Snakes and Ladders - Falice

Pride (In The Name Of Love)

One man caught on a barbed wire fence, one man he resist. One man betrayed with a kiss. In the name of love - what more in the name of love?

жжж

            "Jughead –" FP began, happy to hear from his son even if it was only through a phone call.

"Dad," Jughead was over the moon that his father was at least trying to straighten himself out. "I hear you and Mr. Andrews are making a lot of headway on the SoDale project."

"Yeah, we do what we can." FP nodded.

"I'm really glad you're back at work, Archie's dad is too, I can tell. He's having fun."

"I got to say, it brings back some memories."

Jughead gave a breathy laugh, he had heard some of Fred Andrews and FP Jones's old memories, and they were often comical. "I just wanted to check in, see how things are going."

"Things aren't going nearly as bad as they used to be. Still not perfect, Jughead, but..."

"But you'll get there." The boy reassured.

From the other line, FP shook his head. It was true, he was doing much better than lately. "No," he said with a knowing chuckle, "I don't need perfect."

"Speaking of perfect," Jughead shifted in his seat and moved the receiver to his other ear. "I didn't realize how far from it the Coopers really were."

"Oh, so Betty is your girlfriend." He teased and Jughead gave a rather proud smile that his father couldn't physically see.

"I mean it, though. I mean... you look at them and you see a perfect family. But there is so much more going on within that house, Dad."

"Well, I could have told you that, Jughead." He knew Alice like the back of his hand, something like that didn't just go away.

"I mean... I could tell you some things about them."

"So, tell me." FP was quick to respond. Jughead was surprised at his sudden interest, but maybe that was a change that came with sobriety.

"Alright..." Jughead began cautiously, not wanting to betray Betty's trust in any way but knowing that confiding in his father was likely harmless. "...well, first of all Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are like..." he struggled to find the right literary allusion. "...Tom and Daisy Buchanan."

"Okay," FP answered slowly, "I follow that one."

"I mean, I don't know why they're married, all they seem to do is drive each other crazy. And I mean that literally, Dad, they are crazy." FP had to try not to scoff into the phone as his son continued. "And what is up with Mrs. Cooper's obsession with her family looking so perfect? I mean, how can one person be so controlled by her image?"

"She wasn't always that way." FP tried to offer as much insight as he could, but that was all he knew he should say.

"And then this whole thing with Jason Blossom and Polly, I don't know why they act so shady about it. They seemed to me like a normal teenage romance, they were... they were in love."

"Alice has always been scared of teenage romances." FP said bitterly, but it only prompted more confusion for his son.

"How can that be, she married her high school sweetheart." Jughead laughed shallowly before continuing. FP shook his head silently on the other end of the phone line, no she didn't. "And now Polly's pregnant and the father of her child was murdered by someone in this very town. How's that for perfect."