And you guys thought you'd heard the last of me for the year. So this is my super short little winter holiday special, I guess you could call it (it doesn't take place in winter, it's just posted during that time) I was originally planning to put this up on the tenth, which was the last day of Hannukah; cause you know our girl Lane is Jewish. But I got sick and that didn't happen, so now it's just on a random day.

This starts about a week, if not a little more, after Lane died. And then there's one scene that's maybe a few weeks after that - just know, when you see the line break it's really a flashback, and I put a little note there as well. Just wanted to give ya'll a heads up. Anyways, I'll shut up and let you guys enjoy.

Lane had been ten standing beside Rebecca as she wept over her father's casket, where he would be put in the ground and smothered under six feet of dirt. How would he know the sky or feel the wind, if all life was was an inevitable death then how was he going to live now. So Lane never wanted a funeral or a coffin, she didn't want the six feet of dirt trapping her in a dark empty nothing. She wanted the wind and the sky. So even though it was against Jewish belief Sweet Pea was going to do what she wanted and have her cremated, her ashes would be planted with a tree next to where they'd buried Daya.

Except the investigation was still ongoing, they'd completed the process to release the body when the police found what they thought was Minetta – without head or hand it was hard to identify him. And so they had to wait, long enough for Mrs McCoy to call him needing to discuss her will.

"Why didn't you call Fangs?" Sweet Pea asked sitting across from her large desk at her office. Lane left everything to Fangs, it wasn't a surprise but it hurt like hell. Except the funeral arrangements, that she'd left for Sweet Pea.

She spoke delicately knowing how hard this was, him having not even lost their child six months earlier. "She was very clear on what she wanted when she changed her will." It only struck Sierra odd then, realizing Lane had come exactly a week before she died to change it. "She wanted you, specifically, to have her buried in the plot beside her father."

"But that's not," he said before cutting himself off because they'd already been over this. Lane had been clear, it was done right before she died, therefore they were following through with it. But it wasn't what she wanted, they could pretend to hate each other but he knew her. They'd talked about this after Midge's funeral, she was terrified of being buried to the point he hadn't even been able to tease her about it. It didn't make sense why she'd suddenly change her mind. "Is there anything else?" he asked, planning to go home and talk about this with Fangs because he'd know how weird this was.

Sierra pulled a sealed envelope out of Lane's file and set it on the end of her desk in front of him. "This is the reason I called you here, she left this for you."

He stared at it a long moment tracing the delicate curve of her writing, trying to picture her writing it. But he couldn't, all he could see when he thought of her was the way she'd been looking at him the last time she spoke to him – her face empty of any emotion as it'd been for months but her eyes, those pretty green eyes, they'd been so sad.

But he reached for it gently taking it off the desk, running his thumb over the ink like he'd be able to feel any part of her. It was as cold as she'd been and he sighed turning it over so he could rip it open and see what last thing she had to say to him was. But across the seal she'd written a string of symbols and he froze recognizing them. "Thank you," he told Mrs McCoy as he stood.

Not waiting for her to say anything else, unable to hear anything else, he walked out of her office and headed to the front door. "Hey," Josie said from where she sat in the waiting area. "I heard what I happened to Lane, Sweet Pea I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do, do you want to talk about it?"

He looked down at the hand she set on his arm, a few weeks ago he would've given in. But he looked at her and all he could hear was Lane's voice reminding him she'd never want him. "Is it Mantle being more into Veronica than you or do you actually care, because last I checked I wasn't good enough for you to be anything more than a fling?" he said through his teeth, almost tasting Lane from how much that sounded like her.

Josie stepped back pulling away from him, hurt shining in her eyes. "We both agreed it would only last the summer, I never asked you to catch feelings you made that decision on your own. You wanna feel guilty for thinking about me instead of her, go right ahead you probably should. You don't want a friend, that's fine. But I didn't deserve that."

"I know," he said running a hand through his hair, pulling it slightly. This wasn't her fault, he had to remind himself of that. It was his, it had always been his. "I'm glad you're okay," he told her before he left.

He pulled into the driveway seeing Fangs' bike wasn't there, he was probably with Cheryl and Toni because the house smelled like Lane. Locking the door behind him he pulled the envelope and his phone out looking for translation. They found Daya's name in a book he himself had found, he knew these were Hebrew letters.

keep it between us

The corners of his mouth pulled down in a severe frown as he opened it, wondering what she wanted kept from Fangs. There was no loving greeting, she hadn't put his name at the top. No, the first thing she said was – don't bother questioning anything you're never going to get it, and you know I won't tell you. A breath of a laugh escaped him before his eyes filled too full and he let his head hang. It was just so much like her, he could hear her say it, he could even picture the way her mouth would've formed those words.

