Even after the others had gone, Jughead stayed with me. Sitting on the bed beside me, eating the jello the nurse had brought in, while I flipped through channels on the small TV mounted to the wall in the corner of the room. We'd gotten to talking about homecoming—seeing as I, like the smart person I am, decided to self harm the night before the big dance. "But you're going, right?" I asked, rhetorically.

"Not if you aren't," he shook his head, stuffing a spoonful of jello into his mouth.

I made a pfft. "Jug, come on, it's homecoming. You have to take Betty to the dance."

"JUGHEAD!"

A squeal of a small voice interrupted whatever Jughead might've said in reply to my comment as Cash sprinted across the small hospital room. Jughead slid off the side of the bed, ditching the jello, to catch her before she slammed right into the bed. "Whoa! Easy there," he chuckled.

He hefted her up by her under arms, positioning her on his hip before sitting on the edge of the bed halfway. Not a moment later, Sweet Pea walked into the room with a heavy sigh. His eyebrows were drawn together, eyes narrowed. It wasn't hard to tell he was not happy. "Cash, you can't just run off like that."

"Cash," I leaned around Jughead to look at her, at her sheepishly guilty expression. "Did you ditch Sweet Pea in the lobby?"

Jughead made a gasping sound, leaning back to better give her a disapproving look. "Busted. You better apologize."

"Sorry, Sweet Pea," Cash twisted in Jughead's lap to see him.

Sweet Pea sighed again, this time sounding more like a weighted exhale, literally dropping into the chair near the end of the bed. He looked exhausted. And, seeing as this was his first time alone with Cash, I could understand why. She tended to purposely stretch people to their limits if she didn't know them well. A big biker like Sweet Pea was no exception. I chuckled lightly, "Hard first day, babe?"

He closed his eyes, "You have no idea."

"Well, why don't I take the munchkin back to Ben's and find something for her to do until he gets home in a couple hours?" Jughead suggested, groaning a little as he hefted Cash up off the bed with him. "I'll come back and see you later—unfortunately, it'll probably with Ben. So, you know, you might wanna make sure you're reptile free before that happens."

Over in the chair, Sweet Pea didn't look too pleased with the reference, narrowing his eyes at Jughead. But I nodded, too grateful for the offer to really mind. "Okay, thanks. Just don't let her sleep or else she won't be able to go to bed tonight," I told Jughead, as he started for the door with Cash. "And, please, no extra sugar."

"Got it, boss," Jughead twisted, giving me a mock salute.

Cash waved, "Bye, Diana!"

"Bye, Cash," I waved back, with a soft smile.

As they rounded the corner, leaving the room and my line of sight, suddenly they were replaced with a new figure. It was FP. He paused at the door, knocking a couple times on the door even though I already saw him, a small smile tugging up the left corner of his mouth. "Can, uh...can I come in?" he asked, eyes only on me.

Sweet Pea sat up in the chair suddenly, readjusting his position to sit straighter, act like he was a gentleman. It wasn't too curious, considering the scenario. Obviously Sweet Pea wanted to show FP he was being a good boyfriend. But it wasn't just FP. It was my father figure, and the leader of the Serpents. Ultimately what FP says goes for both the Serpents and for me. And he and I both remembered what happened last time FP didn't approve.

"Yeah, come in," I agreed, motioning with my hand for FP to come inside. "Welcome to my humble dwelling. You'll have to ignore the ripe smell of antiseptic. And that darn machine—the thing keeps beeping. I keep meaning to ask a nurse to fix it but—meh."

FP came to stand beside the bed, huffing a chuckle. "Well, I guess sarcasm's a good sign of health. Mind if I sit?"

I patted the space next to me then pulled myself back to sit up a bit more. He eased his weight down onto the edge of the bed with an exhale. That's when I really noticed it—the change in his appearance. He looked better. Happier. His face was clean-shaven and he smelled like a fresh shower. He might have actually been wearing a clean flannel, too. My lips grew into a wide smile, "Lookin' good, pops. Got a hot date or something?"

"What can I say? I've been feeling good," he smiled back at me. Then, he held up a small, rectangular box in a gesture. "Which is why I thought it would be the perfect time to bring you this—kind of a late birthday present. I wanted to give it to you on your actual birthday but, well, it just wasn't ready."

