*ignore all spelling mistakes
From off to the side, Betty watched Jughead as he stood in the front of the small group of bikers. Most of the men were in their forties, close to FP's age, but a few younger ones were mixed in. In a dull hum, they talked amongst themselves, some behind their hands, reminding Betty of gossiping old ladies at church. Johnny was there, too, still sitting in his corner booth, cup of coffee in hand, but he'd taken off his flannel shirt. He had on only a v-necked t-shirt, and Betty noticed a tattoo of a blooming rose peeking out of the color of the shirt.
When they arrived at the Whyte Wrym, the lights were on, and in the brightness, every knick on the wooden floor, every ding in the bar counter, and every tear in the plastic seats were visible. The place wasn't dirty, though, just well worn. Everything was much the same as it had been when Betty and Jughead had been here a few hours ago, except now there was a scratched up pool table pulled into the middle of what was the dance floor, right in the way.
Eric was with Jughead, huddled together, their heads close as they talked quietly. Jughead perked up, looked to Betty, and called her over to them. He had on FP's black Serpent jacket, his beanie sitting atop his black wavy hair, making him truly look like the crown prince of the Serpents. She noticed now that the circles under his eyes were darker than usual, yet he didn't look weary. His shoulders were squared and he was vibrant and alert. Jughead wasn't one who sought the spotlight, but he took to it easily. Betty could see him as a leader.
She approached them, and when she was next to Jughead, he put his arm around her, drawing her into their closed circle. "Where have you been, Eric?" Jughead asked.
"Looking for my dad. I got this weird call last night, after I talked to you," Eric said. "It was from an unavailable number, and the voice was strange, scrambled with one of those voice changers they used in that movie Scream. Whoever called me said to wait for them outside the Whyte Wyrm. As I stood outside in the icy rain, freezing my ass off, my phone died. But I stayed there, praying the caller would show up. Hours later, I was about the give up, but then the payphone next to the Whyte Wyrm's front door rang. I answered it, and the same voice told me to go to Sweetwater River, so I went down there to search."
"But Johnny said that he saw you outside the Whyte Wyrm early this morning," Betty said. "And you got into someone's car."
"Yeah, it was Sheriff Keller. I flagged him down when I saw the squad car. I thought maybe he could help. My dad thought Keller was a bumbling idiot, but he told me once that Keller was the one cop he trusted. So Keller pulled over, and I got into his car. He drove me down to Sweetwater and we looked around for a while until he got an emergency call. He had to leave right away and I couldn't come, but he sent another officer to pick me up. But before he left, he told me to stop looking. He kind of yelled at me."
"That must have been when he decided to move FP," Betty said.
"I bet that Keller saw something at Sweetwater that made him nervous," Jughead said. "Maybe that not-so-burned-down cabin that belonged to Michael James."
"Exactly" Betty said.
"What cabin?" Eric asked.
"We think it has something to do with Goldhead and why our dads are MIA, but we're not sure yet. We're still piecing things together," Jughead said.
"So did you find anything else out at Sweetwater? Do you know if your dad ever when there?" Betty asked.
"No, nothing. No clues, no trace of my dad. The call sent me on a wild goose chase."
"Eric told me what he knows about Goldhead," Jughead said.
"It's a Serpent secret," Eric said. "We're supposed to keep it just between members."
"She's my girlfriend, as good as family, as good as blood," Jughead said. His arm tightened around her, his hand clutching her shoulder. She felt steady now, powerful and in charge. Yes, the medication was working, but it was Jughead, too. With him by her side, she could do anything.
"Alright," Eric said after taking a moment to size her up. "Back when our parents were our age, Michael James ran Goldhead in the basement here. At first it was just for fun, a place for the underage kids to hang out and get into a little harmless trouble, but then Hiram Lodge started running a gambling ring. Our dads were involved, too. They all made a heap of money, but it wasn't enough for Hiram and Hermione. Hermione thought cock fighting would be more lucritive, and for a while, a group of teenagers made bank, but then they got caught. FP and my dad took the fall for it. Hermione and Hiram walked away with a slap on the wrist, community service, while my dad and FP were sent to juvie for a few months."
"If they took the fall, then why is someone coming after them now?" Jughead asked. "Cock fighting and gambling is probably a misdemeanor. And they were all underage."
"Did the papers report on it?" Betty asked. "Did it go on their records?" Eric shrugged. "It just doesn't seem like a big enough deal to kill someone over. And Fred wasn't even involved in it. Why would someone shoot him over it?"
"Because he threatened to say something?" Eric suggested.
"About a twenty-five year old cock fighting ring?" Jughead said. "I doubt it. What about the other Serpents? What do they know?"
