I walked into the hospital; white bag in one hand, my sister's hand in another; and towards the nurse's station to find my mom. Peering down the hall as I reached the desk, I seen a saddened Archie Andrews, blood on his hands, my mom came to the desk, white nurses outfit on, just before Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones rushed in just passed me, Hal Cooper, Alice Cooper and Hermione Lodge close behind.

The chilly air brushed through my hair when I handed my mom her food, "What happened there?"

She smiled in thanks before answering, "Fred Andrews came in around 20 minutes ago; he got shot."

I gasped, "Where? Do you know?"

"Pop's. Archie drove him here all by himself, apparently an ambulance didn't make it there quick enough."

"Oh my God, was it a robbery?" I questioned, not finding a filter for my words.

"I don't know, Dahlia. But you're not working there anymore; I'm calling Pop Tate after I get off work." She said in a stern voice as Alice approached the desk, likely to ask about Fred. "Now go home. I'll see you and Daisy when I get there."

Rolling my eyes at my mother's stern and slightly overprotective nature, I picked up my 3 year old sister and walked back down the hallway, passing Sheriff Keller on the way out.

•

I got to my house and laid down on the couch after putting on cartoons for Daisy. Sighing, I pulled my phone out of my sweater pocket and opened it up to a few texts. Two from Sweet Pea, one from Valerie Brown, and one from Daisy's babysitter: our next door neighbor Sophia.

Sweet Pea: you weren't at work this morning were u? i heard about what went down, call me

skimming through the next two, Valerie's talking about Archie and his dad, Sophia's telling me that I can drop off my sister earlier than normal since she doesn't have work. I decided to call my boyfriend next, putting the phone next to my ear, listening to the annoying ring.

Hearing the phone pick up, his voice came through after I heard what sounded like a sigh of relief, "Dahl, it's you."

"Yeah, Pea, what's up?"

I heard the creeking of his bed as he got up and started shuffling around the trailer, "Nothin', was just trying to make sure you weren't at work when it got robbed."

I set my phone on speaker as my sister walked over to me, sitting on my lap, trying to hear Sweet Pea, "No, I had to back out of my weekend morning stuff the other day when my mom started to take early morning shifts. I guess it was just timing that I wasn't there."

He hummed in agreement, "Well, another thing is that I was wondering if you wanted to go and see a movie tonight?"

"I'll see if I can make room in my oh so busy schedule for your."

"Sounds good, Dupree. Text me."

"Will do, babe. See ya." I concluded and hung up.

•

Getting out of my truck, I seen Archie walking up to the doors, almost slipping on a pile of slush I called out for the redhead, "Hey, Andrews!"

Stopping to see who called him, Archie looked around and I took that chance to catch up to him, "Dahlia, hey, what are you doing here?"

"I actually came to see you- I heard about what happened this morning," I paused as Archie held open the door, letting me go ahead of him. "I just wanted to say that I'm here for you, even though we're not that close, but, um," We stopped, standing on the edge of the hallway, "I'm sure that if your dad is as strong as you are that he'll be just fine. And if you need anything while your dad is recovering, just call or text and I'll work something out." I smiled up at him sympathetically.

"Thanks, Dahlia, it means a lot, really." He patted my arm before continuing his way to the waiting room.

•••

A few days later I went to school and as I hopped out of my truck, I heard my name being called from the sidewalk, turning my head and lifting my sunglasses, I seen Veronica Lodge waving me over. I shut and locked the door and crossed the road to meet the raven-haired girl.

"Hey, Veronica, what's up?" I greeted, putting my sunglasses on top of my head, combing the hair that framed my face back a bit.

She linked her arm through mine and led us up the steps to the school as she started talking, "Betty and I wanted to recruit you for something."

I swung open the wooden door, "And what is this something, Lodge?"

Continuing throughout the school, seemingly on our way to the student lounge, she replied, "we want to save Pop's. I know you work there and that you seem to love it there, so I suggested that we bring you in to help."

I laughed as we walked into the lounge, "I'm touched that you thought of me, but I actually don't work there anymore, my mom made me quit after what happened with Mr. Andrews."

"I kinda figured after what Betty said, but that doesn't mean you can't help us save the diner." She unlinked our arms and turned to face me, "so, Dahlia Dupree, are you in?"

I nodded, "of course I am."

"Great, meet us in the Blue & Gold office at lunch." She proposed before turning around to go and sit with her best friend.

After a few hours of classes, I made my way throughout the mostly empty halls to meet Betty and Veronica

I knocked on the door as I swung it open and revealed to myself, the two girls and Kevin Keller. "Sorry, I'm late, teacher held me back."

Betty smiled at me as I sat down between her best friends, "That's okay, we just got started. We were thinking about themes and we kinda agreed on a throwback night, to bring the town back to simpler times."

"Betty, I like a good milkshake as much as any girl," The girl on my left interrupted, "and Pop's puts Serendipity 3's to shame. But, why this hill to die on?"

Betty sighed, reminiscing, "Orange freezes with my mom and Polly after ballet. Chicken noodle soup with my dad after ice-skating Grilled cheeses with Archie on the last day of summer vacation. It's where I met you for the first time, Vee." She turned to the sheriff's son, "It's where I met you for the first time. D we used to hang out there all the time in middle school." She paused, sighing, "Also Jug. He may lose his dad, but maybe I can save this one place for him For all of us."

I nodded, agreeing with her about the fact that we all have fond memories that take place there. "But, the thing is-"

I was interrupted by another knock on the door that slid open, revealing an older man holding flowers, "Hey. Veronica, may I speak to you?"

Veronica, turned to the door, "Daddy?"

"Daddy?" Betty, Kevin and I all questioned in unison as Veronica stood up, excusing herself and following her dad.

After the door shut, I continued, "Back to what I was saying: It cannot be just the four of us running Pop's for a night."

"It won't be just us, Jug will help."

"Still." I asserted, "Maybe we can talk to some of the Vixens, see if they'll help out. But a couple more things we gotta consider is cleaning up the outside of the diner and attendance, I don't see much people coming in on nostalgia alone."

"I already have a plan for that." Betty smiled.

•••••

a/n: this was everYWHERE AND IM SORRY.. but I just wanted to introduce some things and by time I was really tired, I got to a word count I thought was good. Anyway, thanks for reading, please show some love, it means alot 💞