"Do you have everything?" FP asked, taking Jughead's bag. The boy looked around the hospital room before nodding.
"Yes, this should be everything" Even if it wasn't, he just wanted to get out of this place. It was already 2:23pm after all. FP finally signed those release papers.
"Are you hungry?" FP asked as the two started walking. Jughead shrugged, readjusting the crutch on his right side in order to avoid any unnecessary friction between his skin, the bandage and the crutch.
"Are you okay?"
"Mhmph"
"Still don't want to stay here a few days more?" FP asked, chuckling. Jughead just huffed again, quickening his pace "Now, no need to show off, Cody. I can see that it hurts, so please just slow down"
"I'm fine, let's just go. The sooner I'm in the car, the sooner I'm off these crutches" Jughead explained, to which FP nodded.
"Okay, you have a point. However, if you slow down, it might not hurt as much"
Once outside, FP took over and directed him to his car. Though once it came into view, Jughead stopped. FP turned around to face him.
"Is something wrong?"
"What are they doing here?" Jughead asked, pointing to the car, where he could recognize three people. Redhead, blondie and girlfriend.
"They are your friends, and will come with us"
"No"
"Yes, don't even try to argue. You want to go to Boston, which will be a two day drive, to and back. Plus at least another two days staying at Boston. You want me to drive you, so I get to want something too"
"I didn't want you to drive me"
"Yes, you did"
"Did not"
"Did, indirectly. Now, come on. They aren't that bad. And they've missed you. Plus, they could use a break"
"Isn't it still during the school year?"
"Yeah but it's only two more weeks. They don't give out any grades anyways. They deserve a break" FP opened the door to the passenger seat before offering Jughead a help to climb inside. Jughead scoffed, supporting himself on the car seat in order to sit down. He groaned as he shifted to get comfortable while FP took the crutches to the trunk.
"How are you, J-" Betty started, though got interrupted by a nudge from Archie in her ribs "Cody. Sorry, it's hard to remember"
"It's fine, I guess... I'm good. I mean, I'm finally getting home, you know? And out of the hospital too, that place was boring because they wouldn't let me do anything"
"Can we stop at Pops?" Veronica asked.
"Sure" FP said as he sat down in the drivers seat. He closed the door and buckled up before starting the motor. Not even ten minutes later, FP pulled in the parking lot to Pop's chock'lit shoppe.
"Okay, you kids go and get yourself and us some lunch and drinks. I'll stay here with Cody"
"Me too!" Archie called, sitting in the middle of the backseat, squashed between the two girls "I'll take the usual"
"Okay, and you, Mr. Jones?"
"A burger and a chocolate milkshake would be enough, thanks guys" FP said, handing Veronica two twenty dollar bills.
"J- Cody, what do you want?" Veronica asked.
"Uh... I don't know. I'm not hungry actually"
"We will bring you your usual then!" The two waved before heading out. FP turned to Jughead.
"Where exactly is the Tipton hotel, for the navigation?" FP asked to which Jughead just typed in the address.
"Are we driving through or taking a pause in-between?" Archie asked, leaning forward to look at the route.
"I'll try to drive through"
"I could drive if you need a break" Archie offered "I have my drivers permit, and I usually drive my own car anyways"
"No offense, Archie, but I'm not entrusting you my car during the night. Maybe once it's day again, okay?"
"Great" Archie smiled, leaning back again. The three stayed quiet, the music from the radio filling the silence. Soon the girls returned, each one holding a bag and a cup tray, Veronica's holding four milkshakes and Betty's holding two soft drinks. They gave everything to Archie before sitting down in the backseat.
"Greetings from Pop" Betty said, reaching forward a cheeseburger, French fries and a chocolate milkshake. FP ate the burger in the parking lot while putting the other two items in the storage compartment between the armrests for now. Veronica meanwhile reached Jughead a strawberry milkshake, a hamburger and curly fries.
