Return to Riverdale

XX

"Jughead's awake, he's okay" 

Hearing the good news from FP nearly brings tears to my eyes. I see myself out from the house and take the truck over to the hospital to visit Jughead and FP. When I get there I ask a nurse to direct me to Jughead's room, and once I'm headed in the right direction I can see FP pacing outside of the room.  

"Hey," I greet, kissing him quickly as his hands wrap around my waist. "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, I uh... Hiram fired me from Pop's." FP sighs, avoiding my eyes. 

"He what? How could he do that?" 

With everything happening in Riverdale right now, and more importantly what's just happened to Jughead, how dare Hiram Lodge have to nerve to fire FP. 

"Hey," FP grabs my shoulders, noticing me silently fuming over the news. 

"I'm gonna go down there and give that asshole a piece of my mind!" I declare through gritted teeth. 

"Hey," FP repeats, gripping me tighter to keep me from leaving and causing a scene. "It's fine, I can find another job..." 

"No, FP that's such bullshit! What a- ugh I hate him!" 

"I know, Kim, most of us do, but he's a powerful guy and there isn't much we can do. He has people killed. I couldn't bear if that happened to you at my expense." He kisses my forehead and pulls me into his arms. 

I rest my head against FP's chest, listening to his heartbeat. He doesn't deserve everything Hiram is putting him through...That bastard makes my blood boil, and it's not fair that he gets away with controlling the town just because people are afraid of him. 

"I love you, FP, but he can't go around town doing anything he wants for any childish reason. If I an help it, he won't be able to anymore." 

Before FP can stop me, I pull away from him and head back down the hallway, ready to go to war with Hiram Lodge. 

"Kim!" I hear echo through the hall. "Kimberly!" 

Without a thorough plan, I head to the Cooper's. Betty will surely want to lend a hand, her and jug have been anti-Hiram since he came back to town, and with Jug in the hospital, she won't want to sit around doing nothing. 

"Kim?" Alice wonders, opening her front door. 

"Is Betty home?" 

"Uh- yes. Look, if you want to talk about that day in the trailer–" 

"No worries, Alice. I understand that this is a small town and a lot happened between FP's adolescence and now. I'm not mad or upset with you, at all. I'm so sorry you had to go through losing a child." I go to hug her and she wraps me in her arms, tightly. 

"Thank you, Kim." I feel tears soak into my shoulder. "You're a good fit for him." 

My face breaks out into a large smile at her words, heat rising to my cheeks. 

"Thanks, Alice. Now, I just have to help you get The Register back." 

"What do you mea-" 

"Betty!" I yell. 

"What, Mom?" She yells back, making me laugh. 

"Not, Mom. It's Kim, I need your help." I explain. She hops down the stairs and meets me by the front door. 

"What's up, is Jughead okay?" She worries, her eyes immediately gloss over with tears. 

"As far as I know, he's fine. But I need your help with something else..."

I grab her hand and pull her outside.

"Bye, Alice!" I call, waving, as I drag Betty down the steps. "Okay, I need your help to get rid of Hiram. he fired FP from Pop's without reason." 

"What? He... He can't do that, can he?" I shake my head, angry and bewildered. 

"I've no clue, but I'm putting a stop to this shit." I admit, getting into the driver's side of Dad's truck and waiting for Betty to get in the passenger's side. 

"Maybe we could talk to Veronica before we do anything?" Betty offers, buckling her seatbelt as I start the engine. 

"I guess..." That could be a first step, but I've hardly spoken to Veronica and I doubt she'd be okay with me going after her father.  

A sickening thought comes into my mind. 

"Could he be easily seduced?" 

We get to the Pembrooke, my hands shaking and my breathing shallow. Betty glances at me worriedly. 

"Don't worry, V is very understanding. I don't know how well she'll take to your plan, but with the history between her mom and Fred Andrews..." Before betty can say more, I kill the engine and hop out of the truck. 

Betty leads me through the lobby of the Pembrooke, greeting the guard and asking if Veronica is in. Once we get the go-ahead she leads me to the elevators and up to the Penthouse. For a family trying to "lay low" and hide (when they first returned to town) they sure found an extravagant hide out. 

"V?" Betty calls out as we get to their front door. 

There's no answer. Betty glances around before walking in and gesturing for me to follow. As I follow Betty's lead, I can't help gawking at the insanity of their home. I could never imagine living in such a nice home with such fancy, expensive things and so much excess wealth to spend at any point. The chandelier sparkles as the sunlight shifts, and I watch the marble fireplace flicker. 

"They left a fire going?" 

"Someone's home," Betty assures, leading me further through the Lodge residence. 

This might be a nice life, or fun to catch a glimpse of, but I'd hate to live this way. it'd be too far off from how I was raised and what I know. The Jones' trailer is much more comfortable, homey, and casual. 

"Hey, Betts!" Veronica greets,  emerging from what must be her bedroom. "And hello, Kim K." She laughs at her own joke, greeting me excitedly. I chuckle nervously. 

"I don't know about that...I'd say our names are the only thing her and I have in common..." I try, still admiring their obvious displays of wealth. 

"So," Betty starts after a few beats of silence. "Kim... Was thinking of trying to derail any heinous plans your dad has in motion." I choke on air at her phrasing. 

"Excellent idea, I have to say." Veronica nods, approvingly. "He's taken his obsessive need to have control over things to a whole new level. I'm completely against everything he's currently doing." I nod, trying to focus and take in her words. 

"Right, well, um–" 

"Could she seduce him? Y'know, distract him, find information, that sort of thing." Betty questions, not even trying to come off lightly. 

Veronica laughs lightly, almost inaudibly. 

"If you're willing to put yourself in that position, I say it's worth a shot." 

No doubt, I'm stunned by her answer. 

"He loves flattery, and there's no denying the fact that him and my mother aren't in love... You have my blessing." 

Veronica goes into detail on things I might be on the lookout for: plans for Pop's, the Whyte Wyrm, SoDale, her mother's mayoral race, and the newest development of whatever he has planned that involves the Blossom's thanks to Cheryl's snooping. 

"Wow..." I breathe, trying to work through how to find out so much so fast. 

The entire plan makes me sick, but if it'll help out everyone else and get FP his job back...