Chapter 9: All Caught Up In The Moment

In essence, it had been a bad idea in general. Betty Cooper and Eddie Lodge had just gone and committed a crime, a felony no less. Eddie didn't exactly know what he was getting into when he had been told to meet Betty at the predator's house. He still had little clue until Betty had broken into the classic Volkswagen Beetle and taken a fake identification card as well as a rather large revolver from the glove compartment. Instead of stopping the pair, it made them dig deeper.

Geraldine Grundy, their music teacher at Riverdale High School was in actuality, not Geraldine Grundy. Instead, her ID named her as 'Jennifer Gibson'. A quick Google search had found her almost instantly when they searched hard enough. She lived not far from the town of Riverdale, instead living in Centreville. Of course, Eddie had no doubt that she was probably in Riverdale just to get easier access to the children. Riverdale had a small police presence. Every town in the county knew it, Riverdale had such a small crime rate that the need for a full blown state-of-the-art Police Department had been reluctantly given, but underfunded as well as under-staffed. It was awful.

Even more so when the working-class part of the town was resorting more and more to criminal work and gang warfare.

It seemed that ever since Jason's body had been found in the river, bloated and rotting with a hole in his head, the town had turned darker within the days afterwards. Everyone had been so caught up in the murder case of the richest boy in the year, they had not even bothered to think of the possibility of other criminals that had been hiding under their noses the entire time. From what Eddie could remember, Grundy had been a substitute teacher until she had a permanent residence in the town and as the music teacher. She was skilled, and she had used her own innocent face and mannerisms to avoid any kind of confrontation. She was meek and shy, soft-spoken even.

Not a single person had even known about her.

Betty was kicking herself as the pair had ran down the pathways all the way back to Kennedy Street, to Betty's house. The real-life Nancy Drew had been determined to find something on Miss Grundy that she had resorted to breaking the law to find the evidence she wanted so badly. The cold September winds had been blowing against their faces harshly as they ran well past Betty's accommodation and to the larger house next door. The Andrews residence was alight, with a few splashes of colour bursting through the window pane. A faint yellow hue had been temporarily splattered against the wooden front patio when Betty had rang the door bell, with Fred Andrews opening the door with an inkling of surprise in his eyes when he saw both Eddie and Betty.

"Betty? Eddie? What's up?" The veteran asked. "You need to see Archie?"

"If that is okay with you, Mister Andrews. We promise to make it quick." Betty had quickly responding, with Eddie not saying as he tried to regain his breath since running from street to street.

The man of the Andrews house turned up to the stairs. "Archie! Betty and Eddie are here to see you!"

The younger boy had soon stomped down the stairs, shoulders hunched with a guitar pluck still in between his fingers. He had a look of confusion on his face, and while Fred had soon meandered back into the living room and continued watching the television, Archie had gone outside with his two friends. His look of confusion was still there, a small fraction of unknowing in his eyes before it turned to frustration and anger when he looked at the pair in front of him. He had thrown the pluck in his pocket, and as soon as he had withdrawn his hands from his pockets he had them clenched hard, as if his hands were right about to fold in on themselves. He had focused on Betty first.

"Betty, I swear to God if this is about what I think it is, I'm gonna walk back inside and lock the door." Archie threatened. "I told you guys to leave it, didn't I? I thought we were friends?"

"Archie, just listen to what Betty has to say for once, please." Eddie almost begged. He would have dropped to his knees. "It's worth hearing."

Betty had been holding the small box in which she had found the incriminating evidence, her hands wrapped tight around the steel box whilst the cold seeped into her hands and onto her skin, sending her skin pale white. It seemed that she had been thinking of what she was saying, focusing on grasping the box whilst she thought of the words to say. The more she struggled, the quicker that Archie had began to tap his foot against the concrete.

"Well then, Betty? What have you got to say that's so important?" Archie asked, not far from demanding her to speak.

Betty soon gathered the courage to look at her childhood crush, and Eddie knew how much it had crushed her to even try and investigate what had been happening between Archie and the cougar of a music teacher. Eddie could see it whenever they were near each other, that inkling of disappointment from not being able to have what she once thought was meant to be. Hearing that he was being raped by his teacher who had gotten him into what he thought was his chosen path now was almost heart-breaking.

