A Tuesday in the middle of October. Jughead was woken at 3am by a pounding on the front door. He sits straight up trying to regain some of his senses before he gets up to answer it. Who could be knocking on the door at this hour? He notices Betty is still asleep, at least she didn't wake up. Jughead gets out of bed, pulls on his pajama bottoms and heads out to answer it.
"This better be good." he said out loud, He opened the door to see Toni standing there holding up a crying Cheryl. He grabs for Cheryl and brings her in. "What's wrong?" he asked them. Cheryl was incoherent. He sits Cheryl down and goes and gets her a glass of water.
"They found Jason." Toni sighed. "He was in the Sweetwater river. He was shot." she adds.
"He's dead. Jason is dead." Cheryl said, letting out a horrific scream.
The door to the bedroom opened up. The commotion woke Betty up and she walked out half asleep.
"Holy shit." Jughead said as he pulled Cheryl into a hug, she cried into his chest.
"What's going on?" Betty asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"I need you to get Cheryl one of your pills please." Jughead asked her. Betty nods and walks back into the bedroom.
Toni sits in the chair, unsure what to do. Her heart is breaking.
Jughead grabs his phone and sends out a text. It's late. He doesn't know if he will get a response from anyone, but it doesn't hurt to try or even let them know what is going on.
Jughead: I know it's late, but they found Jason, he's dead. He was shot and thrown into the Sweetwater River.
Jughead puts his phone away, not before he hears it go off. He's surprised.
Pea: are you serious??
Jughead: Yeah...
Archie: Fuck!! How's Cheryl?
Jughead: not good. She's currently sobbing on my chest, There is snot involved. It's bad, real bad.
Fangs: I'll call Kevin and see if he can get anything from the Sheriff.
Jughead: Thanks fangs.
Archie: I'm on my way.
Pea: me too.
Jughead smiled. No matter what time of day it was, they were always there for each other. He puts his phone away as Betty walks back in and hands Cheryl a pill.
"Thanks," Cheryl said as she swallowed the pill and took a drink of water.
Betty nods and sits down next to Jughead. "So, what happened." she asked.
"They found Jason's body." he said to her.
"Oh no!" she said, frowning. Her breathing became sporadic.
"Breathe, Betts." he told her.
Betty gets up and moves next to Cheryl and then reaches out for her. Both girls embrace each other. Silently they console one another.
Jughead watches as Toni talks on the phone. He's not sure who she is talking to but it sounds important, after a while he turns back to look at girls and see that they are both asleep in each other's arms. He stands up and picks up Cheryl which makes Betty wake up. She watches as Jughead walks into the bedroom. Betty gets up and follows him. A few minutes later he comes out and sits back down and looks at Toni who is still on the phone. She looks utterly exhausted.
The door opens and Archie, Pea and Fangs walk in.
"I'm shocked you all were up when I texted." Jughead said.
"I was asleep, but I have you guys set to a different tone, so I know it's you when I hear it, all others I will ignore." Archie said.
"Same, and if you're texting that late it's important." Pea adds.
"Yeah." is all Jughead said.
"Is she asleep?" Archie asked.
"Yeah, she fell asleep a few minutes ago, took her to my room and Betts went with her." Jughead said.
Toni finally gets off the phone and puts her hand in her head. Pea sits next to her and puts an arm around her. She falls into him and lets out a sigh.
"What the fuck." Jughead said.
"Right, It was only a matter of time. Come on now. He's been gone for a month now with no trace whatsoever. He's very similar to Cheryl, he likes to make his presence known. Him not calling anyone is very unlike him, especially his so-called buddies on the Football team." Archie said.
Fang walks back in and sits down. He's been on the phone since he's been here. "I just got off the phone with Kevin. He said his father said that it seems like Jason's body has been there for at least 3 weeks." he said.
"That means he probably died right after his disappearance."Jughead said.
