Lifeline ((Jughead Jones)) 1

10

Swiftly, we pulled out the white dresses stored in Cheryl's wardrobe and slipped them on. I pulled the plait out of my hair that mother insisted that I wear and put on the white ribbon heels. We were both going to stick out. As we walked down the stairs, we put on our gloves. Jason would be proud of the entrance we were about to make, knowing that our parents would most likely kill us later that evening.

Music played as we waited behind the doors. The noise of everyone turning to us was heard. Every head in the room turned to my sister and I as we made our way towards the coffin. I wore a white lace, a-line dress and a white shoulder jacket. It had a simple collar and a red belt to match the red lip. We both wore a simple white fascinator and white gloves. In a room of black, we were a little red light. It was impossible for anyone to miss us. I felt a hand grab my right arm as I passed them. Without turning around, I knew who it was. Jughead silently asked if I was ok. With a simple smile, he let go, moving noticeably to the edge of his chair so he could get up if he needed to come to me.

Every person knew that we were in the outfits we wore when we were last with Jay-Jay. It was the last thing he saw us in, so it's only fitting that the remaining Blossom siblings attended the memorial in those clothes. When mom and dad entered the room, dad's arm around our mother, they froze when they saw us. We kept our eyes on his coffin, ignoring them. If they weren't going to let us speak, we'd do it ourselves. We took the place mother was going to go to, standing side by side at the altar, forcing our parents to sit down so they didn't cause a scene. As angry as they were, they couldn't cause yet another scandal for the Blossom family.

"Welcome to Thornhill. Thank you all for coming. If you'll kindly take your seats, I'd like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason." Cheryl spoke with authority, both of us removing our gloves. Our mother went to stand up and stop us, only to be stopped by our dad. There was no way that we could be kept away from speaking. We would have failed Jason and everything he stood for if we obeyed our parents and didn't stand where we stood, looking at the faces staring at us. I saw Veronica whisper to our mother that she would make things worse by standing up. She was right. With a teary smile, we started our pre-prepared speech.

"The last time we saw Jason, we were wearing these dresses," I began, "I know it's impossible, but I swear when I put it on, it feels like he's in the room with me. With us." Mother was glaring at us, giving us both the disapproving look that meant we were in trouble. It didn't faze us.

"Even though we were triplets, I used to demand my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, Jason and Cynthia convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine," Cheryl was already getting choked up. I remember the story well. It took Jason weeks to convince her to have her birthday party on the same day as ours. I had only invited Jughead, but he couldn't go because he was with his family that weekend. So, so that I felt better, Jason made sure I was joining with him. We then found out that no one wanted to come to Cheryl's for reasons we didn't know. Jason spent every day and night getting Cheryl to agree to combining them. It took him two weeks. But, in the end, he did it. "He protected me." Cheryl, stepped back, letting me begin my speech, too choked up to continue talking.

"When we were 14, there was a story that went around about me kissing all the boys on the football team. The people calling me the names, spreading rumours, nearly cost me my best friend, at the time," I caught Jughead's eye as he smiled weakly, knowing what story I was talking about, "but Jay-Jay couldn't stand to see me cry every night. In the space of a week he had stopped everything, not caring what happened to him. He did everything he could to shelter his baby sister from the harsh world. Everything to protect me." I was trying my best to hold back tears. "I wish that day at the river, I had protected him." A tear leaked out of my eye. As if a chain reaction, once one tear fell, more started to follow. A loud sob broke from both Cheryl and I as we turned to his coffin. Cheryl was apologising while I sunk to my knees in tears. I should have stayed with him longer. I should have seen him to whatever vehicle he was planning to use to get out of Riverdale.

Jughead's POV

I watched Cynthia turn to Jason Blossom's coffin, crying her heart out. I stood up at the same time Veronica did. She went to Cheryl, while I went to Cynthia. I placed a hand on her back, moving both hands to her waist so I could lift her up. When we were both stood, I wrapped my arms around her, letting her cry into the suit I had found. With one hand, I took out the fascinator from her hair, placing it on the altar and stroking her hair.

"It's okay, Thia," I whispered into her hair, "you did him proud." Standing with her made me wonder what Jason would say to me. Would he be the over protective brother and pull his sister away from me, so he could hold her himself. Maybe he would let me hold my gorgeous, innocent girlfriend, and then give me the warning later. Or perhaps he would smile at me, knowing that I wouldn't dream of hurting her as I rubbed her back and pulled her tightly to my chest, not caring who was watching.

We both ignored her mother as she got up to move everyone away from the room. I had suspected that she didn't want the pair to speak at the memorial, so was obviously angry they had done what they did. I was proud of what Cynthia had done. She had been taking Jason's death far harsher than any other member of the family. I lead her upstairs, still wanting to get a look inside Jason's bed room.

By the time she had reached the landing, her cries had stopped but she was still quiet. I took her face in my hands, pulling her towards me. Slowly and carefully, I kissed her, wanting to saviour this moment with her. When I pulled away, I knew I had to ask her or have to go without the information we needed to get from his bedroom.

"Thia, we need to find out where your brother was going. Do you think we can do into his room and see if we can find anything?" She nodded mutely, and I almost took back the question, fearing I had upset her. Instead, she led me down the opposite hall and opened a door.

She sat on the bed when entered, just looking at her hands. I thought of all the places I had hidden things from my dad in my old room: under the mattress; in drawers; behind the headboards and in the closet. Those were the places I checked first, feeling a colder temperature in this room compared the rest of Thornhill.

"Hello." A voice said from behind me, causing me to jump and move closer to Cynthia, ready to protect her or take the blame for anything. Cynthia was startled too, she jumped back into my arms and I stood behind her with a hand on her shoulder. An elderly woman in a wheelchair came into the light, showing her face to us.

"Sorry Grandma Rose, we were just leaving." She spoke. I didn't think that this was the first member of my girlfriend's family that I would officially meet. I expected it to be her dragon-lady of a mother or her stone-cold dad, not her disabled, ghost-like grandmother.

"Oh, Cynthia dear. Come closer and bring your partner. I want to get a good look at my favourite grand-daughter." She smiled. Cynthia slipped her hand into mine, pulling me towards the woman she called Rose, kneeling down to her level. I kneeled beside her, putting an arm around her waist, still not certain that this lady wasn't something out of a horror movie. She had blonde hair with a single ginger streak. Rose put a shaking hand up to my face as I looked at Thia. She put a hand on my shoulder, reassuring me that I wasn't about to get possessed by a demon.

"You've got yourself a good one here, Cynthia, I can tell." She smiled at Cynthia as I looked down at the stunning red-head beside me. Thia looked up at me, and I rested my forehead against hers. Despite her grandmother watching us, I pecked her rep lips. After nights of wishing for her to be in my arms, now she could be, and I wanted to hold her every day, until death do us part.

"Have you seen Polly, dear? Is she wearing her ring?" Rose asked. I looked to Cynthia in confusion, who looked back at me in equal understanding. We were both asking the same question. Why had her grandmother given Polly Cooper a ring? Cynthia excused herself from the room, pulling me beside her.