Misfits (Jughead Jones)

Chapter 21

"Every town has one. The spooky house that all the kids avoid. Ours was Thornhill, the Blossom family's mansion, with its very own graveyard. And, trapped within its walls like some gothic heroine, was Cheryl Blossom. Still grieving for her beloved brother, Jason. Linked in death even as they were in life."

The night of the drive in, someone had broken into the Keller's house and stolen the Sheriff's records and trashed his leads. Kevin had recreated his dad's murder board in the Blue and Gold office. He, Betty, Blake and Jughead were all staring at it hoping to connect some kind of strings and pull this case to an end.

"This is how my dad had his Jason Blossom murder board before it was trashed." Kevin added the last few pins.

"Any leads on who did that? Or what they were looking for?" Jughead questioned.

"Nope. No fingerprints." Kevin sighed. "But they stole a bunch of files, background checks, and all the video and audiotapes of police interviews."

The door opened and they all turned around to see Trever. "Hey, Betty" He smiled.

"Trev, hi!" Betty greeted with a smile that immediately keyed Blake in that she liked him.

"Sorry to interrupt." Trev smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, no Uh, it's okay." Betty stammered. "We're just, uh, working on..."

"Our murder board." Jughead cut in and Blake elbowed him in the ribs.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure we're still on for tomorrow?" Trev asked.

"Absolutely, it's a date." Betty caught herself. "I mean, I'll... I'll see you there. Bye."

"So, I'll see you. Bye." Trev said as he walked out.

"So, Bye." Betty called.

"Going on a date with Trev? Does Mama Cooper know about that?" Kevin eagerly enquired.

"Kev, I'm not on house arrest." Betty said but Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Okay, she's out of town at a Women in Journalism spa retreat." Betty muttered. "Anyway, I mean, it's not a date "date"." Betty's smile cast doubts into the three others.

"You just called it a date. You literally said, "It's a date."" Blake reminded her with a knowing smile.

"That's just my cover." Betty glared at Blake but the brunette's smile just grew. "Really, it's an intelligence gathering mission. We should focus on the one thing we have access to that your dad doesn't. The kids at Riverdale High. You know, maybe Trev knows something about Jason he didn't think was important." Betty tried to convince them all.

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Blake sat on the bleaches watching Archie get taken down yet again in his practice session. She gave him a weak smile as he ran into the changing room. She sat and waited for him but Reggie showed up instead.

"What do you want Reg?" Blake sighed as the taller boy came and sat next to her.

"No, Donnie Darko today?" He smirked.

"He's gonna be here soon. So, what do you want?" Blake sounded harsh but they had history beyond the fight he got into with Archie.

"Can't I just want to talk?" He smirked again.

"No. You normally have ulterior motives. Now, excuse me." She said as she got up and moved over to where Archie was stood waiting.

She sat down next to him and he looked at her with confusion. "What was that about?" He asked as he watched Reggie walk off after smiling at her.

"I don't know, or care. Whatever that once was I'm done." She assured him. "We haven't gotten chance to talk about the other night. How you doing?"

"Okay, I guess. I don't know what I'm doing." He admitted.

"I can understand that." She laughed slightly.

"What about you? You left pretty quickly and didn't come home." Archie raised his eyebrows suggestively and she shoved his shoulder.

"No. Nothing happened. Nothing has happened." She assured him.

"Coach said I have a shot at being varsity captain." Archie broke the silence that had been brewing.

"That's awesome, Arch!" She praised as the others showed up.

"Betty, you're positively radiating Nicholas Sparks. Tell me everything about this Trev." Veronica demanded.

"Oh, there's nothing to tell. Just one of Betty's sources, there's nothing romantic in the offing." Kevin said sarcastically as they all came and sat down. Jughead gave Blake an annoyed look as he sat beside her; these conversations were not really his thing.

"Why is everything weird here?" Veronica exclaimed. "Why can't a date just be a date?" Veronica turned to Archie. "What about you, Archie? How's life in a PG world?" Everyone looked at her funny. "PG. Post-Grundy. What, too soon?"

"Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain. So, I'm not thinking about anything else right now." Archie told them.

"And you're back to being boring." Veronica murmured.

"Are you, maybe, throwing yourself into football as a way to avoid your feelings." Betty worried.

"I'm not avoiding anything, Betty, I'm trying to get my life back on track." Archie guaranteed.

"I can help with that." Valerie said as she came and sat next to Archie. "I know Ms. Grundy was tutoring you."

"Understatement of the year." Veronica said under her breath.

"But there's this amazing songwriter from New York, who's an adjunct at Carson College? Incredible mentor." Valerie continued. "He does some coaching on the side and I told him about you. You wanna meet him?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'd love to, but football..." Archie tried.

"No, Archie can. And he will." Blake cut him off.

"Call him if you want, but do it soon. His spots fill up fast." Valerie smiled and handed him a number.

"Thank you, Val." Archie said as she left.

"Hey, now you have zero excuse for avoiding music." Betty said happily.

"Sorry to interrupt Sad Breakfast Club, but I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weekend." Cheryl said handing them all black and red envelopes. Blake smiled at her and for once Cheryle returned it before turning to Veronica. "To my surprise and chagrin, mother added you to the guest-list. In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags." Cheryl said as she walked away.

"Hey, try to remember, she is burying her brother." Betty said.

"I have to go." Blake suddenly got up and sprinted across the football field to the girl's locker room with nothing but the envelope in her hand.

"Blake!" Jughead called after her. He went to follow her but Archie grabbed his arm. Jughead just glared at him and followed anyway.

Blake collapsed onto the floor of the, thankfully empty, room. Her breathing had become laboured and her head was spinning. They were burying Jason this weekend. He was really dead. As everything began to set in she didn't even notice the tears that had begun to streak down her face.

The door of the locker room crashed open as Jughead ran in. He saw her on the floor and immediately had her in his arms. She gripped his shirt as he rocked her back and forth. The rhythm slowly began to return her breathing to normal but she didn't stop clutching him as though he would disappear. They stayed on the floor in silence for the rest of the day. Nothing needed to be said.