Almost like a damn romantic tragedy… Eddie pondered. As if it could get any worse.

"We… we went into Grundy's car."

"You broke into Miss Grundy's car? Are you guys serious? You guys are criminals!" Archie muttered quietly. "You know how bad this already is, right?"

"But we found a gun and a fake identification badge. With her name being 'Jennifer Gibson'!" Betty exclaimed. "There is no Geraldine Grundy, the only Geraldine Grundy that was in this town died! Two years ago, might I add! It's all a lie, Geraldine Grundy is just a lie made by some con-woman with an interest in young boys! It's disgusting!"

"It's different, we are different!" Archie spat. "I love her, and she loves me!"

"Archie, just listen to her! Please!" Eddie pleaded. "What you are doing, what she is doing, is illegal! It's dangerous for you as much as it is for her."

"And how would you know that, Eddie? What can you possibly know since this year started, since Jason died, since we ever fell out because of what happened at the Semi-Formal? You're helping Betty make Grundy look worse than she is!"

With Archie's last words, he had received a harsh clap across the face. Archie looked at his friend in clear disbelief that he had even bothered to try and slap the red-head. Archie's cheek looked about as red as his hair, and Eddie had remained dead-set on staring down his friend. Eddie had glared at Archie, and Archie had done the same to him before standing toe to toe with the wrestler. "What the hell was that for, Eddie?"

"Because this is more than just about your relationship, if you can call it that with Grundy! It's about the murder case, what if she had something to do with killing Jason?"

"She didn't. I was with her!"

"Okay, so you can confirm she was there. Can you go to the police, no, because it arouses suspicion. So this is no longer about her killing Jason." Eddie firmly stated.

"And that's a good thing!" Archie almost shouted.

"Yeah, but what about every other boy and girl that has had music lessons with Grundy, or Gibson, or whatever you want to call her!" Eddie continued. "Jason Blossom, he played the piano like he was a maestro and Tomoko could play the violin like it was not an issue. What if she did anything to either of them, what if she did anything to Tomoko when I was dating her last year? Have you ever thought of that? What if you're not the only one?"

Archie had been silent at that. Perhaps Eddie had gotten through to him on some basic level, but he did not want that. He needed Betty to show her what Archie was not looking at, what he hadn't seen but they had in their hands.

"Betty, open the box." Eddie said. "Archie, just look at it and swear that you won't go near her again."

"Eddie, I can't do that for you. I'm sorry but I can't."

Archie's face had dropped the more that his friends became confrontational about Grundy. He took a deep sigh and contemplated everything that he had been told since he had came downstairs. It made sense, and it made her look suspicious. He never asked her any questions on the basis that he might lose her, might lose her as a teacher as well as something more than that. He didn't even know what to call her then, let alone after finding out her secrets. Calling Grundy his girlfriend sounded weird, lover sounded too dramatic and friends with benefits just was out right untrue. There was something there between them, and they both knew it so why would she hide anything.

"This is proof that Grundy is not who she says she is." Betty growled.

"Then who is she? Archie asked, with unbridled confusion.

"Obviously a scam-artist and child-rapist named Jennifer Gibson." Eddie responded, with bluntness.

"Dude, please don't call her that." Archie replied.

There was an overbearing silence over the trio, and soon enough Archie had heard enough of what had come to the purifying light of day. Everything he knew had been thrown into question, the woman he loved was not the person he thought she was and it scared him. The autopsy revealed he had been killed a week after July the fourth, but just because she was with him on that day didn't mean she wasn't involved in it, if she ever was at all. Betty had groaned loudly, turning around and heading into her house before Eddie had returned to his own home.

-X-X-X-

"Are you just going to stand there?" The music teacher had asked. Archie had remained stony-faced ever since he had arrived at her house that afternoon. "Archie? Talk to me, what is it?"

Archie pulled no punches either. "Is your real name, is it Jennifer Gibson?"

He could see it immediately, how quickly her shoulders dropped and her face of enjoyment in his presence had been swapped with one of worry and sadness. Eddie and Betty were right, that niggling thought that they had planted in the back of his mind the night before had been right. He hated them for it, ever even trying to find out what was happening when they said they would leave it. He would have done it, he would have sorted things out properly and now Miss Grundy was in danger because of their own nosiness.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Archie..." Grundy tried to speak.

