I know someday I'll make it out of here,

Even if it takes all night or a hundred years,

Need a place to hide but I can't find one near,

Wanna feel alive, outside I can't fight my fear.

Isn't it lovely, all alone,

Heart made of glass, my mind of stone,

Tear me to pieces, skin and bone,

Hello, welcome home.

-Lovely by Billie Eilish and Khalid

Jughead walked into Archie's room. His room, if the bed on the far wall recently purchased by Fred was any indication. He still hadn't wrapped his head around the idea of being a bona fide Andrews. It'd been a whirlwind two days; an eternity. First his dad signed over his rights. Next they found video footage proving that Clifford Blossom killed Jason, though FP was still facing twenty years in jail for related crimes.

Then Fred was shot.

"You okay?" Betty asked, watching him as he gingerly sat on the edge of his bed, his ribs burning from the movement. He nodded.

"Maybe you should stay here and get some rest, I can take this to Archie," she suggested, folding a t-shirt into the backpack they'd commandeered to bring their friend some clothes without blood stains.

"I'll be alright," Jughead said. Betty didn't seem convinced as she walked over, placing her hands on his shoulders. She kept him steady more than he cared to admit.

"You've still got a fever," she murmured, placing the back of her hand against his forehead. He leaned into to the touch, eyes slipping closed. It wasn't a good idea to tell her how he was really feeling; ribs ached, head throbbed, and the fever was making everything feel murky. Honestly he wanted nothing more than sleep. But his best friend needed him.

"Come on," he said, slowly rising to his feet and trying to hide his wince. Betty sighed and followed.

"He has my dad's wallet. He knows where we live! What if he...what if he comes back?" Archie was pale and sweaty, hands gripping the edge of the table. Betty and Jughead sat across from him with Veronica beside him, the three listening as he recounted what had happened at Pop's that morning.

"Let's just focus on your dad right now," Veronica said, her hand gripping Archie's arm. Jughead pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Tall Boy.

"Who are you calling?" Betty asked.

"Asking some of my dad's friends to watch the house, just in case," he replied, glancing at Archie. The redhead gave him a quick nod of acceptance before Jughead sent the message.

"Remember when you said Serpents look out for their own? Does that include my best friend and his dad?"

His phone beeped with a quick reply.

"What do you need us to do?"

"Watch the Andrews' place, my buddy's dad was shot this morning and the guy might come back. 416 E Green Lane."

Jughead pocketed his phone, aware of Betty shooting him concerned glances. She'd been there when Tall Boy brought his jacket over, and he had promised he wasn't joining their gang. But it helped knowing they would watch his back.

"You guys should go get some sleep," Archie said, looking at each of them.

"We're not leaving you," Jughead promised. His friend seemed to relax at that, and the four of them slipped into quiet conversation.

"I wish we could just go. Hop on a motorcycle and go somewhere there's no Southside or Northside, no Serpents or Ghoulies."

"No crazy mom's or Black Hoods. We could live happily ever after."

Jughead remembered the conversation well. Betty had met him yesterday morning at Pop's for an early breakfast, and the two had spoken of leaving town. Leaving behind everything that was tormenting them. He'd originally wanted to admit to her his budding involvement with the Serpents, but seeing her face made him stop. Something was wrong. Yet she wouldn't tell him. It was as if a giant barrier stood between them, larger than the table physically separating them.

Maybe it had started when he and Archie fought. The Serpents had been watching the house for a couple days, all while Alice Cooper continued to demonize them in her paper and claim the Black Hood was obviously a Southsider. Things erupted when Archie demanded they leave and Jughead finally got him to admit he didn't trust them. And when Jughead pushed, Archie said that the Southsiders were the ones causing all the problems.

Jughead had been sleeping in the garage ever since. He still followed Fred's rules about curfew and going to school, but he avoided Archie as much as humanly possible. And when he wasn't at school or asleep, he was at the Whyte Wyrm. It felt good to be around people who understood how hard it was coming from the Southside. None of his Northside friends, Betty included, would ever get that. So he'd started lying to her about where he was going. And it seemed to snowball from there.

He was going through the Gauntlet that night. The final stage of joining the Serpents as a full member. And once he did, there would be no going back. Fred and Archie and Betty and Veronica would finally see he had made his choice. He had chosen his side in the looming war. He just hoped some of his friends still stood by when the smoke cleared.

