Author's Note: Riverdale, it's plot, cast and characters do not belong to me. Only Diana and Daniel Kennedy do. Everyone is 16 and starting their Junior year in this story.
PS. Please fave and/or review each chapter. Positive feedback and suggestions and ideas are always welcome
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Every town has one. The spooky house that all the kids avoid. Ours was Thornhill, the Blossom family's mansion, with its very own graveyard.
And trapped within its walls like some gothic heroine was Cheryl Blossom. Still grieving for her beloved brother, Jason.
Linked in death even as they were in life.
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(WITH CHERYL)
She sat up from Jason's bed gasping as she had a nightmare that he had turned into a zombie and choked her. She looked to her right and saw her mother standing by the door.
"I told you, Cheryl. No more sleeping in Jason's bed." Penelope Blossom said as she entered the bedroom.
"I... I was working on the eulogy. For Jay-Jay." Cheryl tried telling her mom.
"Don't bother. You won't be speaking at his memorial. God knows what you'd say. Something to humiliate us?" She said as she picked up the piece of paper that Cheryl had written her eulogy on.
"No." Her mom continued, crumpling up the paper after glancing at it.
Cheryl didn't say anything and just stared at her mom. Just then, her phone lit up and vibrated, signaling a message. Her mom looked down and saw her wallpaper. A picture of Diana, Nate and Cheryl. Diana was holding Nate, letting him face Cheryl and Cheryl was doing a funny face, making him laugh. Penelope picked up the phone.
"Is this..." She trailed off, staring at the baby who had a tiny tuft of red hair on his head.
Cheryl gulped as she looked at her mom.
(WITH ARCHIE || ANDREWS RESIDENCE)
He was working on a punching bag and Diana was in his bed, writing, when his dad came in.
"Hey, Rocky. Hey, Diana."
"Hey."
"Hey, Mr. Andrews."
"You know, I never thought I'd say that I miss you playing guitar, but..."
"Ah. Sorry, Dad. Just trying to get back in fighting shape for the field."
"I don't know why he feels like he's out of shape, I mean look at him." Diana stated as she trailed her eyes over Archie's shirtless form.
"So, this is all for football?"
"Coach Clayton's about to set the starting line-up, name a new captain. It's like you said. Football gets me a scholarship, which gets me to college, where I can study music. Captains get scholarships." Archie told him as he started working on the bag again.
"I'm just here to support whatever he wants to do." Diana said with a shrug.
Fred just nodded at the 2 teens before leaving the room. Diana went back to writing song lyrics in her notebook when her phone lit up with a text. She picked it up to read it.
Fr: Cher-bear
Mom knows about Nathaniel Jason. She wants to speak with you soon. I'm so sorry, Di.
Diana cursed loudly which caught Archie's attention. He stopped boxing and looked at her worriedly.
"What's wrong?"
"Penelope Blossom knows about Nate."
"Oh Shit."
---------- TIMESKIP (THE NEXT DAY || RIVERDALE HIGH) ----------
Betty, Jughead, Diana and Kevin were in the Blue and Gold newsroom, trying to assemble a copy of Sheriff Keller's murder board.
"This is how my dad had his Jason Blossom murder board before it was trashed." Kevin told them as they all stared at it except for Diana who seemed distracted.
"Any leads on who did that? Or what they were looking for?" Jughead asked him.
"Nope. No fingerprints. But they stole a bunch of files, background checks, and all the video and audiotapes of police interviews." Kevin answered
Just then, the door opened and Trev popped in.
"Hey, Betty." He greeted.
"Trev, hi!" Betty greeted back cheerfully.
"Sorry to interrupt..."
"Oh, no... Uh, it's okay. We're just, uh, working on..." Betty struggled to explain.
"Our murder board." Jughead supplied a bit of sass.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure we're still on for tomorrow?" Trev asked.
"Absolutely, it's a date. I mean, I'll see you there. Bye." Betty finished awkwardly.
"So, I'll see you. Bye." Trev said, walking towards the door.
"So... Bye." Everyone, even Diana, was looking at Betty now.
"Going on a date with Trev?" Diana teasingly asked.
"Does Mama Cooper know about that?" Kevin continued.
"Kev, I'm not on house arrest. Okay, she's out of town at a Women in Journalism spa retreat." Betty admitted.
"Anyway. It's not a "date" date." She continued.
"You just called it a date. You literally said, "It's a date."" Jughead said, a little jealousy showing.
"Awee, is Juggy jealous?" Diana teased.
"No. Shut up, Diana." Jughead retorted which made Diana pout.
"That's just my cover. Really, it's an intelligence gathering mission. We should focus on the one thing we have access to that your dad doesn't. The kids at Riverdale High. You know, maybe Trev knows something about Jason he didn't think was important." Betty pointed out.
---------- TIMESKIP (LATER THAT DAY || SCHOOL BLEACHERS) ----------
Veronica, Daniel, Betty, Jughead, and Kevin were headed towards Archie and Diana in the bleachers.
