Abby walks into FP's trailer to find Jughead sitting on the floor, crying. She kneels down to hug and let him cry on her shoulder. "I gotta get out of here." Jug stood up.
"Sure, we can go back home." She stood up.
"That's your home, not mine." He went into the room and shoved his things into a backpack.
"Then come back to my house." He shot her a look for her rephrasing. "Or you can crash on Sweet Pea's couch."
"I don't even know him. When I said get out of here, I don't mean this trailer, I mean this toxic backward town!" He yells.
"Where are you going to go?" She asks.
"To my moms." He puts his backpack on and walks out the door.
She followed him. "Can I at least come with you to the bus station?"
"Fine." He sighs, knowing there was no getting rid of her when he saw Fangs and Sweet Pea standing by his dad's pick up.
He got in the driver's seat, Abby in the passenger, and Sweet Pea and Fangs jumped in the back. The ride to the bus station was silent. They watched Jughead get out of the truck without saying a word to them and go inside to buy his ticket. "I don't see why you like him so much, he's a prick. Makes like he doesn't need ya when he's obviously helpless." Sweet Pea glares at the doors he went through.
"Remember we are doing this for FP and Abby." Fangs remind him, so Sweet Pea wouldn't snap on him when he came out.
Jughead came out and went to the phonebooth to call his mother. He talked on it for a while before hanging up the phone and sliding down on the floor as he cried. "Shit," Abby walked to the booth and threw the doors open. "Maybe you can go to Chicago with my mom." She offers, knowing this reaction had to be from his mom rejecting him.
"I think you Andrews has done enough for me." He spat out bitterly. He stood up straight and pushed past her to walk into the station.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She yelled at his back.
He turns around to get in her face and yell, "Your father fired mine making him spiral down this Serpent path and your brother goes behind my back to search the trailer because he thinks my dad is a murder which turns out he is."
Sweet Pea made his way over to shove Jug back, almost making him lose his footing. "Don't yell at her for her family mistake! Don't yell at her period! I'm letting you off this time because your dad just got arrested for murder. But, if you ever get in her face again like you want to fight her, you're going to have to fight me. If you can't beat a bulldog in a fight you are not going to be able to take a Serpent in one." He towers over the smaller male. Jughead glared at him as Sweet took the keys from his jacket pocket. "Since you're going to get on a bus to nowhere, I'll be taking this." He pulls Abby to the truck.
She got in the passenger seat. He went around to the driver's seat. After Fangs got in the back, he drove to the trailer park. "Fuck him, say it with me fuck him." Sweet Pea said when she saw her crying.
"He's just upset. He has suffered because of my family." She wipes her tears.
"That's not you. You welcome him into your home. You cooked him dinner. You went to check on him when his dad was arrested. You wanted to see him off to make sure he was safe. And what did he do, spit in your face." Sweets rants. When she opened her mouth he went on. "I didn't care that he's upset, that doesn't make it okay."
"You're right…. Fuck him." She whispers.
"Okay, we're going to have to work on that." Sweet Pea chuckles at her sad attempt.
"I'm sorry, Abby." Tomoko held the newspapers with FP's mug shot in it. The headline reading Justice for Jason: Gang Member Confesses to the Murder of Jason Blossom Following Arrest.
"He didn't do it." Abby shook her head.
"He confessed, Abs." Trev picked out a piece of melon from his fruit salad to eat.
"The story doesn't make sense. Holding someone hostage for money, even if Clifford gave FP the money, he would have gone right to the cops after." She read the article over and over. Every time revealed more plot holes
"He doesn't seem like the type to think things through. I mean he didn't even wait for a lawyer who could have gotten a deal for him." Trev thought that was idiotic.
"That actually is a good point that could prove he didn't do it." Tomoko's eyes lit up as she pulled out her notepad.
"What?" Abby and Trev watch her scribble away.
"Him confessing right away might mean that he was coerced or threatened by someone. Or he is protecting someone else." She never took her eyes off the paper as she wrote.
"What the hell is he doing?" Abby perks up when Jughead walks into the cafe and up to Cheryl's table.
"I'm sorry, Cheryl." He apologized, trying to hold back his own tears. She got up to smack him across the face. She pushed him a couple of times before hitting his chest.
Abby rushes over there, but Archie gets there first and pulls Cheryl away as she sobs. "Enough!" Weatherbee yelled. "Mr. Jones, you need to come with me. Right now." He points Jughead to the door.
