Jughead frowned and swallowed thickly. “I don’t want him to go back to jail Ron. I really don’t want him to end up behind those bars again, I don’t know what I’ll do.” He sniffed and wiped his face roughly with the back of his hand. “And I don’t want it to be because of your father. If anything would make the two of them look worse, it’ll be bad. For us all.”
“I know Jughead,” Veronica said softly, head leaning on his shoulder.
He leaned his head against hers. “No, Ron, you don’t know.”
“I do Jug. Seeing your father behind bars just one more time will ruin you. I know.” She looked at him with raised eyebrows, as if trying to aid him to remember their conversation months ago about being more similar than they first thought. “I’m trying to figure out a way my Dad will listen to me.”
“Just say it straight out does it even matter?” spat Jughead and she stroked the side of his jaw gently, to calm him.
“I can’t lose his trust or he’ll shut me out altogether. Then they’ll be no hope. You’ve got to trust me on this.”
Jughead sighed and shook his head. “I trust you V. I don’t trust your family.”
“I don’t trust them either,” she whispered.
Jughead didn’t say anything else. Complete silence accompanied them as they sat next to the dumpsters behind Pops at 1am in the morning. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some cigarettes and a lighter. Probably to give his hands something to do so he didn’t smash something.
“Life’s shit,” he grumbled, taking a drag and watching the smoke wisp away into the darkness.
“It is,” Veronica agreed, taking a drag from his cigarette and exhaling loudly.
His voice was tight, strained as if someone had him in a chokehold. Veronica frowned and leant up, spotting a tear glisten in the light of the streetlamp. She placed her hands on Jughead’s, as they curled into almost fists, and laced her fingers through his. He looked down at them in confusion.
“We will figure something out,” she promised.
“And if we don’t?” he questioned, sounding stuffed up and distant.
“We will,” she said, lifting their hands to place soft kisses on his knuckles.
Another tear slipped out and he ripped a hand away to brush at it quickly before Veronica could see it. She watched him with a half smirk.
“Okay,” he whispered, still holding one of her hands, and pulling her into him with the other. “Okay.”
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Wish I could tell you what this is, more context around it, what they’re talking about or just any extra information really but I literally just knocked it up in like 5 minutes because I realised that the first day of jeronica week is nearly over lmao. @everything-jeronica