Stepping outside into the afternoon sun, Jughead was surprised to see Archie standing there looking lost.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, bounding down the stairs and checking that Sweet Pea and the others weren't there yet. While it was a nice surprise to see Archie, he had awful timing.

"We've gotta talk, Jug," Archie said.

Jughead knew Sweet Pea and the others were on their way, and the last thing he wanted was for them to spot Archie. "Now's not a good time. You need to leave, okay? Right now."

"Why, what's going on?" asked Archie.

"What's this?" Sweet Pea asked as he walked around the side of the trailer, Fang and the rest of the young members following him.

"Leave him alone," Jughead said, stepping past Archie to stand between them.

"Wait, you're friends with these thugs?" Archie demanded.

Jughead turned to look at him. "It's not what you think."

"Are you joining the Serpents?"

"If he survives," Sweet Pea replied. "And call us thugs one more time." Jughead braced his arm against Sweet Pea as he advanced towards Archie, trying to keep the taller teen in line.

"Jughead, these are the guys who attacked me. Who attacked Veronica, and Reggie, and Dilton. Your friends!"

Sweet Pea took a step back and Jughead faced Archie, realization dawning. "Is that why you're here? To warn me?"

"No," Archie shook his head. "I came here to tell you to stay away from Betty. She doesn't want to see you anymore."

Jughead froze. She didn't want to see him anymore? Was that why she was acting so sad and distant at Pop's? "I just saw her yesterday, she was fine!"

"No, she's been wanting to break up with you for weeks. She's been agonizing over it. Since you crossed to the dark side and brought Serpents to my house. But she couldn't do it," Archie explained.

"So she sent you?" Jughead scoffed. None of it made any sense. "She wouldn't do that."

"If you don't believe me then call her!" said Archie. He looked at Jughead with such contempt. "And feel free to tell her you're a Serpent now, I'm sure she'd love that."

Jughead had no words, no argument to make Archie stop. To make his former best friend trust him. "She saw where you were headed. We all did! And she knows you can't be with them and with her. Come on man, you know it too."

It was as if the ground was shifting beneath him. Betty was the love of his life and she'd sent his best friend to break up with him. He wasn't even worthy of a face to face conversation. Maybe she was afraid of him. Maybe he'd gone to far in trying to ensure peace between the North and the South.

Maybe he'd screwed everything up, and there was no way to fix it.

And just like that the sadness turned into something else. "Tell Betty I got the message," he snarled, throwing as much anger into that one sentence as he could. Archie nodded, taking the hint.

"Yeah," he said, walking past Jughead. Sweet Pea and the others let him pass.

Jughead took a deep breath and slowly turned to face the others, Sweet Pea surveying him with a strange look.

"Enjoy the show?" he snapped, still too riled up.

Sweet Pea crossed his arms. "The show hasn't even started."

They walked through the Southside; past trailer parks and abandoned buildings, past broken windows on store-fronts and Jingle Jangle wrappers on the sidewalk. Finally, they reached the park behind the Whyte Wyrm. It was desolate and the sun had gone down while they were walking, leaving long shadows the form across the ground.

Two lines formed before him, facing each other with enough space between for him to walk. The Gauntlet was simple : allow each member to hit him with every step he took. If he fell he had to get himself back up and keep going. As Toni had said, "You gotta be willing to die for us, because we will for you."

He shrugged out of his sheepskin jacket and shirt, untying the flannel from around his waist and adding it to the pile of clothes beside him. Then he started walking, all other thoughts gone.

A punch to the face.

Stomach.

Ribs.

Nose.

Cheek.

Mouth.

Sternum.

Ribs.

Stomach.

Sweet Pea loomed before him, the last in line. Jughead swayed on his feet, his stubborn willpower the only thing keeping him vertical.

"Is that all you got?" he taunted, barely able to see the fist flying towards his face before stars exploded. Then he was on the ground.

Growling, he got his arms under himself and slowly rose back to his feet. Sweet Pea was grinning like a maniac. And Tall Boy was there, holding out his Serpents' jacket.

He'd passed initiation.

He was a Serpent.

"You didn't have to walk me to school," Toni teased as they approached Southside High.

"I'm heading to Pop's and this is on the way," Jughead said, wincing as his ribs shifted. Just when his previous injuries were healed, he'd gone and got himself new ones. Fred was going to freak out.

"Well, thanks for letting me stay last night. Once I find the next couch to crash on I'll be out of your way," she vowed.

