monsters | riverdale

In a Lonely Place

"Taking advantage of the school's state-of-the-art facilities," Jughead laughs awkwardly and pushes hair away from his forehead. He turns his back to them and starts gathering his things off of the sink. "What are you guys doing here so early?" He deflects.

It's not hard for Mickey to plug the pieces together. He was living at the drive-in and now he's here. Jughead lives at school.

Archie is clueless though. "No, really, Jughead. What are you doing in here?"

Jughead says, "Give me a few minutes to get dressed and then we'll talk."

Mickey and Archie wait outside of the locker room. Neither of them say a word, but their minds are definitely racing.

In those few minutes, the school lights turn on and people start walking by.

Jughead steps into the hallway finally and gestures for the two of them to follow him.

When they stop in front of one of the closets, Mickey opens the door for Archie to walk through and she walks in behind him.

Jughead leans on the doorframe, watching his friends see all his belongings scattered all over the closet.

Archie looks around the room and squats down by Jughead's cot. "How long?"

Jughead crosses his arms over his chest, "Well, since they shut down the drive-in. That's where I was living before."

"Did anyone know about that or this?"

Mickey and Jughead share a quick look. The last thing Mickey wants is for Archie to know she kept Jughead's situation a secret. She doesn't want or need Archie to be mad at her.

"Why the hell are you not living at home?" Archie asks, forgetting about his last question.

"The truth is, things aren't good at home," Jughead admits.

"With your Dad?"

"Yeah. He kind of fell off the wagon. After your dad fired him, to tell you the truth. Hasn't had a job since," he explains. "He keeps promising that he's gonna get his act together, but my Mom couldn't take that rollercoaster anymore, so she grabbed Jellybean and went to live with our grandparents." The bell rings and Jughead grabs his bag from a hook. "Come on."

The three of them file out of the closet.

"God, Jug, why didn't you tell us? We're your friends!" Archie exclaims. "And where does your Dad think you are?"

"He thinks I'm couch-surfing." He closes the closet door and the three of them begin their way down the hall.

"Well, screw that. Live with me," Archie offers.

"This is temporary, man." Classic Jughead. He'd rather suffer in a janitor's closet than be helped. "I'm going to figure something out. Just don't tell anybody," he whispers as people walk by them. "Especially not Betty."

Mickey rolls her eyes. "That's the last thing you should be worried about."

"Betty?" Archie scrunches his nose up.