Riverdale: The Andrews Brothers

Chapter Two: Part One

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...