Arthur Andrews stepped off the bus and breathed in the air of Riverdale. He had been away all summer, working down at Marvel Studios in Atlanta as his internship. He'd always loved film, and wanted a career in it. Writing, directing, acting, producing, whatever. As long as he was involved with it somehow. Quickly, he removed his bags from the bus and began walking home. It was after dark, but it was easy enough to find his way.

The ride up from Atlanta had taken just under a day, and with a few different changes in buses on the way, but he managed it. Ironically the easiest change was the one he made in Washington DC, when he had to jump on the Northeast Regional train up to New York City. Still, he had managed it. He was after all the more patient of the Andrews twins.

He walked up to his house and knocked on the door. Hopefully his dad had finished by now. Working construction was a demanding job, even moreso when you were running the company, and many times Fred Andrews had been forced to work late in order to make sure everything was in hand.

Speaking of his father, it was him who opened the door. A broad smile broke out on the man's face as he recongised his son. His hair was a little longer and his glasses were gone, replaced by contacts. He had put on some muscle, but his skinny frame and boyish face remained the same; something Fred was grateful for.

The two embraced, happily reunited after months apart. "Welcome home son."

"Good to be home dad." The boy said before they broke apart. "I should probably bring my bags in." He said.

"I'll take care of that." Fred replied, taking the large suitcase. "You must be exhausted coming up from Atlanta."

"Not really. I took naps every couple of hours on the bus and the train. Honestly I must have slept the entire way from New York City to here." He explained. "I always remember to take the contacts out before sleeping though."

"Yeah, I noticed your glasses were gone."

"Not quite." Arthur said, fishing his glasses case out of his pocket. "Just in case."

"Right." Fred nodded.

"Where's Archie?" The boy asked, following his father upstairs.

"He and Betty went to Pop's." Fred explained. "You thinking of joining them?"

"Thought I might surprise them, yeah." Arthur replied. "Plus I have been dying for a Pop's milkshake. I mean, I barely had enough time to get a chicken sandwich in me before I had to leave NYC."

"NYC? God you're sounding like one of those downstate locals." Fred laughed, shaking his head.

"Sure, dad." He said, dumping his backpack on his bed. "Okay, I'm headed to Pop's. See you when we get back dad." He hugged his father one more time before leaving.


Arthur barged into Pop's 20 minutes later, craving a vanilla milshake. He honestly didn't care if people thought it was boring or whatever. Working at Marvel had given him a lot of confidence over the summer; he felt valued now. After ordering, he looked around and eventually spied the happy couple sharing a milkshake and moved a hand over his mouth, smirking.

"Paging Archie Andrews, paging Archie Andrews." He said, doing his faux radio voice. His redheaded twin turned around and smiled as widely as their father had as Arthur approached. The two hugged tightly, brothers reunited.

"I missed you Art." Archie said. Arthur had gotten the nickname partially because of his name and partially because of his passion for 'artsy' subjects at school.

"I missed you too, Red." Arthur replied. No need to explain where that nickname came from. The brothers broke apart and Arthur shifted his gaze to Betty. "Elizabeth Cooper." He said simply as the two hugged. He and Betty had been like brother and sister, with both of them tag-teaming years ago to stop Archie from being held back a year. "He's treating you well, right? Because if he's not I'll kick his ass."

"He's treating me very well, Art." She smiled. "We Skyped every single day."

"More than what I could do." Arthur said, sitting next to his brother. "Turns out that working for Marvel is a full-time job. Especially when they're filming two movies back to back."

"Okay then, anything you can tell us?" Archie asked.

"Sorry, I had to sign an NDA. My lips are sealed." Arthur replied. Betty nodded understandingly, but Archie let out a childlike groan. "Oh stop being a baby."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"How about you both shut up and let the mature one here do the talking?" Betty said. The twins looked at each other and shrugged. "Archie was just telling me about poems he thought up in his head."

"Archie? Thinking up poems?" Arthur said incredulously as his milkshake arrived. "Thanks." He said to the waitress. "Archie, you don't even like poetry."

"They weren't poems. They were song lyrics." Archie said.

"But Betty said they were poems."

"I know what Betty said. I worded it badly. At night, I'd go home and write them down and well . . . I know it sounds cheesy, but I feel like I've finally broken through to something real about my life, and what I should be trying to do with it,and that's music. Starting tomorrow."

"That's amazing Archie!" Betty said, eyes sparkling for her boyfriend. "Are you going to ask Ms Grundy to tutor you?"

"Maybe. Not sure yet."

"You sure you can balance music, high school and football?" Arthur asked. His brother was not exactly a great manager of his time.

"Well I'm going to try out, at least. And before you ask, no I haven't told dad. Until get things figured out more, you are the only two people I'm telling." Archie said definitively. Arthur nodded.

"I'd love to hear your songs sometime." Betty said.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Betty said. The two kissed briefly and Archie started going into detail about his demos, but they had long since lost Arthur's interest as an absolutely stunning girl was entering the diner. She was raven haired and her lips were cherry red, her eyes deep pools of brown.

"Hi, I called in an order for Lodge?" She said to Pop tate.

"Two burgers, yeah, almost ready but you gotta wait." He said before heading back to the kitchen. Veronica looked around before her eyes landed on Arthur. He was definitely cute, with jet black hair contrasted by bright blue eyes and a boyish look she found charming. "Hey."

"Um . . . hey." Arthur said, realising he'd been staring.

"How are the onion rings here?"

"So good." Arthur replied. Betty and Archie gave amused looks at each other as the scene played out in front of their eyes.

"Can we get some onion rings too please?" She asked, prompting Pop to give an affirmitive shout from the kitchen. "Thanks. My mom and I just moved so . . ."

"Where from?" Archie asked.

"New York City."

"Wow." Arthur said dreamily. Betty, despite herself, suppressed a laugh.

"Do you guys go to Riverdale High?"

"Yeah, all three of us do." Betty answered.

"We're sophomores." Arthur said, unable to take his eyes off the girl.

"Me too and I am filled with dread."

"How come?" The redheaded boy asked.

"Are you familiar with the works of Truman Capote?" Veronica asked.

"Arthur here definitely is. Real film buff." Archie said, playfully shoving his brother. Betty was too amused to point out that Capote had largely been an author.

"Well in that case, I'm Breakfast at Tiffany's, and this town is strictly Cold Blood." She said. Arthur nodded, still unable to take his eyes off her and only reall half-listening to the conversation. "Veronica Lodge." She said, offering a hand.

"Um . . . Art . .. Arthur. Arthur Andrews." He stuttered, taking her hand. "This is my twin brother Archie." The redhead gave a short wave. "And his girlfriend Betty Cooper."

"Wait, Betty Cooper? Are you-"

"Supposed to give you the tour tomorrow? Yeah, I'm your peer mentor." Betty said. Something of an awkward silence began to descend.

"Do you uh . . . maybe want to join us? W-we could try to un-fill you with dread?" Arthur offered. Veronica offered a coy smiled.

"My mom's waiting for me. But . . . to be continued?" She said before collecting her order and leaving. The whole time, Arthur's eyes never left the girl, and he even dared to sneak a quick look at her backside.

"I do believe that my brother is in love." Archie said.

"Am not. Shut up." Arthur snapped.


And first proper chapter is complete! Be sure to leave a review and follow. Cheers!