Right. Hi! For the past two weeks, Riverdale refused to leave my head, so I caved and decided to write this. It's probably going to be three parts, dealing with Fred Andrews being shot, the social tensions in Riverdale and Polly's twins.
Maybe someone will enjoy this weird little story :)
(In case someone got here from my HP/MCU story: No worries, I am working on that, but my Beta is on vacation. In New York actually... and I can't continue without her. She'd kill me.)
On another note: I am dyslexic and by beta is AWOL, so I apologize for the typos you will find. I am rubbish at proofreading.
The one with the lie
Jughead Jones closed the door almost without a sound. He had enough practice with that. Years of it, really.
Betty was sitting on the couch, her pink coat draped closely around her. And, Jughead noticed with a slight tinge of worry, her ponytail back in place. She was looking at him with that look of guarded worry he had hoped never to see directed at him.
"I couldn't turn them away.", he told her. His voice sounded way too loud inside the quiet trailer. He could hear the rain pour down outside.
"Why?", she asked, her voice oddly monotone.
"You don't live on the South Side and just turn the Serpents away.", the lie left a sour taste in his mouth. He didn't lie to Betty. Or at least he had thought he didn't. And now here he was.
Her wide eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"You are a terrible liar, Jughead Jones.", she informed him icely.
"Actually I am really not. You just know me too well.", he tried to lighten the mood. It didn't work. His fingers were aching to stretch out towards his trusted hat. But he couldn't. Couldn't move. Couldn't say anything. Not with Betty still looking at him, like… like… he didn't even know how to put it in words.
Finally he caved and grabbed the hat from behind him. He didn't even need to look. He knew where it was. He always did.
No one said anything.
Not ten minutes ago they had been happy, safe with each other and about to… well, it didn't matter now. A biker gang knocking at your door kinda killed the mood.
Betty was still looking at him searchingly.
Say something, he told himself, say something before she walks out on you.
"You are right. I am sorry. I could have said no. They don't force you to join. That wouldn't exactly inspire loyalty."
"Then why did you accept?", Jughead was shocked to discover the traces of tears in her eyes, "When Archie told me about your Dad being a Serpent, you said you were ashamed of that. You said, you didn't want me to know. And now you become one?"
"Many reasons.", he admitted, "Some I can tell you. Some I… don't. I am really sorry, Betty, I shouldn't have lied. And I promise I won't do it again. Ever. Not to you. But I can't tell you everything, either."
Her gaze was calculating. He could actually see the wheels turning behind her eyes.
"I accept.", she finally told him, as if this was a business meeting, "But I also want you to know that you CAN tell me everything."
He had to swallow at that.
Betty. His impossible Betty.
"I tried to go the other way. Write. Get out of here. But there comes the point where we all have to admit that we have reached the end of the path."
"I told you: we won't give up! It doesn't matter what they say, Juggie. We talked about this."
"I am tired, Betty. Just this once I really need a break. I am tired."
She got up and the scared little voice in his head expected her to walk out on him. Instead she hugged him close, her arms finding their way under his new jacket. Her head resting on his chest.
"I should have said no. We should have taken a bus somewhere and just left this town behind."
"I want to.", he could feel her laughing into his shirt, "But we can't. Our families are here."
He almost told her 'You are the only family I have', but it felt pathetic even to his own ears. He had always hated it when someone said something like that in a book or a movie. 'You are all I have' they would say and he would laugh. Now he didn't feel like laughing anymore.
They moved over to the couch, Betty still half clinging to him, and set down.
"You do realize that you have family here, right?", she suddenly asked and Jughead tensed, "I am your family. Archie and his Dad are, too. I am even fairly certain my mother would scratch someone's eyes out, if it meant defending you."
"Your mother doesn't need a reason to scratch someone's eyes out.", he tried to quip, but he couldn't ignore the sudden wave of warmth in his chest.
"He is family.", the Serpents had claimed, and Jughead wouldn't deny that it had felt good. He belonged with them. He belonged SOMEWHERE. They weren't kicking him out. Banishing him to another home. Another school. They wanted HIM.
His phone vibrated angrily, he angled for it with trepidation.
It was his foster father. He switched the phone off completely.
"I don't think I can deal with anyone but you tonight.", he admitted. Betty pulled out her phone as well and switched it off. "Agreed."
He didn't even realize when or how it happened, but at some point both their jackets were on the floor, he was laying on his side, Betty nestled in between him and the couch's back. Safe. Keep her safe, he thought, protect her.
The Serpents might be able to help with that as well. They couldn't fight the whole world by themselves, they needed people in their corner and right now he would take almost anyone.
"Juggie?", she whispered, her voice sleepy and almost inaudible, "Will you tell me before you have to do something stupid?"