"Why the new identity, the moving from place to place? Tell me the truth, please."

It was like she could barely even look at him, the mere fact that he had decided to confront her on such a thing seemed to show her disappointment or sadness to him in all of it's tragic glory. Archie didn't want this, but he knew that deep down his friends might be right. She might be dangerous, if not to him than to somebody else in the school. What if Eddie was right again? What if she had assaulted Jason Blossom or Tomoko Yoshida, it was all a big what-if? She struggled to find the words, looking at her crimson red carpet as if it were the only thing in the room, as if the young boy she had been grooming had not asked her the questions he had done seconds ago. She pulled off her glasses and waved her hands around, frantically searching for the words before placing her glasses on the nearby mantle above the fire.

"I…. I was in a bad relationship." She began. "I was married, to a man who would come from work every night late, and drunk, and with a temper. One night, I ended up in the emergency room with broken ribs and a shattered collar bone. The next day, he could barely remember the fight and he promised that it would never happen again. It did, again. So many times, it happened again and again and again. Eventually, I just… left. Got a divorce and changed my name, I came here and well… I met you Archie."

Archie didn't want to believe it, he wanted to side with his friends and accuse her of lying. Yet, he couldn't. She wasn't lying. Underneath the dirty-blonde hair and the soft steel-eyes was a broken woman, and he could see her come to light before his very eyes. He could see the scars on her collarbone, the work of tireless doctors putting shattered bones back together only for them to be broken and bruised for only God knows how many more nights before she left.

The young musician stepped over to the teacher, quite literally towering over her before he pulled her into a hug.

Betty and Eddie were wrong.

He knew it.

-X-X-X-

"Intense, right?"

"Yeah, you're telling me."

The two boys and the one girl had been walking around the streets of their home town, with Archie having immediately caught up with them after having seen Grundy. He did not intend to rub what he had found out in their face, but merely repeat what he had been told by Grundy. It was a tragic story, there was no doubt about it. Whether it was true or not was Eddie's main thought but the more he heard about it, the more he was convinced that it might well have been true.

"It's horrible. That's why she has the fake ID and the gun." Archie explained.

There was a small silence from Eddie and Betty, with the blonde girl quickly firing back. "It still doesn't make what she did to you in any case any better."

"Betty, she didn't really do anything. Betty, you have to accept that. I'm all she has right now." Archie explained.

Eddie sighed. "I don't want to sound like the sceptic, but you are way over your head man. Pull out of the game while you still have your career in once piece, as the coaches would say. You are in a relationship with somebody who's cutting you off from everyone else around you. It's toxic, man."

Betty was the next one to say something to her friend. Miss Grundy may well not have been the best person to anybody, especially not in the eyes of the federal government as well as Archie's close friends but it needed to be said and Archie wouldn't do anything if it wasn't said at all. "You need to do what is right for you, and it's just as right for her too. What she did to you is wrong."

Archie straightened himself up, as if the word of God had been spoken to him, as if he had a higher purpose. "I swear, I am going to speak to her about ending it."

"Thank you, Archie."

Archie nodded. "But not on your terms. I'm going to do it on mine, and on nobody else's."

-X-X-X-

"I still can't believe that you didn't tell anyone about what was happening with Archie, you or Jughead!" Betty had said in disbelief as she had gotten ready for their trip to the last picture show at the Twilight.

Ever since they had gotten back from seeing Archie, Eddie and Betty had gone back to the Cooper Residence and decided to slum it there until the show would start. Talking about the whole Archie-Grundy situation had become a second nature to the both of them, the pair having investigated further than they should have, even breaking the law to find evidence of suspicious behaviour. Now, it felt like the two had began to become investigative journalists of their own town. Eddie had noted that Betty seemed to have a knack for finding out the possible headlines specifically for the school as well as others for her parents' own newspaper outlet.

"I mean, a promise is a promise." Eddie had mumbled as he stared at the roof of Betty's room, not bothering to look as she pulled on a fresh tee-shirt. "You know what me, Jughead and Archie are like when it comes to that."

