I'm Darkness || Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones [2]

Happily Ever After

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

"What you did left every Serpent out of the woodwork." It's the next thing FP says after his son opens his eyes, he's tiredly sitting down on the armchair. "You would've been proud, boy. It looked like we were gonna win, but in the end, there were just... Just too many Ghoulies." He takes a moment to sigh, before adding. "It was like shooting snakes in a barrel."

"Why?" Jughead looks his face, and he's pleading even though it's too late now for all that. "Why did you go?"

"To avenge you." His voice is determined, and he knows that when the dark-haired boy finds out the rest of it, he won't ever forgive him.

"I had an agreement with Hiram."

"There was no stopping the others. They were churned up about you and Fangs." FP explains, but it's the next few words that sink his son's heart into the pit of his stomach. "All it took was Ellie breaking down..." He trails off for a second, her angry and frustated scream into the nothingness still sounding loud at his ears somehow. "And they followed her into war, chanting for their Serpent Queen..."

Jughead is not angry with her, he couldn't blame her. If it was her laying down on this hospital right now, he would have done worse. So, he understands why Ellie picked up her crown and took their army to avenge him, but he blames himself for it. "Is she...? Is she ok? She safe?"

"She's fine. A little bruised, but Sweet Pea and I... We took care of her." FP replies, and remembers that he needs to tell his son how proud he is deep down. "What you did was selfless, you are a good man, Jughead."

"Did it to protect Ellie. Not that it was worth much,"

"She's been here... All the time." He tells him. "Archie, Betty and Veronica too."

"Is she here now?" Jughead questions, but even though he wants nothing more than to see her, he also knows he's not ready. The last words she heard from his mouth, that's a whole conversation they'll have to have at some point, and he's not sure how they will deal with things until then, how she's dealing with it right now.

"No, I finally told her to go home and get some sleep, she hasn't slept in days. Archie went with her, but Betty just came back here now."

Jughead looks down at his hands at the sound of his girlfriend's name, how can he face her now after what he said to her sister. All truths, but hurtful ones to some of them. Especially to Betty. And he's not sure how to tell her, so he decides that it's better to pretend for now.

"Fangs... He's alive though." FP blurts out.

"Fangs is alive?" The dark-haired boy frowns, but a weight definitely abandons his shoulders. FP nods in confirmation of his words, so Jughead continues with confusion. "But I thought... A deputy told you he was dead?"

"Yeah, that was a lie."

"A ploy, you mean." Jughead scoffs, and looks ahead now. "To goad the Serpents into a fight they couldn't win. All of riot night was Hiram Lodge orchestrated mousetrap." He sighs at the realization. "And the Serpents followed me into it."

"Sunnyside Trailer Park fell. Our trailer is still standing. Most of them burned." FP leans forward now, his voice serious because he knows this will hurt his son. It sure hurt Ellie. "Jug... After the rumble, some of the Serpents defected. They... They joined the Ghoulies. Others were arrested. More went into hiding. The rest... They left town." He glances down at his hands, before concluding. "The Serpents... They don't exist anymore. We had out time." FP looks back up to face his son, and warns him. "Nothing for you to do, but to get better. And to be there for Ellie."