*Please read the author's note at the end of the chapter*

Mariah showed up to cheerleading practice extra late. She knew that Cheryl would have something to say about it and she was not in the mood. She trudged into the gym to see the team already practicing the routine. The door to the gym slammed closed behind her and all eyes turned to her.

She sighed and Cheryl turned off the music. "Look who decided to show up," the redhead announced. "Sorry I'm late," she muttered. "Care to share why you're so late?" Cheryl asked. "I'm having an off day. It won't happen again," the blonde answered. Cheryl looked her up and down. "It better not." The redhead turned around and began getting practice back on track and Mariah walked to her spot.

Once practice was over, she was quick to exit the gym. She was stopped, however, by Betty and Veronica. "Mariah!" Betty called. Mariah slowed to a stop and turned to see the two approaching. "I've been calling you nonstop, why haven't you returned my calls?" Betty said. Veronica was looking down at the ground, and Mariah eyed her curiously.

"I've been, figuring some stuff out. Sorry, I meant to call you back. Things have just been, a lot," she replied. "Yeah, I heard about... you know... Your dad being back," Betty said. Mariah's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and confusion. "How did you "hear" that?" She asked. "Well, Archie mentioned it and then my mom said that she saw him the other day," Betty trailed off.

Mariah was shaking her head in annoyance. Of course Archie had told them. "We totally get why you didn't tell us. Just know that we're here for you. Right, V?" Betty said. Veronica looked up then, though she avoided making eye contact. "Yeah, right," she responded. "You okay, Veronica?" Mariah asked. "Yeah, just having my own father troubles. Mine just got out of prison and is back too," the brunette said.

"Yikes," Mariah muttered. "Yikes indeed," Veronica replied. Betty changed the subject. "So, we're still trying to figure out a way to save Pop's. You still in to help?" Betty said. Mariah shrugged, "I don't know if I'll be up for it but I'll let you know." Betty nodded and smiled. "If you need to talk, about anything, I'm here," she said. "Thanks, Betty," Mariah said, a small smile on her face.

"No problem, what are friends for," Betty responded. Veronica shifted on her feet uncomfortably, an action that Mariah would've missed had she not been looking at the girl. "Seriously, Ronnie. You okay?" She said. "Fine, just my dad. You know how he is," Veronica said. Mariah eyed her suspiciously. Something was off. The brunette wouldn't even look at her.

"You sure that's all?" Mariah pressed. "Yup, positive," Veronica replied. "Come on, Betty. We gotta go," the brunette continued. "You know, I'll still help with Pop's. Maybe it'll distract me," Mariah said, nodding slightly. "Great! See you later." Betty and Veronica walked away from the blonde.

Mariah watched the two walk away, her suspicion still there. She turned away around and walked in the opposite direction.

····

"You gonna tell me what's going on between you and Archie?" Jughead asked from across from her. The two were sat in her living room, he was trying to figure out what to do about his dad whilst she worked on fliers for Retro Night. Retro Night was Betty's idea to save Pop's. Mariah looked up at him with her eyes before returning them back to her paper.

"What do you mean?" She questioned. "Come on, M. He's acting weird, you're acting weird. Although I figured your weirdness had to do with your dad being back," Jughead continued. She looked over at him. "What, you didn't think I'd find out?" He questioned. "Did Archie tell you too?" She asked him.

"No, actually. Your mom did," he answered. Her eyebrows furrowed. "You talk to me mom?" She asked next. "On occasion," he replied. She stared blankly at him. "Don't look at me like that. Friends are cool with their friend's parents. At least they should be," he said. "I'm not cool with your dad," she pointed out. "That's because you don't know him well enough. Once I figure out a way to get him out of prison, you'll probably be thick as thieves," he joked.

"I doubt that," she muttered to herself, though he managed to hear it. "You figure out a way to do that?" She asked louder. "Not yet. You talk to Cheryl?" He replied and she nodded. "She refused to forgive him. Can't say I blame her either." Jughead looked down. "So, uh, you and Archie," he began, returning them to their original topic of conversation.