"Betty, you're positively radiating Nicholas Sparks. Tell me everything about this Trev." Veronica asked as they reached the duo and found places to sit in.
"Oh, there's nothing to tell. Just one of Betty's sources, there's nothing romantic in the offing." Kevin sarcastically said.
"Why is everything weird here? Why can't a date just be a date?" Veronica wondered as she sat between Daniel's legs which were on either side of the bleacher and leaned against him and fed him some of her fries.
"Because it's a small town, Ronnie and who you're dating is important because there's kind of a big chance that you'll end up together in the future, I guess?" Diana answered as she sat on the row above Archie and leaned over to start massaging his shoulders.
"What about you, Archie? How's life in a Kennedy world?" Veronica teased.
"You're one to talk. You're literally dating the other Kennedy." Betty told her.
"Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain. So, I'm not thinking about anything else right now. Except for Di and Nate." Archie answered which made Diana blush.
"I'm rooting for you against Reggie, bro." Daniel said as he held out a fist and fist-bumped Archie.
"Wait. Didn't you say, Coach Clayton was also looking at you to be Captain?" Jughead asked Daniel.
"Well, if it's for me then it is, but I don't wanna really think about it. Being captain would take up too much of my time; time I could use to take this little lady out." Daniel said with a grin as he tickled Ronnie's sides, which earned a laugh from her, and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm trying to get my life on track and I think being captain is one way to do it." Archie just stated.
A few seconds later, Valerie, Trev's sister and a member of the Pussycats approached them.
"I can help with that. I know you're working on your music, and there's this amazing songwriter from New York, who's an adjunct at Carson College. Incredible mentor. He does some coaching on the side and I told him about you. You wanna meet him?" She offered, looking at Archie.
"Yeah, yeah I'd love to, but football...." Archie tried to say but was cut off by Betty.
"No, Archie can. And he will." She said as she patted Archie's arm.
"Call him if you want, but do it soon. His spots fill up fast." She said as she inserted a piece of paper into his jacket's front pocket and patted it, obviously trying to flirt.
Diana straightened a little and watched Valerie like a hawk, silently.
"Thank you, Val." Archie politely said and Valerie took her leave.
"Hey, now you have zero excuse for avoiding music." Betty said as everyone silently agreed.
Diana still hadn't spoken up when Cheryl appeared.
"Sorry to interrupt Sad Breakfast Club, but I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weekend." She said as she handed out black colored invitations.
"To my surprise and chagrin, mother added you to the guest-list." She stated as she looked at Veronica and handed her an invite.
"In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags." Cheryl continued to say.
"Oh, come on, Cher. You didn't have to add that last part." Daniel complained, coming into Ronnie's defense.
Cheryl didn't bother replying and looked at Diana who had spaced out and was silently crying again.
"Diana, dear, please come with me. I need your help handing these out." She said nicely, still feeling guilty for her parents finding out about Nate.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll come with." Diana hurriedly stood up as she secretly wiped away her tears and rushed a goodbye to everyone before leaving with Cheryl.
"Was it just me or was she silent the whole time since Valerie flirted with Archie?" Kevin asked the group.
"I noticed that as well. And she cried when Cheryl was handing out the invites." Jughead added, ever the observant guy.
"What? She was crying? I'm gonna go after her." Archie stated as he stood up to follow but Daniel stopped him.
"Don't, Arch. Just give her time to process. Getting an invite to your ex-fiancé's funeral has to be a punch in the gut to her. She's trying to hide it because she cares for you, she really does. And she doesn't want you to feel like you'll always be second best but she's not 100% over the fact that Jason's gone, you know. No one heals that fast." Daniel told him and Archie just sighed but nodded in understanding.
--------- TIMESKIP (THE NEXT NIGHT || THORNHILL MANSION) ----------
Diana and Daniel drove in the gates as Cheryl and her parents stood waiting by the door.
"Daniel, I'm scared. What if they try to take Nate away from me?" Diana told her brother from her seat with Nate at the back.
"Don't worry about that. We won't allow that to happen. If they so much as try, there'll be hell to pay." Daniel assured her and she nodded.
Daniel parked the car in front of the main doors and got out to open the door for her sister. Meanwhile, Diana got Nate out of his car seat and ready to meet his grandparents.
"Hi, baby. We'll be meeting Nana and Pops today, alright? You'll be a good boy for mommy, aren't you?" She said as she kissed him in the forehead as he babbled aimlessly.
Daniel opened the door and Diana stepped out carefully, Nathaniel in her arms. A gasp made her look up to where the Blossom family were standing and saw Penelope and Cheryl walking towards them with Clifford not far behind.
"Diana, he's..." Penelope tried to say, tears brimming in her eyes as she looked at her grandson.
Cheryl smiled as she took the babbling baby from Diana.
"Aunt Penelope, Uncle Clifford, meet Nathaniel Jason." Diana nervously said as she looked at Jason's parents who had their eyes on the baby Cheryl was holding.
