*I DON'T OWN RIVERDALE, BUT I DO OWN DIANA AND HER STORYLINE**

"Now to kick off this pep rally, I'd like to hand it over to your very own Mayor McCoy"

Diana stood off to the side, fidgeting with her hands as she listened to the Mayor ramble on about how tragic Jason Blossom's death was for what felt like an eternity. Normally, she would've been moved by such sentiment. However, the day's events had only made her feel weary and tired.

Glancing around the field, she found Archie and Jughead in the bleachers. They were smiling, like two old friends sharing an intimate joke. It was then that Jughead met her eyes. His expression slowly turned inquisitive as he continued his mutterings to the carmine haired teen in front of him.

Diana quickly turned away from the scene as the music began to play. Throwing on her best smile, she let herself be taken away by the movement.

"Sugar Sugar,

Honey Honey,

You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you"

Too soon it was over, the crowd erupted in cheers and Diana was forced back into reality.

Then just as quickly, she saw Cheryl sprint down the field towards the locker room. Looking at her sister for confirmation, she made haste to take after the distraught girl. She ran as fast as her legs would take her, hoping her sister was right behind her.

As she stumbled into the building, she heard the sniffles of Riverdale's resident princess. Diana rounded the corner, calling out tentatively "Cheryl?". The cherry haired beauty sat alone, makeup running down her cheeks as she wept into her hands. All the negative emotions Diana held fell away as an crushing compassion overtook her. "Cheryl, what is it? What happened?" she asked as she took a seat beside the young woman.

"Jason, he gone" She replied, her sobs growing louder with each word. "He was supposed to come back" Cheryl continued, finally turning around to look at Diana. "He was supposed to come back and now I'm all alone".

Diana tugged Cheryl into a tight embrace and whispered "You're not alone okay? You're not alone".

The raven-haired girl allowed the mourning young woman grieve into her shoulder for as long as she needed to. They didn't talk, Diana choosing to sooth in silence rather than pacify with words.

When Cheryl finally stopped crying. she pulled herself away to look at Diana with a fierce scowl. "If you tell anyone about..." she began her threat before Diana cut her off.

"If you don't want anyone to know then I won't say anything" She replied with a sigh. "If you're okay then I'm going to get ready to go home. You have my number. Please Cheryl; just call if you need anything okay?" Diana finished as she stood up from the bench.

She waited until she heard Cheryl mutter a quiet "okay" then she headed out of the building and back towards the field.

Her hazel gaze found Veronica and Betty off to the side, whispering until they caught sight of her.

"Hey! Is everything okay?" Veronica asked as she rushed to her sister, her eyes glazed over with a concern that Betty shared in her expression.

Diana nodded, offering a comforting smile to the duo. "Cheryl's fine, she just needed a friend for a moment".

"Not many girls would've done what you did" Betty muttered, biting down on her lip in contemplation over something Diana was too tired to think about. Before Diana or her twin could question the blonde's demeanor, Betty said "If you both aren't doing anything, do you wanna go get a milkshake at Pop's?"

The twins shared a look of puzzlement before Veronica replied quietly "Are you sure?"

"Yeah" Betty smiled at the duo, her arms wrapping around herself in attempt to keep warm.

Diana glanced at her sister then offered a smile to Betty. Tugging her bag behind her, she said "We'd love to Betty".

ILOVERIVERDALEILOVERIVERDALEILOVERIVERDALEILOVERIVERDALEILOVE

"One double chocolate, one old fashioned vanilla, and a strawberry milkshake courtesy of Pop Tate"

Diana smiled up her co-worker "Thanks Jim" Then she shouted back "Thanks Pop!" to which the elder gentleman waved his hand dismissively at her, a grin settling upon his face as he headed into the kitchen.

"Betty?" Veronica questioned uncertainly as the blonde took a sip of her shake. Her cobalt eyes glanced between the raven-haired women as she took another sip; the action causing Diana to smile.

"Can we make a vow that we never let a boy come between us again?" Veronica finished in one rapid sentence to which Diana squeezed her sister's arm in encouragement.

There was a pregnant pause; one that Diana felt the moon had ran its cycle as she waited in anticipation. The only thing that seem to keep her locked on the blonde, was the grip of her sister's hand around her fingers.

Finally, Betty smiled and said "Deal".

As the twins let out a sigh of relief, the bell cried out above the door of Pop's as two teen boys made their way inside. The carmine haired boy hushed immediately as his eyes fell upon Betty while his beanie wearing friend looked beyond the scene to Diana. Archie and Jughead held expressions of hope and contrite causing Diana to look to Betty. A silent confirmation settled behind the blue-eyed girls gaze as she shifted back to the outsiders.

"Do you guys want to join us?" Betty muttered sweetly, her eyelashes fluttering like a doll as she mastered the picture of innocence.

A silence fell between the group as Jughead looked to Archie. Jughead glanced to Diana with timid stare before shaking his head at the other teen. A grimace settled on Jughead's face before he turned to walk away. Diana practically jumped out of her seat at the sight.

"Jughead!" She called out just as he hit the door. The beanie wearing teen stopped, turning to her with a puzzled expression to which she answered with a fidget of her hands. "Umm, I wanted to apologize for how I treated you after the whole Reggie incident. I was angry about a lot of different things and I took it out on you" Running a nervous hand through her hand through her raven curls, she continued with a shake of her head "I'm not very good at this…"

Jughead cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as he said "I'm not very good at feelings in general so I guess we're even" Then he sighed "I figured I was the one who should apologize anyway about the thing we saw".

Diana chuckled "So, are you gonna come join us then?" she asked with a shy smile, motioning to the table behind her.

"Yes, but only if you're treating" He replied with a teasing grin.

Together, the duo walked back to the table to sit beside their friends. To someone outside, it would've appear the gang was happy. Between the five of them; a blonde girl, a red-headed boy, a set of raven haired girls, and a boy wearing a crown; each shared a smile to match the feeling of adolescence settling between them. As Diana took in the display, she let herself smile.

None of them knew that while the lights of Pop's protected them from the night, they couldn't shield the teens from what was to be a morning of reckonings.