Fear, it's the most basic, and most human emotion. As kids, we're afraid of everything. The dark....
We're show an flashback of Polly and Betty as little children, Betty looks clearly uneasy in her own bed. "Will you stay in my room tonight, Polly? Please?" Kid Betty begs her sister.
The Boogeyman...
"Mom won't let me, Betty." Potty tells her with a regretful voice. "But I'll turn the nightlight on, okay?" She offers, causing Betty to let out a tiny smile.
And we pray for morning. For the monsters to go away. Though they never do, not really.
We then cut to present day, we see Y/N emotionlessly staring at a picture of the old Thornhill orphanage. Those were better times, times with Y/N and a girl....
Now they're gone.
Another fun fact about fear, sometimes it grows up with you.
Archie currently in his room, searching through his chest. He then accidently pulls out a werewolf mask, one that brings up embarrassing memories. He just tosses it aside and keeps looking.
Eventually though, he finds what he was looking for, the guitar strap. He then connects it his instrument and stands in front of his mirror, very anxiously.
Or it curls up inside of you, tightens around your guts.
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"Archie Andrews?"
A voice snaps Archie out of his trance. He looks back at Kevin, as well as the others staring at him amongst the small crowd, including Veronica, Y/N, and most of the bulldogs. He adjusts the mic as if pretending he wasn't frozen or anything.
Each Fall, Riverdale High hosts a Variety Show. But this event is no mere student frolic.
"And what will you be auditioning with?" Kevin queries, Archie wonders if that was the second time he asked him.
"Uh, an original song that I wrote called, 'I'll Try.'" Archie stutters, feeling the sweat go down his forehead.
"Try harder!" Reggie mockingly yells from the crowd, apparently making it their job to make it as difficult as possible for Archie. "Maybe try not sucking so much."
"Asshole..." Y/N mutters as he records Archie's audition with his camcorder. " 'Gee, I wonder why people don't like jocks.' " He then mocks a macho man accent."
Archie blinks, and for a second, they're all wearing werewolf masks. The fear comes back again. He tries to ignore it an prepare himself to play the guitar, but his hands keep shaking, his body can't stay still.
"Take your time, Archie, though we do have people waiting." Kevin comfortingly tells him. Archie tries to move the mic to his mouth, but his shaking fingers causes it to creak as he does. Y/N and Veronica both notice how nervous he is.
"Oh my gosh, what's happening?" Veronica asks with worriment as Y/N puts down his camcorder. It looks worse than they thought.
"He's choking." Josie whispers, and the two can see it more clearly as Archie then freezes again.
"Archie? Clock's ticking." Kevin says, snapping him out of it again. Archie sweats, he can't do this, it's too much.....
"Excuse me, sorry, I gotta go." The redhead shakingly says before hastily making a retreat. Everyone watches him leave while the jocks laugh and clap.
That was..... awkward.
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"When I was up there, looking out...." Archie grabs his head as he explains to Valerie what he was feeling during the audition. "I don't know, I just froze."
"That was stage freight, Archie." Valerie tells him, very familiar with the subject.
"Yeah, but when I'm on the football field, the stands could be packed. Packed, and it doesn't affect my game at all." Archie mentions, compare that to the skeleton crew that was watching at the audition, and it shines a bad light on himself.
"Singing makes you vulnerable in a way football doesn't." Valerie notes, stating that there's a difference between the two.
"Yeah, or maybe what I was missing out there onstage was my team." Archie guesses, feeling like that was the reason he couldn't get two fingers on his strings. "Or at least a partner." He then looks to Val. "What if we sang, 'I Got You'?" He proposes.
"Archie, I'm a Pussycat. We're headlining the Variety Show." Valerie reminds him.
"What if you sang with them first and then me, just this once?" Archie looks to Valerie pleadingly. "To help me get my sea legs?"
"Have you met Josie?" Valerie questions him, no doubt hinting at something. "I can't step out on the Cats."
Archie looks down, disappointed, but then sees Y/N walking across the hall with his headphones in, singing whatever song he's listening to himself. There's still hope. "I understand, Val." He then tells the girl next to him, standing up and grabbing his guitar. "Don't worry, I know somebody else."
Val watches as he takes off, shrugging with a smile, happy that he seems to have gotten an idea.
"Hey, Y/N!" Archie calls out to him, tapping the guy's shoulder just in case. The teen takes the headphones out of his ears and turns to Archie curious.
"What's up?"
"Hey, listen, you know how to sing, right?" Archie asks him, remembering how he's heard him sing in the past.
"Um.... maybe?" Y/N half-answers, puzzled as to why Archie's asking him of all people.
"Well... I really need your help, at the Variety Show." Archie tells him, causing Y/N to realize what he's about to ask from him. "I can't play and sing this song on stage by myself, I need someone to help me on that front." He looks at Y/N with a pleading look. "Please?"
Y/N glances from elsewhere to him as he processes what he's requesting. "Archie, I'm honored that you're considering me, but I don't know about-"
"Y/N, I've heard the way you sing in the car before, you would be awesome." Archie assures him, reminding him of that one time with the car karaoke. "Just this once, then I won't ask you for it ever again."