"So you can prepare my alibi?", he asked her and she chuckled quietly.
"So we can take my college money and get out of town."
"Your family is here.", he told her, almost mirroring her words from before. Almost.
"We all have to grow up sometime.", she simply told him instead.
She yawned and reached up to let her hair out of its confinement. Slowly Jughead pulled his hat down as well.
They fell asleep like that on the couch. Both their defenses down for the night.
Although it was anything but roomy on the couch, Jughead slept longer and much better than he had in months. Maybe ever.
Betty was still breathing softly into his chest, when he woke and he tried not to disturb her, but he really needed the bathroom so he carefully disentangled himself from his girlfriend's arms. She woke slowly, smiling up at him.
"I'll go and have a look at the fridge.", she told him, as he made his way to the small bathroom. While washing his hands, he stared at his reflection in the small mirror. The dark circles under his eyes, so familiar, had almost vanished. Sleep, he thought, really did make a difference. And, yes, both his foster family and the new school weren't as horrible, as he had feared. And the Serpents had his back… and he was hopeful now, that Betty wouldn't just leave him. She loved him. And he would continue to tell himself that until even that little, scared voice inside his head, believed it.
There was a knock on the door, determined, but not as forceful as the night before.
This time, he thought, it had to be Alice Cooper.
He could hear Betty moving towards the door. He had been about to get dressed and was now weighing his options. Running out in boxers and a shirt? If it was Alice Cooper? Or potentially leaving Betty with the someone else coming to see him. His dilemma became rather unimportant, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a plastic bowl hitting the floor.
He swung the door open in a hurry. Danny, one of the boys living around the trailer park, was standing outside the door, looking at Betty with a somewhat unexpected look of respect. But that didn't concern Jughead then and there. Betty had turned around and was looking at him, her face ashen. He could feel his heart stopping.
"Julius send me over.", Danny told him carefully, "He tried calling you, but you wouldn't pick up."
"What is it?", Jughead asked, slowly walking towards Betty, who was still staring at him wide eyed.
"Someone robbed Pop's this morning. They said Fred Andrews was shot. We know you lived with him for a while, so Julius thought you'd need to know."
Jughead could feel his insides turning to ice. No. No. No, was all that was running through his head. Danny's words seemed to kick Betty into action, though. She almost crashed into Jughead on her way to the kitchen, grabbing both their phones in the process. Jughead turned around, ran back to the bathroom and found his pants. Stumbling back into the living-area, Betty was standing there, her coat on, hair back in her usual ponytail and keys and phones in hand. Jughead grabbed his hat and followed her out the door, not even bothering to lock it. No one would dare break in anyway. Not before and certainly not now. He felt weird, like his head was full of cotton. Mr Andrews. Shot. Hospital. Right. How to get there?
His Dad's car was still parked outside the trailer. Ah, he thought, the keys Betty had grabbed. She remembered. He hurried towards the driver door, but Betty stopped him in her tracks, grabbing his hand.
"Juggie…", she started, "No, I'll drive."
He stared at her without really seeing her.
"You can't drive, Juggie.", she repeated and looked down at their joint hands. He was shaking, he realized with a start, shaking like a leave.
Shock, the reasonable part of his brain was telling him.
He walked around the car silently, Betty hurrying into the seat. He could hear her cursing, trying to adjust the seat of that old thing.
Jughead put his seatbelt on and Betty started the car. Vaguely he could see Danny watching them. No one said anything. Betty steered them towards the hospital, when Jughead felt the world around him return with sudden force. It was the strangest thing that had ever happened to him. Like all noise, all smell and thought returned at once.
"You got the phones?", he asked Betty. She looked at him questioningly, as if she was trying to determine his mental state. Which she probably was.
"Sorry for zoning out.", he told her, shame flooding through him.
She carefully placed her hand on his.
"It's okay. That's what a partnership is for, as long as it's only one of us at a time.", she gave him a tired smile and despite his worry and fear, he couldn't't help but smile back. Partnership.
Betty took her hand back to shift gears, then reached into her coat and took out both their phones, handing them to him. He switched his on first, waiting impatiently.
He desperately wanted to tell Betty it would be okay, but they had both been through too much, to take comfort in lies.
The number of missed calls was easily in the double digits, so Jughead didn't bother with them, choosing his four new messages instead.
He pressed the speaker and waited impatiently. The first one was Martin, his new foster father.
"Jughead? I know you are not a little kid and… well, you have been independent for a while. So we don't realistically expect you to be home early or… well, we know you have a girlfriend, so you might stay out. But please at least call us or leave a message. Carrie sleeps easier that way. Stay safe. Bye."
