Lifeline ((Jughead Jones)) 1

13

Jughead's POV

After spending the day at Cynthia's side, I had parted ways with her to follow Archie. My dad had finally chosen to work with Archie's again, taking my advice. On thing lead to another, and we all ending up in Pop's. The dads were reminiscing on their high school days, Archie listening intently while I dug in to the fries on the table. I tuned in to the conversation when dad started talking about me.

"He takes after his mom that way, and I mean that as a compliment. I'd rather see you spend your time writing, thinking up stories, you still do that? Nose in a book? Typing away?" I was surprised he could still remember, or even noticed. Still it made me happy to see him making an effort. If he carried on in this way, maybe I could introduce him to Cynthia properly.

"Yeah, Jughead works on the school paper with Betty." Archie commented. At the mention of a girl, dad raised his eyebrows to me, surprised. I was never usually the sort to talk about girls unless they were Cynthia. I couldn't help but wonder if he even remembered her, or would recognise her. He drummed his fingers on the table, clearly hoping he had found out some sort of information to tease me about.

"Is that your girlfriend, this Betty?" He asked, leaning in, eager to hear the answer.

"No—" Unfortunately, Archie Andrews chose to answer the question, again.

"Cynthia Blossom is." He said, I changed the subject, asking about the band. It would be better if I make sure dad is serious about trying again, before I bring in another addition.

Cynthia POV

I was jogging around the neighbourhood, dressed in my usual tight sporting gear, passing Archie's house where I saw Jughead and FP leaving. Jughead was supported a very drunk FP. I stopped and watched him put his dad in the back seat of a beat-up car, closing it behind him. He leant on the door of the driver's side, clearly frustrated at his, once again, intoxicated father.

"Jughead?" I said, moving down the drive-way towards him. He looked to me, trying to smile. I silently wrapped my arms around him, holding him close as he buried his head in my hair. When we let go, I moved to the passenger seat and slid in before Jughead could stop me. I saw him shake his head, smiling slightly.

When we reached the trailer, Jughead handed me the keys, telling me to open it. Jughead and I came from places that were worlds away from each other. The small, filthy trailer was as far from Thornhill as you could possibly imagine. Yet, as Jughead helped his dad onto the sofa, I knew that wherever Jughead was, was the place I would call my home.

"I'll sleep on this couch...You two can have the bedroom." FP stated, lying down already.

"I'm not gonna take your bed, dad. And what makes you think Cynthia's staying?" I sat on the arm of the couch, Jughead's arm wrapping around my waist. FP saw the small action and smiled at his son. Jughead didn't notice the proud look in FP's eyes because he was too busy kissing my cheek.

"It wouldn't be the first time I crashed on this thing." Jughead took of his dad's shoes, careful not to knock me off the arm of the couch. This seemed like a rehearsed routine, like Jughead had done this 1000x before. I knew that he had.

"If you stay... Are you? Are you staying? Both of you," Jughead nodded while I said Yes Mr Jones. I didn't want to offend FP in his state of mind. The last time I challenged him, I got Jughead hurt more. However, I felt as if FP would turn this all around for Jughead, like he wanted his family back. "Don't be late for school."

"No, it's all right. We're already way ahead in our classes," this was true. We were the resident masterminds of our year, I was just the popular genius. "Hey, I talked to mom. She got a job at a call centre to pay for online classes. I guess she's finally going after her GED. Jellybean is helping her study. By the way, Jellybean wants to go as JB now. She thinks it sounds cooler. She's 10-year-old and listens to Pink Floyd on vinyl," I glanced at FP to see that he fell asleep, passed out drunk. I tapped Jughead, but he didn't stop talking about his mom and Jellybean, happy to know how they both were. "I don't think she could get any cooler."

"J..." I said. He stopped talking and I nodded at his dad. I saw his smile drop as he looked down. I kissed his cheek, trying to make him feel better. He pulled me towards the bedroom, his hand intertwined with mine. Jughead let go of my hand, lying down on the outdated mattress. Instead of curling up next to him, I slowly lay on top of him, feeling his breath hitch beneath me as I hugged hi body. Nervously, as if it was our first night together, he pulled his arms around my back, neither of us bothering to get changed.

Jughead led me into the Blue and Gold headquarters, his arm slung over my shoulders. I was wearing one of his smallest shirts and some leggings he found of his moms as well as one of his jackets. In all the years at the school, I hadn't seen the inside of the room, despite all the details Juggie told me of the murder board he and Betty made. When we entered, Sheriff Keller and Weatherbee were standing in front of the board of suspects. Our confusion was identical as they turned to us with straight faces.

"Hey." Jughead was the first to talk, removing his arm from my shoulder and stepping forward so he was slightly in front of me. Instinctively, I reached for his hand. Every time that Keller made an appearance, nothing good came from it.

"What's up?" Jughead asked, putting his laptop bag on the floor near one of the computers.

"I need you to come down to the station with me." Jughead breathed in deeply as I clutched his hand tighter.

"Sheriff, he didn't do anything." I said, trying to get through to the officer. Jughead wouldn't do anything wrong, and he certainly wouldn't kill my brother. Whatever Jughead was getting blamed for, probably the murder, it was clearly because Keller had run out of actual suspects. With a kiss on my head, handing me his laptop, he walked out of the room and through the halls of the high school with his head hung low. Each student he passed looked at him like he was a criminal. He told Archie to call his dad while I walked behind the group.