"That is not an excuse to not tell the authorities, which need I remind you, we still have not done." Betty grumbled. "If anything, we have made it worse for Archie because we never talked to the Sheriff about this."

"Hey, we don't have to worry about those two any more, do we?" Eddie said. "Besides, I don't think he would have listened and we might as well have been getting ourselves into trouble. Even if we had any solid evidence, we would have probably gotten criminal records. Look, it's all sorted out now isn't it?"

Eddie rolled over on Betty's mattress, looking at her just as the tee-shirt fell over her bare stomach. Eddie had quickly gotten home and changed, swapping his own shirt and hoodie for a white button-up shirt and some skinny black jeans, Timberland boots covering his feet which he kept from touching Betty's blanket. Betty shook her head with a smile on her face, throwing on a pastel pink sweater to go with her own white jeans.

"I'm not going to forget how the only reason you never said anything to anyone was because you promised not to tell." Betty teased. "I'm holding that over you forever now."

"You know I keep to them, I always have done. Remember when I promised that I would do your homework for a year in elementary?" Eddie asked. "Did I not remain dedicated to that?"

"You did indeed, but if I promised you I would give a kiss on the cheek for example if you jumped of a bridge into the Sweetwater River, would you do it?" Betty inquired. "Wait, please don't-"

"For you, anything my dear!"

To further amplify how dedicated he was, Edward leapt up from the bed and went over to his favourite blonde. He was one of the largest boys in the entire school, and although Chuck Clayton and Nick Hernandez might have towered over him, he still towered over Betty. She gave a playful glare as he looked down on her, his head slowly lowered towards hers, as the two continued staring deep into the recesses of each others' souls before Betty and Eddie's heads tapped gently against each other.

Betty gave a small smile. "Eddie, if you even try and pick me up I swear to-no!"

She had already felt his long arms snake around her legs and lift her up from the floor, and automatically her legs wrapped themselves around his waist. The pair smiled as Betty's arms clasped around his neck. Looking from above, she could never gather why he had been so unlucky in love. Tomoko Yoshida and him had been a noticeable couple, but their own insecurities about what they did in their spare time eventually drove them apart, as well as forcing them into focusing on what they wanted to do instead of focusing on each other. Eddie might not have told anyone else but she knew of the Serpent from Southside High School he had been seeing over the summer but that was just another fling that didn't last too long. The last she had heard from him about his girl troubles was that he might have wanted to date Josie, the leader of the Pussycats since they were paired in a few subjects and he thought that there was a decent amount of chemistry but nothing else since.

"You know, every time you do this it's always in front of someone else." Betty pointed out. "Like you're showing off something. My question is, what are you trying to show off?"

"Oh, you still make me sound like every other typical douchebag jock in the school, Miss Cooper. I've got nothing to show off." Eddie admitted, still holding her in his arms.

"I doubt that very much, Mister Lodge." Betty quickly shot back, a smirk on her face. "You've got a nice car, a nice home, simple home life. It's like you have the perfect and you haven't had to work for it."

Eddie quickly threw her up a little bit, readjusting where he had his hands, firmly keeping them tensed under her knees. "And you've been to that house before, you've seen everything in there and how it is with my dad. You know I worked for a lot of it."

"You wouldn't think that if you were Archie or Jughead." Betty whispered.

"And I'm not Archie or Jughead, am I?"

There was a certain stillness in the room, as if time had decided to stop then and there. As if they were the only ones who were on the planet, the only two people who ever mattered. They moved closer towards the other, Betty's head leaning in towards Eddie's as their eyes closed. How it had seemed so natural that the two of them had never even noticed what they were doing.

"What the hell are we doing right now?" Eddie whispered, quiet enough for only Betty to hear.

"I don't know, but I like it." Betty barely purred. "I really like it."

The two turned quiet once more, and soon just as they felt their lips begin to brush, there was a loud cough at the door. In what they thought was their moment of solitude, just their moment of passion and intimacy they had been caught by the harpy that was Betty's mother. Meticulously dressed even when she was doing housework, Alice Cooper carried a washing basket filled with her daughter's clothes, positively glaring at her daughter and her male companion.

"I don't think I need to make myself clear on what I am expecting of you, do I, Edward?" She growled. "Don't think I don't know about what your cousin or your uncle have done before they arrived."

