A/N: If you're enjoying this story you can buy me a coffee :) https://ko-fi.com/kat5591
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When Jughead walked into the Blue and Gold office the next morning he was expecting to find Blake. Instead he was met with Sheriff Keller and the Principal looking worriedly at the Jason Blossom 'murder board'.
"Hey." Jughead said warily as he set his bag down.
"Hey." Keller replied; not taking his eyes off the board.
"Uh, what's up?" Jughead's voice shook with nerves.
"I'm going to need you to come down to the station with me." Keller said finally lifting his gaze to Jughead's.
They both escorted Jughead out of the office. The other students stared as they walked past. Blake was stood talking to Archie and Betty when she locked eyes with her nervous boyfriend. "Jughead?" She went to step towards him but Archie grabbed her arm.
"Call my dad." Jughead said quickly as they walked past
"Yeah, yeah." Archie stumbled over his words.
"Of course." Betty said at the same time as Blake just stared in shock.
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Jughead was sat in a sterile white interrogation room. The only thing on the wall was a corkboard filled with missing posters. The translucent window let in a dim light and illuminated the table and chairs he and Keller were sat in.
"Forensics came back on the car." Keller started as Jughead glared at the table. "Despite the fire, we were able to pull a pair of prints off the trunk. Yours and Blake's. This is, of course, no surprise. But what did surprise me was this." Keller grabbed a file, opened it and spun it to face Jughead. "Your prints were on file from an incident that happened six years ago, where you spent some time with the Riverdale Juvenile Delinquent Centre for "Attempting to burn down Riverdale Elementary School." Keller read from the file.
"I was playing with matches, and that's a pretty tenuous connection for a sheriff." Jughead shot back.
"Well, Principal Weatherbee also allowed me to have a look at your school records. You have a long and rough history, Mr. Jones. Bullied a lot." Keller stated as he opened Jughead's school file.
"Yeah, my name is Jughead."
"By the football team, in particular. I can only assume that would have included Jason Blossom." Keller said and Jughead finally caught on to what he was insinuating. "So, how about this? How about you tell me your whereabouts on the week of July 11th?"
"This is crazy. You think I..." Jughead trailed off as his voice caught in his throat.
Keller sighed. "Jughead. A kid like you, raised on the wrong side of the tracks by a deadbeat dad, bullied by kids like Jason Blossom. Who wouldn't want to lash out at that?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore." Jughead muttered on the verge of tears. "I want a lawyer."
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After what seemed like forever, Keller finally let Blake into the room to see Jughead. She pulled the chair Keller had been sitting on next to him and pulled him into her. He buried his head in her shoulder. She could tell he was close to breaking point. His eyes were red rimmed already from tears he refused to let escape.
"Hey, everything's going to be fine." Blake cooed.
Jughead pulled back but couldn't look her in the eye; his eyes went to their entwined hands. "I didn't do it, Blake, you have to believe me."
"Of course, I was with you, and I know who you are." She assured him as she cupped his cheek and made him look at her.
"Those Paradise Lost kids went to death row because they wore black and they listened to Metallica." Jughead nervously rambled. "I don't wanna become a scapegoat."
"I'm not gonna let that happen." Blake quickly guaranteed. "All the evidence against you is circumstantial. We're gonna get you out of here."
Jughead sniffled as a few tears escaped down his cheeks. Blake wiped them away with her thumb as he looked at her. "Is my dad here yet?"
Blake hesitated. "Archie's here with our dad. They're talking to the Sheriff. No one knows where your dad is."
Jughead just glared at the floor.
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"Jughead's not helping himself in there." Keller told Fred who was stood in the station's waiting room. "I asked him for an alibi, and he just gave me lip."
"He was working for me." Fred quickly covered as Archie looked slightly bewildered before composing himself. "Yeah, the week of July 11th, was it? Yeah, I had him tear down some drywall for me."
"You can provide me with documentation to support that?" Keller asked.
"I have to check my time cards." Fred said with a nod and a glance to Archie who also nodded.
Keller seemed satisfied and soon Fred, Archie, Blake and Jughead were all leaving the station. Jughead was clinging onto Blake's hand.
"Jughead!" FP suddenly called as he came into view. "I'm sorry. I came as soon as I got your messages. My phone, the friggin' battery. I forgot to plug it in last night. What the hell happened?" FP rambled.
"Nothing. It's fine now. Mr. Andrews took care of it." Jughead snarled. Blake rubbed a hand up his arm to calm him down.
"What jacked-up crap did they accuse you of in there, huh?" FP's voice was slowly getting louder. "Those bastards trying to throw you in jail like they did your old man? Well, screw that! I will rip Keller a new one for trying to pull that..."
Fred cut him off. "FP, settle down." Fred stepped in FP's way as he tried to get in the station. "Hey! Hey!"
"This is my son, he is my son, Fred!" FP said pushing Fred back. Jughead pushed Blake behind him on reflex. "You'd do the same for your boy."
"Dad. Don't make things worse. Please." Jughead murmured as he gripped his dad's shirt to stop him moving.
"Yeah. Yeah, all right, then." FP muttered, calming down. "You, uh, coming home with me?"
"He can stay with us, Mr. Jones. We already offered." Archie shared as FP walked past him.
"Is that what you want?" FP asked. When Jughead looked down, ashamed, he got his answer. "Maybe that's for the best. If you don't mind, Fred."
"Whatever you want, FP. It's between the two of you." Fred was reluctant to get in the middle of it.
"I'll go with you, Dad." Jughead said in between sniffles. He kissed Blake's head and walked towards his dad.
FP put his hands on Jughead's shoulders. "Son, listen to me. I'm gonna do what you want, get my act together. I'm gonna get your mom and Jellybean home so, we're all under the same roof. I promise. But I... I just need a little time to do that. Not a lot, not long, a month, two at the most." FP put his hands on Jughead's face to make the raven-haired boy look at him. "Hey. And then we'll be back on track, all right? You... You believe that, don't you?"
"Yeah, I believe you, Dad." Jughead whispered.
FP rested their foreheads together before Jughead pulled him in for a hug. They broke apart and FP walked away. Jughead wiped his nose on his sleeve before he latched onto Blake and started crying into her shoulder. She rubbed her hands up and down his back as she nodded to Archie and her dad who went and got in the car and drove off.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." She muttered and he nodded.
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"Looks like you've done this before." Archie said as he looked over Fred's shoulder as Fred forged a time card for Jughead.
"Yeah, well, FP's got his tricks, I got mine." Fred said as he put the finishing touches on the card. "Maybe I should've given him another chance back then. Either way, Jughead doesn't deserve what's happening to him. It's the least I can do."
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Blake was laid on Archie's bed, Jughead was sat next to her Archie's acoustic guitar resting in his lap and Archie was rolling out an airbed on his floor.
"I'm sorry about my dad, and your dad." Archie awkwardly apologised.
"I'm not giving up on him, Arch." Jughead's gaze didn't leave the guitar. "Not yet."
"You think he'll show up for work tomorrow?" Blake asked as she laid her hand on his knee.
He smiled at her. "You never know. I hope."
"Hope. A word so close to home, and as tricky. As much as we wanted Jason's killer caught, and the town, our home, to feel safe again, with every day that passed, our hopes dimmed more and more. There's that old, clichéd saying, it's darkest before the dawn. But sometimes... There's just darkness."