Chapter One :
Face the Music

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     Her most vivid memory from her early childhood was watching her parents' coffins being lifted down into the ground whilst holding her one-month-old baby brother in her arms. She could remember the day being bright where the sun kept getting in her eyes and it had reflected onto the marble tombstone. She hadn't thought about it in months. Not since the anniversary but as she stared out of the window of her family's car with her ear buds blaring music, it was all she could think about. She stared at the trees as they passed and a sigh left her lips while her sister wrapped her arm around her shoulder reassuringly, making her smile slightly.

     Coming back to Riverdale after eight years had been hard on all of them. Her brother had been cheering them all up by being his sweet and bubbly self and, in all honesty, it had helped them. They all had scars in the town of Riverdale but it was time they all faced everything and headed back to their hometown. All of them. They knew it was going to be extremely hard but it was just like what their mother told them. As long as they had each other, there wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

     After what felt like another hour, their mother stopped the car and Winnie looked up to take in their new home. It looked stunning, like it had just been built. White picket fences outlined the yard that was full of beautiful flowers and her smile widened. It wasn't New York like she and her family were used to but she was certain that everything was going to be better this time. At least she hoped it would.

     "Here we are, babies," Luna called from the driver's seat as Winnie pulled her ear buds out. "Our new home."

     "Mama, it's beautiful!" her brother sighed in awe, sitting on his knees in his seat. "Can we go in?!"

     Their mother chuckled with a nod as she undid her seatbelt. "Of course you can, Jakey. If you help bring in some boxes."

     "Okay!" he exclaimed with his huge smile, already halfway up the driveway.
Winnie and her sister giggled as they both unclipped their seatbelts and their mother unfolded Winnie's wheelchair before she opened the door to help Winnie out of the car, her hands gripping hers gently. Winnie smiled at her as she kissed her head and she was aware of her sister clambering out after her, making the two of them laugh slightly.

     "Ma, Jake wasn't kidding," she said in awe, casting her gaze onto the house, as she swung her arm around Jacob. "This house is awesome!"

     "It really is beautiful, Ma," Winnie relayed, making her smile.

     "I'm glad you all like it," she sighed.

     "Especially you, Pooh Bear. I had a little help from a dear old friend of mine."

     Winnie didn't bother to ask her mother who this friend was and she helped bring some of the smaller boxes into the house. When Winnie went inside, the house looked just as nice inside as it did outside. The kitchen was right next to the living room and there was a bedroom where Winnie was going to make her own. Upstairs were the bedrooms her mother and sister were going to be sleeping in once they moved everything into the house. Once everything was moved inside the house, boxes were piled everywhere.

     While Winnie was unpacking some of the boxes for her room, Jacob was running around the house that was not completely empty anymore and giggled at how excited he was. There were still a lot of things to unpack by the time it started to get dark and Jacob voiced how hungry he was.

     "You know, there's a diner that has the finest burgers and milkshakes in town," Luna said while smiling and tapping Jacob's nose.

     Winnie smiled at the thought of getting food from Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe before they left Riverdale. She loved their burgers and milkshakes and she missed them when they left town to go to New York.

     "Are we getting burgers from Pop's tonight?" Tasha asked and smiled when her mother said yes. "Awesome!"

     "What's so good about their burgers?" Jacob asked and Tasha raised her eyebrows at his question and placed her hand over her chest.

     "Jake, you wound me," she whispered and Winnie laughed.

     "You're always so dramatic," she said and then looked at Jacob. "Come on, I'll show you."

     Their mother gave Winnie enough money for the food as she memorized everybody's orders. Jacob followed her out of the house and they headed to the diner with the bright neon lights and the big sign. Winnie told Jacob to wait in one of the booths while she ordered the food and smiled when she saw Pop Tate still working behind the counter. The old man noticed her waiting there and a huge smile broke out on his face when he recognized who she was.

     "Winnie, you're back!" he said and she laughed.

     "I see you're still keeping this place standing," she said.

     "I almost didn't recognize you. It's been so long and you grew so much," Pop said and Winnie looked down at her feet.

     "I need four orders of your burgers. Jake over there doesn't know what he's missing," she said while nodding to her little brother who sat patiently in the booth. Pop smiled as he went to the back to make the burgers and Winnie joined her brother at the booth. Jacob was looking out the window and Winnie tapped his hand to grab his attention. "You know, our parents used to take me here before everything that happened."

     "What were they like?" Jacob asked and Winnie sighed sadly.

     "They were like Momma, pretty much excited about everything," she said and Jacob nodded. She didn't really know much about them since she was younger than Jacob when they passed but she remembered enough to miss them. She was only five when it happened and the memories were there but they were faint. Jacob was just a baby at the time so he didn't really know them. After a while, the food was ready and she paid Pop for the burgers. "Come on, Jake. We both know how Tasha gets when we keep her waiting."

     Jacob laughed as they left the diner and started heading home. Day one of being back in Riverdale and so far, it was going smoothly.