Mystique || Sweet Pea [3]

3

3 || New Beginnings

How do you sum up the life of a man like Fred Andrews? You could start with the facts; that he was born at Riverdale General Hospital, that his parents were Arthur and Virginia Andrews, that he led the Riverdale High baseball team to two consecutive state championships, took over the family business at 18, got married, had a son, settled down. And while others were rushing to get out of Riverdale, Fred was setting down roots. When our town saw a pariah, and closed its doors, Fred saw a lost soul and opened his. There was always room at his table, in his home, for others. Whenever our town was under attack, Fred was on the front line, fighting for it, defending it. He was our Good Samaritan. Our George Bailey. Our knight in flannel armor. Oh, and by the way, he was a hell of a good tipper. Fred left Riverdale better than when he found it; That's his legacy.

Tears streamed down my cheeks silently as I read the obituary Jughead wrote for Fred Andrews. It was beautiful, and it was everything Fred deserved. He would have been more than happy with the way it was written, most likely reminding Jughead that he was no saint, least of all a knight by any means. Humble was the best word to describe Fred Andrews.

"Baby." Sweet Pea whispered, gently pulling the newspaper from my hands. "Archie's waiting for us."

"Okay." I nodded, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "Okay, let's go."

"Hey," Sweet Pea said softly, grabbing my hands. "We can take another minute if you need it."

"No," I shook my head, squeezing his much larger hands in mine. "I'm alright, babe."

"Alright." He nodded, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Let's go."

Sweet Pea led me out of the back door and into Archie's backyard. We greeted the others in the backyard, talking quietly amongst ourselves for a minute before Archie and Mrs. Andrews met us outside. I sent the pair a smile, tucking myself between Reggie and Sweet Pea.

Archie and Mrs. Andrews got comfortable on different blankets, smiling softly at the fireworks set up in front of them. I tugged Sweet Pea down on another blanket, Reggie following after us. Cheryl pulled her signature red zippo out of her pocket and lit the fuse on one of the fireworks.

I laid against Sweet Pea as we watched the fireworks explode in the air. He wrapped his arms around me, smiling slightly up at the fireworks. Cheryl lit a few small fountains on the lawn and gave us all sparklers, making me feel like a child again.

"I haven't had a sparkler in years." I muttered to Sweet Pea and Reggie, reaching into Sweet Pea's pocket for his lighter. Sweet Pea chuckled and handed me his lighter, kissing the side of my head. I lit the end of my sparkler, letting out a small laugh.

"And you still light up the same way you always did when you held a sparkler." Jughead chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me." I muttered, waving my sparkler through the air.

"Let her have her fun, Jones." Reggie tacked on, watching me with an amused grin.

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The rest of the summer flew by. A few weeks after we lost Mr. Andrews, I convinced my dad to let me adopt a dog. At first, he was against the idea of a dog, claiming that I had enough responsibility taking care of JB, Sweet Pea, the Serpents, work, and school. I didn't argue with his reasoning, but I didn't let it go either.

"But dad," I whined, clicking the T.V. off. "It's so quiet when you're at work. And once school starts back up, JB is going to be home alone a lot. I can't skip practices to make sure JB is okay."