Before Jason's body was found I think it's fair to say that most of the town had been silently hoping that Jason Blossom hadn't died on July 4th and that we'd see him with the football team at Riverdale High on Monday or in a booth with Cheryl at pops.

That of course was before the waterlogged body of Jason Blossom had washed up on the shore of Sweetwater River with a bullet lodged in its forehead. Now that Jason was well and truly gone only the cold steel blade of a coroner could hope to shed some light on his disappearance and his unfortunate demise. However far from the action Archie Andrews faced a choice, now made all the more crucial by Kevin's unfortunate find...

Archie's POV*

Archie tossed and turned in his bed but however he lay he simply couldn't fall asleep. The thought of the gunshot that he and Geraldine had heard at Sweetwater River that morning haunted him. He needed help, he needed advice and there was only one person he'd trust to help him out with this. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he'd all but ruined her and driven her away forever. Nevertheless, he couldn't just give up on her, she never would if it had been him.

Archie rolled onto his side, grabbed his phone off of his bedside table and wrote her a quick message.

R U up? Can we talk?

The reply came too quickly and it was crushing.

No...And no.

In one last desperate attempt Archie got out of bed and walked over to the window, sending her one last message.

Please!?

His heart lifted as Betty appeared in her window only for it to drop again as she shook her head and turned out her lights. It was his fault, he'd lost the only real friend he'd had and now he had to figure this out himself. He knew who he needed to talk to but he'd have to go now, while there was no one around...

Geraldine's POV*

She woke with a start. Someone was banging on her door hard. For a moment she was paralysed, what if he'd found her and had come to finish what he'd started. She tried to calm herself, there was no way that he knew where she was, there was no trail whatsoever.

Cautiously she climbed out of bed and walked down the stairs to the front door, taking a deep breath before flinging it open.

"Archie!? What are you doing here?" she hissed through her teeth.

"It wasn't fireworks that morning Miss Grundy it was a gunshot we heard" Archie pushed past her and walked into her kitchen.

"You can't come to my house" She said firmly.

He turned to look at her "What if it was the shot that killed Jason Blossom?"

She sighed "We know exactly what the police know: That a gun was fired, that a boy was shot! We don't know by whom."

"We know when it was fired! That's more than the police know"

She held up her hands placatingly "They're performing an autopsy, they'll find out soon enough"

Archie wasn't listening "We can call them anonymously"

Finally, all her frustration came out "This is not a negotiation. This is our lives! If anybody knows that we were there, I could lose my job...You could get expelled! We could both go to jail"

She stared into his eyes and inwardly sighed with relief. It was clear that she'd finally gotten through to him. She stood in silence looking at the conflicted form of her greatest mistake and she realised that from the start, the only way this relationship could have ended was badly...

Archie's POV*

He'd stayed most of the night at Grundy's, mostly to reassure her that he wasn't going to do anything stupid. Nevertheless, he still felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was like every fibre of his being was urging him to do the right thing and tell someone but then he remembered Geraldine and how much he cared for her and he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The same argument was still playing on repeat in his head when he approached his house. He checked his watch, his dad would be making breakfast about now so the front door was no longer an option but that wasn't a problem, he'd left his window open. What did prove to be a problem was that it was already in use, by someone very familiar.

"John?" he hissed as loudly as he could.

The face of his older brother turned around, his mouth open wide in surprise.

"Um, you're window broke...but I'm gonna...fix it?"

"What the hell are you doing out here? What are you following me on my night runs now too?"

John jumped down from the window and looked at him "No, surprisingly enough my life doesn't completely revolve around solving the cryptic puzzle that is Archie Andrews"

Archie looked him in the eyes, he looked guiltier than he'd ever seen him. Even guiltier than when he'd taken F. P's bike for a short spin into a tree.

"What were you doing then?" he demanded.

"I was meeting some friend's Archie now do you want to get in or do you want to get caught?"

A silent agreement passed between them and in no time at all they were both in Archie's bedroom closing the window. The smell of breakfast was strong and as much as he wanted to ask John more questions, he instead found himself walking downstairs and into the kitchen where his dad was feeding Vegas, the family dog.

"Morning Dad" They murmured in unison as they grabbed plates out of the kitchen cupboards.

"Hey Boys, Arch where did you sneak off to last night?"

Archie panicked. His dad had actually heard that?

"It was me who snuck out dad" John piped up "I was sneaking out to a late party, it was very last minute and I didn't want to wake you"

Thank god for John.

"Right well, no more moonlight strolls to parties or anywhere until they catch whoever it was that shot Jason. That goes for both of you, I don't trust this town these days"

Just as his father finished his warning, the doorbell rang. Archie got up to answer it.

"If it's Jughead please be nice and tell him I'll see him as soon as I can" John shouted after him.

Archie didn't know what he meant about being nice but that mystery dissolved as soon as he opened the door. There stood in front of him was Betty Cooper, the girl he'd rejected.

"Walk me to school?" She asked with a smile.

Betty's POV*

They walked in silence for the first few steps, neither of them really knowing what to say. Her mother had made Betty promise before she left that she wouldn't slide back to all her backstabbing friends. Obviously, she wouldn't be happy with this little 'walking to school' arrangement but to be honest, she didn't care. She was tired of her mother trying to control her life, she was going to deal with this in her own way and it started with re-breaking the ice between her and Archie.

"I needed time to process... to separate what my Mom wants from what I want. Well what I think I want"

"Which is?" Archie asked nervously.