"We had an argument," she said. "About?" He pressed. "About personal things that I don't want to talk about with you," she replied, giving him a look. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Personal?" He questioned. "Yes, Jughead. Personal. As in, something that doesn't concern you," she replied.

"Well are you gonna talk to him?" He asked. "Not unless he apologizes," she said, crumpling up a flier when she messed up. "Yikes. He must have done something pretty bad," he said. She turned to look at him, "Are you always this nosy?" He smiled, "I'm just doing my job. Trying to get the inside scoop."

"I thought you were a writer, not a reporter," she said, her eyes narrowed. "They're one and the same." She rolled her eyes at him. "Shouldn't you have been done with those fliers like, yesterday?" He asked suddenly. "Betty literally tasked me with making fliers today. Blame her," Mariah replied.

"Retro Night is tomorrow," he stated. "I'm well aware of that, J," she replied in annoyance. Jughead looked down at the stack of fliers and then back at her. "Looks like you got your work cut out for you," he said before packing up his things and heading for the door. "Wha— You're not gonna help?" Mariah said. "Gotta go do some important stuff," he responded.

"What important stuff?" She asked. "Bye." The door slammed shut behind him. She released an annoyed breath before walking over to the door. She opened it up and saw Jughead's retreating figure. "Asshole!" She called after him. She closed the door and locked it before returning to her seated position on the floor. She looked at the stack of fliers and groaned, leaning back against the couch behind her.

····

Mariah had successfully made enough fliers and distributed them around town before the next day. When the day of Retro Night had come, she wanted nothing more than to stay home in bed all day. But, she promised Betty that she would help and she was still a Vixen, so she was obligated to help anyway.

She hadn't spoken to Archie since the night of their dispute. He hadn't tried to call or text her to apologize and she sure as hell wasn't going to apologize for what happened. She had no need to.

Mariah got dressed in the Pop's uniform that Betty had given her and headed out the door. She got into her car and drove to Pop's so that she could start setting up. When she arrived, she spotted multiple Vixens walking about outside, painting over the the graffiti spray painted on the building. Mariah shook her head at the sight of the graffiti and exited her vehicle.

Spotting Kevin and Veronica, Mariah walked over to them. "Hey, guys," she greeted as she approached the two. Kevin looked over at her and smiled. "Well don't you look cute," he said in a mocking voice. "Kevin, do you know what the ground that you're standing on feels like?" She asked. "Uh, no?" He answered unsurely. "Well if you keep it up, your face will get a real, good feeling of that ground," she threatened. Kevin opened and closed his mouth. "I'm gonna go help set up inside," he finally said.

"Good idea," she replied. Kevin walked into the diner and Mariah turned to Veronica. "Why is your face like that?" Mariah asked. "Like what?" Veronica asked back. "Like, that. You've been so weird lately, Ronnie. Did something else happen with your dad?" Mariah said. Veronica sighed, "There's something I have to tell y—"

Veronica was cut off by the ringing of Mariah's phone. The blonde held up a finger, pulling out her phone to see that it was her mom. "It's my mom, be back in a sec," she said before walking a little ways away. Veronica sighed, the constricting feeling in her chest spreading.

When night had fallen, Archie had come to the diner. Nobody else had come. Mariah had her elbows leaned on the counter with her head in her hands. She had discarded her roller skates half an hour ago, deeming them too uncomfortable. Archie awkwardly walked over to her and she stood up straight. "Hey," he greeted. "Hi," she replied.

"Can we talk?" He asked and she nodded before walking to the back room with Archie following behind her. She turned around to face him once the two were in the room. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I was way out of line and I shouldn't have tried to push you," he apologized. She nodded her head. "It's just, you know, I'm a teenage boy. I have needs and I—"

He stopped upon seeing the look on her face. "I should've just kept it at an apology," he said. "You think?" She questioned. "Do you like, hate me now?" He asked. She laughed, "I don't think you or anyone could do anything so bad that I'd hate you for it. Unless you're my dad." Archie's face fell and he looked down, though she didn't notice.

