Picnic || jarchie

seventeen

"Cooper, we got a dad to interrogate," Jughead announced, nodding towards the southside. Betty sped up to walk beside him as they fell into an almost comfortable silence.

Betty kicked a rock that was in the way of the sidewalk and watched as it rolled into the street. She sighed, "So.." She started, watching the way Jughead's head turned to meet her's in confusion, "Homecoming is tomorrow, any special girl you're taking, Juggy?"

Jughead almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, but quickly collected himself and slipped his hands into his pockets. He shuffled awkwardly, "Uhh.. no. None.. sorry Betts."

Betty just hummed in response, turning the corner into SunnySide trailer park. Jughead bit his lip, he was already nervous enough to talk to his dad about his part in the murder, and now he had Betty's weird behavior to add to his list.

The leaves that had fallen off due to the autumn weather now crunched between their uneasy steps. Jughead let out a breath at the sight of his father. He was standing outside their trailer, a cigarette caught  in his lips. Jughead found himself grabbing Betty's hand.

Betty squeezed it in response as they made their way over to him. Jughead held his satchel strap in his other hand tightly as his dad smiled at him. He threw his cigarette into the ground and crushed it with his foot, "Boy, what's on your mind? Looks like you've seen a ghost."

Jughead swallowed, quickly meeting betty's eye, "I haven't seen one but it does feel like I'm being haunted by one." He admitted.

That seemed to catch his dad's interest as he stood up straighter. He looked better, Jughead noticed. His face was less sunken in and dull. If he got close enough to him, maybe Jughead could smell the familiar scent of spearmint gum that had since been traded away for alcohol.

"Let's talk in the trailer." Jughead reasoned. Betty nodded beside him as they moved to walk inside. FP Jones opened the door, letting the teenagers in before himself. Jughead sat on the couch and let go of Betty's hand. FP stood in the middle of the trailer, arms crossed over his chest.

"Dad, did you let Clifford Blossom kill his son because of me?" Jughead found himself blurting out the question before he could even really think about it. It was blunt, he knew that, but everything had to get out into the open somehow. FP shifted uncomfortably, his eyes widened, as if he was shocked, but they immediately went back to a blank expression.

"Kid, what're you talking about?" FP said shakily. He dropped his arms, instead deciding to shuffle his feet. Jughead huffed, rubbing his sweaty hands against his jeans. He faintly wondered if Archie and Veronica were having better luck with Cheryl.

"Dad, don't beat around the bush. I'm not here to interrogate you. We have a plan that will simultaneously bring justice to Jason.." He trailed off looking at Betty, who was smiling at him, "and keep the Serpents safe."

That seemed to peak FP's interest. He stood up slightly taller, "Im intrigued." He admitted.

Jughead relaxed slightly, sitting back. Betty squealed in excitement,  she shook her head, whipping her ponytail. "Mr. Jones," She explained, "Before anything, how many serpents will give us their jackets?"

-

While Jughead and Betty sat on a couch, Archie was instead sat on a very uncomfortable bench. He was waiting for Veronica to get out of Cheer practice. It was all part of the plan, but that didn't mean he wasn't impatient and unhappy with the idea. He looked at his watch for the 15th time. This time however, the time was right. The clock striked 5:32 and any second now Cheryl and Veronica would walk out of the girl's locker room and come down the hallway towards him.