Cole had described Jughead to be kind of like Kerouac, so in other words Jughead is going to fall into a drinking habit. It gave me this idea, having a gut feeling it wouldn't sit well with FP, for obvious reasons.
•••
Seven years had made a whole big difference in a place as crazy as Riverdale. Several things had changed for the town with pep. The children were all grown up. Some buildings were nonexistent. New things popped up here and there. Riverdale was not what it once was. Whether that meant that it was better or not was up for debate.
The return of certain people were being received in batches throughout time. FP had returned about two years ago after sending Jellybean off to college. Boy was he proud to have another Jones reach this milestone. He moved back to his hometown immediately after. He had kept in touch with Alice over the past few years and moving back was going to be a forever thing. They had a long conversation about it and in no time things picked up where they were last left off. FP moved back into their home and settled in perfectly.
Alice came down the stairs and looked over at FP in the living room staring down at the book in his hands again. His son was now a published author. He couldn't have been any more impressed by his son's accomplishment. His young man did that.
Alice walked up to him from behind. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He peeked over his shoulder to catch the sight of her long blonde locks.
"How are you feeling?" She had picked up on his strange behavior recently. Whenever he looked at his son's picture on the back it was like something shut down inside of him. She knew he was proud, beyond proud, but there was something else. "You miss him, don't you?"
FP placed the book back on the shelf. His son hasn't spoken to him since they were last in the same room. It was hard to cope with that awful feeling of estrangement. They had a massive falling out after a big argument of theirs. FP tried talking to him but it was like he was talking to a brick wall. Jughead made his choice and FP had to deal with it.
FP had gone to Jughead's apartment in the midwest to check up on him. When he didn't join him and his mother in the dropping off of Jellybean at college like he said he would, he knew something wasn't right. It was out of character for him to not follow through with what he promised.
FP showed up at his door unannounced. He knocked until he got him to open the door. The look on his son's face gave it away. It answered a few questions of his. His eyes were bloodshot. His hair was tangled in a mess. A red flag went off in his head.
The young man was shocked to see him at his door. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. He chose to stay away for a reason.
"Can I come in?" FP asked carefully, not wanting to get the door shut in his face. Jughead gave it a thought, but nevertheless stepped aside to let him in. Knowing his father, he wasn't going to leave without talking to him.
FP walked in and looked around. The energy in the room felt a little too familiar for his liking. He noticed the empty liquor bottles on the coffee table and another on the kitchen counter. He turned to look back at his son. Jughead avoided looking at him for that very reason. He knew exactly what he had to say.
"Jellybean missed you the other day," He started off gently. He wasn't diving into the root of the problem just yet. "What happened?"
"Something came up. I already apologized to her."
"And that something being?"
"I had work to do."
"Bullshit," FP found that hard to believe.
Jughead scoffed. "Why did you really come here, dad?"
"What's going on with you? You've been so distant lately. If there's something going on you know you can always talk to me about it."
"Nothing. I'm fine."
FP picked up one of the empty bottles. He shook it in his hands in front of him. "It's not fine. Have you been drinking?"
"I'm an adult now, need I remind you? I can have a couple of sips here and there."
"Has it really been just a couple of sips?"
"It's not a big deal."
"It's not? How long has this been going on?" FP was genuinely worried about the answer. "You know this won't he-"
"I've been doing just fine," Jughead yanked the bottle away from him. He placed it elsewhere and turned his back to him.
"Is this why you haven't been calling?"
"Stop, God, just stop."
"I'm being serious here," FP rose his voice. "Because if this is only the start of it then we can fix it before it's too late."
"I don't need to fix anything."
"Boy, did you not learn anything from my mistakes?" FP pinched the arch of his nose. He took a deep breath to dial it down a notch. "I just don't want you to follow in my footsteps, okay? It won't do you any good. Trust me."
"I don't have a problem! Can you stop assuming that I do?"
"Why are you drinking?"
"It's not a big deal! Writers drank all the time! It's part of the process. Take Edgar Allan Poe, Kerouac, Fitzgerald, Hemingway. All of them were successful. It's nothing."
"Is that what you're telling yourself?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"When I drank I was in a dark place. I had fallen so low that I couldn't even process who I was anymore. Or what I was doing wrong. And you're telling me that this is just a part of your process?"
"I'm not you! Just because you were a drunk like grandpa doesn't mean I will be too!"Jughead blurted out with a glare. "I can handle it!"
"You're right, you're not me." FP frowned. That was he was trying so hard as his father to ensure. He wanted better for him, in every single way. "Just tell me why you thought it was okay to fix whatever this is with the one thing that ruined me most."
The look on Jughead's face softened for a moment. Truth be told he was struggling. He hit a writer's block like no other. He's suffered it before. Just like any writer would. But this time it felt almost impossible to get through. The stress of it all was making him miserable. It was rejection after rejection from publishing companies. The inability to perfect his writing. Everything. "I understand why you thought drinking was the solution. It numbs the pain away. I don't want to feel it anymore. It's the only escape and I like it that way."
"Listen to yourself, Jug. This isn't the right way to do this. It only makes it worse. Let me help you."
"I don't need any help. It's my life and I'll live it my way. If I choose to be a drunk writer like grandpa, then let me be!"
"He wasn't a writer. He was a quitter," FP corrected him. The fact that he compared himself to that man was like a slap to the face. "And I'll be damned if you think I'm going to sit around and let you become that asshole!"
"I don't need you here to tell me how to live my life!"
"I won't support you with this!"
"Then leave! The door is right there!" Jughead gestured to it. "I will figure this out my own way. I don't want you hounding me over every decision I make. You'll see. I can do this on my own."