Jughead swallowed heavily. Normally he would have felt guilty, Martin and Carrie were good people, but right now there really wasn't enough room for that. Betty started nervously clapping on the steering wheel. The next message was from early in the morning. Veronica's voice sounded hollow over the phone's small speaker.
"Jughead? I can't reach you or Betty… it's… something happened. I don't… You should come to the hospital."
Betty's hands got faster. Her eyes trained on the street. Unblinking. The next message was from Veronica as well: "Juggie?"
Jughead froze in sudden horror. Veronica had never, ever called him that. No, he thought, just no. He could hear the tears in her voice.
"Archie really needs you guys. I know you have probably both switched your phones off and this won't help, but… I don't know what else to do. Please. Please be there."
Betty led out a heavy sob, trying to hold back tears. Jughead wanted to hug her, hold her and maybe cry a little as well, but they were driving and Archie… they had to get to Archie.
The last message was maybe an hour old and, to Jughead's big surprise, by Alice Cooper.
"Jughead, I am leaving this message with my daughter as well. Once you get this, don't go to the hospital. We have taken Archie back home."
There was no greeting, no explanation, but it was all they had both needed.
Archie wasn't at the hospital any more. They both knew what that meant. Tears were now freely falling down Betty's cheek. Turning the car around to head home, she was angrily brushing them out of her own eyes.
"He's dead.", she stated the words Jughead kept repeating in his mind, "He is dead. Oh God."
They reached the Cooper House five minutes later. Sheriff Keller's car was parked in front of it. Betty took Jughead's hand, as they walked up to the door. She had both tried to get rid of all signs of tears on her face, but they both knew it hadn't worked.
They walked through the door together. The first thing Jughead saw, was Alice Cooper standing tall and rigid behind the couch both Archie and Veronica were seated on. She was watching Sheriff Keller, who was sitting on the opposite couch, like a hawk. Archie, pale and scarily fragile looking, was staring at his hands, with Veronica's arm around his shoulders and her head resting on one of them. It looked like an almost hug.
Betty let go of Jughead's hand and fell to her knees in front of Archie, taking his hand.
"I am so sorry, Archie. So sorry that we weren't there for you."
Jughead could see Archie giving her a tired smile. He walked over to stand besides Mrs Cooper and put his hand on his best friend's left shoulder. He could somehow feel at least some of the tension there leaving.
Betty set down on the floor, her back pressed into his legs. They looked like a bubble, a wall all around Archie, Jughead realized. Him, Betty, Veronica and, yes, Mrs Cooper.
"I am sorry, son. I know this must be hard, but there are still some things we need to talk about.", Sheriff Keller told Archie, who looked too tired and worn to even sit, let alone answer questions.
"Archie here has already answered all your questions.", Mrs Cooper told the Sheriff sternly. Jughead could see Betty's head turning at her mother in confusion. Was her mom PROTECTING Archie?!
The Sheriff completely ignored her though.
"Archie, is there anything you can tell me about the attacker? Something that struck you about his appearance… his clothes… maybe a tattoo? Possibly of a snake?", his eyes landed on Jughead, as he asked that last part and he felt his legs turn to lead.
"No.", was Archie's only reply, but Betty was sitting up straighter now.
Oh no, Jughead thought, please don't.
"What kind of question even is that?"
"One I need to ask.", the Sheriff told her with an annoyed sort of voice, that made even Jughead feel like the Sheriff was trying to talk to a toddler.
"I know this seems to go beyond everything you seem to believe nowadays, but you can't pin everything horrible happening in this town on the Serpents!", Betty's voice sounded like pure acid. Like her mother, actually, Jughead thought with a start.
"This is no time for your personal quarrel, Miss Cooper."
"I am not the one with the vendetta."
Veronica groaned, her free hand briefly touching Betty's shoulder, but his girlfriend was on fire now. She had been for a while now and him joining the Serpents could not have improved matters.
"Miss Cooper, I follow where the evidence leads me."´, Keller told her icely.
"Doubtful. But that evidence you claim to have pointing towards the Serpents, I would really like to see it.", Mrs Cooper joined her daughter and Jughead turned his head to look at her in wonder.
"With what happened at Thorn Hill last night, we are following every possible lead.", the Sheriff looked more annoyed than angry now. Jughead suspected he might leave soon, try and get away from the angry, protective Cooper-Women. He didn't even blame him.
"What happened at Thorn Hill?", Jughead couldn't hide the alarm in his voice. Cheryl. They shouldn't have left Cheryl on her own.
"Arson. Someone burned the place down.", Veronica explained, "Everyone got out okay, though."
"It's were Polly and my husband are right now.",Mrs Cooper added, looking at Jughead with a calculating gaze he knew all too well by now, "Polly wanted to make sure Cheryl was alright."