"Mom, please, he hasn't done anything wrong." Betty tried to reassure her.

Eddie slowly lowered his friend to the floor. "It's okay, Betty. I understand, Mrs. Cooper. You don't like me or my family, I get it. Not a lot of people do at this point in time. It's okay. It's not like I'm responsible for what my uncle did."

"You know Eddie, have you ever heard of the saying 'the sins of the father pass on to the son'?" Alice queried. "I feel like you might not have."

"Hiram Lodge isn't my father, Mrs. Cooper." Eddie admitted. "That's a line for my cousin, if you ever see her."

"Yes well, don't think I don't know about you and your father living in a little forest home as if nothing is happening. I have no doubts that your dear uncle is using you and your father as a storage unit for everything he's doing right now."

"Accusations need proof, and he's not doing anything in a cell in Montreal, is he?" Eddie catechised.

Alice harrumphed, placing the basket down on the bed before she grabbed a pair of Betty's socks and opened one of the drawers. Opening the draw and looking at what was inside, she dropped the socks to the floor and pulled out the gun, the same gun the pair had taken from Grundy's car. It was as if the devil himself had possessed the elder Cooper, looking at Eddie as if he was all that she hated within the town of Riverdale as well as the world they lived in. She quickly opened the chamber, taking out the bullets and placing the gun to the side with bullets strewn next to it. "Tell me exactly what you two have been doing right this instant, and tell me the truth."

"We-" Betty began, quickly being cut off by Eddie.

"I broke into Miss Grundy's car." Eddie admitted. "I found a gun and I didn't know where to put it, so I gave it to Betty."

"Seems like the quote applies to you, doesn't it, young man? Now, why did you break into the car of your music teacher?" Alice asked, focusing her gaze onto the boy next to her daughter. "Betty, get away from him right now."

Eddie sighed. "It's better she knows the truth, Betty. Otherwise I have a feeling she'll just use it as a hit-piece against my family."

It looked as if Betty's heart had broken right then and there, because she didn't doubt what Edward had told her and she didn't doubt her mother's ability to be vicious and mean-spirited. The Riverdale Register was more of a gossip rag than it was a newspaper for her mother, and a hit-piece on the Lodge family was something that did not need printing. A false story demeaning a boy for one petty crime was not worth forgoing the crime of a child molester. Betty nodded, and her eyes began to water.

"Yes, the truth. Now." Alice demanded.

"Miss Grundy is a child predator."

"Excuse me?" Alice asked. "Repeat that for me, young man? Are you saying your music teacher is a sexual predator who gets her kicks messing with our children?"

Eddie sighed. "Yes. She's been preying on Archie since the summer break."

-X-X-X-

It was safe to say that Alice Cooper had very little respect for the Lodge Family that used to and still did partially inhabit Riverdale. They were troublemakers, the whole lot of them and what they did in New York was beyond forgiveable. Embezzlement of company funds, illegal trafficking and more had slowly began to come to light from what the regular operations of Lodge Industries were. Whilst the young Edward Lodge and his father Julian might not have been the ones doing the work themselves, Alice had her own suspicions on what was going on with them. They hid away in their forest resort, a five-star monument to whatever criminal misdeeds their uncle had done for the family. She knew there was something fishy there, but her own gut instinct classify as evidence.

If only it did, she would probably have made Riverdale a crime-free town.

The two teenagers remained in the back seat of the station wagon, having not said a word since they had left the Cooper residence and remaining silent since. What was more important to her now was the possibility of a child predator being able to raid their town and prey on their children. A feeling about two men from outside of town maybe doing illegal things was trumped by the positive identification of somebody definitely abusing a child in such a horrifying way.

Parking at the start of the drive-way into the Twilight Drive-In, Alice had stomped out with her flash light in hand as she scoured the parked cards until she could see Fred Andrews' truck. The humble construction worker and former army volunteer had been relatively unaware of his son's midnight activities, but Alice had caught the red-headed teen escaping from time to time, enough to know he was going about doing something suspicious.

She knew he was trouble, right from the start. She soon spotted the truck, with Hermione Lodge quickly dodging into the darkness and leaving Fred alone in the truck. Alice stormed over, slamming the end of her light into the window, with Fred almost leaping out of his skin due to the shock.

