"Well." Fangs muttered, staring up at the school. "This is gonna suck."

"It's not all bad." Sweet Pea offered, and the rest of the Serpents about to enter Riverdale High leaned toward him, waiting for his idea of a bright side. "Jughead gets to see his Northside Princess again."

His friends chuckled.

Jughead socked him in the shoulder, unable to stop the last memory he had of Betty from replaying on a loop in his mind; blood still dripping from her forehead, her eyes half closed as she drifted in and out of consciousness in Archie's arms, the last thing he'd heard her say before she was whisked away by her friends.

She had asked for him.

"C'mon dude." Sweet Pea tried, shoving him back. "At least you don't have to watch her from afar now... A little creepy if you ask me, but hey, if I had a girl that pretty at my disposal, I would probably stalk her too."

He gave his friend a good-natured jab to the stomach. "Sweet Pea, if you go anywhere near her, I will kick your ass into next Wednesday."

"But today is Tuesday..."

When Jughead smacked his forehead in frustration, Toni caught hold of his arm, tugging him along behind her through the double doors.

Though he had only attended the school for a semester his freshman year, Jughead remembered that four months vividly.

He recalled watching his two best friends be torn away from him, Kevin too, doomed to be popular, and he could still feel the way he had felt then, completely powerless to stop it.

As he stepped into the main hallway, he remembered watching Archie and Betty interact with their new posse, becoming a little more like them every day. Betty would sometimes wave when she saw him, but Archie had just looked right through him, like he had never been there at all, and that hurt more than anything.

The Serpents turned heads as they entered the building, the leather jackets proudly proclaiming that they were from the Southside.

"Oh my god!"

The familiar voice made him pause, the gang following his lead.

Betty stood on the landing between the first and second floor, her friends surrounding her. She was laughing, genuinely, Jughead still knew the difference, as Cheryl Blossom dangled some sort of royal blue bandage in front of her.

"Cheryl!" She exclaimed, still laughing. "How did you-"

"Oh honey, it was nothing." Cheryl replied, waving her away. She pressed the colored gauze into Betty's hand. "Now can you please change that thing? White does not go with your uniform. Blue, however..."

"Okay, okay." Betty muttered, shaking her head in amusement. "But someone's gonna have to help me... V?"

Veronica Lodge made a face, holding up her gleaming nails. "Sorry, B, French Tips. Kev?"

"Are you kidding?" Moose chuckled, thumping Kevin on the back. "Keller and blood? I'll have to carry him to the nurse."

Kevin leaned in to whisper something in the football player's ear, but Jughead distinctly heard his words. He was a Serpent, he had to have good hearing.

"I wouldn't mind you carrying me to the nurse per say."

Moose grinned in response.

"Cher?" Betty asked.

"Ew." She mimicked Veronica's expression. "I got you the damn things, B, what more do you want?"

"I'll do it." Chuck offered.

Jughead took a determined step forward.

If he so much as laid a finger on her...

"Jug." Toni warned.

"No." Archie said, finally emerging from the notebook he had been engrossed in. "It's fine, I'll do it. I changed it for her yesterday."

He shoved his backpack at Reggie and took the gauze from Betty's hand. His face was apologetic as he began to peal away the old bandage.

Jughead caught sight of the angry red mark that had been so hard to see in the dark. Several stitches held the wound closed, and her right cheek was marked by several scrapes and a bruise that he hadn't noticed that night.

Archie disposed of the somewhat bloodied bandage, carefully replacing it with the one Cheryl had gifted Betty. When he was finished, he patted her shoulder with his free hand, the one he hadn't touched her with previously, and turned to Veronica, an expectant expression on his face.

She immediately passed him a small container of hand sanitizer.

"Thanks Ronnie."

"Any time, Archiekins." She responded, tossing her hair.

Sweet Pea snorted at the nickname, not that his was much better.

As Reggie handed him back his bag, he glanced over his shoulder, catching Jughead staring back at them, though mainly Betty, and he sneered.

"Why don't you take a picture, Jarhead?" He taunted.

"Reg." Veronica muttered, disapproval dripping from her tone.

"Oh, leave me alone, Ronnie." Reggie snapped, glaring at her. "You're not my girlfriend, so you don't get to tell me what to do anymore."

Betty smoothed the bandage with her own hand, slowly raising her eyes to meet Jughead's gaze.

An unrecognizable emotion flashed across her face.

"What's the matter, Jones?" Reggie demanded. "No clever little quip? Cat got your tongue?"