He held it out to me, a certain sparkle to his eye, and I took it from him eagerly. My fingers worked off the lid of the small paper box. Inside was a set of two keys, on a key ring, with a tag for the Self-Storage just outside of town. My eyebrows knitted, but my smile remained. "A storage key? What's it for?" I asked, pulling the key out of the box.

"A storage room, obviously. But, when you're feeling up to it, you should go have a look."

I sat back a little, looking up at him. "I already know I'm gonna love it."

A light, airy chuckle escaped him. Then he sat upright and made a motion toward my arm nearest him with the side of his hand. "So, uh...how long you gotta have those fancy bracelets on, huh?" he asked, an attempt at small talk. But I could see the smile was really hiding his anxiety. It was his tell—he hid his emotions in his eyes. "Not too long, I hope?"

"Just until the skin heals, I think. It shouldn't be long," I answered, calmly.

Then, after twisting for a millisecond to glance at Sweet Pea, he made a gesture by tipping his head in the younger Serpent's direction. "He takin' care of you alright?"

"More than alright," I nodded. "Considering I wouldn't be here if he hadn't brought me in, I'd say he's doing his job quite well."

"Good. That's good. Well, I'll let you rest. Just focus on getting better, alright, kid?"

He surprised me when, while I replied in agreement, he leaned forward and left a somewhat quick kiss against my left temple before standing. It wasn't too out of the ordinary of a gesture. But it caused my eyebrows to knit in curiosity and concern, grabbing his wrist as he turned to leave. "Hey, FP?" my words stopped him more than my hand seemed to, as he turned around. "Is everything okay?"

He shrugged a little, keeping up his loose smile, "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

My features relaxed, and I sat back a little, but I kept my hold on his wrist firm. "I don't know...it's just...is there anything you're not telling me?" I'd asked it lightly, with a crinkle to my left eye. But all he did was shake his head. Looking at me like I was being ridiculous—or his version of it, anyway. It was a shift of weight onto his heels, a small scoff, and almost tossing his eyes.

"I got nothing to hide from you. You rest now, alright?" he turned to his left, glancing to Sweet Pea. "Watch out for my girl."

I hadn't seen Sweet Pea's response. My eyes were too focused on FP's retreating form, leaving me, disappearing into the hospital hallway. The hours after nightfall were spent laying in the hospital bed, pressed against Sweet Pea's side with his arm around me, chin resting atop my head. For a few hours, there was a marathon of Criminal Minds. It kept my mind at bay. It kept my memory from reeling back to FP's odd behavior.

Every few moments for a long stretch, Sweet Pea's cell phone would buzz. Another Serpent texting him. And each time, I'd tell him he could leave if he needed to. But he'd scoff and tell me it was a ridiculous thought. "Nothing's more important than being here with you," he'd said. And I believed he truly felt that way. I didn't want to be the reason someone needed him and he wasn't there. But not even I could make Sweet Pea do something he didn't want to do.

Two hours into the marathon, he'd gone to readjust his position and found his leg asleep. "Maybe you should get up and move? You've been sitting here for a while," I suggested, sitting up against the pillows. But he'd only shook his head, giving some comment about needing to find out who the UnSub was, and somehow that was more important. Then Jughead had texted me, saying he and Ben were coming to visit.

Sweet Pea—begrudgingly—took a trip to the lobby to evade being spotted in my room, only at my expression of urgency. The visit was short, thankfully. But Jughead was in his suit for the dance and a smile ghosted my lips. "I knew it," I pointed at him, as he walked in. "You caved." He'd laughed and said it wouldn't be the same without me. But then Ben replied for me in his usual foot-in-mouth fashion, stating that I wouldn't get out of bed anytime soon.

The excuse to get him to leave was making sure Cash wasn't unsupervised. And if Jughead didn't leave soon, he would miss the dinner with Betty and her mother before the dance. The thought of both Jughead and FP at a dinner with Alice Cooper made my skin crawl. But I tried to act supportive. Ben was halfway out the door, but Jughead stayed behind a moment to hug me tightly. "Have fun, okay? Make some memories for me," I encouraged, as he pulled away.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to take a selfie every ten minutes, too, so you don't feel lonely," he smirked.

I gave him a look. "Okay, move along. You're gonna be late, Casanova."