"I am sorry to be interrupting your adultery, Fred, but you need to come with me!" Alice had screeched.

"Alice, what are you..."

"It's about the kids!"

-X-X-X-

It was widely known by students and parents that Miss Grundy had a private music studio in her own home, it allowed her better access to her own equipment and Riverdale's own music facilities were woefully underfunded. Therefore, they had allowed Miss Grundy to practice music lessons outside of class where her students could make the most out of their lessons with her. What some didn't know was that she used her home as a nest for her own nocturnal activities as well as preying on the very students she was attempting to educate.

So when Archie Andrews had burst through the door to her music studio, present in hand, much to the surprise of Grundy herself it was very much a surprise. The tall red-headed boy had a bright smile on his face, much like he had done when he came to see her usually. The boy was talented, she knew that. She had seen it in many others, but he had little experience. He needed to work on it, but his song-writing, whilst cliché had been an amazing skill which had almost grown into maturity as much as his ability to play the guitar. There was something about him that Grundy knew, something that would take him very far if he decided to play his music and go professional.

Of course, that was if he made the cut.

The teacher folded her arms behind her back. "No Drive-In for you, tonight?"

"No no, I, uh, I got you something." Was the boy's response.

Grundy smiled. "Is this to make me feel better about my tragic past?" She joked.

"No, it's a… a thank you gift for everything you have done for me."

The teacher took the box and sat down next to the drum kit nearby. It was a thin but long box, a small and neat string of red fabric adorned the box. Grundy untied the bow and opened the box, to see an ornate and well-made cello bow. "Archie, there is no way you could have possibly been able to afford this..."

"It's okay, I sold one of my guitars. I didn't need it, and I wanted to focus on my writing anyway so it's a win-win."

"You don't need to thank me, you shouldn't… thank me." The pair of them noticed that she was fiddling with Archie's shirt buttons, and the hesitant look in his eye said all it needed to say.

"Miss Grundy, I don't want to end our lessons but I..." Archie stopped. "I think we should end them."

"Is that what you think we should do?" She asked the muscular boy. She looked down at her feet, and slowly wrapped her hands in his own. "So, the bow, it's a goodbye gift."

Archie smiled. It was a real genuine smile, the smile she would see whenever one of his friends had decided to accompany him on the way to one of their lessons. "It's a 'see you around the halls' gift, a 'don't forget me' gift."

Grundy smiled. It was an odd feeling, but she was proud of him for being able to know when to stop. This was a boy who knew right from wrong, who had defended her from the police as well as his friends and had loved her as much as she had loved him.

"It's unlikely I will ever forget you, Archie Andrews." Grundy stated, before leaning into his toned chest for a tight and passionate hug. They had quickly looked to each other, as if they were about to kiss once more before they heard the door slam open.

They couldn't have heard the door to her own home slam, the soundproofing in the sound studio was too thick but nobody could mistake the sound of the door slamming with four people rushing inside of her home. The two blonde females, the older male who she knew as Archie's father and the young man she had seen around the school had just barged into her home. Grundy knew why they had done so, and she knew her time with Archie was now up.

"Well well, speak of the devils and then we find them!" The older blonde exclaimed.

"Can somebody please tell me what you are doing barging into my home?"

Alice Cooper had been the first to oblige the predator's questions. "Of course! Archie, would you like to share with us all what you and Miss Robinson have been doing during your music lessons?" The eldest female in the room demanded. "And please don't leave out any of the lurid and smutty details, because Betty keeps a very meticulous diary and Edward has already told me his side of the story. I am more than happy to fill in the details for your father."

There was stone-cold silence in the room, with Archie looking at Eddie and Betty, his first thoughts having immediately rushed to the fact that they had betrayed him and told Mrs. Cooper as well as his father. Then he saw the tear stains on Betty's face as well as Eddie's dismay and sorrow on how he held himself. He had slumped, instead of keeping himself straight up and professional like he usually did. He could only assume one of the adult's had found out by accident. It was when Betty managed to mouth a muted 'I'm sorry' that his suspicions were confirmed.