"Reggie." Betty said.

"Oh, B." Cheryl teased, squeezing the blonde's shoulder as she began to descend the staircase, Reggie the only one following her. "There's no reason to be shy around our new... Peers."

Toni tensed beside him.

"Cher." Veronica warned. "That's exactly what they are."

"Wrong, Veronica." Cheryl corrected, tossing her hair. "No one invited Southside scum to our school."

Jughead gritted his teeth, breaking his eye contact with Betty to stare down her friend instead.

"Listen up, Ragamuffins." She crossed her arms. "I will not allow Riverdale High's above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowded with underachievers."

Reggie laughed, Chuck smirked, Moose and Kevin stared at the tiled floor, Veronica studied her nails, Archie returned to his notebook, and Betty stayed frozen in place, watching the scene unfold.

"So please." Cheryl continued, looking from her friends, to her classmates, and finally at the Serpents. "Do us all a favor and find some other school to debase with your hardscrabble ways."

Toni started towards her, Jughead's extended arm the only thing stalling her. "Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?"

"Happily." She agreed with a false smile. She glanced Toni up and down. "Queen of the Buskers."

"All right." Mr. Weatherbee, the practically ancient school principal barked, his voice echoing off the even older walls of Riverdale High School. "That's enough pomp and circumstance. Everyone, let's get to class. Now."

Cheryl rolled her eyes behind the man's back, and with a flick of her hand, her loyal followers, Betty included, began to join her in the center of the hallway.

Veronica caught hold of Betty's wrist, pulling her close. The two began to whisper back and forth.

"B." Cheryl addressed her first, and Jughead's blood boiled. How could she be friends with someone like that? "V? is there something you two hens would like to share with the rest of the group?"

"No." The girls said together.

"I've got Algebra." Moose muttered. "I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, me too." Kevin said, rushing to keep up with him. "Let's eat outside today!"

"I'm off to English!" Cheryl sang, starting off in the opposite direction.

"History." Reggie and Veronica muttered in unison.

They shot one another wary looks, but walked away together anyway, their arms brushing.

"Betty?" Archie asked.

"Chemistry." She answered.

"Me too."

"Same here." Chuck said with a grin. He rested a hand on her shoulder. "We should get going."

Toni caught his eye and offered him a subtle nod, a ghost of a smile on her face. Sometimes, he was grateful for a friend like her.

The two quickened their pace, and when they were close enough, Toni gave him a shove forward, causing him to knock into Chuck, and effectively freeing Betty from the football player's grasp.

"Jug." He heard her mumble, and he almost grinned.

She was actually scolding him. Some habits were hard to break.

Chuck stood up, his nostrils flaring. "What the hell was that for, freak?"

"I tripped." Jughead replied innocently. "I fell. It was an accident."

"The hell it was." He grumbled, pulling his arm back.

"Chuck!" Archie snapped, moving to stand in between them. He faced Chuck, and for a second, it almost felt like his old friend was actually coming to his defense, but he knew better.

The jacket Archie wore, the blue and gold Riverdale High School varsity jacket, with his name stenciled neatly across the left side, the very same jacket Chuck was wearing, proved very quickly just where his loyalty lay.

"Move, Andrews!" Chuck barked.

"He's not worth it." He hissed, shoving him again. "Okay? He's not worth it, and besides, if you get into a fight right now, you won't be starting on Friday. Is that what you want?"

Chuck paused, considering this.

Finally, he shook his head in disgust, brushing imaginary dust from the sleeves of his precious jacket.

"This isn't over." He warned, starting towards the stairs. "You'd better watch your back, Jarhead! You'll be sorry!"

Jughead rolled his eyes at Chuck's retreating figure. "Un huh."

He and Toni exchanged a high five, momentarily forgetting that they were not alone.

"What the hell was that, Jug?" Archie demanded.

Betty said nothing, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Don't worry about it, Arch." Jughead replied. Nicknames still came easily to the trio, even years later. "It has nothing to do with you."

He crossed his arms. "You're messing with my friends."

Jughead raised an eye brow. "You shouldn't be so quick to call Chuck Clayton your friend, Arch."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His hands balled up into fists. He'd said too much.

"Nothing." He mumbled.

"No, Jug, go ahead." Archie challenged. "What did you mean by that?"

"Archie." Betty's voice was barely audible. "Come on. We're going to be late."

"Betty-"

She caught hold of his hand, yanking him along behind her.