"I've missed you kiddo," Fred says as soon as he see's Archie walk into Pop's and holds his arms open for his son to hug him. Archie squeezes his father and smiles, he missed the old man too. "So what's so important that you needed to meet me at Pop's as soon as you dropped Veronica off."
"What are you talking about? Can't a guy just want to have breakfast with his father?" Archie grinned going to the counter and ordering for the both of them before sitting down in the booth in front of Fred.
"Alone," Fred completed, Archie had called that morning and asked Fred to meet him at the Choc'lit shop alone after he dropped Veronica off at the Pembrooke. "You know full well that your mother is at home waiting for us."
"That's a phrase I never thought I'd hear you say again," Archie mused and Fred laughed, shaking his head.
"Don't get used to it just yet," he warned and then gave Archie a look to say that he knew he was avoiding whatever he called Fred to Pop's for. "These early morning talks have been our tradition for the important talks for years, so no, I don't believe that this is just a guy wanting to have breakfast with his father."
Archie didn't say anything, he just looked around as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, he opened it and pushed it toward his father, beaming and waiting for Fred's reaction.
"Archie, wow, would you look at that," Fred said with a hand coming over his mouth as he looked at the contents of the box, actual tears forming in his eyes. "Veronica is going to love it."
"Well she better, she picked it out," Archie laughed, he and Veronica had been talking more seriously about marriage since they moved in together. Veronica even handed Archie a scrapbook of her dream wedding from the color scheme down to the belt he was supposed to wear and everything in between, updated on a regular basis. The only thing he really had a say in was the ring, that was the one thing she wanted him to have full control over but Archie saw the way her eyes lingered on the one she really wanted, the one she wasn't sure she could ask him for and that's the one he got for her.
"That sounds about right," Fred laughed picking up the box so he could inspect it. "Arch it's beautiful."
"Almost as beautiful as the girl it was made for," Archie grinned nervously rubbing his hands together, he'd been jittery since he gotten his last pay check that would allow him to make the down payment for the ring.
"Pops, my boy is getting married," Fred told the old man when he came up to place their food on the table, his voice cracking on the last word.
"Well she hasn't said yes yet," Archie told them, still smiling as Pop's congratulated him and slapped his back.
"She will," Pop smiled before making his way back to the kitchen when his name was called.
"Veronica Lodge has yet to turn you down for anything," Fred said snapping the box shut and handing it back to Archie amused at his sons nervousness. "And she won't start now."
"I've just got to get the proposal perfect," Archie said taking the ring box and carefully tucking it back into his pocket.
"Do you need help?" Fred asked leaning forward and Archie shook his head.
"I'm not sure yet, Jug and Betty are going to help me with the planning this afternoon," Archie said pushing his food round in his plate. "I'm hoping I can propose the day before we head back to campus."
"That's the end of this week," Fred said and Archie nodded, he didn't have a lot of time left. "You're cutting it close there, son."
"I know," he winced, there was so much he wanted to do to make the moment everything Veronica dreamed about but he also didn't want to wait any longer, if he did he might just propose in the middle of the grocery store when the anticipation got too much. "It's going to work, I'll make it work."
"And she will say yes," Fred assured him.
"With my luck, I'll end up messing something up," Archie said shaking his head. "I just want her to have the perfect proposal."
"Kid, as long as it's you in front of her on one knee asking her to marry you, it'll be perfect for her," Fred said with an encouraging smile, he's known Veronica a long time and as high maintenance as she came across, there was nothing Archie could do to disappoint her. "I can't believe it, my son is getting married, wait till your mother hears about this."
"I actually want to keep mom in the dark a little longer," Archie said slowly and Fred raised an eyebrow, it was rare that Archie kept anything from his mother. "You know how excited she gets and with Veronica around, I don't want her to suspect anything, I wanted to keep Mrs Lodge in the dark as well but neither Mr Lodge nor I knew Veronica's ring size, so now I just need to hope that they can keep this secret."
"If anyone can keep a secret, it's Hermione," Fred said amused, leaning back in the booth and crossing his arms across his chest. "So you asked Hiram for his permission to marry his daughter? How did that go?"
"Painfully," Archie muttered making a face and Fred laughed, he figured as much, it was common knowledge among the older generation that Hiram Lodge liked Archie Andrews, and had come to accept that he was a perfect match for his daughter but he would never let the boy know that and made him work to earn his place.
"Did you at least do it face-to-face?" Fred asked and Archie nodded.
