Mary Andrew was with her children at the dining table. She was drinking coffee while they ate cereal. "Archie, Abby the reason why I came…" She took a deep breath to give her courage to approach the subject.
"You came because of the divorce. Because I called Dad." Archie answered for her. Abby looks at her brother, not knowing that he did that.
"You know, I thought that Riverdale would be better for you guys than Chicago. It would be safer…" She told them. Despite what her youngest thought, the hardest thing she ever did was leaving them behind.
"It's okay, Mom. Really, I'm okay. And I mean, it hasn't been all bad. My friends are amazing. Dad and I are closer than ever right now. And also…" If he left Riverdale he might have never found his passion.
"You've been singing." Molly filled in the blanks.
"Songwriting, yeah. And singing." Archie nods with a smile on his face.
"And your dad tells me that you're great. I hope you'll play me some songs before I go." Molly smiled.
"Yeah, for sure. I'm playing at the dance. So, if you want to see me play live…" He offers. She chuckles as she nodded that she would be there.
"How about you?" She looked over at her daughter.
"I don't sing." Abby gave a snarky reply.
"No, the new passion in your life. Your dad tells me you have a boyfriend." She nudged her with her elbow.
"Oh god." She groans.
"What, I'm not asking for intimate details." She giggled at her daughter cringing.
"Please, don't." Archie shook his head.
"Will I be seeing him at the homecoming dance?" She asked.
"No. He goes to Southside High and dances aren't really his thing." She stirred her cereal.
"But, you love dances." Archie never knew his sister to miss a school dance.
"I'm going." She was planning to go with Tomoko since Trev was taking Ethel as a friend. Or at least he said that it was as friends.
"Have you asked him?" Mary wonders.
"No, but..." She was going to explain that she didn't want him to feel pressured into doing something he didn't want to do.
"Then ask him. If he says no, then you can drop it and go with Trev and Tomoko." Mary went on to give her some advice when she saw the hesitation on Abby's face. "You don't want him to find out that you went without even asking him. He's going to think that you're ashamed of him."
Abby said something to her mom that she hadn't in two years. "You're right. Thanks for the advice." She got up to wash her bowl leaving behind two stunned family members.
"Hello my red fox, I just wanted to let you know that Polly and I are going to run for Homecoming Queens, vote for us." Cheryl leans on the locker next to Abby's.
"Are you going to pretend that you didn't show up to my house uninvited with half the school, trash the place, ruin Jughead's birthday, and try to reveal everyone nasty secret?" She glares at Cheryl.
"Why didn't you invite me?" She pouts.
"Did you ever take anyone else feeling into consideration? Did you take me, who you keep saying is your best friend, into consideration when you were patronizing my brother for having mommy issues?" She slammed her locker shut.
"I'm sorry, but Veronica took my head vixen title and I was bitter about my family's dirty laundry being out for everyone to read." She looks at the ground.
"A sorry with a but in it is an excuse." Abby tried to walk away but Cheryl grabbed her arm.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think about you at all. I didn't think about your house getting trash or how you would feel seeing your brother being hurt. It was a shitty thing to do. I guess I'm not used to having to think about how my actions affect my friends. With Ginger and Tina, I can say or do whatever they don't care, as long as I'm buying their wardrobes." She owns up to it. "I promised to do better."
"I'll be looking forward to seeing you and Polly getting crowned at the dance." She smiled at Cheryl, who beamed at her for forgiving her.
Sweet Pea and Abby were sitting on a blanket behind his trailer. They just finished their tutoring session with Fangs. "So, Riverdale Homecoming is coming up? I was wondering if you want to go. If you don't want to, that's fine, I can always go with Tomoko." She added the last sentence when she saw his conflicted face.
"I'll go." He sighs.
"You sure? You don't have to. I don't want to drag you to all these Northside events, knowing you'll be miserable." She looks over his blank face with a frown.
"You do all my things without complaining." He shrugs.
"I have fun at those." She is always smiling when she attends an event at the bar.
"You had fun putting flooring into my trailer or bathing hotdog." He pointed at the dog that was for once calm in her lap.
"Those were tasks, but I wasn't miserable." She ran her fingers through the sheepdog fur.
"I wasn't miserable at the variety show or dinner with your family. I had fun." He got a good laugh at the odd act at the variety show and hearing stories from her childhood at the dinner.
"I'm happy, I asked you. I wasn't going to. I felt like it would be too triggering for you to go to a Riverdale High dance. They're over the top and I was scared you would end up resenting me." She admits the main reason she wasn't going to invite him.
"You overthink shit too much." He leaned over to give her a peck. "So, why did you end up asking?"
"My mom told me I should." She told him.
"Your mom?" He asks, knowing they had a rough relationship.
"She came to town because Archie drunk dial dad begging him to not get a divorce." She explains.