"Nothing about Goldhead," Eric said. "But for some reason, Goldhead knows about us."
"What are you talking about?" Jughead asked.
Eric didn't respond, but instead went over to the oddly placed pool table and pushed it out of the way. And he revealed more my than a scuffed up dance floor.
Die Serpents! Die!
It was painted in gold letters, written in the same terrifying script that had been left on her locker with the hanging Betty doll. Die Serpent Slut! She had more in common with the Serpents than she realized, and a part of her wondered if maybe whoever threatened her was now threatening the Serpents, too.
"Well, that's dramatic," Jughead said.
"It looks just like what was written on my locker," Betty said.
"The same son of a bitch better not have written on your locker, too," Jughead said.
"Riverdale hates us right now," Eric said, interjecting. "You've felt it. Betty's felt it. Even though Cliff Blossom killed Jason, the town still blames us. Cliff Blossom brought drugs into town, and yet it's somehow still our fault."
"But it's not," Betty said. "I wrote a very informative article about it."
"The town doesn't care. They want a scapegoat and the Serpents are an easy target. Ever since FP was arrested, the Serpents have been getting shit from everyone. We're getting harassed, people are getting fired from their day jobs, someone even poisoned my friend's dog because it had a snake collar. And now this. Someone came into our bar and vandalised it with this threat."
Jughead looked over to Johnny. "Isn't he the only one who was in the bar this morning?" Jughead asked.
"Yeah, but he said he didn't see anything. People are getting nervous and with your dad gone, they don't know what to do."
"What am I supposed to do?" Jughead asked.
"Lead them," Betty said. "Talk to them, listen to their concerns. You're smart, Juggie. You'll figure this out."
"You're the smart one," Jughead said. He started to lean in to kiss her,
"We could make her a Serpent. Officially," Eric said. "That way the others will listen her."
"What do you mean, make her a Serpent?" Jughead asked. "Is there some dark ritual with candles that we have to perform at the stroke of midnight?"
"No," Eric huffed, obviously offended that Jughead joked about it.
"Just give her a jacket, she's in."
"I'll call my grandma," Eric said. "She's in charge of making them."
"So your granny spends her days embordering snakes on leather jackets for the Serpents?" Jughead asked.
"Yes," Eric replied.
The idea of Eric's fluffy haired, housecoat-wearing grandma, bent over needlepointed snakes made both Betty and Jughead smile. "Honestly," Betty said. "I really want a jacket. I am a Serpent Slut actually, so I might as well make it official." She laughed, but Jughead frowned. "Oh, relax, I didn't take it personally then and I'm not taking it personal now. I don't care what anyone says. I love you and that's all that matters."
Jughead turned to her, a huge grin on his face. "She's a Serpent," Jughead said. "With or without the jacket." He leaned over and kissed her almost without interruption this time.
"Junior!" One of the Serpents called to Jughead. "When we gonna get this thing started? We all know you'd prefer to kiss your pretty girlfriend, but some of us still have jobs."
"Devil, don't call me Junior," Jughead said, sneering at him. Sometimes Betty forgot that he and FP actually shared a name. "It's Jughead, and you know it. So what's so important?"
"Riverdale is being a little shit to us," said Devil, the man who had called him Junior. Devil didn't look anything like his evil namesake. Sure, Devil had tattoos and long, blond greasy hair, but his smile was so genuine and bright when he winked at Betty that she liked him instantly.
"I got laid off this morning just because I wore my jacket to work," said another.
"You also went to work a little drunk from last night," Devil said with a chuckle. "And now someone vandalized the Whyte Wrym. They came into our home and defiled it." Devil dramatically stood, reminding Betty of Veronica and her climactic declaration that she was dating Archie.
"It's a bar, Devil. Relax," Jughead said. Then he turned to Johnny "Where were you, Johnny? You were here this morning, we were, too, but this wasn't painted on the floor."
"I went out back to unload a delivery, and when I came back inside, the front door to the bar was wide opened. I locked up tight after I came in this morning, just like always. Someone broke in." Setting down his coffee mug, Johnny came out of the booth, and marched over to them.
"Or someone had a key," Betty suggested. "There has to be other people who work here who could have gotten in, or maybe you forgot to lock up." She remembered Jughead telling her Johnny wasn't all there in the head.
"I do not forget," Johnny said, his tone thick with anger.
And then Betty recalled that Jughead had told her Johnny also had a problem with violence, too.
"She didn't mean anything by it," Eric said.
Johnny still stood a few feet off, but Jughead stepped right next to Betty, his body halfway shielding hers. "It's okay, man, we believe you." Jughead gently pushed Betty behind him and reached out his hand to Johnny. "What are you holding there?"