Jughead glanced at her. "You can stay for as long as you want. My trailer is your trailer."

Toni stopped, looking up at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yah, I don't see the issue. I gotta stay at Fred's place most of the time anyways so he doesn't get too suspicious, so the trailer's gonna be empty. Just no wild parties."

Toni grinned. "Deal!"

Jughead watched her walk inside the building, knowing he should go to school himself or Fred would find out he was skipping, but also not caring. He had more important things to worry about, like icing his ribs and sleeping for the next two days.

"Jug!"

He turned, shocked to see Archie sprinting towards him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jughead asked.

"We gotta go, right now!" Archie replied, beginning to pull him down the sidewalk. Jughead yanked his arm free.

"How did you find me?"

"You weren't at school or Pop's so I figured you might be here," Archie replied. "But we gotta go. Mayor McCoy's about to raid Southside High! We have to get you out of here."

Jughead allowed himself to be led away from the front entrance just as four police cars pulled up, officers quickly jumping out and streaming inside. The Sheriff and Mayor McCoy were amongst them.

It wasn't until they were around the corner and relatively safe that Archie slowed. He turned, glancing at Jughead's face as they walked in silence.

"What happened to you?"

"You don't wanna know," Jughead replied.

Archie stopped him. "Yah, I do."

His phone chimed and he pulled it from his pocket, quickly reading the text from Tall Boy.

"I gotta go, Tall Boy wants to meet. If you really wanna talk, meet me in the garage later."

He left without another word, aware of Archie's gaze on his back. He just hoped he could fix the mess they were in before it was too late.

Of course, that was easier said than done. Tall Boy had decided to align the Serpents with the Ghoulies against the Northside who, in his words, had just "Declared war". But that meant the Serpents would no longer exist. Only Ghoulies and their drug empire. His dad would be devastated when he found out.

"Jughead, calm down."

"Calm down?" Jughead whirled, glaring at Archie. He'd been pacing a groove into the floor of the garage for the past few minutes. "Riverdale just became a police state! And the Ghoulies are taking over."

Archie sighed. "McCoy's convinced the Serpents are the ones dealing Jingle Jangle."

"Serpents don't deal that junk," Jughead said, feeling like he was repeating himself for the millionth time. "The Ghoulies do."

"So tell Mayor McCoy that!"

"The Mayor?" Jughead scoffed. "You mean the Mayor that just arrested my friends for no reason? The one that won't help my dad? Why do you care anyways? I thought you and Betty wanted nothing to do with me."

"I'm sorry for what happened," Archie apologized. "Things have been crazy lately. And you should maybe talk to Betty."

Jughead shook his head. "It doesn't matter now anyways. The Ghoulies don't want an alliance, they want a hostile takeover. Who knows how long Tall Boy has been planning on betraying us. If I can stall until Sweet Pea and Toni and Fangs get out maybe we can swing the vote. I just hope they would rather go to war than start dealing..."

"Juggie, you told me you joined the Serpents to keep the peace. And I believe you. There's gotta be an option besides war."

"My dad would never sit back and let this happen, so neither will I," Jughead said. He ran his hands through his tousled hair, his beanie tossed onto the couch beside Archie. "Unless you have any better ideas."

Archie paused, sitting forward. "Not me, but I know someone who does."

It took Jughead a moment to realize who Archie was referring to. He laughed. "My dad's still refusing to see me."

"But not me," Archie pressed, sure of his idea. "I'll go talk to him, see if he has any suggestions.

"I hope he does. Because if we don't do something there won't be any more Serpents, just Ghoulies. And with more numbers, they're gonna start dealing all over town. Jingle Jangle will be everywhere."

Jughead's knee bounced restlessly as he sat in the waiting room of the county jail. Archie had gone inside half an hour ago, though it seemed much longer. He just hoped his dad was willing to talk to him because they were out of options. If Tall Boy had his way, they would become Ghoulies that night. Thankfully they had to wait for the vote.

Archie approached, looking determined. Jughead jumped to his feet, suddenly nervous. "What did he say?"

"You're outnumbered, so you have to avoid bloodshed," Archie replied as they quickly left the jail. "Your dad suggested since this is all about territory, we offer them a street race. Give them a chance to win what they really want without a fight."

"On what terms?"

"They win, Serpents roll over. But if you win, they back off. He also mentioned the winner controlling Southside High," Archie replied.

