Word count: 3047

A/N: I have to be honest, I'm not the fastest updater... So it might be a while until the next part. But feel free to check my Tumblr for more stories.

Jughead's point of view

Jughead is sitting on a fiftiesque version of Y/N's dining-room, brightly lit and full of flowers. He feels out of place and uneasy. She's next to him, which, in any other circumstance, would calm him down, but the girl's smiling in an almost creepy way. Her mother walks in with a tray of food and kisses her husband at the head of the table. Jug notices they are all dressed as if they actually ARE in the 50′s and the oddest of it all is that his beanie has become a crown. Y/N grabs his hand over the table and he feels something cold on her touch. When he inspects it, there's a wedding band on her ring finger. The dumbfounded boy wants to question it, but no words leave his lips. Y/F/N gives the crowned boy the tools to serve dinner. Juggie looks frontwards and suddenly Y/N's living-room becomes his dad's dark trailer. FP is slouched on the armchair, watching static on the TV while drowning himself in alcohol. Jughead feels powerless. He diverts his eyes back at the table, noticing that Y/N's parents are gone and she's crying over her creepy smile. "Why did you leave me alone, Juggie?", she pleads. Then, walking from the kitchen, comes Betty in a wedding dress. "Shouldn't you be married to me?!", the blonde girl screams.

Alarm Clock:

5:45 AM

The sound saves him from that nightmare. He rubs the sleep off his eyes and puts on his beanie. With his towel, toothbrush and paste, he slides on his flipflops and walks out of his "room". Alone in the deserted corridors of Riverdale High, Jughead feels like and extra in a Wes Craven movie. The still sleepy boy rests his beanie on the hanger in the locker room, relieves himself of his clothes and steps into the shower. He's been having a hard time shaking the bad feeling since he woke up. That dream looked very fanciful but something about it felt realistic, in a subconscious level. The hot water is washing away the memories from the nightmare while he convinces himself it's completely preposterous that any of that could have some link to reality. Ultimately, the boy much rather think about the kiss from the previous night.

Jughead wraps a towel around his hips and combs his hair in front of the steamed mirror. He is surprised at someone standing behind him. With a killer on the loose, that encounter made Juggie a bit jumpier than usual. Relief washes over him when he recognizes the ginger locks of his best friend. However, confusion is stamped all over the face of an oblivious Archie, who was at school that early just to practice his songs in peace and quiet. Jug runs his fingers through his still wet dark hair, trying to find a tangible answer to why he is there at 6:10 a.m. taking a shower. Arch doesn't buy his facade and pushes for the truth. An ugly truth it is. Jug shows him the closet he's been living in since the Drive-In shut down. Archie looks at the thin mattress and pillow on the floor, clothes hanged on the wall, canned food and bottled drinks on top of a forgotten furniture, a stack of books, some from the library, other his and one he got from Y/N and hasn't been able to return even having finished reading it, among other few things Jug owns.

The beanie-clad boy confesses he hasn't been living at home since his mom left because his dad couldn't keep a job after Archie's dad fired him. The bell rings and Jug is quick to close the door of his deepest secret. The concern is more than visible on his best friend's face, which makes him hide deeper how much that situation is hurting him, by pretending it's temporary. Before walking away to his first class, Jughead begs him not to tell Y/N or anyone else.

Y/N's point of view

Y/N wakes up smiling. However, a little fear takes over her as if the previous night had been just a dream. Although the second she runs her fingers through her lips it's as if she's transported back to when Jug stole a kiss from her. That makes all of those times she sat alone watching Jughead also by himself at Pop's seem like it happened a million light years before. Unfortunately, it reminds her of some homework she must hand in that morning, from first to last periods, or she'll only graduate within a million light years.

Still wrapped by a warm feeling from the memory of the kiss, she rushes to Riverdale High's library in order to speed read a dozen books simultaneously and complete the whole thing. Y/N's in such a hurry that she doesn't see Jug and Arch getting out of the locker room when she passes by, as well as she goes unnoticed. That was very fortunate, for she would have changed her plans without thinking twice, and some stains to their not even official relationship would be inevitable. Blame for failing isn't something she wants to put on him. Despite she's unaware, there is a force acting on their favor. It explains why Y/N feels more satisfied than usual when her papers are finished, third period is over, and her phone rings.

