FIRE AND ICE , c. blossom

chapter ten

we heard a strained cough behind us. "the prodigal kids return." he put down an empty bottle of beer onto the counter. "how you doin'?"

"hanging in there."

"yeah?"

"mhm." we nodded.

"so, we came by to ask— if you would consider going back to work with fred andrews." jughead explained.

fp scoffed. "yeah, he called. i said no. he fired me. what kind of man would i be if i went back hat-in-hand?"

i rolled my eyes. "for starters, a man with a job. trying to fix his family—"

"talk to your mom." he slammed the cupboard shut. "she's the one who gave up on us, and took your sister with her."

"can you just go see mr andrews? he's willing to give you another chance." jughead pleaded.

"oh, he's willing, huh?" fp laughed sarcastically. "that's generous, after all the crap he pulled on me."

"dad. don't you want to get the family back together? mom and jellybean could come home. gracie and i could come home!" he sighed. "it's not too late." jug added.

i opened the door and left, slamming it behind me. my brother shortly followed after me, catching up at the end of the path. "he's a drunk, jug. i cant believe we expected anything from him. he's not gonna change."

"he could."

i scoffed. "pigs could fly."

~♛~

7:57 pm
—————————————————————
jug👑🍔

hey
archie, fred, dad and i are about to go to pops for dinner
dad told me to ask if u want to come along

no it's fine jug
i'm good
have ur father-son bonding moment

he took the job btw
i thought he would

that's great
but somehow i don't think he's changed
not yet anyway

where are you?

dw

and also,
dad wants us to come home

ofc he does
i'll think ab it

~♛~

"miss jones, i'm gonna need you to come down to the station with me." keller said, the next day, walking into the blue and gold with principal weatherbee.

"uh, sure..." i frowned, confused.
we were watched by other students in the hallway as the sheriff escorted me to the police station.

~♛~

"forensics came back on the car. despite the fire, we were able to pull some prints off of the trunk." sheriff keller explained. i had my arms crossed, leaning back in the chair. "we found yours, your brother's and betty cooper's— which of course, is no surprise. but what did surprise me, was this." he opened up a folder and placed it in front of me. "your prints were on your file from an incident that happened six years ago... when you spent some time at riverdale juvenile delinquent center for 'attempting to burn down riverdale elementary school.'"