~♛~
gracie waited outside of the phone booth, her hands shoved in her pockets, hiding them away from the snow.
her eyes were puffy, and her throat was dry; all the moisture being soaked up by the sharp, icy air.
'we were trying to get out of town.
we couldn't stay in riverdale.
not with our father being tried for murder.'
"hey, guess what? gracie and i booked a bus ticket to toledo. yeah, um, we thought we'd come and see you and jellybean for a while. we could crash on the couc—mhm....no...
i— i understand. look, uh, forget i said anything, okay? bye..." jughead put down the phone and slammed the door to the phone booth.
gracie looked up and he shook his head. "no. she— she said no."
the girl sighed and put her face in her hands, picking up her bag from beneath her feet and slinging it over her shoulders, as they walked back inside of the bus station.
"hey, we uh.. changed our minds about toledo. can you just put us on whatever the next bus out of town is? we don't even care where it's going.." gracie told the woman in the booth.
"citrusville, florida." she said, stamping their tickets. "leaving tommorow at six."
the siblings nodded in thanks.
"lobby closes in fifteen minutes, reopens at 5:30."
they looked at each other and sighed.
"pop's?" gracie suggested.
jug nodded at her and adjusted his beanie.
~♛~
gracie sipped her warm cup of coffee, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve.
jughead was opposite her, sitting in silence and staring out of the window.
"you kids want some fries or something?" pop tate asked, taking pity on the jones siblings.
they didn't reply.
the bell rang at the door, notifying that there were new customers entering the diner.
"told you." veronica told betty and archie, pointing at jughead and gracie who were sitting in a booth at the back.
"jug, grace." archie called.
"guys, we're so sorry." betty apologised, her eyes displaying a look of worry. "about everything."
"we screwed up. we all did. and breaking into your dad's trailer was wrong, but at least one good thing came out of it." archie said.
gracie scoffed. "good?"
"pretty sure our dad was just arrested for murder." jughead finally spoke.
"the gun wasn't there when we searched his trailer. someone put it there after we left."
"what do you mean?" jughead sat up, raising his eyebrows.
~♛~
the group marched into police station; their strides large and hasteful.
"excuse me sir, we need to speak to sheriff keller. there's been a huge mistake." archie told the man at the desk.
"where's my father?" gracie banged on the desk.
"what's going on over here?" keller asked, rushing up to them.
"we need to talk to you about fp jones." veronica said.
"what about him?"
"he's innocent. he's being framed!"
"then why did he just confess?" keller frowned.
fp walked past the teenagers, his hands in handcuffs and behind his back. he barely looked at his children, his eyes looking straight-forward, and trying to pretend they weren't there.
~♛~
"the police report said fp worked alone." betty said the next day at lunch, looking up from the newspaper.
"well, no mention of your dad. at least that's good news, right?" archie told veronica.
she nodded. "i can't stop thinking that... maybe my dad hired another serpent to plant that gun."
"it's surreal, isn't it?" kevin said, sitting down at lunch table. "how are the twins doing?"
"not good. they're not coming in today. they're at the station." archie explained.
"being grilled by your dad." veronica added.
"he's just doing his job." kevin replied defensively. "i mean, of course he's gonna ask them questions."
"okay, well, he's wasting his time, kev. because fp didn't kill jason." betty said matter-of-factly.
"betty, he confessed."
"or he was coerced! or he's protecting someone? maybe a serpent? my mom saw him and joaquin together."
"don't." kevin rolled his eyes. "do not drag my boyfriend into this."
"oh no..." archie murmured, looking up and putting down his yogurt.
"what?" they asked, turning around to see jughead and gracie walking towards cheryl.
"what happened to them not coming in today?" veronica whispered.
"i'm sorry, cheryl." gracie sniffed, her eyes dark and droopy— most likely from alcohol or insomnia. "i'm sorr—"
cheryl stood up and slapped jughead round the face, before grabbing gracie by her jacket and shaking her violently, punching her in the chest and sobbing.
"that's enough!" principal weatherbee yelled. "joneses, you need to come with me. right now."
"they were apologising!" archie protested. "they didn't do anything wrong!"
~♛~
"what happened in there?" betty asked, as the siblings slipped out of the principals office.
"our second interrogation of the day." jughead replied.
"i can't tell who's more of a dick— keller or weatherbee." gracie pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.
"don't listen to them. everyone else is wrong." betty assured. "your dad's innocent, and we just need to prove it."
"who killed him then, betty? tell us. if it wasn't our dad, then who killed jason blossom?" jughead stopped walking, crossing his arms.
"he said he did it. and you know what? i've been waiting my whole life for that man to do the right thing. he's a shit father and he always has been! and i'm done. you should be too." gracie raised her voice, storming off.
~♛~
"archie asked me to look into your father's case." mary andrews explained to them. "i went down to the station and passed myself off as his attorney to try to get as much information as i could."
"how's it looking, mom?" archie asked.
"well, unfortunately, between fp's list of priors, the anonymous tip, and the possession of the murder weapon..."
"don't forget that pesky confession.." jughead said.
"things look pretty bad. i was with him all night and he never once budged from his story."
"well, if nothing else, at least he'll be an honest murder, right?"
"oh, also... who is.." mary looked through the papers. "joaquin desantos?"
"joaquin? as in kevin's boyfriend?" archie raised his eyebrows.
"he was fp's one phone call. jughead, grace, my advice to you is to go and see your father. tell him everything you wanna say. once he's arranged, things tend to move pretty quickly and there won't be anything left to do, so this might be your last chance."
gracie sighed, and leaned back in her seat, glancing at her brother.
~♛~
"when archie told me about his little plan to help you— to get you on your feet, and working with fred... deep down... i knew it was a mistake." jughead managed out. "gracie really tried to tell me.."
"you should've listened to her. and your gut." fp said.
"you really had me." jug sighed. "cleaning the trailer, convincing me that you had quit drinking. i was so happy for the first time in so long. you paid attention to me. let's be honest, the only reason you even read my manuscript about jason's murder was to make sure i wasn't onto you."
"and you didn't wanna take us to toledo to get the family back together." gracie scoffed. "you wanted to get away. you wanted to run away!"
"i did what i had to do! what i always do!" fp shouted.
"are you even sorry?!" jughead's voice cracked slightly, stepping closer to the bars.
"i'm sorry i got caught. we done?"
gracie turned around and shook her head. "you're a fucking murderer! your a fucking shit dad! you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself! not even your own kids. not me, not jughead, not jellybean— not anyone!"
"never come back here. you understand?"
"wasn't planning on it. let's go, jug."
~♛~