Cherry (Blossom) On Top

21 - summer vacation

The weeks pass by. Hot Dog is a part of our family now. I am actually really excited, because we all will move in with Alice and Betty, since Hal and her are divorced and Polly has already left for college because she wanted to use summer vacation to get used to the city where her college is. I'm taking her room, Jug will stay with Betty (no clue how they even allowed that), JB has her own small room at the end of the hallway and Dad will stay with Alice. Caleb isn't even in Riverdale anymore. He left without telling anyone anything.

We are in the middle of our summer vacation and as the nights got longer, we stayed up longer. We come back home in the middle of the night and sleep till noon. That's our circle of life at the moment.

The killer of Jason hasn't been found and Cheryl hasn't left my side ever since. I feel bad for her, every time her cruel mother forces her to come back to Thistlehouse.
It's been about a month since he got murdered and no one has died by murder ever since. Just the peace before the storm?

All in all everything went by pretty smoothly the last few weeks and somehow Cheryl found a sense in life again. Apparently it's me - that's what everyone says. She herself hasn't said anything about it, but she is is a lot more open up and she is smiling more often. I really enjoy being with her and she is the best lover I've had so far - not, that anyone would want to date me on the Southside but the few hookups were just awful.

Right now I am waiting for her in a booth in the back of Pops diner, two cherry milkshakes in front of me, the seat on the opposite empty. Cheryl herself is talking to Betty who walked up to our table earlier, having secret but important news for her. By the way Jughead has been sitting in a booth a bit closer to the door I guess he knows as much as I do - nothing. Hopefully they'll tell us since we are kind of a family with our family living with the Cooper girls.
After some time Cheryl comes back and sits down on the seat with a happy expression.

„Do you wanna tell me what was so important that Jug and I had to wait for so long?" I ask with a small smile and she nods, pulling me closer to the table. „I am going to be an auntie!!" She whispers.
I have to admit I was expecting anything but that. „Auntie? Is Polly pregnant?" I ask excitedly and Cheryl nods again.
„She found out a few weeks ago and now she told Alice about the genders."
„Wait wait wait, genders? As in Plural? As in twins?" I ask again and Cheryl chuckles. „Yes, Toni, twins. A boy and a girl. Apparently their names are Juniper and Dagwood" she explains. I make a face at that. Who names their kids Juniper and Dagwood? Weird names. But as weird as their names are, I am still sorry for the little ones. They'll never have the opportunity to meet their father.

After milkshakes at Pops we agreed to head back to the Cooper house with Juggie and Betts so we all got on or in our vehicles and drove back. Cheryl red Thunderbird caught attention on the streets, but not that anyone didn't know that it's Cheryls. As she parked the car in our driveway Jughead and Betty already waited for us in front of the door. The blonde opens it and we all step in. „Hii we're back!" I yell and HotDog immediately runs down the stairs to greet us. I pet her for a few seconds and go then into the living room with Cheryl while Jug and Betty go to their room.

Seems like Al, Dad and JB aren't here so I grab the remote and turn on the TV. Cheryl cuddles next to me and I decide to put a soppy movie on. Then I pull the couch out to a bed and lay down, having Cheryls head on my chest. We've watched for like thirty minutes as I notice that Cheryl is getting sleepy. I smile, place a kiss on her  forehead and let her sleep. I continue the movie, but find myself sleepy only a few minutes later. I turn off the TV, wrap my arms around my girlfriend and close my eyes, drifting to sleep peacefully.

I opened my eyes and looked into nothing. It was just plain black. I had no clue where I was or what that even was, but I was aware that it meant nothing good. I walked around a bit, my steps echoed loudly. Suddenly a cold hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, but when I turned around I didn't see anything. There was no one or nothing. But then I heard a metallic click and felt the cold metal of a gun on my neck. It lasted for about two second, then it was gone. I turned around, looking into nothing, but I heard the gunshot it was to late for me. The bullet hit my shoulder and I staggered backwards. I fell down and hit the hard ground, feeling the blood flooding out of my body.

I let out a high pitched scream and sit up. I am alone on the couch. Cheryl is gone. Is this real? Am I alive? I look around and hear quick steps coming towards my position. A few seconds later everyone is in the living room. Betty, Jug, Jellybean, Alice, Dad and Cheryl. They are standing around the sofa looking at me with a worried expression while I sat there sweaty, shaking, with widened eyes and tears streaming down my face. Dad is the first one to sit next to me, pulling me in a warm hug. „Shhh honey, honey. Calm down. Nothing happened." He whispers, trying to calm me down.

I sniff and wipe away my tears, getting out of the hug and taking off the left side of my shirt to look at my shoulder. No hole, no scar, no blood and no bullet. I let out a relieved sigh and put my shirt back on. „What was that about?" Betty asks softly and I look up at her, staying quiet. The nightmare gave me a strange feeling, I just couldn't figure out what it is. I decide to stay quiet and not to tell anyone anything about the nightmare.

Dad looks at Cheryl who shrugs her shoulders in concern. She puts down her cup of coffee and sits down on the couch, pulling me on her lap and stroking my hair softly. It definitely calms me down and within seconds I'm asleep again.