The fiery journalist had soon moved towards the now-timid music teacher with hatred in her eyes, disgust and pure burning hatred. "I thought I would never see the day when Riverdale had been infiltrated by child predators. It was the one thing I thought we could keep our town safe from, but you were right under our nose, for a year wasn't it?"

Archie had soon decided that fighting fire with fire was a good idea. "Miss Grundy isn't a predator, she's a good person. I went after her, everything that happened was what I wanted to happen."

"See, neither of them are denying it are they? Besides, we have enough evidence to get her on charges of child molestation. I say we go to the Sheriff."

"No, you cannot do that. Eddie, Dad, she can't do that." Archie pleaded.

"No, she can't."

Fred stepped forward and stood next to Alice. "You boys are young, you don't know how this is going to affect the both of you, and you too Betty. We need to see the Sheriff."

"We can't see the Sheriff!" Eddie finally exclaimed. "You don't get it, all of you except Betty and Mrs. Cooper!"

"What do you mean?" Grundy had managed to mutter. "What do you mean you can't talk to the sheriff?"

"Because the only evidence we have against you is coming from Archie, and he won't talk. The other evidence we have was obtained illegally. We can't use it unless I want to get myself arrested personally." Eddie admitted. "I'm sorry, Miss Grundy, but I broke into your car last night because I thought you had something to do with killing Jason Blossom."

"Excuse me? You broke into my car?" Grundy almost shouted.

"Miss Grundy, no offence but that's the least of your problems and it's the one thing that won't get you arrested."

Alice smirked. "Well there's no surprise there! I want you to both see the kind of people that Archie and Edward and Miss Grundy truly are. They should be on trial! A thief and two degenerates who think what they have is a relationship like everyone else! Well, the world doesn't work like that."

"Wait a minute." Fred growled, a stern look in his eye. Archie had seen that look before, like when he had came back from Afghanistan. "This is what it's all about, your crazy grudge against my teenage son and his friend? Are you serious, Alice?"

"What? Are you siding with your kids and the child predator right now, Fred?"

"No, I'm siding with my son and his friends. You are insane, trying to get me to keep my son away from your daughter, making one of his friends look like a thief and a criminal when he clearly isn't. I might not agree with my son on everything." Fred growled, looking at Grundy. "But I know when to stop attacking like a mad dog. Archie, we are going right now."

"Wait, Dad."

"Son..."

"Dad, please!" Archie begged, earning a few more vital moments. "Please, Mrs. Cooper don't hurt Miss Grundy just because you want to hurt me."

"Oh, Archie, this isn't about hurting people." Alice divulged. "This is about doing what's right."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Eddie muttered.

"Excuse me, young man, what did you just say?"

Eddie straightened himself and looked right into the eyes of the she-wolf. "I said it's bullshit and you know damn well that it's bullshit!"

"How dare you!"

"How dare I? How dare you try and stop me and Archie being friends with your daughter? Why, because we don't come from the right family? Because a member of our family committed a crime? What, are we not good enough for you?" Eddie bellowed. "I might not have been on Archie's side on this, but he said he would finish this on his own terms and that's what it looked like he was doing before we barged in here! How hard is that for any of us to understand!"

"Alice, I swear to God if you even try to print anything in your damn newspaper..." Fred stood tall, towering over everybody in the room.

It was then at that moment, Alice had totally lost control. Betty had finally regained her self-composure. "I will tell everyone that I broke into Miss Grundy's car."

"Wait, Betty..." Eddie began, only to be silenced by Betty's green eyes warning him off.

"I will tell everyone, that I robbed her. That I made up a story of them being together! It'll be like I finally snapped. Like Polly, it will prove what everyone already thinks about us, that crazy runs in that family." Betty spoke, tears threatening to well in her eyes. "Like mother, like daughter."

"You wouldn't dare..." Alice began, only to be cut off from the one person who had barely got a word in edgeways when it came to the entire discussion.

Miss Grundy.

"I'll quit. I'll quit my job, will that satisfy all of you?"

"Yes, it has to." Betty replied, before turning to her mother. "And I absolutely would dare, Mom."

Alice looked at Archie, staring him dead in the eye as Eddie walked over to his friend. "She has to leave the town."

"Like hell she does!" Archie shouted, soon being quieted when his father rested a hand on his shoulder. "Why does she have to leave town?" He asked his father.

