CHAPTER 1;

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CHAPTER 1:

You know, it's just like a funeral

To say goodbye again


He still wakes up in the same bed, under the same roof. The pictures of every memory are still framed on his nightstand and desk. He's not sure if it hurts more to see her or to not see her face. His life is longer now- dragged out, as if every moment he has to spend without her by his side has doubled in time.


The truth is that he hasn't been the same for the past 7 months, no matter how much he tells Betty and Jughead he's moved on. Because his entire heart is in New York, after leaving him on the front porch with nothing but an "I'm always going to love you." and the cape she wore on their first meeting. A part of him knows it was hard on her, but he wonders if she still thinks of him.


He thinks of her every-waking moment. The dreams he had of them running away to forever, the ones where they were happy and no one could stop them. His mind is filled to the brim with memories of stolen moments and glances- dinners with her parents or Pop's with Betty and Jughead, where the pair needed only one look and they could communicate.The red head is pulled out of his thoughts by the buzz of his phone, and he rolls over to check it. His screen is bright in the faint evening light as he squints to read it. A piece of his heart always wishes he would see her name pop up on his screen above the background of her that he refuses to change.


But he blocked her number months ago, and it's only Jug saying "Betty and I are at Pop's, incase you're hungry." Archie Andrews never passes up a chance for food, so he slips on his shoes and jacket and hops down his stairs.


As most eighteen year old boys, his truck is messy and the dashboard is filled with papers and receipts among other trash. The polaroid of her that used to be taped to his mirror also lays scattered in the pile of mess, yet another reminder of how he can't seem to completely let her go. The radio floods his truck and he lets himself get lost in a Fleetwood Mac CD.


-

The diner has and will always be his safe place, somewhere that even though he went with her, he doesn't have to hurt. He feels her here, but in good ways and in ways that make him miss her love. Before he finds Betty and Jughead, he goes to the restroom. As routine, he waves at Pop and walks to the usual booth in the back.

He sees the beanie and the ponytail before he reaches their table, and turns the corner when his breath is knocked out of him. She's here- maybe, or he's just seeing things.


But no, he isn't. There's Veronica Lodge in the very diner he met her in and she's smiling in her quaint way sipping on a chocolate milkshake. He doesn't remember her being this beautiful, doesn't remember his heart beating this fast even though it always has around this girl. Betty and Jughead are laughing, and she laughs too, with a genuine ring to it.


Something that had faded out of her before she left. Not only did they watch her leave, they watched her break down. It was a slow decline- like all of the light was being sucked out of her by some outside force. That's what it felt like to her too.


Being back in this booth made her feel a rush to every sense that she missed. She'd missed Betty, and Jug even and was grateful when they replied to her reaching out. Her heart broke however at the 27 texts and the equal amount, if not more, calls she placed for Archie.

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