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AURORA AND BETTY WERE taking turns watching over their mother and shooing away the people that stood outside their door to take pictures of what once was the Black Hood's home. Jughead had given Aurora a call, asking her what was going on at the Whyte Wyrm. Aurora showed up outside of the building, pursing her lips as she walked over to Jughead, Sweet Pea and Toni. "Who told you?" Aurora asked, shoving her hand into her pocket to search for the spare key FP had given her.
"Toni. Open the door, Rory." Jughead commanded, making Aurora nod and turn to the door. She unlocked the door and opened it wide, letting her friends in first. Sweet Pea placed a hand on her back and motioned for her to go inside, him closing the door behind himself. Sweet Pea removed his jacket and placed it on Aurora's shoulders.
"I don't understand." Jughead spoke as he looked around at all the homeless Serpents. Some were eating canned food, some were handing out drinks and others were resting. "You saw what the Ghoulies did to most of Sunnyside." Toni told him. "A lot of Serpents couldn't afford to leave Riverdale. So we came here." Sweet Pea informed.
"Does my dad know about this?" Jughead asked.
—
LATER ON, AURORA SAT at home with Betty, Veronica and Archie. "You should come back to school, be with us." Archie told the two. Aurora sighed. She had wanted to go back to school. As much as she cared for her mother, she still needed to get her education. "No, how can I, you guys?" Betty asked.
"You can't carry this weight on your own." Veronica shook her head. Aurora looked down at her twiddling thumbs. "Veronica is right, Betty, Rory." Archie told them.
"Our dad killed Midge, he shot Moose. How am I supposed to show my face there again? Do you hate him for what he did to your dad? Because I do. I hate our father." Betty told her friends and sister. As Veronica pulled Betty into a hug, Archie wrapped his arms around Aurora.
—
AURORA HELD JUNIPER IN her arms. She tickled her stomach lightly, causing the baby to burst into a fit of screams and giggles. The small ball of sunshine was nothing like the rest of her family — minus Dagwood — she was pure, full of innocence, and still hadn't experience cruel things except for being born into the Cooper family. "What do you mean you haven't gone to visit Dad yet?" Polly asked, making Aurora glance up for a moment. Aurora lifted Juniper and rested the baby on her lap, still playing with her hands.
"We're taking things one step at a time, Polly." Betty told their older sister. "But if we don't go visit him, how are we supposed to be able to forgive him?" Polly asked.