"I'm not losing another son, especially to alcoholism!"
"Don't compare me to Charles! He was a murderer. He ran away instead of doing the right thing and turning himself in. We're all a screwed bunch so just do us both the favor and leave me alone!"
"Fine!" FP yelled back at him. "Don't come knocking on my door when you realize that I was right!" FP made his way to the door. "If you want to disappoint me, then go right ahead. I'm done fighting with you." He slammed the door shut behind him. Little did he know that this would be the last time they would interact for a while.
"FP?" Alice tried to get him to speak again. "Say something."
"I shouldn't have walked away."
"What happened between you and Jughead is not your fault, honey."
"But it is. I taught him that and I'm not proud of it."
"Baby, he's grown now. He made his decision. Maybe not the best one, but what we have to do now is be there for him. If I learned anything it's that he'll come around one day. We just can't force it."
"What if he never does? What if the last thing I ever say to him was how he disappointed me? I don't want it that way, Al. I want him to know he can always come home."
"Do you want to try to reach out to him again?"
"I don't think he'll answer."
"It's always worth a try."
FP knew she was right. He turned to face her. She looked up at his sad face. She offered him a sweet kiss to cheer him up. It did help a little. He snaked his arms around her like she had done better. "I'll look into it."
In came in the two nine year olds looking for their grandmother. FP noticed them first. Alice's eyes followed FP's to them. Their mischievous smiles were no surprise to them. "What are you two up to?" Alice arched an eyebrow.
The twins looked at each other then back at her to answer. "We're hungry, grandma." Juniper began and Dagwood added onto that thought. "Can we have Pop's please?"
"Hmm, what do you think, dear?" Alice asked but had already made her decision. She could go for a milkshake right now.
"Well it's been a while since we last ate at the diner. I think a couple of burgers sound good to me."
"I think so too."
"Yes!" The twins high fived each other.
"They're lucky they have cute faces," FP whispered into Alice's ear as they watched the twins jump in excitement. "They sure know how to use that to their advantage."
"They know their way into my heart."
"Can we finally get to ride in the motorcycle?" Dagwood asked. They have seen FP ride around on his motorcycle and they have always wanted to ride along in the side car.
"Nice try, but no." Alice did not want them anywhere the motorcycles. She's made herself clear before. She didn't want to risk them getting hurt.
"Sorry, bud, you're both still too little." FP shook his head. He would love to take them for a ride like he had done with his kids but he knew Alice would have his head if he did. He'll try to convince her one day in the future.
"To the car we go, come on guys." Alice ushered them to the door. FP grabbed the keys on their way out.
*
The four claimed a booth by the window. Alice sat across from the twins while FP was up grabbing his orange freeze and Alice's milkshake from the counter. Little did they know that right outside was a familiar face watching them as he exited his car.
Jughead watched as FP came to their booth. He didn't expect to be seeing him in town. Last he knew about his father, he was still in Toledo. His father put down the drinks and slid into his seat. He pecked a kiss on Alice's lips. It put a small smile on Jughead's face to see how happy his father was. For some reason seeing his father so lovey dovey with Alice wasn't so strange to him. It had been a good thing for his dad.
FP was in the middle of talking when he noticed Jughead outside. Alice turned to see what it was that distracted him.
"I can't believe he's here."
"Go talk to him," Alice encouraged him. "You both must have something to say."
FP nodded. With seeing his son he knew he couldn't miss out on this opportunity to go talk to him. "I'll be right back."
FP went outside to Jughead. Jughead didn't know what to do so he waited for him to come to him. "I didn't know you would be here."
"I didn't think I would be seeing you back around these parts."
"Archie called a few of us. He just came back from the army. I thought I'd stop by and say hi." Jughead explained his appearance. "I thought you were still in Toledo."
"I came back two years ago."
"Back to Alice." Jughead glanced back into the diner. She was keeping the twins company. FP gave it a quick look back, "Yeah and we're happier than ever."
"I can tell." Jughead wanted to apologize for how things ended between them years ago. "Listen, since you're here. I wanted to-"
"I'm proud of you, boy. That's something I wanted to tell you." FP got out before he could finish. "I'm sorry for what I said. I would have never wanted for us to become strangers."
"No, dad, I should be the one apologizing. You were right. I was just too stubborn to admit it to myself. I didn't want to face the fact that I was a mess. I cleaned up my act and faced my problems like a real man. I looked for solutions. The right ones this time."
"That's good to hear," FP was proud of him for pulling himself out of that sunken hole. He knew it wasn't easy. "I read your work by the way. I always knew you had it in you."
Jughead smiled. He liked hearing that from his father. "I met someone. Her name's Jessica. She's actually the reason I'm doing better now."
"I can't wait to hear all about her one day." It was nice to hear that his son had someone to help him through this. FP had learned that having someone in his life that believed in him was essential to his growth. And for that he loved Alice. "Why don't you just us? I think Alice and the twins would like to say hello."
"I guess so," Jughead agreed. "It's been a while since I got to say hi."
"Trust me. They're going to be happy to see you again." FP slung his arm around his son's shoulders. "Hey, maybe you can even help me convince Alice into letting me take the twins for a joyride."
"Yeah right. The last time I helped you with an idea of yours she had us carrying the pool table out of the house."
"Okay, maybe replacing the dining table with it was a bad idea after all, but, come on, it was cool with it lasted."
"In your dreams, old man. You're living in Alice's world now. You have to have her permission to be an idiot."
"Yet, it's all worth it. I wouldn't have it any other."