From: Jughead

Meet us at the student's lounge in a few :)

From: Y/N

See you there ;)

Everybody is already there when she arrives. Jughead saved a spot for her on the couch with his bag, which she found very cute. She sits right next to him and Betty starts speaking pronto. The subject is her missing sister. Y/N looks at Jug and they both realize they awkwardly haven't given much thought to Polly. It makes her feel somewhat guilty, and, by Juggie's expression, she knows that him too. While the blonde continues to explain the situation, self-reproach forces Y/N to really focus on that matter and come up with a quick plan. "When we were in her room, I noticed Polly hadn't packed, so she couldn't have intended to go far." All eyes fall on her. "We can go on a search party in a 2-mile radius from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy after school today." Jughead wraps his arms around her shoulders in agreement and support, which lasts just a few seconds because all the others stare unpolitely at them. Y/N flips out internally a bit, for she wanted that moment to last a lot longer, even after a glimpse into Betty's dark personality, something that always seems to accompany those moments.

Jughead's point of view

Juggie is on his way to his next class, wishing he could have given Y/N a proper good-bye, but he knows it's best to avoid embarrassment. Archie calls him to speak about family matters. As he couldn't take his dad being the one to blame for FP's situation, finding a solution was imperative. Jug wasn't too eager to accept living with them, but he jumped at the idea of his father working with Mr. Andrews. "You and Y/N, huh?", Arch ironically shoots. "We may have had a moment…" Jughead is not ready to give that a name just yet, since he hasn't even discussed it with Y/N.

Jug heads to Sunnyside Trailer Park as soon as school's over. He's hit by a load of memories, mostly bad ones. It looks worse than the last time he was there. Bottles roll as he opens the trailer's door and FP appears, visible exhaustion on his unshaved, skinny face. The glass of bourbon on his hands is exactly why Jughead hasn't been there since his mom left. Snarky comments aside, he looks genuinely interested on his son's well being. Jughead cautiously mentions Mr. Andrews' offer, just to find out his father had already refused it. He has to count to a hundred to remain calm enough not to make things more complicated and to find strong reasons to convince his dad turning around is the only move. Reasoning with FP is like punching a brick wall, though.

Y/N's point of view

Jughead meets up with the rest of the group at the edge of Eversgreen Forest. Y/N quickly notices a gloomy mood on the boy, even if it looked as if he was trying his best to hide it. It seemed as the others just saw it as regular ol' Jug mood and brushed it off. She, however, had come to know him quite well just from observing him at Pop's, and more so now with their newfound friendship (relationship?). But she knows better than to talk about it now. The focus has to be on finding Polly.

They search through the woods in hopes to find Betty's sister before the authorities or worse, the Blossoms. Jughead isn't one for much words, neither is Y/N, but she's finding his silence and distance troubling. Since they started talking, they haven't really stopped, until now. They've been walking for an hour or so and he hasn't even once tried to talk about Jason's case, film theories or anything for that matter. She is just about to attempt a conversation with Jug when they get face to face with the devil. Clifford and Penelope have somehow found out about their plan to find Polly and came after them with Sheriff Keller on their side. The search party is dismissed, so Alice can make a public announcement. It's not a surprise for Y/N or Jughead but the rest of the town seems disconcerted with the news of Polly Cooper carrying Jason Blossom's baby. Y/N hopes that's enough to stop that terrible family for going after Betty's sister for a crime she obviously did not commit.

"You didn't have to walk me home." Y/N protests feebly, as Jug's hand intertwines with hers and the warmth from it shields her from the chilly drizzle. "Uh, there's a killer on the loose, remember?" Same excuse he used the first night he escorted her. "Besides, isn't this what… You know… What people like us, who've gone through what we've gone through, do?", Jughead awkwardly asks as they stop in front of her house. "Remind me, what did we go through?" Y/N doesn't quite know where this playful flirtiness comes from. Jughead slowly inches closer to her and she can enjoy a full experience of feelings emerging. This time, unlike the first one, which had a sort of desperation to it, his lips are much softer, but still just as passionate. Before they can part for air, Y/N cups Jughead's cheeks with her palms holding on to that feeling for just a second more, trying to convey through kissing that he can count on her for anything.

Jughead's point of view

From: Archie

Come to the construction site

From: Jughead

Why?

From: Archie

Just come!

Jughead finds it weird that Arch would ask him to go there, knowing what the Drive-In meant to him, but his friend's intentions are clear when he spots FP among the working crew. The boys hang out at the office trailer and hope finds it's way into Jug's thoughts - maybe this is the time FP finally gets his act together. Jughead knows better than to trust it, though. However, his instincts don't kick in this time and, for a moment, he can almost see his sister back in Riverdale. Luckily, before his imagination takes him any further, his dad and walk in the office. Jug likes the sight of FP and Fred together so much, it'd be nice to hold on to it for just a little longer. Then, he suggests they all get a bite to eat at Pop's. It's almost as if bringing their parent's friendship back erases the possibility of Archie and him having the same fate someday.