"There you go"
"Thanks... I guess" Jughead smiled unsurely, placing everything in his lap. Betty reached in her bag to give Archie his burger too before getting out the salad for herself. The next few minutes were filled by the car driving and someone on the radio talking about traffic jams.
Sadly that silence ended too soon.
"So, Cody, why are we going to this hotel?"
"I live there, didn't Archie tell you? My whole family is there — my mom, my twin brother and my girlfriend-"
"Girlfriend?!" Both girls yelled. Why was it so hard for everyone to understand that he had a girlfriend? Was he that ugly?
"Yes... my girlfriend. Her name is Bailey"
"So, a twin brother too?" Veronica asked, leaning forward. Jughead nodded, humming as he lifted up his milkshake to take a sip.
"Mhm. His name is Zack. He's a bit annoying and... not the smartest but he's always there for me, you know?" In order to eat the rest in silence (and have a break from those people), Jughead reached down for his backpack to grab his headphones. He plugged them into his phone before starting to play music.
Three hours later, they took their first break. The girls headed over to the toilets while Archie stayed behind to wait for Jughead to have his crutches.
"You don't need to wait for me" Jughead stated and Archie nodded.
"I know" Jughead paused.
"You are going to walk with me, aren't you?"
"Yes" Jughead sighed, continuing to walk on his crutches. The painkillers were slowly wearing off and his leg was stiff from sitting around for so long. It took a total of ten minutes until they returned to the car. Jughead sat down with a groan and Archie took his crutches back to the trunk.
"Betty, you have the backpack in the leg space. Could you take out the pills from the side pocket?" FP asked and Betty hummed, soon giving him the yellow pills bottle. FP thanked her before giving it to Jughead, who rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to take them. They're annoying"
"Cody"
"Ugh" Jughead huffed though then took the bottle, taking one pill out before swallowing it with a gulp of water. After that, he gave Betty the bottle back, who stored it in the backpack again.
Not even ten minutes later, he was asleep.
When Jughead woke up again, it was in the middle of the night. The volume of the radio was turned lower and the sun had disappeared. The three in the backseat were asleep too, though now Archie was sitting on the left and the two girls were cuddled up to one another.
"How long have you been driving by now?" Jughead asked, rubbing his eyes. He straightened up, shifting in his seat to get more comfortable.
"A bit over twelve hours"
"Shouldn't you take a break?"
"I'll let Archie drive a few hours in the morning, don't worry"
"Ah, okay..." Jughead glanced in the backseat again "Do we have some food left?"
"Sure, backpack in the backseat" Jughead nodded, turning around before reaching back in order to try and get a grasp of the backpack. He pulled it out and forward to his lap, suppressing a wince from the pain. He zipped it open before looking inside, fetching himself the bag with sour patch kids and a bag with salted chips. Instead of putting the backpack back in the backseat, Jughead just let it stay in his lap. Everything was sore anyways and he didn't want to turn around another time.
"How are you feeling?" FP asked just as he opened the bag with chips. Jughead shrugged, shifting again.
"Little bit tired, sore and my leg hurts, no matter what I do"
"Do you want to walk around a bit? I could hold at the next gas station and we take a walk around the parking lot?" FP suggested and Jughead shrugged "I need to fill up gas soon anyways"
"We could try that, yes" FP nodded and turned to halt at the next gas station. He filled up the gas, paid for it and returned to the car in order to park it in the parking lot before getting out. With his crutches, FP appeared at the door to the passenger seat, releasing Jughead from the backpack on his lap before helping him out of the car. Jughead groaned, having to hold onto him for support.
"You okay, kid?"
"Yeah- Yeah, just stiff. I'm going to need a second" Jughead said, moving his right leg a bit before taking the crutches from FP in order to flex the muscles of his left leg.
"Okay, we can walk, I think" Jughead announced and so the two started their round around the parking lot, then a second one. Before returning to the car, they headed inside again, so that he could use the bathroom. When Jughead walked back outside, FP was standing there with a sandwich under his armpit and two cups in a cup holder in his hand. At the car, FP secured the cups in the storage place between the two front seats again before helping Jughead inside again. When the two crutches were stored away in the trunk, he sat down in the drivers seat and started to eat his sandwich while driving again.