"How is that going?" He reached over to pet Hot Dog.
"She's different." She put it simply.
"What does that mean?" He squints at her.
"Normally, she puts on a happy act like she has it all together and life is so great. But, the smile never reached her eyes. Yesterday her smile reached her eyes. She did her normal gushing over Archie, but she didn't walk on eggshells around me. She approached me with a warm smile. She actually laughed when I was being snarky instead of shutting down." She leaned against him.
"I think you should give her a chance." He said, making Abby turn sharply to look at him. "My relationship with my mom wasn't the best when she passed. She was drinking her days away and I was spending all the time I could away from home. More than anything I wished I could have repaired our relationship. Maybe she would still be alive if I did. I didn't want you to be like me and look back on your mom with regret." He rubs the small of her back.
"A face like that, rough charm, and wisdom. You really don't make it fair for other men." She smiled. She knew he didn't like dwelling on the past, so she wouldn't let him.
"Good, don't need no one taking you away…. Oh, and you forgot a fantastic lover on your list." He nips at her neck.
"Hey," Abby walks into the house.
"We're in here," Mary called out. She followed her mother's voice to the kitchen. Everyone who was staying in the house was there. "So, who's going to the dance? Besides your dad and me... Oh, and Hermione, whom I invited."
"You did?" Fred narrows his eyes at her.
"We'll talk about it." She side-eyes him.
"Wait, you guys are going to the dance? Together?" Archie looked between his parents.
"We were talking about it. We both want to hear you play if that's still happening. If you're good with it." Fred went to stand next to his wife.
The teens share a look, after getting a nod from Jughead and a shrug from his sister, Archie turns to his parents. "Yeah, totally. I'm great with it." He smiles.
"Good." Mary smiled.
Abby was happy that they were actually getting along. Normally, watching them together was painful. It was filled with awkward tension of them pretending everything was fine when there was hidden hostility on both ends. She didn't know what happened in Chicago, but she was glad that it did.
Once again, Abby was the last to get picked up for the dance. She didn't have to wait long for the knock on the door. She opens it up making Sweet Pea gasp, never seeing her in a formal dress before. She was wearing a blush glitter spaghetti strap maxi dress. There was a high thigh slit on the left side and a deep sweetheart neckline. She had on silver hoop earrings, white ankle strapped heels, and a pink clutch. Her mom did her make up a light pink and put her hair up in a complicated updo that had curls and braids. When her mom explained it to her, she thought it would look like a mess, but it came out beautiful.
"The thought of you wearing this dress without me breaks my heart. I might have to spank you after the dance for it." He winks.
She giggles as she closes the door. "You look very sharp tonight." He was wearing a black button-up with a black tie and slacks. "The tie makes me want to tug you around." She grabbed his tie to pull him into a kiss.
Sweet Pea pulls away, cursing his tease of a girlfriend. "Women, don't make me have to meet your mother with a boner. That's the start of a porno, you don't want to be part of."
"What the clueless girlfriend who makes like she can't hear the loud sex her boyfriend and mother are having right behind her." She rolls her eyes as she walks to the truck.
"You watch porn." He shouted as he ran after her. She turned around to hush him, not knowing if Alice Cooper went to the dance yet. That woman would have the whole town thinking she was a sex addict. He crackled at her panic expression as they got into the truck, where he asked her a series of questions about the porn she watches.
Abby led him to the gym. Sweet Pea looked around, it was impressive with the DJ, decorations, and food selection. He had to swallow his bitterness at the fact that more money went into this dance than funding for any after school program at Southside. "Hey, guys," Tomoko, Ethel, and Trev approach them.
"Hi," Abby smiled. Sweet Pea gave a head nod.
"Who this?" Ethel looks up at him through her lashes in a shy manner more than seductive.
"This is Sweet Pea, my boyfriend. Babe, this is Ethel, our friend, and Trev's date." She introduced them.
"Hey." He said to the girl before turning to Abby. "Can we get drinks?"
"Be warned, the left one is spiked." Tomoko saws the jocks surrounding it earlier.
"Left one it is then." Sweet Pea with an arm around Abby's waist walks over to the punch bowls. He filled up two cups from the left bowl.
Cheryl walks over to the table to make herself a drink. "Hey Abby, Abby's boyfriend." She spat out the word boyfriend.
"Pleasure seeing you again Abby's supposed friend." Sweet Pea shot back sarcastically.
"You look lovely, Cheryl." Abby broke up the glaring match.
"Thank you, you look stunning. The way the light reflects off the glitter is breathtaking." She looks Abby up and down just to irritate him. Sweet Pea tightens his grips on her hip.
"You really have a way with words." Abby laughs.
"Cheryl?" Betty walks over to them.
"Hey." She looks over at the blonde.
"Where's Polly?" She asked.