Johnny looked down at his hand, back at Jughead, and to the crowd around him. "What?" His grey eyes darted back and forth, unfocused and confused. Johnny unclenched his fist. The photo was wrinkled, but Betty recognized it right away.
Betty moved around Jughead, and he reluctantly let her walk up to Johnny. She placed her hand on his. She'd dealt with people like Johnny before, namely her sister Polly. Someone like him needed kindness to help him open up. "Can I see it?" Betty asked, and Johnny placed the photo in her hand.
"This was tacked to the basement door," he said. "Didn't find it until later, after I found that gold writing on the floor."
Jughead looked at the picture, too. It was another copy of the seven teens from Goldhead that Eric and they had seen, but this one was different. Fred's imagine had a red X marked through it. And so did Hiram Lodge.
"I have to call Veronica," Betty said. Panicked, she stepped away from them and dialed her best friend's number. There wasn't an answer. Why the hell was no one in Riverdale answering their phones today? She stood off, a small distance away from Jughead and the other Serpents as they continued their discussion, all telling Jughead their individual struggles since FP had been arrested. Jughead took time to speak to each of them separately, addressing their concerns, while Betty continued to call Veronica, but there was still no answer so she sent a text.
What if the killer had already found Hiram? Sure, Betty didn't like the man. Yes, she'd just choked him, but Veronica loved him. She didn't want her best friend to lose her dad. And if someone had already shot Fred, and was now coming after Hiram Lodge, who would be next? Mary Andrews, Keller, Snake, FP? Her own mother. She started to pace, trying to focus her mind, and figure out who was behind this. All these clues didn't add up to anything. Her brain was cloudy and she knew it was because of her medication. This is what always happened when she took it. She fluctuated between numb, reckless, and dumb.
What the hell was Goldhead really? Eric's explanation of the illegal gambling wasn't enough. There had to be something else. Twenty-five years ago, those seven teenagers had to have done something awful, unforgivable, something that had someone after them, after their lives. What if she was in danger, too? What about Jughead? Now he was the acting king of the Serpents, which made him even more of a target, and she was the reason he'd taken the leadership on.
Jughead made eye contact with her, and he must have sensed her panic because he excused himself from the man he was talking to and went over to Betty. "What is?" His hand pressed into her lower back, and she stopped pacing, stood still on her own two feet.
"I can't get ahold of Veronica. What if she's at risk? What if we all are?"
"Betty," he said, but when her breathing began to labor, he cupped her face in both of his hands. "We're going to figure all of this out, and everyone is going to be just fine. Even that asshole Hiram Lodge. It's going to be okay."
"But what if it's not? We're all in danger now."
"We were before when we were investigating Jason's murder."
"But that was different. Our parents are involved this time."
"They were involved last time, at least my dad was."
"And you're in danger now," she said.
"I was last time, you were, too. Shit, Clifford Blossom threatened to shoot me in the head. I survived. We all will. Figuring this out is important."
"I know," she said. "Just stay close. Being away from you right now will make me nervous." It took a lot to admit that to him, but she knew he wouldn't judge her for her anxiety. There suddenly was a tickle in her throat, so she tried to clear it. "I might sound needy and clingy, but I need you, right beside me until we solve this thing."
"Not a problem. All I have ever wanted is to be beside you," Jughead said. "Do you want to go? Maybe get a little fresh air?"
"Yeah, but don't you need to finish up here?" she asked.
He glanced back to the Serpents. Since he'd talked to them, a sense of calm had spread through the bar. Whatever he'd said to appease them had worked. "Nah, they're fine. At least for now. I suggested that they stay in group. No one travels alone. All of them are going to do some asking around to their families and see if anyone knows about Goldhead."
"Okay," she replied. "I want to check on Veronica. Warn her dad."
"I want to see Archie, and let him know just how serious this is."
Jughead took her hand and together, they made their way out to the parking lot. The rain had turned into a slushy snow, already turning grey as it hit the dingy streets of the Southside. White, fluffy snow clouds had thickened the sky. Even though it was dreary, the world felt brighter, clearer outside. Maybe it was Jughead, who had put his arm around her shoulder, leading her onto the cracked sidewalk outside the Whyte Wyrm, or maybe the meds were regulating, but the worry didn't seem so heavy now. Betty closed her eyes and turned her face upwards, the flakes hitting her cheeks.
"I love you, Betty Cooper," Jughead said.
She opened her eyes to see Jughead watching her. He was smiling that rare true smile that reached his eyes, his heart. "I love you, Jughead Jones." She started to say something else, but stopped herself when they heard a loud pop come from where they'd parked the truck. It was then that they both noticed that the truck was lopsided, two of the four tires flat.