Y/N sighs, though he admits the idea sounds interesting. This could be a way for him to get the attention he needs for his documentary. "Alright, screw it, I'm in."
Archie grins that he said yes. "Thank you, I owe for this one." He as he pulls him in for a hug, causing the man to gasp.
"Archie.... can't breathe!"
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As always, the group all meet together to have lunch, plus Valerie. Despite everything that's happening, this part still hasn't changed.
"It's been months. There's gotta be a reason my mom and dad won't want me to see Polly. But I don't care anymore." Betty tells Jughead in a low voice, but the others can still hear her.
"What are you guys talking about? Something we can help with?" Archie asks as Y/N also seems curious, have the two been investigating without him?
"What we're attempting is a stealth operation, gentlemen." Jughead tells the two of them. "If we go in there with the entire Scooby gang, forget it, we're compromised."
"Well don't you have to practice for the Variety show anyway?" Betty then asks in a way to change the topic, causing Archie, Y/N and Valerie to glance at each other. Archie's plan of having Y/N sing with him went bullshot after hearing that he didn't make the cut, which he should've guessed given that he literally showed zero talent.
"Uh, no, I don't." Archie mutters, looking down, causing Betty to share a guilty look with Jughead.
"Except that yes, you do. Thanks to a certain Veronica-ex-machina." Veronica pridefully chimes in as she and Kevin join the table. This quickly gets the others attention.
"What are you talking about?" Y/N asks her.
"Oh nothing. Just that I had a few words with our director/host, and reminded him that's he's heard you sing on numerous occasions." Valerie proudly states.
"Even though it compromises my artistic integrity." Kevin remarks. "I even started making my own shtick on the internet, and I've still fallen into the hands off-"
"Cutting to the chase, you have a slot if you want it." Veronica cuts Kevin off before he can speak another word.
"Veronica, thank you, really." Archie nods to her with a grateful smile. "And don't worry, I have a partner to back me up." He then turns to Y/N, who then senses everyone's eyes on him.
"You can sing?" Jughead asks him, and Y/N feels like he's hearing skepticism in his voice.
"Yes, he can." Betty then says to his defense. "Me and Archie once heard him when we were doing a car karaoke, and he was amazing."
"I mean.... you guys were singing as well." Y/N mentions with a shrug, trying to hide the anime-like blush on his cheeks.
"Actually, we stopped like three minutes before you noticed." Archie notes, earning him a look from Y/N.
"Oh, my, gosh, now I have to see this." Veronica gives Y/N an interested look, causing him to put his head down in embarrassment.
"Oh, geez...."
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Later, as night falls, Archie's lying on his bed, playing random guitar strings in his room when he hears his door knocking, signaling his father is walking in.
"Hey, I just wanted to let you know, I, uh.... I bought tickets for all the guys at work to come see you and Y/N in the Variety show." Fred tells him, to which Archie nods. "Yeah, me and Hermione.... we're gonna go together, with each other. I...." Fred seems to be nervously stuttering, and Archie can't but grin at him. "And I don't want to make a big deal out of it-"
"Dad, it's okay, you're good." Archie assures him, trying not to chuckle at his father acting his own age.
"Yeah?" Fred breathes a breath of optimism.
"Yeah." Archie nods, now unable to hold in the chuckle.
"Good, okay." Fred nods his head, both to himself and his kid. "I... I do like her, and I... you know, I think maybe I'm ready..." His nose scrunches up, still wondering how Archie feels about him and his mother's potential divorce.
"If this is something that makes you happy, then I say go for it." Archie encourages, giving Fred his vote of approval. "You're good, Mom's good, I'm... good."
Fred gives him a grateful nod. "Alright." He goes to leave but turns to Archie one last time. "One more thing, I'm holding it onto you that Y/N is as good as he sounds, so now you also have high expectations from me."
"Oh boy..." Archie shakes his head and two chuckle.
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"She quit the Pussycats?" Archie questions Y/N as they walk down the hallway, making sure he heard him correctly.
"Yeah, apparently Josie is become more stern than a Nazi POW camp, and Val straight up walked out the door." Y/N shrugs, only able to tell the redhead what he's heard, and school gossip is barely trustworthy.
"Really? I hope she's doing okay, both of them." Archie comments, not able to empathize with whatever they might be possibly going through, but that doesn't like he likes to try. "By the way, my dad and the McCoys are gonna have a little dinner and meeting at the Lodge's place. I know you're not really involved, but since my dad sent his workers to come to the talent show, I thought it's the least we could do."
Y/N considers on it for a couples seconds before shrugging. "Well, I don't have much to do besides records things, so......." He cuts himself off when he freezes upon looking down the hall, Archie follows his gaze and is memorized by what he's seeing also.
Josie and the Pussycats, and the one who took Valerie's place is.... Veronica? They watch them strut down the hall, feeling like they missed twenty minutes of plotlines that were going on. "Did we.... miss something?" Y/N whispers to Archie, who nods.
"I think we missed out on alot of things...."
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(A/N) Short chapter again, I know. This plotline is slightly shorter than the others in the episode. That's kinda how it is.
Plz vote and comment, and I'll see you in the next one.