"May I?" Penelope asked as she gestured to carry the baby and Diana nodded.
"Nathaniel Jason Blossom?" Clifford asked Diana and Daniel.
"No, Uncle. I'm sorry. They wouldn't allow me to give him his father's last name without a letter of consent from him or his family seeing as we weren't married." Diana explained sadly.
"Nathaniel Jason Kennedy then?" Penelope clarified and Diana smiled.
"Nathaniel Jason Blossom-Kennedy. I inverted both last names so he at least had a part of his dad in him, apart from the hair, of course." Diana laughed a little.
Penelope started heading indoors, still absorbed in Nate who was in her arms and they all turned to follow.
"He looks exactly like Jason did at this age, apart from the eyes. Those are gorgeous Kennedy eyes." Cheryl pointed out and both grandparents agreed.
Diana and Daniel stayed for a couple of hours there. They had dinner and they watched Penelope and Clifford interact with Nate, like doting grandparents.
"I wish they were like that when Jay-Jay and I were growing up. But at least you guys' son gets to experience that with them." Cheryl stated.
Diana patted her on the back, comfortingly.
"I'm still sorry that they found out, Di. I know you weren't necessarily trying to hide it from anyone, but I also know you were hoping to keep it from them longer." Cheryl apologized.
"You don't need to apologize, Cheryl. Look at them, your mom especially. It must have been hard for her to lose one kid. I'm just glad I could help them both heal and maybe give them closure." Diana stated.
About an hour later, Nate was getting sleepy and Diana and Daniel thanked the Blossoms for their hospitality as they turned to leave.
"Are you sure you guys don't wanna spend the night? Diana, you could sleep in Jason's room, we'll have his old crib set up there, it's still in mint condition, just until we can purchase a new one." Penelope stated, her eyes on Nate's sleepy form in Diana's arms.
"Maybe next time, Aunt Penelope. I didn't bring any stuff for Nate to stay overnight." Diana answered and they all bid their goodbyes to each other before Daniel and Diana drove out of Thornhill.
"Bro, can you drop me off at Archie's place? I kind of feel bad that I've ignored him a bit yesterday and today because of how nervous I was for this meeting. I just wanna explain." She told her brother and he nodded, looking at her on the rearview mirror.
"Are you sleeping over there?" He asked.
"Maybe. I'll text you if something comes up." She answered and he drove her to the Andrews' Residence.
She knocked on the door and Fred opened it.
"Oh, hey, Diana. I didn't expect to see you here tonight." He stated.
"Hey, Uncle Fred. Is Archie in? I kind of needed to talk to him about something." Diana asked.
"Yeah, go on right up to his room. You staying the night?" Fred asked as he made his way back to the living room couch.
"Maybe? Can I?" She said with a smile and Fred rolled his eyes.
"Door unlocked at all times. I will be coming to check on you." He told her as she was walking towards the stairs.
"Thanks, Uncle Fred." She said as she climbed up the stairs.
"Hey, Arch, I wa-" She started to say as she opened the door but stopped when she saw Archie and Valerie sitting a little too close for comfort. They looked like they were about to kiss.
"Oh, I didn't know you had guests over." Diana pointed out.
"Uh, hey, Diana. I was just-" Valerie spoke up but was cut off.
"You don't need to explain anything. I guess, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow, Archibald." Diana said as she hurriedly closed the door and ran down the stair before heading for the front door.
"Diana? I thought you were staying over?" Fred called out to her but his question remained unanswered when he heard the front door slam.
He looked confused until a while later, Archie and Valerie came downstairs.
"Oh, I didn't know Valerie was still here this late." Fred stated.
"Yeah, she just helped me finish, dad. She's going home now." Archie told him.
"Well, okay then." Fred hesitantly agree and watched as Valerie said her goodbyes before leaving.
"Did you and Diana have a fight?" Fred asked him.
"No, we didn't. Why?" Archie was clueless.
"Well she sure ran out of here fast. I didn't think her house was that near that someone could pick her up that fast." Fred pointed out.
"You mean she didn't drive her car?" Archie asked, shocked.
"No, when I opened the door, there was no car in the front of our house." Fred informed him.
Archie rushed to get the keys to his dad's truck and rushed towards the front door.
"I have to go find her, Dad. Maybe she's out there walking home alone." He said as he exited the house.
He went inside his dad's truck, started it up and drove towards the direction of Diana's house. He was halfway there when he got a call from Daniel. He picked it up.
"He-"
"I thought you said you'd never make her cry? What the fuck did you do? You better be ready when I see you tomorrow, Andrews." Daniel said before ending the call which left Archie confused.
He parked the truck to the side of the road and thought about what he did wrong. That was when he realized that Val's face had been close to his and they had been talking when Diana entered the room, which must have looked like they were about to kiss.
'God, why am I so stupid at times?' He asked himself as he drove back home, getting into bed and trying his best to drift off to sleep.