"He came up to New York for a meeting a few weeks ago," Archie said, telling his father how Hiram stayed with them at the Lodge house they were currently using as their student accommodation, one day when Veronica was on Campus and Archie had the afternoon off, he cornered Hiram as he entered the house and pled his case to his hopefully soon to be father in law. Hiram Lodge looked straight faced at him the entire time Archie spoke and nodded once when Archie was done which made Archie ask if that was a dismissal or approval.
Hiram eventually smirked and put Archie out of his misery, holding his hand out for Archie to shake and telling him it would be an honor to have him as a son-in-law, after all the years of training him, it would be tragic to start from scratch with someone new and Archie winced at both the remark and the too tight grip Hiram had on his hand.
"You're a good kid, Veronica is one lucky woman," Fred said smiling. "Now hurry up, your mother knows something's up, the faster we get back, the less she'll question you."
"Don't I know it," Archie laughed, draining the last of his coffee. "Are Betty and Jug back yet?"
"Yes, I saw Betty's car parked in the driveway before I left," Fred mentioned throwing down enough cash to cover the bill and waving to Pop as he and Archie left. "Let's go home."
Archie stifled a yawn and smiled at his parents sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, reminiscing about their young days, sipping on eggnog and flirting with the possibility of rekindling their marriage. It was the first time in years that he was spending Christmas with both his parents and he wanted to hold onto this moment for as long as he could.
"Arch, come look at this," Mary called and Archie walked over to her and sat cross legged on the floor. "This was your first Christmas."
"I was huge," Archie frowned, he hadn't seen these pictures in years, he and his dad weren't ones to go through the albums in storage but his mother loved to pull them out and look through the old pictures whenever she was home. "Did you edit these?"
"You were just a really fat baby," Mary told him with a laugh, there was no sugar coating that. "You only lost your baby fat when you started walking."
"More like running," Fred called from the table where he was filling up their cups.
"And then all that melted away, look here," she said turning a few more pages to show him what she meant and catching him yawning. "Are you tired?"
"Yeah it was a long drive," Archie said shaking his head and smiling at her when she reached out to run her fingers through his hair like she used to when he was a child. "I'm going to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight love," his mother called turning the page. "Oh Fred do you remember this? Potty training, I think this is why we didn't have more kids."
Archie chuckled to himself as he walked up the stairs to his room and collapsed on the bed, it was strange to be back in his room, it was stranger to be in bed alone, he was so used to having Veronica's warm body pressed against his, he found it hard to sleep without her now.
After an hour of tossing and turning Archie gave up, there was no way he would be able to sleep without her there, she had sent him a message just before she went to bed so he was sure she was asleep, it was late so he knew her parents were asleep but he couldn't help it, he had to see her.
Archie threw on a shirt and jeans as he planned how he was going to break into Veronica's parents house and ran down the stairs, wondering if the door to the servants quarters was still as easy to unlock as it was when they were teenagers.
"Archie?" his mother questioned when she caught sight of him and his father just smiled and turned to her to explain.
"He's missing a certain raven haired princess," Fred said and Archie rolled his eyes at his tipsy parents before grabbing his keys and pulling the door open only to find his raven haired princess standing in front of him with a shocked expression on her face and her hand up to knock on the door.
"Hi," she said clearing her throat and smiling at him.
"Hi," he replied, reaching out to hold her and feeling whatever tension that was preventing him from falling asleep leave his body, he looked up and saw the Lodge's driver nod to him before driving off. "Couldn't sleep?"
"I've spent the last few hours getting well acquainted with my ceiling," Veronica muttered and Archie laughed, whenever she couldn't sleep she would lay on her back and stare at the ceiling probably counting sheep until she finally dozed off. "You too?"
"I think sleeping without you next to me has officially become impossible," he chuckled shivering as the cold air hit him and then he looked down at Veronica in a dress and heels, her bare legs had nothing on to protect her from the icy cold, Archie frowned pulling her into the house and closing the door. "Babe, aren't you freezing?"
"I wasn't in any state of mind to go digging for warmer clothes and I couldn't exactly come to your parents house in my night gown," Veronica said as she leaned into his embrace and slipped her cold hands under his shirt for warmth and Archie shivered as her hands touched his skin. "Besides I have a big, strong, warm boyfriend to ward off the cold."
"You're lucky it's not snowing," Archie said softly cupping her face and leaning down to capture her lips with his, keeping her close for a moment before breaking their kiss and turning her in the direction of the living room. "Come on, my parents are still awake."
"That was quick, we thought you were going to stay over at the Lodges not drag the poor girl here," Mary laughed standing up and holding her arms out to hug Veronica. "Veronica, it's so good to see you."
"It's not Archie, Mrs Andrews," Veronica said chuckling as Mary scolded her about the formalities. "I ended up here before he had a chance to leave the house."