Archie let Cheryl go, who fell into Abby's arms sobbing into her shoulder. "He was apologizing. He didn't do anything wrong!" She heard her brother tell the principal as she pulled Cheryl to the locker room.
She was helping Cheryl mix her make up when Betty came in. "Cheryl?" She closed the door.
"I barely touched him." She sniffs. Abby rubs her back, even though she knows that was a lie.
"It's not his fault, Cheryl. Even if his dad did do it, it's... " She walks over slowly as she defends her boyfriend.
"Everybody keeps coming up to me, and hugging me, and telling me that I must be so relieved that my brother's killer has finally been caught. That this nightmare is over. Then why doesn't it feel that way?" She turns around to ask through tears. Abby and Betty stood in silence, letting her cry because there were no words that were going to make her feel better.
Archie and Abby walk through the door to see their dad on the phone. "Yes, I... I appreciate it." He hangs up the phone. They walk into the kitchen. "That was Weatherbee. He's concerned for Jug's personal safety. After what happened with Cheryl, he's worried about the other students' reaction to it. Thinks Jughead should finish the semester from home."
"Jughead's getting kicked out because Cheryl pummeled him. How is that fair?" Archie didn't see why Jughead was being punished for his father's sins.
"It's not." He agrees.
"Well, can we call, I don't know, the school board?" Archie rubs the back of his neck.
"Son, FP may spend decades in prison, potentially the rest of his life. We gotta think of a long-term solution." Fred needs them to understand the reality of the situation.
"We are a long-term solution." Archie points down at the ground.
"Yeah, dad. He's only got two more years of high school then he'll be off to a college with a good journalist program on some scholarship." Abby nods. It was two years, they could house Jughead for two years.
"That's not how it works, okay? I'm not his legal guardian." Fred shook his head.
"Oh, good thing mom's a lawyer." Archie figured his mom could pull some strings.
"Archie, my priority is keeping you two safe." He pointed at his kids.
"Keep me safe from who? Jughead? Are you kidding me, Dad?" He scoffs.
"He's not his dad." Abby crossed her arms over her chest.
"No, he's not. But there is this trouble that seems to follow the Jones' around, wherever they go, whatever they do. Hell, maybe you guys should go to Chicago and live with your mom." He threw his hands in the air.
"It's not even something I was considering, Dad. But you know what? Maybe I should." Archie met his challenge.
"Hey, if it'll keep you guys out of trouble, I'm all for it." He said it with such conviction that it shocked and hurt Abby and Archie. To think that their dad was willing to give them up so easily. It felt like their mom leaving all over again. Abby held in her tears as she walked towards the stairs. Archie follows her to comfort her but stops when he saw Jug at the door, knowing he heard everything. "Hey, Jug."
"I'm gonna sleep in the garage tonight. Okay?" He looks him in the eyes.
"Jug…" He calls as the door closes. Abby walked up the stairs to go to her room and cried on her bed.
Abby was sitting next to her mom at Pops with Archie and Jug across from her. "Archie asked me to look into your father's case. I went down to the station, and passed myself off as his attorney to try to get as much information as I could." Mary told them.
"How's it looking, Mom?" Archie asked.
"Well, unfortunately, between FP's list of priors, the anonymous tip, and the possession of the murder weapon…" She listed the thing against him.
"Don't forget that pesky confession." Jughead reminds her.
"Things look pretty bad. I was with him all night, and he never once budged from his story." Mary told them.
"Well, if nothing else, at least he's an honest murderer. Right?" Jug made a joke to stop himself from crying.
"It's a story with gaping holes in it. Not that the police care about that, they just need someone to blame." Abby rolls her eyes.
"Oh, also, who is Joaquin DeSantos?" Mary looks down at her notes.
"Joaquin? As in Kevin's boyfriend?" Archie asked.
"That's him." Abby nods, having heard his last name before.
"He was FP's phone call. Jughead, my advice to you is, go and see your father. Tell him everything you wanna say. Once he's arraigned, things tend to move pretty quickly, and there won't be anything left to do. So, this might be your last chance." Mary told him.
"I'll go do that." Jughead stood up.
"I told Veronica I would swing by." Archie follows Jughead out.
"I want to clear the air with you." Abby turns to her mother.
"You did?" She raised her eyebrows.
"I want our relationship to move forward in a positive direction." She admits.
"I would love that." Mary smiled.
