Chapter 4- Father and Sons.
Robyn had fielded questions and comments about how well she knew Jughead for the 30 minutes between him leaving and F.P walking into the bar. A silence fell over the place causing him to cast a strange look around everyone there.
"Hey, F.P." His eyes were tight with an unknown emotion as he looked down at her.
"Robyn." She could tell he wasn't in a good mood tonight. She turned to look at the man next to him, he couldn't have been much older than her, black hair nearly down to his shoulders and dark eyes peering out from behind it. "This is Joaquin."
"Hey, nice to meet you." She put on her customer service voice and smile as she greeted him. She was met with a surly silence, something that wasn't so uncommon with the regulars at this bar.
"He's a man of few words." F.P offered up the explanation and she just nodded and turned her attention back to him.
"Do you have a minute?" F.P nodded to her and gestured for her to follow him to his office upstairs.
The office was always the same, minimalist as F.P himself is, a bookcase along one wall with things that belonged to the owner of the building and a desk that had some small personal items. She took a deep breath, not knowing quite the reaction she would get from him.
"Jughead came here today." She could see the shock plain on his face as he turned to look at her.
"Why?" She shrugged lightly, unsure of the exact reason he had come here instead of waiting until they were in school the following day.
"He wanted to talk, we left a conversation unfinished at school and I guess he wanted to finish it." He made his way around the desk and sat down heavily, hunched as if he had a weight on his shoulders.
"About what?" She shook her head and he saw a light smile come to his lips as if expecting the answer. "Not my business?"
"He told me to say hi for him." She watched as he quirked an eyebrow up at her.
"And why would he do that?"
"Why not?" He let out a small burst of laughter at that statement.
"Because he hasn't reached out to me for weeks, never turned up here. What did you do?" His laughter put her at ease and she sat down opposite him.
"We just talked. I told him I knew you, he asked about you and I told the truth." He nodded to her.
"So what now, you'll keep talking to him about me?" She could practically see the wheel turning in his mind at the thought of having this link.
"If he wants to know and you want me to tell him. I won't lie though, I either tell him everything or I keep quiet." He was silent for a few moments, looking at a single spot on the desk in front of him before looking up and meeting her eye.
"Fine, if he wants to know then you can share anything you see fit with him." She was slightly surprised by this but hoped it didn't show much on her face. "So they all know who he is now?"
"Yeah, typical Mustang had him pinned to a wall when I came back into the bar." She saw the anger flash in his eyes. "Don't worry, no one was hurt and I have no idea what Jughead did or said before that point. Knowing Mustang it could have been anything." There was still the tinge of anger as he nodded to her. "What will you tell them?"
"That he isn't ready for this, I don't want him involved with the serpents." She nodded lightly, expecting the answer.
"I know you don't." She saw him squint his eyes slightly at her and she chuckled lightly. "You've kept him from them for a long time, he's at the age they would start looking at bringing him in. I know you don't want him in and I don't think he wants in himself, but they may be harder to get away from the idea."
"I'll deal with it." That signaled the end of the conversation and she nodded as she stood up. "Hey, how is he, in general I mean?" She turned back and smiled lightly at him.
"He seems ok." He nodded to her and she watched again as he hunched over as if something was weighing him down.
"You doing ok?" She couldn't help the question coming forward.
"Yeah." He smiled but it looked forced to her. "Now get back to work." She smiled at him again and made her way back down into the bar.
The place was getting quieter but she slowly made the rounds, she saw Joaquin still stood by the bar, seeming to be waiting for something.
"Hey, anything I can get for you?" He shook his head lightly.
"Alright if I go on up?" He nodded his head up to F.P in his office.
"Oh, he doesn't usually like people to just go up there." He was already shaking his head as she finished talking.
"He knows I'm waiting." She nodded her head to him.
"Don't blame me if he kicks you out." She was glad that earned a small smile from the odd new serpent. She watched as he went up the stairs and was let in by F.P before the door shut behind them.
"See you later." Robyn shouted into the bar to the remaining customers and smiled as she got a series of grunts and shouts in return. She wasn't far from the bar when she saw a figure walking towards her, for a moment she felt scared and stopped walking to avoid getting closer to it, she could still see the bar behind her shoulder. Looking back at the figure she calmed instantly as she now recognised the person still walking slowly towards her, instead she felt a confusion.
"What are you doing here?" He stopped just before her, looking the same as he had the hour previously, beanie and all. He shrugged lightly.
"Came to walk you home." She laughed out loud at that.
"I've been walking independently for many years, can't see why I'd need help now." She carried on walking, past him and watched as he just fell into step beside her.
"This area can be pretty rough." He said it in a way of explanation for his actions but it didn't help with her confusion.
"I've walked home through this area by myself at this time of night for nearly a year, strangely it's the people that you think make it rough that are actually my safety here." He looked at her questioningly. "The serpents are a protective group." He nodded as if conceding a point.
"How did it go with my dad?" She shrugged lightly and smiled at his change of subject.
"Fine, he says hi back." That got her a small chuckle from him.
They walked in quiet companionship for a short time, Robyn leading the way by half a step as Jughead didn't know the way. They were nearing her house when she began talking again.
"Why are you doing this?" Jughead looked up at her, clearly having had a thought interrupted by her words.
"Hmm?" The small look of confusion in his eyes made her elaborate.
"Before this week we hadn't spoken at all, you didn't even know I existed. Why are you now suddenly seeking me out, talking to me and walking me home?" She could help the incredulous tone that seeped into her voice as she spoke about how so much had changed, she heard him laugh lightly and turned back to look at him.
"Is it such a problem that I'm talking to you?" She shook her head lightly.
"Just curious why you are." He thought about his answer for a few seconds before saying it out loud.
"You're interesting, I'm curious about you, you intrigue me." He looked round to her to see he had clearly said the wrong thing, Robyn's face now blank of emotion as she looked back at him.
"Well, I'm not interested in being a puzzle to solve for you." He watched as she walked faster and turned into a walkway towards the house that must be hers.
"I didn't mean it like that." He spoke loudly as he attempted to catch up with her before she made it inside the house.
"Yeah, you did. I'm just someone you want to figure out. You pride yourself on knowing the people around you more than they realise you do, on being so observant that you see them all so clearly. I'm just someone you haven't seen clearly yet. You just want the satisfaction of solving it, of finding out what I really am." He opened his mouth to attempt to argue against her statement but no words would come. "As I said, I'm not interested in being some puzzle for you to solve." He watched as she walked in the door and closed it behind her, he knew that he hadn't meant it as badly as she had taken it but he couldn't say what he had actually meant by it either. Instead, after a few moments of standing and watching a closed door, he walked away.