Misfits (Jughead Jones)

Chapter 6

"It was midnight, and my old friend Archie Andrews arrived at the one place in town that was still open. He was looking for the girl next door. Instead, he found me."

Jughead looked up from his laptop to as the door to Pop's diner opened to see a familiar redhead walk in. The pair made what could only be described as awkward eye contact as Archie walked to the desk and Jughead crossed his arms.

"Hey Pop. Betty hasn't come in tonight, has she?" Archie asked.

"No. Just the nighthawk's in tonight." Pop replied with a nod in Jughead's direction.

"Thanks." Archie said before taking a deep breath and walking over to where Jughead was sat. "Uh, can I sit, Jughead?"

"If you want." Jughead nodded.

"I thought you were supposed to be here with my sister?" Archie queried.

"I was. She left about an hour ago." Jughead clarified.

Archie sighed. "I'm gonna be a cliché brother now and tell you that if you hurt my sister I will kick your ass."

"Very cliché and you know how I feel about clichés." Jughead smiled briefly. "I would never do anything to hurt her, and you more than anyone should know that."

Archie nodded before looking to Jughead's laptop. "What are you working on?"

"My novel. It's about this summer, and Jason Blossom." Jughead shared; his mind still reeling from Blake's reaction.

"Seventeen years old and how will he be remembered? As captain of the water polo team?" Archie said.

"The Aquaholics? Considering how he died, probably not." Jughead said being his usual sardonic self.

"No, what I mean is... Was he doing everything he was supposed to do, everything he wanted. I mean, did he even know what that was?" Archie tensed and Jughead seemed to consider his words.

"Coach Clayton was in here talking to Pop Tate. Varsity." Jughead nodded as if he were proud. "Does that make you, what, Mr. Popular Football God now?" Jughead smirked.

"No. In fact, I'm kind of terrified I lost my best friend tonight." Archie looked up and met Jughead's gaze. Even if the pair had some kind of rift they could still talk to each other like always.

"If you mean Betty, whatever happened, just talk to her. You know, it'd go a long way." Jughead paused and considered his next words carefully. "Would've gone a long way with me."

Archie looked guilty and couldn't meet Jughead's eyes.

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Archie walked up the steps to Betty's house as she came out of the door. They both just stared at each other for a moment before Betty broke the silence.

"I'm not going to ask what you did with Veronica at Cheryl's. But I'm asking you now, right now if you love me, Archie. Or even like me?" Betty was very close to tears. Archie could see them accumulating in her eyes.

"Of course, I love you, Betty. But I can't give you the answer you want." Archie's voice cracked slightly as he took a few steps forward.

"Why?" Betty choked out.

"You are so perfect." Betty scoffed at his words. "I've never been good enough for you. I'll never be good enough for you." Archie concluded. Betty spun on her heels and walked straight back into the house. Archie hesitated before walked back across the road.

"And so, it wasn't one heart that broke that night. It was two. And the night was far from over."

"How'd it go?" Their dad asked as Archie walked through the door.

"Fine." Archie ran straight upstairs. He knocked on Blake's doorframe and she looked up from her book.

She took one look at her brother's face and discarded the novel. She stood and wrapped her arms around him. "What happened?"

"I fucked up, Bee." He broke down slightly and tried to stop himself from sobbing onto his sister's shoulder.

"It can't be that bad, Arch." She rubbed her hands over his back comfortingly.

"I think I just lost Betty. I'm not good enough for her." He choked out.

"Please tell me you didn't tell her that?" She pulled back and looked at his face and his answer was written in his features. "Oh, Arch. I'm sure it will all work out at school on monday. Everything will be fine."

As if she had triggered, the phone rang downstairs. They heard their dad pick it up and talk to someone down the line. He hung up and the next thing they heard was his steps on the stairs. Archie wiped away his tears as he appeared in the door with a grim look on his face.

"Kevin Keller just found Jason's body in Sweetwater River." Their dad said.

Blake nearly collapsed then and there. She grabbed hold of Archie who held both her arms. "No-no... That's... It's not possible." She sobbed.

"That's not it. It seems he was shot in the head." Their dad added. Archie stared at him open mouthed as Blake turned into his chest and started shaking. "C'mon let's go." Their dad said as he held open the door.

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They pulled up to the river as dawn was breaking and got out of the car. Archie grabbed his letterman jacket that was on the backseat and wrapped it around Blake's shoulders. Betty and her parents; Veronica and her mum; Cheryl and her parents and most other people in the town were there. Blake didn't let go of Archie's arm as they brought up the stretcher that held the yellow body bag that Jason was in. She met Cheryl's confused and scared eyes with her own. Blake pulled the letterman jacket tighter around her shoulders before she noticed Jughead.

She walked away from Archie who looked at her worriedly before he noticed Jughead. Jughead wrapped Blake in his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple. He met eyes with Archie who just nodded.

"By morning, everyone would be talking, texting, and posting about it. We'd all be feeling it. That the world around us had changed, maybe forever. That Riverdale wasn't the same town as before. That it was a town of shadows and secrets now. On Monday, the autopsy on Jason's body would take place. And on Tuesday, halfway through fifth period, the first arrest would be made."