"She's fine. She had a sugar-crash and canceled at the last minute, leaving me high and dry, which is why I'm never doing anything nice for anyone ever again. Excuse me." She puts her drink down and walks away.
"What was that?" Betty stared at Cheryl's back.
"You know, Cheryl. She can be dramatic. One time I didn't notice her in the hall, so I didn't wave back. She stuffed a three-page letter into my locker about how rude it is to not tell someone why you're upset with them. You don't have to worry, Cheryl will have fun tonight and forgive Polly in the morning." She assured the worried blonde.
"One can never be too sure with Cheryl Blossom." Betty kept her eyes on the girl. "Excuse me, I have to make sure the homecoming is on track." She walks away.
"What the fuck?" Sweet Pea was confused by many things said in that conversation.
"That's Betty. She is in charge of the dance committee." She explained.
"No, I got that. She wrote you a three-page letter." He made his eyebrows meet.
"Yeah, and it took me two hours with milkshakes at Pops to convince her that I didn't see her and wasn't upset with her." She told him.
"I would have said it once and if she didn't believe me I would have told her to fuck off." He rolled his eyes at his patient girlfriend.
"Well, underneath that beauty is an insecure girl with a lot of issues. If you meet her parents you'll understand." She sips her spiked punch.
"I'll pass." He chugs his punch when he sees Fred Andrews approaching them with two beautiful women. The one with red hair, obviously being Mary Andrews.
"Hi, I'm Mary Andrews. Abby's mom. You must be Sweet Pea. I've heard a lot about you from Fred and Archie." She introduced herself to him.
"Not from Abby." He looks down at his girlfriend.
"She gets flustered every time I ask." Mary giggles.
"Oh, babe." He pinches her cheek.
"I'm Hermoine, Veronica's mom." She smiled at him.
"Who?" He asked.
"Veronica, she was at Jughead's party. She was the brunette sitting next to Archie." She reminds him.
"Oh, yeah." He nods his head.
"Sorry, he goes to Southside High. He only met her that one time." She explains.
"It's fine." Hermoine waved it off.
"Friends, students, and alumni. I hope you brought your dancing shoes. Please join me in welcoming to the stage Riverdale High's very own Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge!" Mayor McCoy announces to the crowd. The adults whistled and cheered for their children being on the stand.
"The mayor comes to your dances." Sweet Pea whispers to Abby.
"She goes to all these things. Helps her look like she is involved with the community and she can keep an eye on her daughter." She whispers. He glares at the Mayor who was largely at fault for the disproportionate funds.
Archie and Veronica did a cover of We're Kids in America. The light went dark with only the spotlights glowing. People cheered when Archie spun his guitar around him.
Sweet Pea was slow dancing with Abby. "How was your night?" She looks up at him.
"It wasn't as fun as kicking your ass at pool, but it was enjoyable. Especially when I found out you're not able to talk about me without getting flustered." He teases.
"Shut up." She hid her blushing face in his shoulder.
"Hey, Joaquin here." Sweet Pea noticed his friend walking up to them.
"Hey." Joaquin stopped in front of the couple. "I just overheard the parents talking, FP been arrest for Jason Blossom murder."
"What?" Sweet Pea dropped his arms to his side.
"No." Abby shook her head as tears filled her eyes.
"Shit, babe." He pulls her close.
"He didn't. He wouldn't. They're using him as a scope goat." She shook in his arms.
"You're right. Damn cops." Sweet mutters to her, but when his eyes met Joaquin's, he knew that FP wasn't completely innocent.
"Hey," Mary went into her daughter's room and sat down at the foot of her bed.
"Hi," Abby sniffed, hugging her pillow as she leaned back against her headboard.
"I know, this is hard for you. You and FP used to be so close." She put her hand on her daughter's shaking knee.
"He didn't do it." She told her mother.
"Abby, they found the gun." She didn't want to get stuck in denial.
"So what, they knew what model the gun was. The cops or someone could have planted it." She argues.
"You think Sheriff Keller would do that?" She asked.
"I think people do desperate things when their livelihood is on the line." She didn't know the Sheriff, she knew FP.
"Look, I think maybe it would be better if you got away from this for a little while," Mary told her.
"What?" Abby tilts her head.
"Maybe you could come live with me. I got a good position at my law firm and I have a spare bedroom. Or we could move to a bigger place if your brother decided to come with us. Riverdale seems to be headed down a dangerous path and I didn't want you caught in the crossfires." She explains.
"Thank you for the offer, mom. You have no idea how much that means to me. But, I have a life here." She interrupted her mom when she opened her mouth. "I'm not talking about Sweet Pea. I have the tutoring program, childhood friends, Archie, and dad. I couldn't leave all that behind, even if Chicago might be safer right now. Besides, nothing in life is 100 percent foolproof." She reached over to give her mom a hug.