archie's back in school."
Fred waved his hand dismissingly. "I've got Alice and Hal to take care of me."
Mary snorted. She loved Alice and Hal, but even Hal would call her to come back knowing that it would be a mistake to put a stubborn Fred with an even more stubborn Alice in a room. "Still, I don't think I'm ready to go back to Chicago until you get better."
"Mare," He touched her hand. "What's this really about?"
Mary swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. He knew her too well, they both knew it.
"I've decided to stay. Here in Riverdale, I feel disconnected with Archie and then what happened to you at Pops dinner, I didn't know what would have happened if you died and... It made me think a lot for the past couple of weeks."
Fred raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Do you think we could have a do-over? Us?" She didn't dare look at Fred, not confident enough to see what his reaction would be.
"Mary, are you saying that you want to stay here?" Fred's voice was vulnerable just like how she felt as if they both couldn't believe what was happening. "Yes." Mary simply said.
She laid her head down on his shoulder. He pulled a strand of her red hair, twirling it between his finger, just like he used to do when they were dating in their senior year. It felt like time never left them in some strange way, but it was almost good, like two halves finally being pieced together.
Gentle yet precise in the moment.
Alice was the first to know along with Hal. It didn't help that they were next door neighbors, thus always in each other's business at times.
They were surprised to find out that Mary would be staying in town and no one was happier than Archie. He giddy, not knowing when was the last time either one of them see him like that.
"So," Alice said, sipping on her tea. Hal and Fred were in the garage chatting about the motor of the old blue mustang that they've been working on. It was apparently their project that they have been working on since about a few months ago, Hal buying it and Fred helping him out whenever he was off from work. "You and Fred are finally going back in?"
Mary nodded. It made Alice hum as she plucked a piece of the croissant that Mary brought over, popping it into her mouth.
"Should we be expecting an invitation to the wedding?"
"Alice!" Mary hissed at the blonde who gave her a small smirk.
For now, they were taking it slow. Testing the waters and trying to find a footing in their relationship again while Mary juggled with becoming a lawyer here in Riverdale thanks to Sierra McCoy who helped her with the resume part. She was now a lawyer, officially in Riverdale and once Sierra retired from her Mayoral duties, she would join her old friend. She missed her dearly and this town, knowing that being in Chicago, for her was the right step for her career. Now returning, Mary knew that this was another good step.
"So?" She asked the question again.
"For now, it'll be like this." And she was fine with this. Fred was fine with this, they both were. "It's simple."
NOTES: Parentdale feels! Fred & Mary feels... just feels all around folks. Anyway, hope you guys like it. I will be updating Gimmie Shelter soon! Don't own the song If You Leave by OMD. Fun fact: This song is well known in the classic Pretty In Pink.
Also, Hal is not the Black Hood in this AU! So, there's that... Takes place around 2X01
Leave a comment!