Another Love~J.J. {1}

~29~

In a Lonely Place

* * *

        "Did you have fun last night?" Archie asked Lia as the two of them stood by his locker. 

        "Yeah, my feet are killing me though. Never let me where platforms ever again." Lia groaned as she rubbed her sneaker against her heel. Archie nodded with a laugh and Lia was going to say something else but then she heard people begin to whisper. She turned, seeing Jughead walking with Sheriff Keller and Principal Weatherbee. 

        "Call my Dad." Jughead told Archie as he walked past. 

        "Yeah, yeah we will." Archie nodded.

        "Totally." Lia said quickly, watching as he walked down the hall with the two authority figures. 

* * *

        Somehow, Lia had managed to negotiate her way into talking with Jughead so she sat across from him in the interrogation room at the Sheriff station, his hands in her own. 

        "I didn't do it, Fifi, you got to believe me." Jughead begged, looking up at Lia with scared eyes.

        "Hey." Lia whispered, squeezing his hands tightly. "I believe you. I was with you on July 4th remember? By the way, Betty's on her way."

        "Okay. Good. Good. But, those Paradise Lost Kids went on death row because they wore black and listened to Metallica. I don't wanna become a scapegoat." Jughead muttered. 

        "We're not...I'm not going to let that happen." Lia said sternly, not taking her eyes off of Jughead's. "Besides, all the evidence against you is circumstantial. We're gonna get you out of here."

        Jughead sniffed with a nod, his eyes going back to the table before he sighed.  

        "Is my dad here yet?" He asked.

        "No, my dad is though. He's talking to the Sheriff. No one knows where your dad is." Lia answered softly, rubbing her thumb over his hands as Jughead nodded, not saying a word. 

        Lia sighed, hearing a knock at the door and she turned to see Betty carefully walk in. She smiled and let go of Jughead's hands before standing up and letting Betty talk her place. Lia left with a soft smile at Jughead at which he smiled back with before walking out and making her way back to the lobby. 

        "Jughead's not helping himself in there. I asked him for an alibi, and he just gave me lip." Sheriff Keller's voice said as Lia entered the lobby. 

        "He was working for me. Yeah, the week of July 4th, was it? Yeah, I had him tear down some drywall for me." Fred told the Sheriff and Lia looked down with a smile, hiding it from the Sheriff so that her dad wouldn't be caught in a lie. 

        "You can provide me with documentation to support that?" Sheriff Keller asked. 

        "I have to check my time cards." Fred agreed and Sheriff Keller nodded before walking off towards the interrogation room where Jughead was. The Andrews' waited for Jughead and Betty to walk out and they did after a minute or two and soon they walked out of the Sheriff's station, running into FP as they did. 

        "Jughead! I'm sorry. I came as soon as I got your messages. My phone, the friggin' battery. I forgot to plug it in last night." FP said nervously as he looked at everyone until his eyes landed on Jughead. "What the hell happened. 

        "Nothing. It's fine now. Mr. Andrews took care of it." Jughead replied and Lia could tell he was angry at his father for not being there like he was supposed to be but he didn't really show it.

        "What jacked-up crap did they accuse you of in there, huh? Those bastards trying to throw you in jail like they did your old man? Well, screw that. I will rip Keller a new one for trying to pull that-

        "FP, settle down." Fred said as he grabbed onto FP who tried to storm up into the Sheriff's station. 

        "Hey! Hey! This is my son, he is my son, Fred! You'd do the same for your boy." FP shouted and Lia felt Archie's arm go around her waist and pull her into him. 

        Lia watched sadly as Jughead went up to his father, grabbing hold of his shirt sleeve. 

        "Dad. Don't make things worse. Please." Jughead begged, looking like he was about to cry. 

        "Yeah. Yeah, all right, then. You, uh, coming home with me?" FP asked, calming down as he walked away from the station, swiping his thumb over his nose just like Jughead. 

        "He can stay with us, Mr. Jones. We already offered." Archie called, stepping forward and forcing Lia to do so to. 

        "Is that what you want?" FP asked Jughead but he didn't answer. FP sighed, looking over at Fred. "Maybe that's for the best. If you don't mind, Fred."

        "Whatever you want, FP. It's between the two of you." Fred replied. 

        "I'll go with you, Dad." Jughead finally said but it seemed like it pained him to do it. Jughead made his way over to his father but FP stopped him, grabbing hold of his arms. 

        "Son, listen to me. I'm gonna do what you want, get my act together. I'm gonna get your mom and Jellybean home so we're all under the same roof. I promise. But I... I just need a little time to do that. Not a lot, not long, a month, two at the most. Hey. And then we'll be back on track, all right? You... You believe that, don't you?" FP asked him and Lia smiled over at Betty who watched her boyfriend and his father's interaction.

        "Yeah, I believe you, Dad." Jughead nodded.

        "All right." FP chuckled before patting Jughead's shoulder and walking off. Everyone stayed quiet and Betty went up to Jughead, cupping his cheek and leading him off to Fred's truck. 

        Lia sighed, watching the two go and she felt Archie begin to walk forward so she followed suit, going over to the truck with her father right behind her. 

* * *

Hope. A word so close to home, and as tricky. As much as we wanted Jason's killer caught, and the town, our home, to feel safe again,with every day that passed, our hopes dimmed more and more. There's that old, cliched saying,"It's darkest before the dawn." But sometimes... There's just darkness.