Chapter Seven

"Piece of crap car," Gabby murmured as she stomped up the street to her home. She really needed to get it fixed. Or else, find a new car. She already had a few in mind that she would could buy and have delivered in a few minutes. But it was the principal of the matter!

Her car was her baby and she'd wait for her baby as long as it took. Even if that meant getting a massive blister on the bottom of her foot having to walk home from the bus stop because Cheryl was too bus with her horse riding lessons to drive her home. She felt bad about it, really. Since leaving Pop's, the two had gone back to Thornhill just in time for Penelope to curtly tell her daughter in no uncertain terms that if she missed another riding lesson she was a disgrace to the family.

It killed Gabby to see how quickly the smile that'd been on Cheryl's face fell. Just about as quickly as she dropped Gabby's arm from hers. Then it was gone, replaced with the stoic expression that Gabby had unfortunately seen so often that it didn't surprise her. Cheryl's shoulders rolled back, she lifted her chin, and she spoke in a calm, clipped tone that sent a shiver down Gabby's spine.

Cheryl turned to Gabby with a thin smile saying, "We'll just have to get together later, Gabby. I'll call you, okay?" And she grabbed Gabby's shoulders, pressed an air kiss to each of her cheeks, and dutifully moved to her mother's side.

Penelope looked at her with an air of disgust before turning a winning smile to Gabby and said, "Please come visit us again, Clifford and I will be glad to have you and your father over."

"I'll let him know, Mrs. Blossom," Gabby said. Penelope's tightlipped smile tightened even further. Gabby could see the lines around her lips deepen, making Gabby take a step back. Cheryl disliked her mother, but Gabby was afraid of her. Something about the woman was very off-putting to her, no matter how nice and doting Penelope could be to her.

Or maybe that was it, Gabby thought as she left Thornhill, walking all the way back to her house. Maybe it was Penelope's doting on her that freaked her out. As if she were trying to take her mother's place. Gabby's grasp tightened against the strap of her purse, focusing on the throbbing of her hand, her nails digging into her palm, rather than the throbbing on the bottoms of her feet.

Cheryl and Jason were her best friends. They were like family to her. The three of them may as well have been triplets as far as anyone was concerned. But…No one's going to take my mom's place, Gabby thought.

She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, slowing as she reached her house. Tilting her head, she looked up at it, studying it closely. The same house her parents had lived in for years since having moved from LA to the small town after starting their advertising business. Why they'd want to leave the big city to go to a town that barely knew how to keep their noses out of each other's business, she wasn't sure. But something about Riverdale had kept the Rush family there and together.

Until they weren't.

The mansion, which used to look picturesque was slowly starting to become dilapidated. She couldn't remember the last time her father had taken a day off work to help the painters and landscapers keep up the front of the house, something he enjoyed doing more than life itself. He loved getting his hands dirty and being a big part of the picture they showed the world. It now looked dilapidated. Still as big and grand as the other houses on the block but looked to be covered in a layer of grime.

Gabby pursed her lips then ducked her head. Just something else that fell by the wayside as her mother's work affected them. Gabby continued toward the front porch, whirling around when she heard an engine growing louder and louder. She watched as a motorcycle shot down the street, weaving back and forth as it shot up the street, unable to keep control. She winced, waiting to see it crash into one of the immaculate mailboxes that lined the street, but the rider kept the bike upwards, balancing it carefully between his legs.

The bike turned the corner and Gabby's eyebrows furrowed, seeing the serpent emblazoned on the back of the jacket that fluttered in the wind. Why would a Southside Serpent be on the Northside at that hour? Everyone knew that as soon as the sun started to go down, everyone stayed on their own sides of the city. The only refuge for them being Pop's that was open for them; though as Gabby had seen a few days before, the Whyte Wyrm appeared to be the Southside's hangout of choice at night.

The better question was, what was a Southside Serpent doing in her neighborhood? It wasn't as grand as Thornhill and its surrounding neighbors, even a step lower than where the Andrews and Coopers lived—as Gabby begrudgingly had to admit, not wanting to give Betty a slice of an inch in case she'd find herself run over.

Again.

As she unlocked the door to her house, Gabby couldn't help but think about the night at the Whyte Wyrm that her car broke down. When she found her father there. He certainly had seemed surprised to see her. But was he surprised to see her because he was guilty? Or because he honestly never thought she'd go over to the Southside for any reason whatsoever and catch him on his secret meetings? He sure seemed to be at ease over there.

Gabby sighed once more, she was doing that a lot lately. She picked up her purse and moved to go back to her car, preferring to drown than deal with any more of the Southsiders. She didn't want to know what would happen if any of those guys leering at her decided to become emboldened to talk to her.

