Jughead took a long look at all the Serpents who'd come to give him the jacket he just pulled over his shoulders.
"Your father's doing a lot for us by sacrificing himself, the least we could do for him is to make sure his son has people he can count on." One of the Serpents told Jughead before he dismissed the other Serpents, and walked up to the front of Jughead's trailer. Betty watched on, helpless, as the Serpent put his arm around Jughead and pulled him in to tell him something that Betty was unable to hear; she wasn't sure it was something she would've wanted to hear, either, but her experiences had taught her that secrets were more dangerous than anything else. Betty's face fell for a moment when she saw the Serpent and Jughead smile at each other, have a connection with each other, she had so desperately hoped that Jughead would turn all of them away and to return the jacket, but now she feared he would end up like his father. She watched on from behind a mostly closed door, and she dug her nails into the side of wooden door frame; Betty sighed, but did her best to not look disappointed or scared when Jughead walked back into the trailer, though he hardly seemed to notice her. He walked into the center of the living room and the dim lighting obscured his face so much that, if Betty hadn't already known it was Jughead, she would've assumed that he was and always had been a Southside Serpent.
"I can't believe it." Jughead said, the elation in his voice increasing Betty's nervousness.
"I can't either." Betty said quietly enough that Jughead didn't hear her, her eyes still fixated on his jacket.
"My dad was loyal to them Betty, loyal. And not only that, but he's also sober! Sure, he's in jail, but he made a sacrifice for them." He said and turned around and put his hands on Betty's shoulders. "Betts, I think he's really going to change." He finished as Betty nodded slightly, not sure what to say to Jughead. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to tell her something, but was interrupted when his phone rang.
"You should check that, it might be important." Betty told him, she might have stopped him earlier, but that was before he took the jacket, before he became a Southside Serpent. He reached into his pocket and was excited to see that Archie was calling him, he wanted so badly to tell him what had happened and hoped Archie would share in the excitement of what this meant for FP.
"What's up, Archie?" Jughead asked, leaning casually against a closet. Betty continued to scan her eyes over the jacket, which looked pristine in the trailer's lighting. Jughead waited a few moments before asking "Archie, you there?" Jughead stiffened when he heard Archie's shaky and irregular breathing on the other side of the line.
"Jughead." Archie murmured breathlessly.
"Archie, are you okay? What happened?" He questioned while trying to minimize the panicked sound of his voice. He normally wouldn't have acted or felt so panicked, but with everything that had just gone down, he suspected something terrible must've happened. Betty came over and put her hand on Jughead's arm, she looked up at the side of his face to try to understand what was going on.
"Oh my god, Jughead...my dad…" Archie struggled, Jughead held his breath, waiting for Archie to keep talking. "He got shot." Archie said in what sounded like a moan. Jughead inhaled sharply and almost dropped his cell phone as Betty gasped, taking a step backwards in shock.
"We'll be right there Archie!" Jughead said quickly as he and Betty moved for the door.
"No! Just you, Jughead...please." Archie begged. Jughead looked at Betty who nodded; she let Jughead's arm slip out of her hand as he rushed out the door.
"Alright, alright, just me. Where are you?" He asked as he got in the driver's seat of his car and searched through his pockets for his car keys.
"Pop's." Archie replied after a few long, deep breaths. The car engine started up and Jughead pulled aggressively out into the road.
"I'll be right there, Archie." Jughead assured him. The sounds of sirens approaching could be heard coming from Archie's line. "Why did you want me to come along?" He asked making his voice softer and less intense so he wouldn't further distress Archie, Jughead wasn't really concerned with why, he was more concerned with how Archie was doing, but wanted to keep Archie talking.
"I-I just don't need everyone here at once." Archie confessed. Jughead swallowed hard when he heard Archie's voice breaking.
"Don't worry Archie, don't worry." He said desperately trying to keep his emotions at bay; Jughead swallowed hard when he heard Archie's voice breaking, and was reminded of how good Archie's father was to him, how much like a father Fred had been for him when FP wasn't sober and disappeared for any number of days. "Archie, I'm here." He said bracing himself as he swung the car into the parking lot and came to a screeching halt that grabbed Archie's attention. Jughead ended the phone call and tossed his cell phone into the passenger seat as he climbed out of his car. Archie was sitting on a bench outside the diner; his shirt and the right arm of his jacket were stained with vibrant, fresh blood.
"Archie!" Jughead yelled as he ran over to meet him. Archie was just lifting his head out of his hands and Jughead froze for a moment when he realized the blood on Archie's hands was now on parts of his face. Jughead removed his beanie and pressed some clean, white snow onto it. "Here," he said using his hat as a cloth to clean the blood from Archie's face, "let's get that off." Jughead finished, too nervous and shaken to say the word 'blood.' Archie's whole body was completely tight and he closed his eyes as a single tear escaped down his face. When he opened his eyes, he could see the redness around Jughead's eyes, which he had cast downwards; while Archie know his own pain exceeded that of Jughead's he also knew they had a shared pain because Jughead had thought of Fred as someone he could count on.
"Jughead," Archie said, "please look at me." He pleaded and Jughead lifted his gaze to meet Archie's. The understanding and connection between the two was palpable and they wrapped their arms around each other, like brothers. Jughead didn't care at all that the blood was being smeared over his Southside Serpent jacket, and neither of them cared that they were sitting in the freezing cold as a soft, sweet snowfall began to coat the trees.
Sheriff Keller emerged with one of the EMTs and walked towards the two boys, who separated to hear what happened; he squatted down in front of them and put one hand on each of their shoulders so he could look them in the eye. "Let's talk."