"So what now?" Toni asked. "Because you know those bastards are going to blame us." she adds.
"You mean the northsiders?" Jughead asked.
"Who else, Jug." she sighed.
"Yeah, I do know one thing. We won't be going to school tomorrow." he said.
"Obviously, We don't need to be dealing with all those bulldogs." she said.
"And we need to be here for Cheryl, she will be in no condition." Jughead said.
"You know I always suspected the worst, but now that it's real my heart is breaking," Toni said. "Jason was an asshole but he didn't deserve to die." she adds.
The bedroom door opens and Betty comes out. "She's asleep and I can't go back to sleep." she said as she goes and sits on Jughead's lap and lays her head down.
"I'll order food from Pop's for breakfast. Cheryl needs to eat." Archie said.
"Sounds good," Jughead said.
"About damn time someone other than me gets food." Toni said as she tried to lighten the mood.
Everyone laughed.
"Oh, before I forget. Kevin is coming by before school to show us something." Fangs said.
"Okay" Jughead said.
Jughead looks around the room at his friends, all saddened by tonight's events. "It's going to be a long week," he said.
Others nodded in agreement.
A few hours later they all sat quietly watching a Cop show on TV. None of them had slept any. All wired from the past few hours. One of their own was hurting, and they were not sure what to do.
Jughead hears a small whimper and he looks up and sees Cheryl standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She walks over to Toni and falls into her lap and starts crying again. It's heartbreaking to watch.
"I'm going to go get breakfast now. Pea come with me." Archie said.
"Yup." Pea said as he got up and left with Archie.
"Cheryl, look at me. They are bringing food back. You need to eat so you don't get sick." Jughead told her.
She looks up at him with bloodshot eyes and a puffy face. "Okay." she managed to speak before laying her head back down. Toni runs her fingers through her hair trying to soothe her. They sit like that for a few minutes before Cheryl sits up and wipes off her face. "I want to thank you guys for staying with me." she said. "I'm such a hot mess right now." She said, letting out a soft chuckle.
Betty grabs her hand and squeezes it. "You're family, of course we would stay with you." she said.
"It's what we do." Jughead adds.
Cheryl smiles at them. This moment right here is why she is happy her family is the Serpents.
"What time is it?" she asked. "I'm so out of it. I don't think I can go to school." she adds.
"It's almost 8." Jughead said. "And we are not going to school, considering it started 45 minutes ago." he adds.
"Oh, yeah. It's just that I don't want to talk with anyone. They will ask so many questions I don't have any answer to. Mom has been calling me all night, leaving numerous messages. The only ones I want to talk to are you guys, you are the only ones that matter." she said.
"I would be careful what you say to your parents. Considering what we know about your father." Jughead said.
"Yeah, I know." she sighed.
The door opens and the boys walk in with bags of food and set them down on the table.
"That smells so good." Jughead said as he licked his lips.
Toni smacks him in the stomach as he proceeds to get up. "Sit down. Cheryl needs to eat first" she said.
"I know, I was just standing, I needed to stretch my arms and legs." he said.
"You are such a liar, Jones." Toni laughed.
Jughead smirked.
After breakfast Jughead was cleaning up the kitchen when he got a call.
"Hey Rob," he said answering the phone.
"Dude, shit is crazy here." he said.
"How so?" he asked.
"Well, for starters there are no Serpents here." he said.
"Oh shit! I forgot to tell you. They found Cheryl's brother last night." Jughead said.
"I know, it's all the gossip around here. They are even saying that the Serpents are the ones that have done it and that's why you all skipped." Rob said.
Jughead started to laugh, which caused the others to look at him. He mouths. "I'll tell you later.".
"I'm not sure I would like school without you guys here. " Rob laughed.
"I feel ya bro, so who's saying that we killed him?" he said.
"Chuck and Reggie." Rob said.
"That's not surprising." he said.
