@infinitumcnimce !
he KNOWS something is up ; they all do. the text sent by the only remaining blossom child was not taken lightly by any of them. ( thanks for trying. i’m going to be with JASON now. ) there was no doubting the meaning behind it, nor the hint as to where they would find her. later, jughead would write in his book that he was almost CERTAIN that she wanted them to find her there ; wanted someone ( anyone ) to show that they cared. of course, cheryl blossom would never admit to a cry for help, and thus jughead’s assumption would forever go unsolved.
in any case, as they stumble upon the river, betty points out the form of the redhead, attacking the middle of the ice, and their cacophony of shouts of CHERYL ! become more panicked, jughead feels the adrenaline begin to pump, white-hot, through his veins. immediately, they all begin to run, almost in unison, but they barely make it a few feet towards her before they hear the first, spine-tingling CRACK ! archie stops them before they go any further, and jughead is glad he does. the LAST thing they need is to all go under. then they’d have no chance of saving THEMSELVES, let alone each other. one last plea from veronica reaches cheryl, and she turns to face them slowly. for one split-second, jughead feels a sliver of relief ---- that MAYBE this might be a win for the good guys. cheryl looks like she might be willing to come back to the shore and talk, just for a moment------
------AND THEN CHERYL GOES UNDER.
all of a sudden, they’re all running as fast as they can, screaming as LOUD as they can. jug can only hear the other voices during the brief moments where he stops shouting to catch his breath. his hot breath against the ice-cold air mists in front of his eyes, and he can only just see that he’s running in the right direction. archie reaches the hole first ( the ONLY perk, in jughead’s opinion, of being an athlete ) and drops to his knees beside it in an attempt to rescue cheryl, but she is nowhere to be seen. ‘ the CURRENT has her !! ’ there’s a brief second of silence and of s t i l l n e s s as jughead processes what this means ---- he feels everything slow down to a near stop for half a second, before a panicked shout from his own throat snaps him out of it. ‘ SPREAD OUT !! SPREAD OUT !! ’ and once again, they’re back in action. jughead’s lungs are b u r n i n g, but he doesn’t slow down and he daren’t stop. the LAST thing they need is another loss.
jug kicks the snow as he goes, eyeing each patch of thick, clouded ice until ------ A FLASH OF RED ! immediately, he drops to his knees and clears the remaining snow from the ice. sure enough, deep-set eyes find cheryl’s form, floating below the ice, and immediately, another scream rips from his throat ---- ‘ SHE’S HERE !! ’ he knows he shouldn’t ; should let archie do it ---- after all, he’s an athlete, he’s stronger, and jughead’s chest is already ON FIRE ---- but archie’s too far away. by the time he clambers over the snow to get to the right spot, the current will have dragged cheryl further, those seconds might be the difference between LIFE and DEATH !! without thinking for even a split second, jughead begins attacking the ice beneath him. it only takes two strikes to split the skin of his knuckles, and his blood begins to stain the snow around him. he hears the others calling his name, feels hands on his shoulders trying to move him. ( he assumes archie has arrived ) but he doesn’t stop. looking back, he isn’t sure WHY he fights so hard to save her. after all, it’s not like he even likes cheryl blossom at ALL. ---- but even so, even after ruining his writing hand for WEEKS, he wouldn’t take it back. for all her faults, and all their disagreements, cheryl blossom deserved to live.
as he finally breaks through the ice, chest heaving, fist pouring with blood, the freezing water lapping at his wound, he doesn’t hesitate ------ he’s running on PURE ADRENALINE ------ he plunges his hand straight into the water to grab a fistful of cheryl’s dress, as his left quickly follows suit. adrenaline gives way a little to logical sardonic thinking as he struggles against the current to gain the upper hand. ( and this, forsythe, is why we let archie do things. he has upper body strength. ) the current is stronger than anticipated, and jughead slides against the ice as he, too, starts to be carried downstream. he is dragged into the water up to his shoulders before archie manages to pull both his weight and cheryl’s back up. as soon as he can, he throws out one leg to brace himself on the opposite side of the hole, and lets rip a wordless scream as he uses every last bit of strength he can muster to FINALLY drag cheryl from the water.
as soon as her shoulders crest the surface of the water, archie grabs onto her too, and the load becomes easier to bear. jughead, now feeling the pain in his hand even more, lets archie take the lead on laying cheryl out in the snow, but jug is the first to notice that she isn’t breathing. without missing a single beat, he lunges forward and tips her head back, opens up the airway, and lets his lips find hers. TWO HARD BREATHS. breathing for himself is becoming increasingly difficult, and he absently wonders if he remembered to pick up his asthma pump that morning, as he performs chest compressions on cheryl’s UNMOVING body. more rescue breaths, more chest compressions ----- NOTHING. until a third and final KISS OF LIFE sends cheryl blossom spluttering ice cold water. FINALLY !! as soon as archie takes over making sure she’s alright, jughead shrugs out of his ( admittedly, unfortunately damp ) jacket, and wraps it around cheryl’s shoulders once archie and the girls manage to get her to sit up.
jughead catches archie’s gaze and nods towards cheryl; a hint that she may need carrying. the jones boy might have attempted it himself, but with a broken hand, and a weak body that is only getting weaker by the minute, given the cold air and the exertion, he thinks it might be best if archie does it. as the three of them bustle back to shore, along with cheryl, jughead lags behind as the adrenaline begins to wear off, and he begins to feel the effects of all he has done.