The Chock'lit Shoppe is not crowded and they take a seat on a central booth. Conversation flows naturally between them as they eat. Jughead is almost transported to his childhood when this was a regular occurrence, before the two man drifted apart. Somehow the subject finds it's way into Jug's writing and Archie can't contain himself as to tell them about who he writes with. "Y/N, huh?" FP shifts on his seat and leans on the table. "Who is Y/N? Is that your girlfriend?", he asks with too much fatherly interest for Jug's taste. "She's…" Archie starts but Jug cuts him off. He's not ready to have that talk with his dad yet, and he hasn't even had it with Y/N in the first place. "I wanna know more about the band." He fishes back to the prior subject. "What was the name of the band?" He can only wonder how bad it was since his dad let out a loud laugh. "It was called The Fred Heads." Mr. Andrews is embarrassed to disclose it. Juggie chuckles, since it was worse then he imagined.

Archie can't help but want a jam session with his dad's old band partner. Fred leaves them in the basement since he still has a few business things to take care off. Jug doesn't really play, but watching FP and his best friend rocking out is certainly fun, until a few hard truths come out. In Jughead's book, nothing good lasts long anyways, so before he knows it, his dad is already taking a few sips out of his flask. He carries his old man all the way from Andrews' house to Sunnyside and drops him on the couch at his trailer, nothing he hasn't done before. The beanie-clad boy takes that moment to remind his dad of what he's missing out, but the man is already asleep and Jug is left wondering if JB will ever be back.

Y/N's point of view

Y/N's getting some books from her locker when Archie stops next to her, looking as if he has something important to say. They have been introduced since Juggie and her started hanging out, but nothing more than that, which leads the clever girl to guess it's about Jughead. "Is there anything wrong with Jug?" She's hoping not and Arch seems to be neutral towards it, but something still feels off. "If there wasn't, there is now." The ginger boy points with his eyes behind Y/N's shoulder to Sheriff Keller walking Jughead out of school. "Call my dad.", the confused boy pleads them as they are both still in shock. Whatever Archie came to tell her is left aside as it suddenly doesn't seem that important anymore. "Do you have his dad's number?", she asks, hurriedly closing her locker with all her belongings inside so she can focus on helping Jug. "No, but I can probably get it from my dad's files." Arch leads them to Andrews Construction.

They search for the files to no luck when Fred walks in. Y/N can't even form a full sentence to explain what happened. Archie not only introduces them but brings his dad up to speed, who is quick to phone FP with his cell, unfortunately to no answer. "We can't leave Jug alone.", Arch states with conviction. "Y/N, get FP's number and keep calling while I drive us to the Station.", Mr. Andrews instructs handing Y/N his phone and they all run to his truck. When they arrive, a Deputy tells them Jughead is not being charged, just questioned about Jason's murder. "If this is about the car we found, you should be questioning me and Betty, for we were all there.", Y/N snaps and demands to know at what evidence they are holding him in, but since she's not family, they can't share it. She keeps calling FP and only reaching his voicemail.

Sheriff Keller steps out of the interrogation room and Y/N immediately follows him, demanding to speak with Jughead. If it was anyone else asking, Tom would've denied instantly. Nevertheless, considering that Y/F/N and him are high school friends, he allows her a few minutes with Jug while he discusses the boy's status with Fred. Jug is terrified that he'll become an escape goat. His voice is low and calm but his eyes are way ahead in a future none of them would like to see. She brings him back to the present with a light touch to his hands. Y/N tries her best to assure him they'll get him out, but when he asks about his dad, there's not much she can do about that, except hope that Archie and her are enough for him. Fred supplies Jug with an alibi to which Keller has no other option than to release the boy.

Jughead's point of view

As they leave the station, FP finally shows up, late as usual. Jug is not surprised that instead of taking the blame for not being there, his dad tries to put it on whoever else. On any other occasion, Jughead would've been able to disguise his disappointment, but after all he went through, starting with that glimpse of hope, he doesn't have the strength to pretend, so he just tightens his hold on Y/N's hand. All Juggie manages to do is begging his dad not to make it worse and, for his relief, FP understands. However, he's put into another awkward position, one Y/N knows he has to handle on his own. Jug needs to be with the Andrews, but the last thing he wants is for his dad to think he gave up on him. The hurt boy leaves behind what he needed in that moment and that strikes something on FP, making him see what's best for Jug. An embrace from his dad is full of promises the boy hopes he'll keep. Only good of it all, when he turns back, Y/N is there to comfort him.