"Also, Mr. Muller said he is going to fail you all, because he assigned an assignment and instructed all of us not to tell you guys, since none of you are here," Rob said.
"Oh really" Jughead said.
"I already sent Betty the email with the details" Rob laughed.
"Thanks for looking out. There will be a meeting tonight to discuss everything that's going on." he said.
"Okay, what time?" Rob asked.
"7pm." he said.
"Okay. I'll be there. I need to get to class. I'll talk to you later." Rob said, as he hung up the phone.
Jughead really loathes Mr. Muller and he can't wait until he can take care of him.
"What was that about?" Pea asked.
"Rob called and said that some of the Bulldogs are saying we did it and Mr. Muller is trying to fail us by handing out an assignment that we are not there for. He even instructed the others not to tell us, threatening to fail them." Jughead said.
"That's what I was afraid of. They are going to automatically assume it was us." Cheryl said.
"I saw that coming, but we can deal with it. It's just like we're dealing with everything else they throw at us. Together." Jughead said.
"Got the email." Betty said. "We have to write a 1000 word essay over what we would define a family as, must be broken down into a 3 minute speech." she said as she read the document.
Jughead laughed. "That asshole did that on purpose." he said.
"Oh no doubt, but what choice do we have." Pea said.
"When is it due?" Archie asked.
"In two days." Betty said.
Cheryl starts to cry again, "I can't do this. Jug is right he did do this on purpose. Wouldn't surprise me if he was the one that killed my brother." she cried out. "How can I write this essay?" she adds.
"We got you." Betty said as she grabbed her hand.
"I say we just take him out and we wouldn't have to do it." Toni said out of nowhere.
They all laughed.
"That would be the easiest, however we need him." Jughead said.
"blah " Toni said.
"I love you, guys." Cheryl said.
"We love you too." Jughead said. Everyone nods in agreement.
"Okay, so game plan?" Betty asked.
"Remember we have a meeting at 7, tonight" Jughead said. "Ugh, I forgot to send out a message, Will you do that Pea?" he asked.
"On it Boss." Pea said as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket.
"Okay, then. We start working on our essays, go to the meeting. Then come back and work on it some more." Betty said.
"Sounds good to me?" Jughead said as he sat down next to her, in his spot.
Hours later, and after many breaks, they are close to having all of their essays done. All of them wrote about the Serpents. Cheryl even got around to writing hers. Although Betty was about to write it.
Jughead can't wait to see the look on Mr. Muller's face, when he realizes they all did their homework and it's over the Serpents.It's going to be epic.
They all arrive at the Wyrm. The bar is already packed with Serpents. Rob sees them and heads over to them.
"Sup?" Rob said.
"Hey?" Jughead said.
"Dude, today was hella stupid. If I could go a day and didn't hear Veronica speak. I would be the happiest man alive." Rob said, laughing.
"Right! I think she just talks to hear herself speak." Jughead said.
"That ain't a lie. She just went on and on about how the Serpents are evil. That they kill and deal drugs." Rob said, rolling his eyes. "She is so full herself." he adds, shaking his head. "And I quote, she is 100% certain that the Serpents killed Jason." he added.
"Oh, I'm sure," Jughead said, rolling his eyes.
"She also had a lot to say about Betty." he said.
"Oh?" Jughead said, curiously. He couldn't wait to hear her thoughts on what happened to Betty.
"Bro, she gave me a fucking migraine. I never get migraines." Ron said. "Look, I know Betty has had a brutal past and it's none of mine or Veronica's business." he adds. "If I could, I would have told her off" he laughed.
Jughead smiled. "One day you can," he said.
Jughead noticed that all the Serpents had seemed to show up, so he went and got on the stage. "Alright, let's get started. It should be known by now that Jason Blossom's body was found in Sweetwater river late last night. There are already rumblings that the Serpents have murdered him. That, of course, is not the case," he said.
