Southside: a story of us: part 2; Senior year.

Dazed and confused

"I was asleep, but I have  you guys set to a different tone, so I know it's you when I hear it, all others I will ignore." Archie said.

"Same, and if you're texting that late it's important." Pea adds.

"Yeah." is all Jughead said.

"Is she asleep?" Archie asked.

"Yeah, she fell asleep a few minutes ago, took her to my room and Betts went with her." Jughead said.

Toni finally gets off the phone and puts her hand in her head. Pea sits next to her and puts an arm around her. She falls into him and lets out a sigh.

"What the fuck." Jughead said.

"Right, It was only a matter of time. Come on now. He's been gone for a month now with no trace whatsoever. He's very similar to Cheryl, he likes to make his presence known. Him not calling anyone is very unlike him, especially his so-called buddies on the Football team." Archie said.

Fang walks back in and sits down. He's been on the phone since he's been here. "I just got off the phone with Kevin. He said his father said that it seems like Jason's body has been there for at least 3 weeks." he said.

"That means he probably died right after his disappearance."Jughead said.

"So what now?" Toni asked. "Because you know those bastards are going to blame us." she adds.

"You mean the northsiders?" Jughead asked.

"Who else, Jug." she sighed.

"Yeah, I do know one thing. We won't be going to school tomorrow." he said.

"Obviously, We don't need to be dealing with all those bulldogs." she said.

"And we need to be here for Cheryl, she will be in no condition." Jughead said. 

"You know I always suspected the worst, but now that it's real my heart is breaking," Toni said. "Jason was an asshole but he didn't deserve to die." she adds.

The bedroom door opens and Betty comes out. "She's asleep and I can't go back to sleep." she said as she goes and sits on Jughead's lap and lays her head down.

"I'll order food from Pop's for breakfast. Cheryl needs to eat." Archie said.

"Sounds good," Jughead said.

"About damn time someone other than me gets food." Toni said as she tried to lighten the mood.

Everyone laughed.

"Oh, before I forget. Kevin is coming by before school to show us something." Fangs said.

"Okay" Jughead said.

Jughead looks around the room at his friends, all saddened by tonight's events. "It's going to be a long week," he said.

Others nodded in agreement.

A few hours later they all sat quietly watching a Cop show on TV. None of them had slept any. All wired from the past few hours. One of their own was hurting, and they were not sure what to do.

Jughead hears a small whimper and he looks up and sees Cheryl standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She walks over to Toni and falls into her lap and starts crying again. It's heartbreaking to watch.

"I'm going to go get breakfast now. Pea come with me." Archie said.

"Yup." Pea said as he got up and left with Archie.

"Cheryl, look at me. They are bringing food back. You need to eat so you don't get sick." Jughead told her.

She looks up at him with bloodshot eyes and a puffy face. "Okay." she managed to speak before laying her head back down. Toni runs her fingers through her hair trying to soothe her. They sit like that for a few minutes before Cheryl sits up and wipes off her face.  "I want to thank you guys for staying with me." she said. "I'm such a hot mess right now." She said, letting out a soft chuckle.