Who: Archie Andrews and Emily Fornell When: Wednesday Night Where: The Storm/Andrews House What: Prom things~ Warnings: TBD but probably nothing too scandalous! Status: Closed/In-Progress (TBC in Comments)
Archie had been keeping a low profile since returning from his ordeal back home. Things were happening that no ordinary teenager should have to go through. Breaking out of juvenile hall and running away because your ex-girlfriend’s father wants you dead? It was something out of the action movies a guy his age would be watching. Not doing.
Which was why Archie kept his head down and worked on finishing his last year at school. He was doing well, had a collection of great friends, and had Emily. Whom he had every intention of asking to prom and sticking beside no matter what.
With his arm around her shoulders and a good comedy playing on the tv, Archie grinned over at Emily. “How’s it feel knowing you’ll be the big bad senior next year?”
* * *
Even without knowing all of the details of what Archie went through at home, Emily knew enough that she was trying to give him whatever space he needed while also offering as much support as she could. He was a lot more subdued since his return.
She laughed at his question. “Good, I guess,” she said. “I’m going to miss seeing you at lunch every day though.” School was going to be a lot less fun without having him around, even though they didn’t actually share any classes.
“What are you going to do after graduation? Have you decided yet?”
* * *
“I’ll see if I can stop in. Maybe I can even bring you lunch and save you from chicken patties and pizza squares.” The lunch wasn’t that bad, but Archie was hoping to continue the lighthearted discussions.
“I’m not sure. I applied to the colleges around here, so we’ll see what happens. I think I might go in undeclared for now.” Studying music was a grand plan, but it wouldn’t do much in the long run. Then again, life wasn’t exactly normal here in Madison Valley. Maybe he could manage.
“Kind of in that waiting pattern, you know?”
* * *
Emily nodded. “It’s hard to decide since we have no idea how long we’ll be here,” she said. “I mean, back home, I was planning on law school. And I guess I could do that here, but is it worth the effort?” If she knew that she’d be here for a decade, it would be worth it, but if she got sent home in the middle of her first year, would she regret having spent her time on school instead of spending time with Archie and her friends?
There weren’t really any good answers considering how tenuous everything was around here. “I would love it if you dropped by for lunch sometimes,” she said.
* * *
“And you know I will.” Archie would do whatever it took to do that. If he took a break from school, it was possible he’d have all the time in the world. Truthfully, that was looking to be a great option to Archie. It would be an interesting discussion to have with his Dad and Sue, though.
“Yeah. I think it would be worth it. Sure, you might end up leaving in the middle of everything, but there’s always coming back. Even if you didn’t, you wouldn’t remember.” Archie frowned a bit. That was the downfall and what usually scared him the most. Coming back and not remembering people who he wasn’t familiar with wasn’t anything he wanted. “You should do what you want to do, Em. Do what makes you happy while you can.”
* * *
“You make me happy,” Emily said, leaning over to steal a kiss in an attempt to wipe the frown off of his face. “But I don’t know when your parents are coming home so I can’t really do you right now.”
She didn’t often make jokes like that even though she was comfortable with the physical side of their relationship, but she didn’t like the fact that Archie’s smiles were so much more rare these days. She understood why, but she didn’t like it and did whatever she could to make him smile.
* * *
Happy to return the kiss, Archie did laugh at her joke. There was even just the slightest hint of a flush that nearly matched his hair. "If I knew for sure, I'd do what I could to make sure you were happy." Stealing a kiss of his own, he wanted to change the subject. There were better and brighter things on the horizon, and on his mind.
"Hey, you know what? Prom is coming up again." There wasn't anyone else Archie would want to go with. Even if they weren't dating, at that moment with the events that happened back home, it was likely Archie would have gone on his own.
"I'm thinking about asking this girl I know to go with me. Do you think she'll say yes?"