"Kids these days," Fred laughed standing to hug Veronica as well. "Welcome back to Riverdale, we thought we were only going to see you tomorrow."
"Seems the raven haired princess was missing me too much," Archie joked and Veronica raised an eyebrow which Archie just shook his head to.
"Sit, make yourself comfortable, I'll get you some eggnog," Fred said waving Veronica off to sit next to Mary.
"Warmer clothes first," Archie told them, tugging on the hand he still hadn't let go off and pulling her closer to him and then walking them up the stairs to his room.
"I didn't think this through," Veronica said after they were up in his room, kicking off her heels and unbuttoning her coat.
"Didn't think what through?" Archie asked pulling out the warmest track pants he could find that she would probably have to roll up a million times and one of his old t-shirts that she loved stealing so much.
"Being here, staying here tonight, with your parent's, we've never been alone for this long with your mom before," Veronica said opening his cupboard and pulling out a hoodie as well and Archie rolled his eyes, she always stole his hoodies even though she had a perfectly warm coat of her own. "What if she decides after tonight that she hates me?"
"She will love you, because I love you and she knows how much you mean to me," Archie chuckled helping Veronica out of her dress and heels and pushing her down onto the bed as he kissed her, reaching a hand down to bend one of her legs up to hook around his waist.
"Archie," Veronica moaned as his lips traveled down to her neck, she took another moment to enjoy her boyfriends lips before pushing him away from her. "As much as I would love to continue, your parents are waiting for us, I need to make a good impression and this is not the best impression."
"You're acting like this is the first time you're meeting her," Archie muttered but he rolled off her onto his back on the bed and Veronica pulled on the clothes he took out for her to wear, pulling the hoodie on last and pouting at him when he was still frowning.
"Come on Archikins, just let me be the perfect girl for her son tonight," she said and Archie pushed himself up and kissed her softly.
"You already are the perfect girl for me," he said and Veronica blushed and caressed his cheek, leaning in for one last kiss before standing up. "Can't we just go to sleep, like we're going to do in the next 20 minutes anyway?"
"Who said anything about sleep?" Veronica asked over her shoulder as she sauntered out of his room and down the stairs and Archie blinked twice and then sprinted after her both of them laughing as they ran down the stairs.
"Children, what is going on here?" Mary asked just as Archie reached Veronica and grabbed her around her waist. Veronica buried her face into Archie's chest, both of them giggling uncontrollably. "Arch, please find out what's taking your father so long in the kitchen."
"Yeah, he's probably trying to cook something," Archie snorted letting go of Veronica and heading into the kitchen to check up on his dad. "I'll stop him."
"Come, sit," Mary said leading Veronica to the sofa's, picking up on the younger girls hesitation and nervousness. "Tell me about college, I can give you some tips being a lawyer myself," Mary said betting her eyelashes and making Veronica laugh.
"What are you thinking kid?" Fred asked as he and Archie stopped at the doorway looking at the 2 woman talking about legal terms that just flew over their heads.
"Nothing," Archie said a goofy smile on his face, his eyes watching Veronica excitedly explaining something to his mom, her hands going all over the place.
"You got it so bad," Fred snorted walking into the room and handing the girls their cups. Veronica looked up when Fred walked in and locked eyes with him, smiling and cocking up an eyebrow to which he shrugged, Veronica rolled her eyes and he laughed.
"Yeah I do," Archie said walking toward her, sitting next to her and having her curl up against him pressing a kiss to her head. He looked outside and nudged Veronica to look out as well.
"Snow," she gasped, like she did every single year the first snowflakes started to fall. "I told you we would have a white Christmas."
"Well it waited till the last minute," Archie laughed. "Are you happy?"
Veronica tilted her head back against his shoulder pulling his arms tighter around her and he just knew that she was getting ready to fall asleep and he'd have to carry her up to bed. "The happiest."
A/N: I have not forgotten about this one-shot series just yet, but I did lose all inspiration after the second season and I started hating Hiram
So I've changed the idea for this one-shot series more times than I've actually posted, but I think I'm going to focus all my attention on doing the second bit of this which will be the proposal and the wedding from Fred's visions, which was how I started on this little series in the first place and then I will add whatever else I can come up with, if inspiration strikes or you guys leave me prompts that will fit this world
I did initially intend for 'I saw our whole future' to be sort of a sequel to this but it turns out I'm too impatient to wait to post that lol so they're in separate universes this one with a normal Hiram and the other with a criminal Hiram
Anyway I hope you enjoy, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and hopefully I'll have part 2 up soon
Until Next Time (^^,)