"Hey, FP?"
"Yeah?"
"You... You kind of are like my 'father' now, right? Or- Or a guardian of some sort" He hummed "How did I end up in Riverdale? You must know, right? I mean, I know that I don't remember all of it but up until the point where I know things, I feel like I had a good childhood with my family in Boston"
"I don't know much about your family, Cody. You didn't like to talk about them — or talk at all for that matter. All I know is that something happened and that you couldn't stand it there anymore, so you ran away"
"And how did you find me then?"
"You worked your way through the country, no idea how long. Somehow you ended up with some Serpents. They're a gang. I'm the leader of the Serpents in Riverdale. You, as my son, are the next in row" FP glanced at the boy before turning to face the road again with a sigh "I was on a business trip and coincidentally met you"
"What happened after that?"
"You agreed to come with me. It wasn't really a good place that you were in, you have to know. The whole building was run down and about to collapse. You weren't that much healthier. You came with me to Riverdale, to a better place with the possibility of a fresh start. I got you off the alcohol and the drugs and then started to integrate you in your new life"
"That must have been troubling"
"It was alright. Cody, I... I struggled with alcohol too. My wife, she... I had a daughter once but... she got sick when she was three and shortly after her birthday, she died. Gladys and I didn't know how to handle that, not really. Eventually she left and I turned to alcohol"
"How did you get out of there?"
"I had you, mostly. Don't get me wrong, I was sober-ish when I picked you up but you made me stay sober. We supported each other, you know?"
"Sounds like we've been through a lot. I'm sorry that I can't remember all of that. It must be weird to you, and all of the others for that matter..." FP shrugged, smiling softly.
"It's alright, Cody, don't worry about us"
The two stayed quiet for a while.
"FP?" He hummed "You and Archie said that I didn't talk, what did you mean?"
"That you didn't talk. You were basically mute"
"What? But I can talk just fine"
"It was more of a psychosomatic thing — that's what I think at least. As long as you were on substances, you did talk but once I got you sober, I barely heard a word from you. I tried to get you to talk with different strategies and you went to a psychiatrist and the school counsellor but nothing worked. Sometimes you say one-word sentences but that's rare and only when you feel safe" FP paused "that's why I brought them with us" He said, pointing to the backseat "I thought that maybe, when you remember, you want your friends around, you know? To help you feel safe"
"Huh... I think, I would like that" Jughead looked down at his lap before sighing as he grabbed one of the two cups. He turned to sip at it, though then scowled.
"Ew. Why did you order cocoa. You know that I hate that"
"What?" FP asked, turning to face him. Jughead froze, furrowing his brows before staring at the cup.
"I have no idea from where that came" He eventually said, still staring at the opened cup as if the brown liquid could answer all his questions. Instead he had to keep it from spilling as FP made a turn to change the lane.
"You just said that..."
"I really don't know... It just slipped my mouth..."
"Interesting" FP glanced at him again, then decided to just change the topic "Excited to see your family again?" Jughead paused, then went along with it. A change of topic seem good. The topic family not so much. It left him feeling confused. On the one side, he was excited — he really was. He hasn't seen his twin brother, who he usually saw every day, for a few weeks now. On the other side, he felt his chest tightening whenever they talked about his family. At first he wrote it off as simply missing them but slowly he didn't think so anymore.
It was just like it was with the redhead, sitting right behind him.
"I don't know yet... My gut is telling me to turn around and just go back to Riverdale"
"That's fine. We do whatever you want. If you want to just go back, then we can do that. We simply did a little road trip then"
"No. We should at least go there. You didn't drive all night for nothing. We should at least stay long enough for you to catch up on enough sleep. And it would be a waste of gas anyways. Plus... maybe it's time that I face my family and whatever happened"
"Maybe it is. You decide what we do"
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Jughead already remembering that he hates cocoa and loves coffee? 👀