FIRE AND ICE , c. blossom

chapter nineteen

"ronnie, the southside is where the powers-at-be want me. i belong here. and maybe i wanna be here aswell... i mean, i might blend in better here."

"well, believe what you will, but i'm not letting you get split up from us. i don't go down without a fight." she assured.

the jones girl chuckled. "whatever, v."
she pulled out her phone, which chimed, notifying her that she had a message. "thanks for trying, i'm going to be with jason now??" she read cheryl's text message aloud. "what the fuck? where would cheryl go to be with jason?!"

"sweetwater river!"

"oh shit— we have to go!"

~♛~

"cheryl!" they shouted, stomping through the snow, trying to run as fast as they could towards the frozen-over sweetwater river. "cheryl!"

"she's not here!" archie panted, as they reached the edge of the river, gazing out at the horizon.

"over there!" betty pointed.

"oh my god—"

"she's over there!"

"cheryl!" they all yelled. "cheryl!"

"cheryl! stop— what are you doing!" jughead yelled, as they could see her swinging her arms, up and down, seemingly trying to break the ice.

gracie gasped. "cheryl!" she tried to run towards her on the ice but archie pulled her back.

"the ice. too much weight and we'll all go under!"

"cheryl! cheryl, please!" veronica hollered.

the red-headed girl turned around to face them, and gracie could barely make out her facial expression. "cheryl! just come to the shore and we'll figure this out together, okay?" she called out.

suddenly, there was a cracking sound, and cheryl fell through the ice, plunging into the deadly water below.

"no!" gracie yelled, no longer caring whether she fell through or not. she sprinted across the ice, rushing towards the hole where cheryl had fell as fast as she could. "cheryl!"

the brunette swept up snow with her feet, and got to her knees by the hole, trying to wipe her eyes of the tears that were blurring her vision.

"oh god, the current's got her!" jughead yelled, when they couldn't see her. "spread out! spread out!"

gracie began to crawl across the surface, kicking up even more snow and trying to peer through it, until she saw a pale arm floating up under the thick sheet of ice.
"she's here!" the latter cried, wiping her nose and beginning to punch into the ice.

"gracie, be careful!" veronica warned.

"help!" jughead shouted, looking around for anyone who could be nearby.

archie got down on his knees next to the brunette, joining her in her fight.

"somebody help!"

gracie grunted, their attempts at breaking the ice bringing more damage to them than it, and withdrawing blood from the pair's knuckles.

"i'm going in—" gracie managed to say through her dry throat.

"grace, no!—" her brother tried to pull her back.

she took a deep breath, before submerging into the freezing cold water, her senses completely tightened by the temperature of the icy depths. she peeled her eyes open, reaching bee arms out to grab cheryl and pull her up.

once her head reached the surface again, she exhaled sharply, having nearly lost all bee breath. her friends pulled them out of the hole and archie helped listen for cheryl's pulse.

"do mouth to mouth!" gracie urged— she had no idea how to perform it and it was a race against time. "hurry, arch!"

"somebody help, please!" the teens all repeatedly wailed, desperately calling for assistance while archie helped to bring the life back to the blossom girl.

upon hearing a splutter, gracie looked down to see cheryl cough up some water from her mouth. she smiled in relief, crouching over her. "cheryl..." she patted archie's back, thankful for him knowing cpr.

the girl squeezed some of the water out of her now-drenched clothes, trying to lighten them up a bit.

"we need to get her acros the ice." archie panted, and gracie nodded, reaching to help lift her up.

~♛~

the jones girl sat next to cheryl, in front of the pembrooke's fire, a warm towel around them both.

"thank god, you're okay." she whispered, still shaken up and shivering. "i don't know what i would've done if you'd—" she swallowed, as if taking down a bitter medicine. "i just want to let you know that, i'm always here for you, okay? i mean, anytime. if you want to talk, or... just anything you want."

"—i can only thank you." cheryl breathed. "and archie, of course. you saved my life. and look at your poor hands..." she took gracie's bandage-covered ones in hers. "after everything i've done to you... after how rude and petty i've been. and you still stuck around." she sighed. "if it wasn't for you, i'd be added to the list of blossom departures in these past few months."

gracie shook her head, not even wanting to imagine the thought. "of course i saved you." she shrugged, tracing patterns on cheryl's palm with her thumb. "i- i lo—"

"—hot chocolate?" veronica offered, holding up a mug, with the sweet scent of cocoa drifting from the rim. "with a little splash of peppermint liqueur." she smiled, handing it to cheryl.

"thank you." cheryl whispered.

"you warm enough?—"

"—what are they doing here?" hermione lodge asked, walking into the room, and looking at the two girl's with annoyance.

veronica rolled her eyes. "cheryl got in an accident, mom." she whispered. "and she needed help. so, we brought her here."

"i'll just warm up and go home." cheryl assured.

"fine, ronnie." hermione sighed. "let's go, i'll give you a ride to the jubilee."

"i've already got one with archie, lady macbeth." veronica remarked.

~♛~