"For that to happen, I think we need a conversation. I need questions answered." Abby couldn't pretend like the hurt never happened. Her mom nods for her to go on. "Why didn't you ask us to go with you when you left the first time?"
"I could barely afford the one-bedroom apartment I had in the slums. It took me a while to get a job at a firm and longer to get enough cases regularly to make a good paycheck. I wasn't going to take you away from a stable household, safe neighborhood, and your friends. But, things are different now, if you wanted to come I would be happy to have you." Mary explains.
"You wanted us for the beginning?" She didn't believe she made the wrong assumption.
"More than anything. The hardest part about being a parent is that you have to always do the right thing for your kid even when it's hard. Even if it makes them hate you." She told her.
Abby hugs her. "I don't hate you."
"Good, because I love you." Mary squeezes her tight.
"I'm sorry for shutting you out." Abby pulled away and fought back her tears.
"I'm sorry for not forcing my way in. I was scared of pushing you further away." Mary picks up a napkin to wipe her tears.
"Nah, you're right. I would push you away. I wasn't ready to let go of my anger until recently. Until I realized I was lucky to have a mother….Let's get you a milkshake." She waves her hand to call Pops over so they could order.
"We know FP used his call from jail to get in touch with you. What did he say?" Archie asked Joaquin who was sitting on the recliner in their soundproof garage. Kevin, Veronica, and Archie were standing in front of him.
"Here you go," Abby passed him a beer and sat on the arm of the chair.
"Abby." Archie scolds her.
"People spill things when they are comfortable." She shrugs.
"The call was basically just a warning. Said to lay low." Joaquin answers.
'See,' Abby mouths to her brother. He rolled his eyes at her.
"No one uses their one call to say lay low." Veronica crossed her arms.
"Joaquin, do you know something? I'm not talking to you as your boyfriend, I'm talking to you as the sheriff's son. Did FP kill Jason?" Kevin steps forward with his hands in his pockets trying to look intimidating.
It made Abby and Joaquin scoffs. "I'm sorry, what authority does being the sheriff's son give you? That you can sway daddy easily." His boyfriend was disgusted at seeing Kevin use his privilege in an aggressive way.
"Yeah, I'm a construction worker's daughter, that doesn't mean you should let me build your house." She scoffs again.
"Although, you did a good job on Fang's floors." Joaquin nods.
"Thank you." She pats his shoulder.
"Abigail, if you're not going to help, leave." Archie points to the door.
"Well, your sad movie interrogation tactics aren't going to work. He's been interrogated by police before. You should just level with him." She reasoned.
"Why don't you level with me?" Joaquin leaned back to look up at her.
"I just want to know what you know about FP's involvement. I need to know, so I can make my next move. If he didn't then we can try to prove his innocence. But, if he's guilty I have to start persuading my dad to let Jughead stay here." She pleads with him.
From the honesty in her eyes, he told her the story, although it would piss off Sweet Pea. "On July 11th, I got a phone call in the middle of the night from FP. Said he needed help with some clean-up job at the Whyte Wyrm."
"What job?" Kevin interrupted making Joaquin take a deep breath before going on with his story.
"The basement of the Whyte Wyrm is off-limits to everyone, but that's where I met FP, and that's where I saw... He'd been shot. I never asked FP if he did it. I just... I mean, I was terrified. I... I just assumed. We stashed the body in the freezer, cleaned up the mess, got rid of any evidence…" He told his side of the story.
"You are a criminal." Kevin had tears in his eyes as he looked down both metaphorically and literally at his boyfriend.
"No fucking duh, what do you think this leather means? You knew he was dealing." Abby glares at Kevin's tears. He was going out with a gang member. The biggest hurdle she jumped when she started having feelings for Sweet Pea was that he was a criminal. Even though he was a victim of circumstance, it wasn't something she could overlook easily at first. But, the more she got to know him she realized she selfishly didn't care. She tried to believe Sweet Pea when he said his involvement was dealing weed, transporting it, and doing favors of roughing up people or trashing places. But, she knew there was always a chance that he did more than that. If she did find that out, she wasn't about to play the victim and cry like some naive fool.
"Joaquin, FP has done jobs for my dad, Hiram Lodge, in the past. Do you think killing Jason was one of them?" Veronica asked. Abby had to fight to not roll her eyes, she was sick of hearing about my dad might do this and my father might have done that.
"There was one time I overheard a conversation between FP and Mustang…" Joaquin leaned forward to tell them.
