SMOKESTACKS

CHAPTER | SIXTEEN

Savannah lay on her stomach, a book propped up in her hands, while Jughead sat on the floor, his back against the edge of the bed, his laptop on his lap.

They sat, listening to a playlist that Savannah had put on; the rhythmic typing of fingers against a keyboard; and the occasional sound of a page turning.

The girl licked her lips in thought, eyes tearing away from the line she was reading to glance down at the boy who always wore a beanie. A soft smile tugging at her features.

In one fluid movement, she flipped off the bed into a position where she was sitting right next to him, her shoulder brushing against his.

Jughead looked at the girl, startled. "Hello?" He asked, very aware of how his bare forearm was less than an inch away from hers, electricity crackling through his veins.

"I got lonely."

Was all she said.

"Why do you have to go?" Savannah pouted, hours later, when Jughead stood at her front door pulling his shoes on.

"I have to help Archie's dad, his whole crew pulled out and there's no one who'll help him." Jughead explained, leaning down to do the laces on his boots.

"Really?"

It wasn't Savannah that spoke, but her brother, Kyle, who had appeared at the kitchen door. He had his arms crossed, his face furrowed in thought.

Jughead turned to look at the boy, they hadn't really spoken before, only nodded to each other in passing. "Yeah, Clifford Blossom is trying to screw Mr. Andrews over."

"Count me in." Kyle said, going back into the kitchen to let Piper know that he'd be leaving.

Savannah smiled at Jughead, who looked surprised that the boy was willing to help. She knelt down on the floor and finished tying the knot that he had abandoned.

They were so close, Jughead watched as she double knotted the bow and looked up at him, their noses centimetres apart.

"There." She said, quietly, her warm breath fanning his face. He could smell the strawberry bonbons that she had eaten earlier, nearly cracking her tooth on a particularly hard one.

Savannah straightened up and leaned back against the staircase, holding onto the railing with one hand.

The two came out of the kitchen, the blonde looking put out that her boyfriend was leaving, and the other looked determined. They had been arguing, she noticed, from the tear marks that had been hastily wiped away from Piper's eyes.

"I'm just gonna change." Kyle muttered to Jughead, not meeting his sister's curious gaze as he raced up the stairs to his room.

Savannah had her eyes locked onto Piper, who was staring at the floor. "Look after my brother, will you?" She asked the dark haired boy, before taking the hand of her friend and leading her into the living room.

"Sure." Jughead replied to empty air, his eyebrows furrowed as he waited for Kyle to return.

They didn't talk for a while, even after the front door had slammed shut, letting them know that Kyle had left. Savannah had put on a sad movie, the Notebook, how clique, and pulled Piper into her arms.

It was about an hour after that she spoke, after Savannah had brought back a bowl of popcorn and two glasses of lemonade.

"I kissed someone else." She had said.

"What?" Savannah simply murmured, the shock rendering her body motionless. "Who?"

"Ryan." Piper dissolved into a puddle of tears once more, "I told Kyle a couple of days ago and he can't even look me in the eye."

"I wonder why." Savannah practically snapped, unable to help herself. "What were you thinking?"

"I don't know!" Piper wailed, "I was thinking about college and how my whole life, I've wanted nothing more than to go to Oxford University."

"Why exactly did that make you want to kiss someone else?" Savannah asked bluntly, her eyes narrowed in anger. "And cheat on my brother, might I add."

"I know nothing I say will excuse it." Piper mumbled solemnly, she was wringing her wrists in her lap. "I know that I messed up, okay? I'm just trying to save my relationship."

"Good luck with that." Savannah said sharply, pushing the bowl of popcorn into Piper's lap and standing up to turn the TV off, "I think you should go."

"No, Savannah, please." Piper stood up, pleading. "Please, don't be mad at me."

"What do you want me to say?!" Savannah exploded, her fists balled up in rage. "First, you drop me for my brother! And now you cheat on him, expecting him to forgive you?"

Piper had tears flowing down her cheeks freely, "It's not like that, please!"

"Get out." Savannah scoffed, throwing the remote down onto the couch and storming into the kitchen.

It was five minutes later that Savannah heard the door shut. She assumed that Piper had been waiting in the living room, hoping that she'd return, but she didn't.

It was another two when she heard the door open again, her voice being called out from the hallway.

"I told you to get out!" Savannah flung open the door to face her, only to see her panic-striken face and her phone that had dropped to the floor. "What is it?"

"Kyle."

When they arrived at the construction sight, Savannah was out of the car before Piper had even turned the ignition off. She was crouched in front of her brother, who held a pack of ice to his cheek, hand holding his stomach.

"Who did this?" The brunette growled, whirling around to face the Sheriff, who looked less than pleased to see her.

"We don't know." He replied calmly, "Vandals, most likely."

"Oh please." She scoffed, "We all know that's a load of rubbish, you just don't want to look at the real perpetrator."

"And who might that be?"

"Clifford Blossom." Jughead filled in the blanks, "Like we just told you."

Savannah turned back to her brother, ignoring the voices she heard behind her. "We need to take you to the hospital."

"No." Kyle shook his head, wincing as he did so. "No, I'm fine, honestly."

"You're going to the hospital, Kyle." Savannah said firmly, "You could have a concussion or internal bleeding. They hit you with a crowbar for godsake."

"I'll drive." Piper offered from behind them, keeping her distance.

Savannah saw Kyle shake his head and she narrowed her eyes, "No, Piper. You've done enough."

Jughead watched as Piper closed her eyes sadly, before nodding and making her way back to her car. As the headlights came on and she started to reverse out of the construction sight, he recalled how upset she had looked back at the Clarke household.

Just what had she done?

"Since you've been no other help," Savannah stood up and turned to Sheriff Keller, "You can take us to the hospital."

"Where the hell have you been?" Savannah screeched when Kyle wandered back into their house, "I went into mom's room to tell her what happened and suddenly, you're gone, huh? Where did you go?"

"Southside." Kyle muttered, "Some bar."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Savannah snapped, moving closer to him. "Why would you go to the Serpent's territory?"

"I went to see if I could recognise any faces, to see who was screwing with Archie's dad." Kyle told her, his feathers unruffled.

"And did you?" She prompted.

"No."

"Great." Savannah scoffed, slapping her hand against his shoulder. "So it was a waste of time and you're still hurt."

"Learned something though." Kyle smirked almost sadistically.

"What?"

"Your precious boyfriend, Jughead." He almost taunted, an act that was uncharacteristic for Kyle Clarke. "His dad's a Serpent."