How is Cheryl, was the first thing out of one of the Serpents mouths. Cheryl smiled when she heard it and proceeded to tell them. She wasn't okay and that's alright.
Over the next 30 minutes, Jughead goes over everything that he learned and tells them about Penny and the Ghoulies. Rob discusses what happened at the school and T-Bone and Roc go over their findings on Mr. Muller.
"The ghoulies are a pain in the ass." 8-ball said.
"Yeah and I know that Kai needs a fucking reality check and once we find out who killed Jason, I'm going to give him one." Jughead said.
There was some grumbling from the crowd.
"Hey, I know Jason isn't one of us. But Cheryl is, and we will do everything in our power to ease her pain" He said.
The crowd seemed to calm down. Cheryl is one of them, that's all that matters.
Suddenly the door opens and Fp walks through the door. Fp hasn't been in charge of the Serpents for almost 2 years. He almost destroyed them. It took awhile, but with the help of some of the elders, Jughead was able to get the Serpents in a better place. Jughead loves his father but his priorities at the time were booze and more booze.
Some of the elder Serpents are still upset over Fp's betrayal. Calling him a traitor and what not. Eventually Jughead had to explain to them what was going on. But they were still mad. Can you blame them?
Jughead gives some of the Serpents assignments. It's the same as always. Watch the Lodges. Watch Mr. Muller and the Bulldogs. Watch the blossoms. Watch the ghoulies. He then dismisses everyone, except for his inner circle.
Fp starts to walk over to where Jughead is standing. "Hey, Jug." Fp said.
"Hey dad. What's up?" Jughead asked.
"Been while since I've been here. Thought I would come and visit." Fp said as he looked over at everyone. "Got some new meat?" he said, not really asking a question.
"Yeah, this is Archie, Cheryl and Rob." Jughead said. "You know the others," he adds.
"Hi, Toni." Fp said smirking.
"Fp," she said. "You still owe me $40 dollars." She adds, laughing. Fp was like a father to Toni. Out of all of Jughead's friends he likes her the most. He sees a lot of himself in her.
"For what?" he asked.
"The last time we played poker and I won." she said.
"You always win at poker, you need to be more specific there sweetheart" he laughed.
"I win at everything, Duh" she said.
Fp laughed. "Get my boy to give it to you." he said.
"Nah, pay your own debts, old man." Jughead laughed.
"Anyways, back to you guys." FP said as he stopped at Archie. "You must be Freddy Andrews boy." he said.
"I am" Archie said,
"Cool, he's a real good guy. I went to school with him back in the day." he said, as he looked at Cheryl next. "I know that red hair from anywhere. Blossom." he said, "Why are you over here?" I'm surprised your daddy allowed you." he adds,
"My mother and father are wretched people. I only associate with them when I have to. I found a home with the Serpents and it's the best decision I had ever made." Cheryl said.
"Yeah, I'm not fond of them either." Fp chuckled. He turns and looks at Rob. "Yeah, I don't know you," he adds.
"I'm not from here, so that;s not surprising." Rob said.
"Well, it was nice catching up, I got others to see." Fp said as he walked away. Not before turning around. "I'll see you later, Jug" he adds.
"Why later?" Jughead asked.
"At home," he said.
"About that. You need to find another place to crash. We are pulling an all-nigther to get some school work done." Jughead said. In reality he doesn't want his father staying at the trailer when Betty is there. It's not because he doesn't trust him, he just doesn't want another person living there. He likes his privacy. He's going to have to eventually tell him.
"Oh, okay." Fp said as he tripped over a couple stools and fell down.
"My father, ladies and gentlemen." Jughead said, shaking his head.
"Same old Fp" Pea laughed.
"Hey Rob, You gonna come and chill with us at my place. We're gonna grab some food." Jughead said.
"Hell yeah." Rob said.
Jughead smirked. Rob fits right in with all of them. It was a good decision getting him to join.
They finish up at the Wyrm and then head out.