They'd been in a horrible place but they'd been there together, if he'd known the last time was going to be the last time he would've told her he still loved her. Because lately he wasn't sure she knew that. And the thought of her dying thinking that, even a little – he rubbed his eyes trying to get a hold of himself. When he'd sniffed it all back he kept reading, and the further he got the more his face smoothed with understanding. It was still funeral arrangements, only now he knew who he was burying.

.^.

They were gathered around the open ground the coffin hadn't yet been lowered into, the Northsiders who'd known her longer and the Serpents who'd loved her. They didn't know where Jughead was, somewhere with Archie, and they didn't know where Betty was – they were honestly surprised Cheryl was there, and she stared at the coffin with such hopeless desperation she could barely breathe. Toni could only stand with her arms around her knowing it wasn't enough, that it'd never be enough.

Sweet Pea kept his eyes on the ground near his feet so no one would notice they were dry, but Fangs did. More than that he knew why, or he thought he did. Lane didn't just leave the house to him, she signed the deed over to him so that it was in his name before she died. On top of that was a post-it note with the number for the joint account she and Sweet Pea had set up when they decided they were keeping the baby – and she'd transferred all her money into it.

You're gonna hear something about me, the worst thing you could ever hear. He'd had the answer the whole time, but he let himself fall for it even though he knew how convincing Lane was. Don't believe it. He glanced up at Sweet Pea's empty face knowing he wasn't telling him something.

Across from them Hiram Lodge stood with his wife, his daughter was on Cheryl's other side and she'd cornered him when he arrived asking if he'd come to spit on her grave. But this time his hands were clean. He still had men out of sight looking for any sign of Lane, not foolish enough to simply believe her gone. But Minetta was out of the picture and the blood results were still coming up Lane's. It was ruled an accidental death or possible suicide; she'd taken two sleeping pills on top of being drunk, she'd fallen into Sweetwater River and drowned. He kept the emotion from his face, feeling the smirk twitch behind his lips. In the end he hadn't needed to do anything, but wait for her to destroy herself.

.^.

He was walking through a neighboring town on business when he saw her across the street, watching him. His eyes glanced over her unaware before his mind caught up to that deceptively sweet face, and he came to a sudden halt as he turned back to where he saw her. A bus roared past blocking his view and Hiram stepped to the curb knowing what he'd seen, he'd know that face anywhere. But the bus passed by and it was a normal busy street corner with no one he recognized.

Until there was a perfect break between two people revealing the short young woman walking away, her dark hair bouncing on her shoulders. Blindly he charged after her stepping off the curb into the street not caring for the horns that honked or the tires that squealed to avoid hitting him. There was murder in his eyes as he gained on her leisurely pace, and when he got close enough he grabbed her thin arm jerking her around to meet his lethal scowl.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

His face slackened with confused surprise as he found himself looking at a woman no less than five years older than Lane and really looked nothing like her. He quickly looked up trying to see if he'd grabbed the wrong person, so sure she was still somewhere near. But a purse hit him in the face and he let go stepping back.

"Get your hands off me, asshole," she yelled hitting him again.

Hiram watched her go realizing she was even wearing the shirt he'd seen. It had never been Lane, only his mind. And he brushed himself off giving an irritable derisive laugh at himself, that even in death she was still able to get to him.

(two days after the funeral)

Sweet Pea followed the directions Lane left him in the letter to a T. It's how he found himself in a cemetery a few towns over, where the body that was pulled from Sweetwater River had been buried beside a man with the last name Rodriguez – her father, he assumed. They buried an empty casket in Riverdale. He didn't let himself think about it too much, about what it was gonna take to get her back; but it got to him sometimes at night when he was alone with himself.

He felt someone come up behind him, it was a strange knowing because he didn't hear them – but something in him knew, like it'd been waiting. His heart jumped to his throat as he turned around and the sight of her floored him.

So that was my winter holiday special, there will be another one coming around New Year's. If I plan it right (which knowing me I won't) I'd love to post it at midnight on New Years Eve, but we'll see. But that chapter will explain all of the details that I mentioned in chapter 35 that I wasn't showing you - so it's gonna detail everything leading up to Lane's death. (again, chapter 35 has all the clues) As well as a small continuation of this last scene with Sweet Pea in the cemetery. So now, I will really see you guys next year.