She started to turn away, ready to run at a moment's notice when a familiar face caught her attention. Eyes narrowing, Gabby watched the man. Watched as he smiled and laughed with another man nearby, waving a beer bottle back and forth as he did so. The man across from him—middle aged, very tall, big build with long, straight brown hair and blonde highlights. A trimmed beard with some gray in it. A hoop earring on one side, and a nose ring along the same—grinned and held out his hand toward the first man.

The two men shook hands and nodded, as if finishing some sort of a transaction.

Gabby finally found her voice. "Daddy?"

Stephen Rush whipped around at his daughter's voice. His eyes widened when he saw her before he composed himself, by her side in a second. "Gabriella, what are you doing here?" He asked. His voice was low, hand tight on her arm. Gabby gulped. Gabriella. She was in trouble. "Why are you all wet?"

"My car broke down," She said.

"Are you okay?"

Stephen pulled her closer to him and looked around the Whyte Wyrm, glaring at any man that looked their way as if ready to rip their throat out. Gabby felt a warm rush of protection from her father. Though she was still mad at him.

"I'm fine," Gabby said quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"That's not important right now."

"You missed try-outs."

Stephen paused. His face fell. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." He put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go home."

Gabby wanted to kick and scream, throw a temper tantrum, demand to know why he was at the Whyte Wyrm, who the guy was that he was talking to, why he had to be there to miss her practice, why he was always gone. Wanted some answers.

She still didn't have any answers. And knew she wouldn't get any more, when she stepped into the house that day. Her movements; taking off her heels, dropping her purse to the ground, and tossing her keys aside for the maid and butler to pick up later, echoed loudly throughout the front of the house. The house keeping staff kept out of the way for their work to be done almost invisibly. Honestly, Gabby never liked that. She begged and pleaded with them to play with her when she was young, but they waved her off with a kind smile, saying work had to be done.

As she grew older and Gabby found entertainment in herself and the Blossoms, the house seemed to become even more raucous. A simple sneeze or cough sounded like a bomb went off in the otherwise quiet home. Something that'd make visitors jump and start with fright while Gabby moved on without a backwards glance.

Undeterred, she went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and a bottle of soda from the fridge before going into the living room. She found her father sleeping in his favorite chair as usual. Two beer bottles sat by his chair. Gabby looked at it and tilted her head to the side. Two beer bottles.

Not so strange by any means.

But the brand was never sold on the Northside, only on the South. It came up in the news a lot, when local burglaries and rabblerousing came about. Riverdale reported on every move the North and Southside made when it came to the divide between the two halves of town. Even down to the types of food that was shipped in to each side of the town, with the Southside continuing to cry that they weren't getting their fair share or the same quality of foods.

Was that Serpent here? Gabby tried hard to remember who the guy on the motorcycle looked like and found herself unable to recognize anything but the serpent jacket. Which didn't help at all considering every member of the gang continued to wear it with pride.

Nevertheless, Gabby pushed the thought aside and curled up onto the arm chair with her father, setting the soda and water bottles on the floor next to the chair in case he woke up. But Stephen Rush continued to snore quietly as Gabby leaned into his side, bringing her knees up to fit in the crook of his arm. She draped his arm around her then picked up the remote, changing to the channel that continuously showed movies with happy endings.

A happy ending was what she could use. And for the next few hours, she continued to lay next to her father, steadying her breathing to fall in line with his, watching each movie protagonist find their happy ending in true love or with a new family. All of which she wished she'd had. No one would understand how lonely it was to keep up appearances that everything was so great on the outside but crumbling to dust on the inside.

No one but Cheryl, who was continuously cast aside for her brother in every way. And yet, was one of the best people Gabby ever knew. The first time Gabby broke down about her mother not being around, Cheryl had immediately dropped all the makeup she was putting on her face for that year's ball, wrapped Gabby up in her arms, and let her cry it all out, missing the big night and not saying another word about it. Not even about the bruise that poke from beneath the sleeve of her shirt the next morning.

She simply bounced over to Gabby with a bright smile and presented her with a bouquet of red roses that she'd picked from the Blossom garden. She must've said something to Jason about it, too, for he was nicer to her than he'd ever been before going off to hang out with 'his boys'. But Cheryl stayed by his side, snapping at everyone that came too close to her best friend.

Gabby wanted to do the same for Cheryl, worked hard to do it. But how could she get anything out when Penelope and Clifford Blossom were constantly waiting in the wings of Thornhill, ready to use what was ever said against them? When Nana Blossom was always nearby in her wheelchair, withered face staring into space despite knowing everything that happened in the house?

