Bughead oneshots!

Passing the Crown Down

Pen was walking back home from school, he’s in 5th grade and his parents trust him enough. So that was normal once a week. Things were fine until he came across the school’s bully, Brendon Mantle, Reggie’s son. Pen sighed and tried his best to seem invisible, but that was hard considering that their father’s knew each other quite well.

“Hey! Jones, what are you doing without your mommy?”

It was a well known fact that Pen was sort of a momma’s boy. He ignored the Mantle boy and continued walking.

“Hey idiot! I’m talking to you!”

“I’m sorry I’m not the idiot here, you are,” Pen replied, knowing that saying this was a bad idea, I guess you could say, like father like son.

“You're gonna regret that!”

Pen ended up walking home with a black eye. Sure that was violent for a 5th grader, but then again we were talking about a Mantle. Pen knocked on the door, wearing the shades he left in his backpack from a field trip a while back.

“Hey mom” he said when he noticed his mom open the door.

“Pen, honey, why are you wearing sunglasses? It’s quite cloudy outside, I’m surprised it hasn’t rained yet” a quite pregnant Betty said.

“No reason, I just like them” boy was that a lie.

“Okay” she replied sceptical.

When Jughead got home he noticed the sunglasses on his son’s face, he knew that trick all too well. Just to be sure he asked Betty about it.

“Hey Jug” Betty said as she kissed his cheek.

“Hey Betts” he said as he kissed her lips.

“So why is little buddy over there wearing sunglasses inside”

“Honestly Jug, I think he might be being bullied, I think he might have a black eye or something but he won’t take the sunglasses off”

Jug knew the perfect way to get it out of his son, all he had to do was tell him something about when he was a kid.

“Hey buddy” Jughead said as he approached the 10 year old.

“Yeah dad?”

“Why don’t you come to my office with me, I have something to give and tell you”

Pen nodded and followed his father into his office.

“What is it dad?”

“I know that trick kid, with the sunglasses, believe it or not I’ve done it a few times myself”
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Pen said stubbornly.

“Take off the sunglasses kid”

Pen sighed and took them off. When Jughead saw the bruise on his son’s face his eyebrows furrowed together.

“Who did this?”

“Brendon Mantle” Pen mumbled in reply.

“Like father like son”

“What?” Pen asked with a questioning look.

“When I was your age I was bullied by Brendon’s dad, I remember coming home from school doing the same thing you did, even though your grandfather was there he wasn’t really, so I had no one but I did have this” Jughead said as he took the old grey beanie out of his desk.

“Isn’t that the weird hat you wore at you and mom’s wedding?”

Jughead chuckled at the memory, he didn’t stop wearing it until a while after Pen was born.

“Yep, the very one, I want you to have it”

“But mom said this thing was like majorly important to you” Pen said, overly confused.

“That was when I was a kid, it was kinda like a comfort thing, whenever someone said something or did something bad to me, I would just adjust my beanie and stand up for myself, I want you to have it”

Pen smiled and put the beanie on, it fit like a glove. The next day when Brendon bothered him again, Pen stood tall and stood up for himself, sure they called him names but he just bounced back. Brendon and his little gang soon lost interest in him and moved on, Pen hasn’t taken the thing off since.