"Because it's what is best, for all of us. Even her. Alice will keep her word."

"I will."

Grundy had already stood up to leave, cello bow in hand. "I'll pack up my things and I'll be gone by the morning."

"Miss Grundy!"

As Grundy left to begin to pack, Archie had called out to her in a desperate last-gasp in attempt to salvage something, anything of what they had. They could all see the tiny music teacher trembling as she turned to look at Archie, tears threatening to spill down her face. She didn't say a word, instead turning away and continuing on to leave Archie in the room with his friends, father and would be character assassin.

-X-X-X-

You are not what you say you are, son. You are not selfish, and you are not stupid…

Betty, Polly kept so many secrets from us…

I won't have any more secrets between us, not any more. Not if I am going to keep you safe…

What's my name, Mom?

I am Elizabeth, not Polly. Archie is not Jason, Edward is not Jason so stop using them as an excuse to control my life!

All of those sentences were said to children and adults that night. A night which had traumatised three young members of Riverdale's community, finally witnessing with their own eyes the darkness that had descended upon the town in the wake of the first murder in two decades. That veil of purity, the shell of safety had been lifted, exposing them all to the true black-hearted and devilish people that could have inhabited the town they had all home.

That whilst they could have ended the prospective lives of two young men and thrown a woman in jail, it did not happen due to extraordinary circumstances. That because of one blonde girl, brave enough to stand up to the devil she lived with every day, that she had saved those three lives, even if one of them should not have been saved at all.

-X-X-X-

Fred Andrews had been kind enough to sit down Julian Lodge that night, taking in his own son as well as bringing Edward home to their forest manor. Archie and Eddie had sat down on the leather couch in silence as Fred and Julian talked, with Julian being rather off-putting towards the Andrews man with how down to Earth he was being for a man who was so wealthy. The two boys remained silent as they listened to their parents talk, with Fred soon thanking Edward and Julian for standing by him and his son than with Alice and the newspaper.

It wasn't Alice that Eddie was worried about however, but more of how his father would.

A small tap on the shoulder signalled that Eddie would follow his father upstairs and onto his father's balcony. A well-carved set of wooden chairs and table allowed them to look over the main road to the North Side of Riverdale. The two Lodge men had remained quiet for a few moments, fluctuating between halcyon tranquillity as they listened to the occasional brushing of foliage that surrounded their house. Eddie had sighed heavily numerous times as they sat down, with his father lighting a large cigar as he waited for his son to say anything which he could qualify as something reasonable. Julian knew his son, he knew he had been gifted with a decent moral compass, but using it in the right way was an issue.

Edward was aggressive, feisty and temperamental and passionate. They were good things in the most part when he wasn't getting into fights or breaking the law.

The teen finally muttered an apology, a half-hearted 'I'm sorry' before he tried to leave and go to bed,

"Edward. Sit down." Julian ordered, and his son did as he had been commanded.

"I am sorry, sir." Eddie repeated. "I didn't know what to do."

"I know, Fred explained everything to me." Julian assured his boy. "I am not angry with you, son. I understand why you did what you did."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. I remember before I took you into my home when I was your age. I did many bad things for the right reasons and I can only say I wish I did not do them. Look at what I have."

"You have a nice house." Eddie muttered with a grin of sarcastic mirth.

Julian shook his head. "Life is not about material things boy, it's about what you do with it, and who you spend it with. I understand that Archie is your friend, but please, if anything else happens. Come to me before rushing off. Please, I don't want to lose the one thing in life I can be proud of."

Before Eddie could answer, his phone rumbled in his pocket.

Betty: I'm so sorry about today. Xx

Betty: Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Xxx

Betty: If there is, please tell me tomorrow morning. I need to go. Goodnight xxx

"Is everything alright, son?" Julian asked his child.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah, I think everything is gonna be alright." The Lodge heir stood up from the chair and took in a deep breath of the Fox Forest air, before he looked at his father. "I think I'm gonna go to bed, Dad."

"Okay." Julian dead-panned, before he looked at the child he had raised. "I love you, son."

-X-X-X-

And that is Chapter 4 of Season 1, wrapped up neatly in a bow for your enjoyment.

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMALS

-A Very Merry Old Boy