"It's no coincidence that those two things happened in the same night.", Keller told them almost stubbornly, but Jughead didn't really believe that. This didn't sound right. None of these things did.
"Archie has answered all your questions. Come back tomorrow, if you must.", Mrs Cooper told him coldly, "Archie will be here. Or next door, if he feels more like it."
In response Archie's head actually turned to look at his best friend's mother.
"Here?", he asked her, sounding slightly dazed.
"Naturally. Sadly I can only offer you a couch, but we will not leave you on your own.", with that she turned abruptly and moved towards the front door, still open since neither of them had bothered to close it. The cold air felt like a relief within the heavy atmosphere of the room.
Mrs Cooper pulled the door open even wider and looked at the Sheriff pointedly.
"I will be back.", he told them, but Jughead suspected it was more a show of authority than anything else.
The door fell shut with a loud bang and silence fell over the living room. No one spoke, no one moved.
"Right.", Mrs Cooper began, "Who would like some pancakes?"
Archie's shoulders started to shake and he buried his head in Veronica's neck.
At some point Jughead actually managed to call Carrie and Martin. They had heard about the shooting and already expected him to be with Archie. Riverdale was a small town after all, but they were grateful that he'd called.
Mr Cooper hadn't looked extremely happy at the prospect of having his daughter's boyfriend staying on one of their couches, but apparently he didn't think it worth to pick a fight over with his wife, who seemed oddly resolved to keep both Archie and Jughead with them. And so Jughead found himself on a couch again, although a much more expansive and comfortable one. Archie was snoring softly on the other couch, pure mental exhaustion had thankfully granted him an early night. Veronica, although looking quite reluctant had left after the strange, sad dinner they had all shared. Now most people inside the Cooper House were asleep, only Jughead was still lying awake, staring up towards the ceiling. He had gained the ability to sleep everywhere at any time, a necessary skill, when one was essentially homeless, but tonight the blissful relief wouldn't come. Maybe because he had slept so much the night before. Maybe because his thoughts were just racing way too fast for him to stop them. He was so tired, right down to the bones. But his mind… his mind was determined to play any and all horror scenarios he could come up with.
Everything was going up in flames. Yesterday evening they had all been sitting at Pop's. Yes, he was in a foster family. Yes, he had had to switch schools. Yes, the social tensions around them were almost touchable via their hands… but they had been so happy nonetheless. And now? Nothing was certain anymore. And Fred Andrews, truly the one adult he had kind of dared to trust in lately, was dead. And the world just wasn't the same anymore.
There was a soft noise behind him. Steps falling down the stairs. Jughead tensed on instinct, until he saw Betty stepping into the soft light by the outside streetlamp.
He reflexively skidded back towards the far end of the lying surface, lifting his heavy blanket and letting Betty slip in. She didn't actually say anything, not a single word, but she did bury her face in his chest again, like she had done only the night before and without Jughead even noticing, they both fell asleep.
They all woke with a start the next moment, when the doorbell rang loudly and somewhat urgently. Poor Betty, startled at the sudden noise, fell off the couch, cursing loudly. Hal Cooper was down the stairs, before either of the three teens downstairs had really registered what was going on, his face grim and worried, but he didn't comment on his younger daughter's presence, instead carefully opening the door.
Archie's Mum was standing there. Suitcase in hand, her face as pale as Archie's had been the day before. She gave Mr Cooper a friendly, apologetic smile, before her eyes found her son. Leaving it to Mr Cooper to close the door, she hurried over and took Archie into her arms, muttering things Jughead couldn't and didn't want to understand. Betty took his hand and let him into the kitchen, as her father went back upstairs to give mother and son some room.
"Coffee?", Betty asked him as they reached the counter, "I think we might all need some this morning."
"You don't drink coffee.", he told her.
"Then I will call mine milk and sugar with a little dose of coffee."
They set in silence for a couple of minutes. Jughead was almost surprised how comfortable it was. No need to talk. No need to explain. They were good like this.
The door opened and Mrs Andrew stuck her head in.
"Morning, you two.", she smiled sadly at them, "Sorry for waking you. I just didn't… well, I couldn't wait."
"That's quite alright, Mrs Andrews.", Betty squeezed Jughead's hand lying on the table, "And we are really sorry for your loss." We, Jughead thought, we.
Jughead got up to hide his brief happy smile and to get a cup of coffee for Archie's mom, when she walked up to him, took the cup out of his hand and placed it on the counter.
"Jughead", she started, then bit her lip nervously, before embracing him. Her warm, strong arms around him, he could vaguely hear what she was telling him, but the words didn't seem that important really.
"I know you loved him. And I know he loved you, too. He was so sad, he couldn't officially take you in."
Jughead felt a big lump in his throat and when he felt her softly stroking his back, he started to cry for Fred Andrews.