Jughead had left my room as I was texting Sweet Pea the all-clear. When Sweet Pea arrived back at my room, he climbed into bed with me, wrapping both arms around me. He'd kissed the top of my head, and I unmuted the TV on the wall. I didn't know what it was that moved me to do it. But, a bit absentmindedly, I peeled his left arm from around my torso. I held onto his wrist, pulling it closer for me to see better. There was a spot on the back of his left hand, just below the start of his thumb.

The spot, as small as it was, was reserved for me. It was a solid shape, a shaded in tattoo of a crescent moon. Only someone with knowledge of Roman mythology would understand the symbolism and what on earth it had to do with me—or, more specifically, my name. Just like my tattoo on my inner right wrist of a sweet pea blossom. I brushed my thumb over the dark ink on his tan skin. "Think anyone will get it?" I asked, tilting my head back to look up at him.

His head tipped down to see me, the right side of his lips quirking up. "Probably not. But it doesn't matter if anyone else understands."

The soft edges of my smile were genuine, my eyes looking lovingly into his, which were filled with adoration. My mind couldn't think of a better time. A better place. A better emotion. So I said it. Those three things that scare the life out of young lovers and end weak relationships. It was incredibly bold, but it was honest. "I love you," I'd said it so softly, I was sure he hadn't heard it.

Because, for a moment, he was quiet. His features were a bit tight. His eyes glossed over with seriousness as they suddenly began to search mine. And I knew then what he was doing—he was reading me for a lie. Hoping it would be there to give a reason for escape. But my words were not a joke. I could tell the moment he understood, the moment it sank in. When the weight of my words crashed down on his shoulders.

"I love you, too," he spoke softly, sweetly, but so quietly and timidly. With softened eyes and relaxed features. I pushed up and pressed my lips to his in a kiss. It was the most natural-feeling response my mind could think of. And it felt like it was the right choice. He kissed me back, sliding his hand onto my cheek, as he opened his mouth to deepen it. I'd practically melted into him. Looking back on it, it was the calm before the storm. In every aspect. But there was a special storm headed just for us.

I didn't know it then. Gripping the fabric of his t-shirt, tasting his cigarette lips. I didn't know then, but I would know soon. When the Criminal Minds marathon ended, it was just about the time people would be arriving at the gymnasium for homecoming. It was sad to think I wouldn't be able to go. But a school dance wasn't really something I could've seen Sweet Pea participating in anyway, so I ignored the urge to text Veronica for a picture of the gym.

Jughead did in fact send me a selfie, though. Except the only part of his face visible was from just below his eyes and upward. The rest of the photo was of the decorated gym and couples dancing. Just a couple yards back and to the left of him were Betty, Archie, and Veronica. They'd obviously had no idea he was taking a photo right then. You could tell based on their absentminded expressions. I'd sighed, humming a bit as I did, looking at the photo.

Sweet Pea shifted, leaning more into my left shoulder. "Looks like they're having a blast."

"Oh, definitely. You can tell by the way Veronica looks like she needs a nap," I replied, dryly sarcastic.

It was true—she did look sleepy. But it was probably just the contortion her face happened to be in when Jughead took the photo. I'd typed a reply to his corny caption and set my phone aside.

My body was shaken awake by a hand on my shoulder. It was gentle at first. But I'd only turned away, burying the side of my face into the pillow. I was too tired to be bothered. Then the shaking worsened, immediately shifting to a violent jerking. "Babe, wake up," it was Sweet Pea's voice. There was no missing the slight panic, the haste to his tone. "FP was arrested, he's at the Sheriff's station. I have to go to the Wyrm."

That first phrase was absurd in my half-asleep mind. It was almost laughable. But I was unsure if I'd even heard him correctly, or if my mind had garbled something together. So I rolled onto my back and rubbed my eyes, replying groggily, "What? Who was arrested?"

"FP was arrested for that North sider's murder. I gotta go, okay? I'll be back later, I promise."

The warmth of his lips graced the left side of my face, followed by the sound of his footsteps in my ears. My eyes were so heavy, so tired. I could barely open them enough to see him leave my room. I pushed myself up into more of a sitting position and reached for my phone. It was a weird thing—the emotions swirling in my chest as my eyes focused on my notifications. There were at least a dozen missed calls from Archie, Veronica, and Betty.