With her hand still in his, they stepped off the curb and rounded the bed of FP's truck, and hunched down besides the back wheel was Johnny, switchblade in hand. Immediately Jughead moved in front of Betty. Jughead inched Betty back so that she was a little farther away from the situation. As Johnny rose to his feet, Jughead held his hand out, warning him off.
"Don't move," Jughead said. "Just drop the knife and go back into the bar."
Betty clutched at Jughead's forearm, wanting to pull him away. But she knew he would know how to best handle the situation. He could do this. That's what leaders did.
"Danger, danger, danger," Johnny said, rocking himself slightly. The switchblade clanked to the ground as he dropped it at his feet. His fingers dripped blood, but it was only because his palms were sliced opened. "You're going to get yourselves killed. It's not safe. You have to stay here. The Whyte Wyrm is the only safe place left."
Jughead looked over his shoulder to Betty, and said, "Go get Eric." Not wanting to leave him alone with a deranged man, she hesitated. "I'm fine. Go."
She did what he asked, turned on her heels, and ran back inside the bar. When she rushed in, every Southside Serpent went silent and looked up at her. "It's Johnny," she said, out of breath. "He's got a knife."
With Eric and a few other Serpents with her, she ran back to the parking lot, prepared for the worst, but instead she found Jughead and Johnny calmly sitting on the curb. The switch blade was at least ten feet away where Johnny had dropped it. Jughead's arm was around Johnny's shoulder as he spoke quietly to him.
"Hey, Johnny," Devil said as he sat down next to the man. He took a look at Johnny's bloody palms. "How about we get you clean up? I'm still pretty good at stitching people up."
Johnny nodded and with the help of Eric and Devil, he stood, and was ushered away. "I didn't mean to do no harm," Johnny said. "I was just trying to help. Don't make me go back to that house! I don't belong with all the nuts."
Jughead was suddenly next to her a she watched the three disappear once the bar's door was closed. "You okay?" he asked.
"Are you?" Betty said. She grabbed at the front of his jacket and looked him up and down. He was fine. There wasn't a scratch on him. His beanie wasn't even out of place.
"I'm fine," he said, taking his hands in hers. He looked at FP's truck and then back to the Whyte Wrym. Eric had come back out of the bar.
"I'll get one of the guys to tow your truck to the shop and put new tires on it," Eric said. "Your dad's motorcycle is still in the garage next door." He tossed Jughead the keys and he caught them in one hand. "It's yours."
"Thanks," he said. Eric left them, and Jughead brought Betty along with him down the sidewalk.
"What about Johnny?" she asked. "Are you going to file a police report?"
"What?" he asked, glancing at her as he let her in through a small side door in the wooden garage next to the bar. "No. He didn't mean anything by it. For the better part of the last thirty years, he's been in and out of a mental hospital. He can't help it. He's-" He stopped himself.
"Crazy," Betty supplied. "Crazy like me."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "No. Don't say that about yourself."
"But I am, Jug. What I did to Hiram this morning isn't that different. It's worse, in fact. Johnny thought he was protecting us by slicing your tires. I hate Hiram Lodge, so I choked him."
"Believe me, every person who has even met Hiram Lodge has probably wanted to choke him," he said, giving her a lopsided grin, trying to make her laugh. She gave him a slight glare, letting him know now was not the time. "Sorry."
You're not crazy. You're not crazy. You're not crazy. She repeated the words to herself, but still had a hard time believing them. Betty sighed.
"Also. . ." Jughead said. Just that little word brought her back to their first kiss, back to sanity. Instantly the world was all vibrant colors, everything alive and buzzing with feeling. She looked up at him, his gaze traveling between her lips and eyes. And then his mouth pressed into hers, soft yet firm. His lips parted his tongue dipping into the recesses of her mouth, gently at first, but when she responded, he increased the pressure. His fingers tunneled through her hair, angling her closer so that he could deepen the kiss.
She pulled back and smiled. And they held onto each other while snow fell.
She cleaned herself up in the small dimly lit bathroom in the back corner of the garage, and as she stood up from washing her face, something glinted in the reflection of the mirror, catching her eye. A single key with a gold plated keychain hanging on a nail on the wall behind her. Betty picked it up and read aloud the word etched onto the keychain. "Goldhead," she said.
She came out of the bathroom and tossed the key to Jughead. "What is this?" he asked, looking down at it resting in his palm.
"The key to Goldhead."
Oooo this is good for me bc I normally post once a month 😂. Ilysm ❤️ thank you for 19k reads. Have a great day !