Gabby pushed the thoughts away and wrapped her arm around her father's waist, rubbing her cheek against the sleek dress shirt he wore. Breathed in his calming scent. She smiled, feeling her father's arm tighten around her as he woke up a little, shifting over.

"Hey Jellybean," he murmured.

Excitement swelled through her. He called her jellybean. Her favorite nickname from him. "Hey daddy," she replied. And that was that, the only interaction they had as he fell back asleep. Gabby studied his face as he slept, suddenly worried about him. There were more lines in his face that she remembered, more bags under his eyes, more gray hairs that he tried in vain to cover with a hair dye that was slowly starting to fade. He worked so hard, worked hard to keep things going for her. She appreciated it very much but…

Gabby leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her father's cheek before leaving the chair. She grabbed a blanket from the couch and tucked him in before taking her bottle of soda and went to her room. She walked on the balls of her feet, wincing as her blisters stretched up the hardwood stairs, practically limping when she went to her room.

She just made it to her room when her phone rang. Gabby pulled it from her pocket and immediately put it to her ear. "Did you get tired of riding your man already?"

"Gabriella?"

Gabby paused, hearing her mother's voice in her ear. She immediately bypassed the shame she should've felt for speaking so raunchily to her mother, bypassed the surprise, and immediately went to emotional. It felt that her heart stopped and started at the same time. A painful, hard beating in her chest. She felt warm all over. Tears immediately came to her eyes as she oved a shaking hand to cover her mouth.

"Mom?" she whispered.

Her emotion was immediately reduced to rage when a hand shot out of the darkness, grabbed her phone and turned it off. Rather than feeling fear that someone had been waiting in her darkened room for her, instead of running screaming to her father that someone had broken in, instead of getting herself further from danger, Gabby grabbed the volleyball that sat by her bedroom door and heaved it at the figure standing in front of her.

The figure cried out as he was smacked directly in the face, the ball ricocheting into the wall. Gabby flung herself forward and wind milled her arms into her would-be assailant—she recognized it as Jason the second she moved across the room, her rage intensifying in seconds.

"That was my mom!" Gabby shrieked, continuing to smack him. Tears fell down her cheeks. "You hung up on her! Why would you do that?" Jason continued to deflect her blows, all the while Gabby continued to shriek and wail on him. When her arms grew tired, she punched him hard on the shoulder and backed away from him. "Why the hell would you do that?" She growled.

"I'm sorry," Jason apologized, voice sounding nasally. Gabby's eyebrows rose, her chest continued to heave as she worked hard to catch her breath. "If it helps at all, I think you just broke my nose." Gabby grunted. "I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"That was my only call for the week, Jay! You know I'm always looking forward to those and I don't know when they're going to come!"

"I'm sorry!" He repeated. "I'll make it up to you." He tried flashing the famous Blossom look that made all the girls swoon. Usually, it worked to have Gabby forgive him as well, that time she merely glared at him. "We need to talk."

"How'd you get in here, anyway?"

Jason gestured vaguely toward her window. "I climbed in through your window."

"Okay, Dawsons's Creek, you're not Dawson and I'm not Joey so I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from using my trellis as a ladder to climb in whenever you please." Gabby pointed toward the window. "But you can use it on your way out. If I don't push you out, myself."

"Gabs, this is serious."

Gabby waved a hand and continued toward the hallway. She heard Jason moved behind her. His hand reached around her and pressed against the door, slamming it shut. He grasped her arm and whirled her around, pinning her to the door. Gabby swallowed hard, looking up into Jason's eyes. They burned against the darkness of the room, a shadow casted over his handsome face.

She wanted to turn on a light to push the shadow away. As attractive as Jason was something about the shadow was unsettling to her. Half his face hidden behind a mask of darkness, hiding nearly as much as Cheryl could when the time came.

Seeing him in the light would make things a bit easier.

It'd be easier for her to punch him again and make sure she broke his nose that time.

"How'd you know?" Jason asked. Gabby lifted an eyebrow, unsure of what he was talking about. Silence stretched between them. When it was obvious she wasn't going to respond, Jason grasped her shoulders, pressing his fingertips into her collar bones. "I need you to tell me, Gabs. How'd you find out?"

Gabby squirmed under Jason's grasp. "Find out what?" She asked irritably.

She froze when Jason put his face close to hers. It was the most serious she'd ever seen him. His eyes burned like blazing coals in the darkness of her room. "How'd you know Polly was pregnant?"

A/N: And that's the end of the first arc of the story. The next arc is more about Gabby and Archie as well as other Riverdale characters but mostly focusing on Gabby and Archie. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know.

Cheers,

-Riley