"My mom says I should never speak to you again but I...even though you don't like me like that I still want us to be friends. Best friends"

"You do?"

"yeah" she said, his eagerness stinging her slightly. Some part of her was still holding onto the hope that he actually did like her. The minute she committed to being only friends was the moment that dream died.

"That's great Betty, me too" Archie was beaming and even though she'd effectively just cancelled out any chance of them getting together, his smile was enough to tell her that she was doing the right thing.

Now came the hard bit.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt"

"And I'm sorry Betty" he blurted desperately "I didn't do it to be a... I don't know, I just thought it would be better in the long run"

"It will be Arch, oh and don't tell my Mom that we're friends again or she'll flip her lid completely"

Archie looked at her completely strangely and Betty just smiled awkwardly and kept walking.

Kevin's POV*

"Now that romance is off the table, I'll just say it. Are we one hundred percent sure that Archie's straight? Because no straight man has that body"

Betty had been telling him the details of the previous nights trauma or at least whatever she hadn't conveyed over text. She was an efficient writer but Kevin liked having all the juicy details. They were going to the office after Betty's name had sounded out over the speaker system commanding her to appear. Yet another day in paradise.

"Speaking of bodies, have you recovered from finding Jason's?" She asked.

"It was more traumatising having to explain to my dad what I was doing with Moose at the river. Yet another perk of being the sheriff's son"

They turned the corner into the office and there they were. The most beautiful arrangement of flowers Kevin had ever seen in his life.

"Oh, my god, those are gorgeous. Are they for Betty, Mrs Phillips?" he asked rushing over to see the tag nestled amongst the flowers.

"Well that's why I called her"

Kevin swallowed the word bitch and flipped over the tag.

"Dear Betty, please forgive me xoxo V. Who the hell is V?"

"Veronica" Betty said at the same time as another woman's voice behind him.

He span around to see Veronica standing in the doorway with a white box, she looked nervous. Behind her John stood, exasperated, as if they'd just had a lengthy argument over this very act.

"The yellows for friendship. I also had Magnolia cupcakes flown in from New York because as my mom likes to say there's no wrong the right cupcake won't fix"

"Well we're about to put that to the test" John said, pushing past Veronica to stand with them "I'm sorry Betty I tried to tell her that's not how you roll"

Betty just nodded and waited for Veronica to continue.

"Also, I booked us for hers-and-hers mani-pedis at Chez Salon. Blowouts too. I am so so sorry Betty. I don't know what happened to me that night, it was such a basic bitch move. It was like I was possessed by..."

"Madame Satan?" Kevin offered.

"The...old Veronica and I will never, ever do that to you again. I swear on my mother's pearls; can you please give me one more chance?"

Kevin watched as Betty's face twisted into a half smile "Okay"

"What!?" Kevin, Veronica and John said in unison.

"Awesome" Veronica bubbled "I'll take it and you won't regret it. I'll bring these to lunch so we can celebrate" The bell rang and Veronica gave them all one last smile before disappearing around the door.

Kevin turned to face Betty and gave her his best 'What in the fuck' face.

Betty sighed "It's the path of least resistance Kev. A week ago, Veronica and I weren't friends. Next week we'll nod to each other in the halls but that's it, she'll have latched onto some other girl to destroy"

Kevin sighed as Betty leaned over and smelled the flowers of Veronica's betrayal...

Archie's POV*

As Archie was walking the corridors the speakers crackled into life causing him to stop and listen.

"Good morning students" A deep voice said "This is your principal speaking, there have been many enquiries over the upcoming pep rally. So, let me state clearly, it is happening as scheduled. Now on a less felicitous note, I ask that you give your attention to Sheriff Keller"

Archie was immediately filled with a sense of dread, this was not going to be good.

"Most of you already know the details" Sheriff Keller began "Your classmate Jason Blossom was found late Saturday night, so as of the weekend Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It is an open and ongoing investigation"

The mic crackled loudly and suddenly the voice of Cheryl Blossom was sounding all over the school.

"May I interject? Neither I nor my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in old sparky and fry. I for one have my suspicions. Hashtag Riverdale strong"

Sometimes it was hard not to wish that the situation was reversed and that Jason was the one left to grieve. He'd been a good kid and even though Archie had never had much to do with him, he'd always admired him.

Sheriff Keller's voice sounded again after what sounded like an exasperated sigh "If you know anything that could help us apprehend Jason's killer or anything about what happened to him on 4th of July weekend. I strongly urge you to come forward immediately"

Sheriff Keller continued to talk about interviews but Archie wasn't listening. He did know something but there was no way he could tell them. He walked past the Principals office and looked into the window only to find himself looking into the eyes of Principal Weatherbee. He panicked and averted his eyes, shouldering his backpack and shuffling off towards the water fountain, his heart full of guilt and shame...

Jughead's POV*

Jughead had seen Archie's strange getaway from the Principals office and that was when it had all clicked in his head. The reason why Archie was acting so shady, why he was avoiding him. It was all about that weekend.

He approached Archie, who was at the water fountain, shovelling water into his mouth with his bear-like hands.

"Archie" he yelled "Weirdest thing, this summer we were supposed to go on a road trip. Over July 4th Weekend but you bailed at the last second. Is there something that you wanna tell me pal?

Archie didn't say anything he just stared into Jugheads eyes, almost like he was studying him...no that wasn't it. It was more like he was sizing him up. Without warning his friend turned his head and walked away leaving Jughead alone and facing the very real possibility that his ex-best friend, could be a murderer...