"Who's Mustang?" Archie asked.
"He's another Serpent. The one you picked a fight with at the bar." Abby told him.
"He's also the only other guy who knew about the clean-up. I heard him tell FP something about some rich guy. I don't know who." He told them all he could
"Where is Mustang?" Veronica steps forwards.
"No, no, no, no. You do not want to go see him." Joaquin shook his head.
"Yes, I do. And you're going to take us." Veronica demands.
"Or... Or I'm going to tell my dad about your little clean-up job." Kevin threatens.
"Are you serious?" Abby stood up to stand in front of Joaquin. "Are you guys stupid? Mustang isn't going to let you question him. He's going hit first. You remember getting thrown around, don't you, Archie? You remember being scared, don't you, Kevin? You ran out of there as fast as you could." She glares at them.
"Calm down, Abby. I'll do it." Joaquin stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You better break up with him after this, because blackmail should be a deal-breaker." She walks out of the house with everyone following her. She rode on the back of Joaquin's bike.
"Not that much money in local crime and villainy, huh?" Veronica looks back at Joaquin as they walk through the litter infected stairways of the cheap apartment building.
"Made your dad a lot of money." Abby rolls her eyes. Veronica looks forward with a sad look on her face. Archie glares at his sister, who shrugs.
"This is him, here." Joaquin knocks on the door. "Mustang? You here?" He opens the door and slowly walks inside. They follow him in to look around the filthy apartment.
"Oh, my God." Archie gasps in the bathroom doorway. They look inside to see Mustang in a bathtub with a needle sticking out of his arm. He was laying limp and his chest wasn't moving.
"I can't... I can't be here. Let's go." Joaquin drags Abby with him, knowing that Sweet Pea wouldn't want her here either. He drops her off at the trailer park. He went to pick up Kevin to tell him bye before he went on a bus to anywhere but here.
She knocks on the trailer's door and Sweet Pea lets her in. She told him everything. "What the fuck were you thinking? The next time your brother and his group plan something, you stay out of it." He paces in front of the couch she was sitting on.
"But, what if I can prove FP innocent?" She whispers.
"Do you know the hardest part about being a Serpent? It's not dealing drugs, beating up people, or trashing places. It's following orders, even though I don't have all the information or know why. But, FP earned my trust, because his orders have never blown back on me. So, when he says to forget about him and focus on the club and keep the Ghoulies off our backs. That's what I do. I have to trust that he knows what he is doing?" He sat next to her on the couch.
"But, FP is also a martyr. If he thinks taking the fall for this will save someone he loves he'll do it. Remember how I told you he stopped talking to me and wouldn't answer my phone calls. I lied, he did answer once. He told me to leave him alone that he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. If I'd call him again, he shows me what happens to little girls who want to hang around old bad men." She sighs but continues quickly when she sees Sweet Pea's jaw tense. "I found out recently, it was because my dad told him to stay away from me. FP could have made my dad the bad guy. He would have every right to after my dad cut him out of the business. But, he didn't. If a guy can't even throw his ex-best friend who screwed him over under the bus, then how can he kill a teen for money." She looks down at her hands.
Her phone rings, she picks it up. "Yes, Arch."
"It was Clifford Blossom who killed FP. We have proof, a video. I just thought you should know." He told her.
"Oh my god. This is great. Not for Cheryl, but FP will be free." She jumps up from the couch. Sweet Pea stood up, wondering what she was walking about.
"I don't think he'll be free. He did help cover it up. But he's not a murder." He reminds her.
"Wait, did you see Jason being killed?" She gasps.
"Yeah, I'm happy you didn't have to see it. I got to go. The cops are going to want to talk to me." After their goodbyes, she hangs up the phone.
"It was Clifford Blossom. He killed him and Archie has the proof." She hugs Sweet Pea.
"That's great." Fangs run out of his room to join the hug.
"He is still going to get charged with helping cover it up, but that's a lesser sentence." She smiled.
"We'll solve that part later." Sweet Pea didn't want her mood to be ruined.
"I'm sorry, Mom, but my friends need me." Archie stood with his family at the door. Mary had her suitcase behind her.
"I'm staying too, sorry." Abby nods, next to her brother.
"Maybe you guys can come for the summer," She offers.
"That'd be great." They smiled.
"You be careful." She gave each of them a hug as they promised they would.
"I love you, Archie. I love you, Abby." She tears up at having to leave them.
"I love you too, Mom." They echoed.