There were a few text messages from Kevin. It looked like Archie tried messaging me, and then gave up when realizing I was probably asleep. My fingers instantly moved to dial his number. I rubbed my right eye, holding the phone up to my ear, listening to it ring. Everything sounded too loud against my tired eardrums. So I held the phone just slightly away from my ear to keep a headache from forming. Archie answered on the third ring.

His voice came through the line in a breath of relief, "Hey, Diana- is Jughead with you?"

"What? No. Why would Jughead be here?" I asked, my eyebrows drawing together on my forehead.

"He's missing, we can't find him anywhere. You're kind of our last hope. Where would Jughead go in a time like this?"

My fingers messaged my temple, momentarily closing my eyes. So it was true. FP really was arrested for Jason's murder. And it would seem Jughead ran off. I couldn't blame him much for that, though, considering I was thinking of doing the same thing. I sighed, "I don't know. I might know a place, but it could be a false alarm. I'll check it out."

"Whoa, hold on. Diana, you need to rest. You can't be traipsing around in the freezing cold in the middle of the night," Archie protested.

"Arch, if Jughead is hiding from everyone then I need to be the one to find him. I'll call you if it pans out."

That's when I ended the call, and I went straight to texting Kevin. He was shocked to actually hear from me. Even more shocked when I told him what I needed him to do. But he was honestly the only person I knew that could pull this off. I'd told him to go to my house, climb in my bedroom window, and get a change of clothes from my closet. I'd even told him where in the closet to get the clothes from. I didn't expect him to agree. But he did.

It took him about forty-five minutes to complete the task. He texted me when he was on his way to the hospital. And that's when I tugged out my IV, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. There was one thing Jughead had left to fall back on—his mother. But she was living in Toledo. The only way to get there from here that Jughead could possibly afford was a bus. If he was anywhere, it had to be at the bus station. Or already on a bus.

That thought brought a new edge of anxiety to my chest. What if I was too late? What if Jughead was already gone? There was only one way to find out. At least, that's what I told myself, as my bare feet touched the ice cold tiles of the flooring. It sent a shock up my spine. The shock was then followed by a bought of dizziness and slight nausea. I hadn't been standing for almost forty-eight hours. Standing up suddenly was not the best idea.

It was about then that Kevin walked into my room. It was past visiting hours but, being the Sheriff's son, he was able to get in by pulling a few strings. "This is a bad idea," he said, walking toward me with a duffel bag. He was reiterating one of his text messages almost word for word. "If your mountain of a boyfriend finds out that I helped you do this, he will crush me. My bones are extremely breakable, Diana. His arms are twice the size of mine. Twice!"

I gave him a look, smirking. "Kev, you'll be okay. I'll cover for you."

He looked skeptical, reluctant. But, begrudgingly, he gave me the bag. Mumbling that it was still a bad idea as I began to dress. It was a pair of loose-fitting jeans, a random t-shirt, and a black hoodie. Fashion wasn't my biggest concern in that moment, so I didn't really give the combination a second thought. I just put the clothes on, stuffed my phone in my back pocket, and let Kevin lead the way to the nurse station down the hall.

Checking myself out wasn't too hard. Apparently it was recommended I stay a bit longer, considering my large blood loss. But Kevin spun an excellent story about a family emergency and got the paperwork rushed along. I held up a thumb, nodding to him, as the nurse left the station with my sign-out form. He shrugged modestly with a small smile and we continued out of the hospital. He'd taken his dad's truck, so it was nothing to ask for a ride to the bus station.

"The bus station?" Kevin looked confused, turning the keys in the ignition.

"Yes, Kevin, the bus station. We're looking for Jughead and it's the only place I can think of that hasn't been searched yet."

His eyes rounded a second in a gesture, but he started driving. I honestly didn't know where I'd be without Kevin. He drove me to the bus station. Parking out front, he looked at the door to the lobby through my window, leaning forward in his seat as I unbuckled. "It looks like it's just about to close," he noticed.

I pushed open my door and slid out, closing the door before turning to see Kevin. "Thanks for the help, Kev. I owe you."

"It's nothing you wouldn't do for me, right?" He smiled, closed-mouthed. It was cheesy and boyish.

My lips couldn't help but curve up into their own smile, giving Kevin a nod. Then I pushed off the side of the truck and started for the door to the station.