The Damaged -RIVERDALE-DISCONTINUED

TWENTY THREE

"Why did you invite me tonight? Why not Tina, or Ginger? Aren't they your besties?" Veronica asked.
"And yet, that night at the pep rally, after I had my panic attack, you helped me. Not them," Cheryl said, admitting that the two girls that seemed to worship her were not as good friends as everyone thought them to be.
Veronica sighed, knowing her next words were not something to be joked about.
"Cheryl," she started, "you're allowed to say goodbye to your brother, but why does it have to be..."
"In front of people?" The Blossom guessed.
"Yeah."
"Everything with Jason has just been so...public. Everyone has an opinion, has been gossiping. Saying that he got what he deserved, or didn't. I just-I want everyone to know that I'm...I'm sorry. And that Jason deserved a...a better family than what he got." Cheryl stuttered, tears welling up.
"Then do it. I'll help you. And let Clifford and Penelope do their worst," the teenage Lodge encouraged.
"Oh, they will. They'll kill me."

The next morning Jason's memorial was minutes from starting and neither Madelyn nor Cheryl had made an appearance yet.
Veronica had left the Blossom twin add the finishing touches to her all black ensemble and was now seated with her friends, and as the minutes ticked by and it grew closer to the scheduled start she grew more worried.
Cheryl had informed Manic of their plan last night, and the Jones twin was all for it, but Veronica didn't miss the worried looks the two redheads had. She was worried that Cheryl wouldn't go through with the plan, but she was also worried that the grieving sister and grieving girlfriend would not show up at all.
But what she didn't expect was for the two fiery girls to show up not in black but instead white.
The appearance of the two beauties ignited a murmur of whispers to crawl about the crowd.
"Oh, my god."
"Yes."
The two walked up to the podium in front of Jason's coffin with purpose.
Madelyn and Cheryl stood side by side, looking like angels from heaven, and addressed the crowd.
"Welcome to Thornhill," Cheryl started, the girl next to her taking over next.
"Thank you all for coming. If you'll kindly take your seats, we'd like to start off the memorial with a few words about Jason." Everyone could hear the strain in the heartbroken girls voice as she spoke the name of her deceased love, pitying the young teen immensely.
As the crowd sat, the pair moved behind the cherrywood podium.
"The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress. I know it's impossible but, when I put it on I...I swear it feels like he's in the room with me," Cheryl said with a timid smile.
"Even though we were twins, I used to demand I had my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them. It wasn't till years later, I found out why," Cheryl's voice wavered, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke, "it was because no one wanted to come to mine, and Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me, every single day. I wish, that day at the river, I had protected him." She was now full on crying, the serpent next to her trying to keep a strong front up but failing as well. With that Cheryl moved back slightly, allowing the girl her brother had left behind to take the stand.
Manic moved up slowly, her strong demeanor slowly breaking down. Cheryl grabbed onto her hand and held it tightly, hoping to give the girl some support.
"I met Jason before summer started. He needed a favor, and I couldn't help but think 'what an idiot' because who would ever come to someone like me for a favor. People had always told me that I wasn't trustworthy, and that I was the last person you should trust because I'll be the first to stab you in the back. And they aren't wrong. Usually I wouldn't even consider helping anyone if I didn't get something in return, but...something about him, about the way he acted, it just felt like I had to help him. He seemed frantic, maybe even scared, and when I said I'd help him you could just see that this weight had been lifted off him," Manic spoke, her love for the dead teen clear to all present, "and for some reason I was happy, happy that I had been the one to lift this dead weight off of him. I think that was the first time I realized that I could totally fall for him. The first time I stayed the night at his house was when I got into this fight, and it felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. I had told him that I just didn't feel like going home, that my dad had friends over. He didn't know I was lying. My father had called me that night, drunk off his ass, and basically told me not to come home because he hated me. And on top of that, I was arguing with the only other person in my life at the time that I could have turned to." Madelyn sniffled, wiping away her tears before continuing.
"Jason had somehow managed to turn my entire life around in a matter of weeks, and I hope I did the same, because god knows how much I loved him, how much I still love him."
Manic paused again, fighting back sobs as she prepared herself to keep speaking.
"Jason...Jason hated this town almost as much as me. He always talked about how he wanted to get out, to find something more for himself. And I guess, in a way, he did." Manic broke down at these words, stumbling into Cheryl's hold as the two turned to face Jason's coffin. Both laid their hands on it, crying as they realized this was the last time they'd ever be this close to their brother and boyfriend.
"I'm so sorry, Jay-jay," Cheryl cried out, "we failed you, all of us." Veronica had hopped out of her seat and rushed over to the two sobbing redheads, holding onto them comfortingly as Mrs. Blossom stood and directed the guests into the Salon, for the light dinner they had planned, in hopes of bringing the attention away from her daughter and would-be-daughter-in-law.