For two weeks, Betty avoids Jughead to the best of her ability. She makes a point of keeping to the opposite side of the hallway when they cross paths, she doesn't keep him company in their English classroom at lunch, and when she does arrive for class, she refuses to even spare him a glance. He'd never thought he could be so infuriated by being ignored by a classmate. But she's not just a classmate, she's so much more than that, he was just too obstinate to see it before.

"So," Veronica questions as she changes out of her Vixens uniform after the boys home game.

"So what," Betty wonders, tugging her jeans on.

"Oh come on B. Have you slept with him yet?"

Betty nearly chokes on her spit. "What? Who?"

"That broody Serpent guy Weatherbee has you stalking. He's practically sex on legs," she swoons, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a wink.

"Jughead? Oh my god V, no. I'm pretty sure he hates me," she retorts, feeling a pang of hurt in her chest where she'd previously held hope that he was just guarded and not actually an asshole.

"Oh please. That boy has been eye fucking you for weeks."

"He has not," she clips, trying to recall the last time she even spared him a glance as she tucks her uniform into her back pack.

"Oh, he so has. I swear, he's always looking at you. It would be creepy if he wasn't such a snack," Veronica purrs, leading the way out if the locker room.

Betty nearly crashes into her as she comes to a dead stop just outside the door.

"I told you," Veronica whispers, bringing Betty's attention to Jughead who's leaned back against the lockers ahead of them. She bounces off with nothing more than a wink in Betty's direction, leaving her defenseless with the one person she'd rather not have to face off with.

Without even acknowledging his presence, Betty hurries for the doors to exit the school, wishing they weren't all the way at the other end of the hall.

"Betty," Jughead scolds, catching up with her quickly and placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. Betty stops, swallowing down her defeat before turning to face him with a deep set scowl.

"I have to get home. What do you want," she clips, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Can you stop hating me for like five seconds? I just want to talk," he grits, swiping his palm over his face.

Betty says nothing in reply, only taps her foot expectantly.

"Why did you leave," he asks softly.

"Why did I- are you serious," she scoffs, earning a clueless shrug from Jughead. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life. I told you I liked you and you made it very clear that you don't share those feelings. So, if you'll excuse me."

Jughead, grabs her by the wrist, stopping her from walking away and pulls her snug against his chest. He takes her lips with enough force to bring stars behind her eyelids and for a moment, she melts into him. In the blink of an eye, she pushes against his chest with the flat of her hands, shoving him back before her palm meets his cheek in a loud slap that echoes through the hallway. Stunned, Jughead watches in confusion as her eyes pool up with tears and she makes a run for the doors.

As if Jughead's evening couldn't get any worse, he's called into his father's office immediately upon his arrival at the Wyrm. As he opens the door, he finds Sweet Pea already seated in front of FPs desk.

"Dad? What's-"

"Sit down boy," FP clips, scowling as he watches Jughead take his seat.

For a long while, the only sound to be heard in the small, dimly lit room, is the metallic click of the old space heater in the far corner. Sweet Pea and Jughead share nervous glances as FP glares between them, obviously thinking hard about something with the heavy furrow on his brow.

FP takes in a sharp breath. "The two of you have no fucking idea why you're in here, do you?"

The two boys shrug, glancing at one another for the right answer that neither seems to have.

"That's fucking great," he laughs humorlessly. "You two dumbasses go out and start shit with a rival gang and you have absolutely no god damn sense of what you've done."

"What gang," Jughead pipes up, glancing questioningly at Sweet Pea.

"We just roughed up some weird gamer kids," Sweet Pea explains with a shrug intended for Jughead.

"Weird gamer kids," FP laughs again. "Those kids are drug peddlers for Malachai, the leader of the fucking Ghoulies. You two idiots just cost us our asses."

"Ghoulies," Jughead questions. "I thought they ran in Greendale?"

"They moved our way when the new sheriff took over," he explains. "Guess they couldn't get the guy to turn a blind eye like the old one." With the sharp intake of an unsettling breath, his hands tent in front of his face, his eyes downcast to the desk as his fingers slide across his forehead to rub at his temples. "Fangs is in the hospital."

Jughead swipes his hair back, fisting his beanie as he sinks into the back of his chair as a wave of guilt crashes over him.

"I'll fucking kill em," Sweet Pea shouts as he jumps up from his seat, his fist colliding with the aluminum top on FP's desk.

"Sit your ass down," FP scolds, pointing a firm finger in Sweet Pea's direction.

"What happened," Jughead asks quietly, his guilt causing the bile in his stomach to rise into his throat.

"Those kids you jumped go to Southside High. They returned the favor," FP replies scolding the two boys with a stern glare.

"The fucks wrong with you," Jughead shouts, grabbing Sweet Pea by the collar of his shirt and shoving him into the nearest wall.

"Me? What the fuck did I do," Sweet Pea grits, forcing Jughead back with a hard shove to the chest.

"You fucking knew," Jughead spits, getting in Sweet Pea's face. "You knew they went to Southside and you didn't say shit!"

"Boys," FP warns as he rounds the front of his desk.

"I didn't know," Sweet Pea shout, again shoving Jughead back.

"How could you fucking not," he shouts as he stumbles back.

"I dropped out ok!"

"You wha-"

"Alright, that's enough," FP clips, grabbing both boys by their collars and shoving them towards the door. "Out. You settle your shit elsewhere," he clips, slamming the door in their faces.

"Pea, I didn't-"

"Just don't, ok? It's not in the cards for me. It's whatever," he scoffs, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walks through the bar towards the exit.

Outside, Sweet Pea and Jughead lean back against the outer wall of the Wyrm. The two smoke their cigarettes side by side, with not a word between them, only a heaviness that doesn't sit right with either one of them. Jughead is the first to finish, stomping his butt out beneath his boot before taking his leave.

"Jug," Sweet Pea calls out, just as Jughead throws a leg over the seat of his bike.

Jughead replies with a nod of his head, raising a brow as Sweet Pea walks over to him.

"I was gonna tell you. I just," he scratches his head, "I'm not smart like you. School sucks for me. This," he gestures to the bar behind them, "this is all I have."

Jughead nods thoughtfully, "I get it."

"You do," Sweet Pea questions, his brows lifting in surprise.

"I think it would be stupid of you not to at least get your GED," he comments, "but I get it. You do what you have to, to survive. Always have. If this is what you have to do, so be it," he shrugs.

Sweet Pea only nods in reply before turning back for the Wyrm, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his head hung low.

To say Jughead is pissed is an understatement. He's absolutely fuming that Sweet Pea would just give up after the work they'd done to make sure he passed last year. All the make-up assignments, the late night study sessions, and the bullshitting of exams by a few select teachers, completely worthless. Every ounce of it just flushed down the shitter, but he refuses to scold Pea for his decision. He's had a rougher go of things than Jughead ever has, and that's saying something. Sweet Pea was dealt the shittiest hand in the deck of life and not finishing high school is the absolute least of his worries, but Jughead fears for the future of his closest friend.