"Makes sense; that place is the main hub of their Jingle Jangle operations," Jughead said. His dad was a genius. "Now we just have to offer them the race and hope they go for it."

The Ghoulie headquarters was a creepy basement dwelling under an abandoned building. No windows, main entrance a rickety set of old stairs, and the only lights came from the millions of candles scattered throughout the room. Skulls, bones, spikes and other macabre designs decorated the walls. But Jughead refused to allow his surroundings to distract him.

Archie stood beside him, the two of them facing Malachi, the leader of the Ghoulies. Tall Boy stood off to the side, watching the exchange in silence.

"We want to challenge you to a race, one on one. If we win, the Serpents remain autonomous and you stop dealing at Southside High," Jughead said, closely watching Malachi's reactions.

"And if we win?" Malachi asked.

"Then we fold. And you can continue polluting the Southside with your sugary poison."

Malachi laughed. "So, the Serpent prince can think for himself. I like it. But unless you want to put some of Daddy's territory on the table, no race."

Jughead paused. He was hoping to hear that. "If you win, we give you the Whyte Wyrm. You can expand your drug deal and upgrade out of this hellhole."

"We'll take the Wyrm and Sunnyside trailer park," Malachi replied.

There was no other choice. Jughead held out his hand. "Deal."

Jughead stood with Archie beside Reggie's car while the engine was inspected by two Ghoulies. Betty and Reggie were checking Malachi's engine.

"Listen, I've got a plan," Archie whispered. Jughead looked at him. "Just trust me."

"Alright let's do this!" Tall Boy yelled. "Get those cars up on the road!"

Jughead slammed the hood closed and climbed in, following the crowd up to the road and pulling beside Malachi's waiting red and flame painted hearse.

"You ready to lose?" he asked, grinning.

Jughead ignored him, watching Archie's fingers nervously drum on his leg. There was a lot riding on the outcome of their race. And not just for the Southside.

Cheryl walked past the cars, holding a red scarf. "You boys ready?"

Jughead revved his engine and Malachi responded in kind. She raised the scarf, both drivers white-knuckling their steering wheels. Jughead could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the scarf dropped and they were off.

The pavement slipped past them in a blur as they careened down the road, tires eating up the distance between them and upcoming the narrow one car bridge. It was their first hurdle; after that they had to make it around Dead Man's Curve to an old dirt lot where they turned around, then back around the curve and over the bridge to their waiting friends. First car was the winner, though the race could destroy both if they weren't careful.

"Jug, we aren't gonna make it," Archie said, looking over at Malachi's car. They were a few feet in front of them, and with the bridge fast approaching they would have to slow down and slip in behind the Ghoulies if they didn't want to crash.

"The Serpents are joining the Ghoulies over my dead body," Jughead growled, pressing harder on the gas pedal. The car responded, inching closer towards a tie with Malachi. And still the bridge grew ever closer.

"Remember to trust me!" Archie shouted, suddenly grabbing the emergency brake and pulling it. The car spun sideways, leaving them sitting across the road as the Ghoulies raced over the bridge and around the corner.

Jughead panted, breathless. They were going to lose. They were going to lose.

He quickly climbed out of the car, staring down the road. The Serpents had trusted him and he'd let them down.

"What did you do?" he demanded, grabbing the front of Archie's jacket and shaking him. There had to be an explanation why his friend would throw the race and doom the Serpents to a life with the Ghoulies, he just couldn't imagine what it might be.

"You're gonna thank me for this," Archie replied. Then there were shouts and police sirens and Jughead was running.

"Juggie, stop! Jug!"

He ran over the bridge and around the corner, coming to a stop when he saw Malachi's car idling in the center of the road facing three Sheriff's cars. Someone had tipped them off to the race.

"Jug, we gotta go! Come on," Archie urged, grabbing his arm. Luckily they hadn't been spotted, but they had to go warn the others.

Naturally Tall Boy was livid.

"You won't fight the Ghoulies but you'll make deals with the cops!" he screamed, getting right in Jughead's face.

"Calm down, Tall Boy! I didn't know know they would be there!" he replied, holding his hands up to keep the space between them.

"I called them," Archie said. Jughead whirled.

"Archie, why would you do that?" he demanded.

"To get the Ghoulies off your back!" Archie replied. "It gives you a few months freedom."

"And you know what they'll want when you get out?" Jughead asked, shoving Archie. "Blood!"