"I'm sure I could do something," he muttered as she walked closer to him. "I don't know. Who could hate that baby face?" She said, squishing his cheeks with her hand. She raised onto her the tips of her toes and placed a kiss on his lips. "Apology accepted," she said, lowering herself back to the soles of her feet. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to work," she said before looking around his body.

"It looks like things are picking up." She pressed another kiss to his lips and exited the room and headed back out into the diner. As she exited, she spotted Cheryl, Melody, and Josie walking outside and an excited Betty watching after them. "What's going on?" Mariah asked. "I think we might've just saved Pop's," Betty replied with a smile.

She then grabbed Mariah's hand and began pulling her outside. Josie and the Pussycats minus Valerie and plus Cheryl, were getting ready to perform. Once the three started singing, the crowd was really into it. Mariah looked around the bodies of people, her eyes landing on Archie and Veronica talking before the brunette walked back into the diner.

Mariah stared after the girl before Betty grabbed her attention. "Ok, we need to get back to work," she said. "Not that you've been doing much work tonight," she added. "Hey, I didn't see you skating around in roller skates so you can't be talking," Mariah defended. Betty playfully rolled her eyes. "Come on." The two walked into the diner. Mariah went to get a notepad so that she could wait some booths.

The bell above the door jingled as someone entered. She turned to see her mom walking into the diner, looking around in distaste. "Hey mom, come to support the cause?" Mariah greeted. "No, I came to support you," she replied before looking around the diner again. "I love what you guys did with the place," she lied. "Really, mom? You're gonna insult the decor?" Mariah asked.

"I'm sorry. It's terrible," the woman said and Mariah laughed. The bell chimed again and Mariah turned her attention to it. An automatic sigh left her lips and her mother turned, a scowl immediately coming to her face. "I'm convinced you're stalking me now. Keep this up, and I'll call the cops," Mariah said.

Patrick held up his hands, "I had no idea you were gonna be here. We just came to get some food and support Pop's." Amara crossed her arms over her chest, "We?" Almost as if on cue, the door opened again and Kelsey walked in. And on her hip was a girl, who couldn't be older than three. The woman froze when she saw Mariah, her eyes gradually moving to Amara.

Mariah's eyes remained on the child that the woman was holding. She looked back up at Patrick, whose expression was unreadable. An incredulous scoff left her lips before she shook her head. "I'm not even surprised," Mariah said, turning to walk behind the counter. "Mariah, I can explain," Patrick started. "Explain what, Patrick? That kid? What's there to explain? You got a new wife and a new kid. The family you never had. Oh, wait, you did have that. You just didn't want it," she said.

"That's not true," Patrick protested. "Oh spare me the lies, Patrick. I don't want to hear it," she replied. "Is this who you left me for?" Amara spoke up. Kelsey, whose eyes held nothing but confusion, looked to Patrick. Amara shook her head, "You always had a thing for brunettes." Mariah looked back at the three before looking around the diner.

It seemed as though all eyes were on the scene. She hadn't realized that the Pussycats had finished their performance, more people piling into the diner. She caught Cheryl's eye, the redhead looked as though she was preparing to do something.

"Patrick," Kelsey spoke up for the first time. "What is going on?"

°°°°

I just want you guys to know that I plan/intend to finish this book this time around. But, I am telling you guys now that there WILL NOT be a third book for season 3. This one might not even go all the way to the season 2 finale, I don't know yet. I'm gonna have to rewatch a lot of episodes from season 2 to make sure, but I feel like the plot is so stupid and crazy that Mariah wouldn't fit too well into it. I just want you guys to know and I guess prepare yourselves for this to be the end of the The Mariah Coleman series. There won't be a book for season 3, there's no changing my mind on that so please don't try. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, stay tuned for the next one.