#jones!oc

Laid back in a phone booth outside of the bus station, Jughead waited for an answer from his mom on the other line. His mind was swarming with memories of Juniper leaving, but he couldn’t rely on those now, no matter how much he wanted to be sucked into the void of his (almost) forgotten sister. He remembered the day after she left, and how his father acted like she was never there. He hadn’t heard her name spoken by another Jones in almost four months. Jughead almost forgot who he was trying to contact until his mom’s voice appeared over the phone.

“Hi mom,” he said, almost excited that he had a chance to start over from the lies and burdens that haunted his hometown, Riverdale. “Hey guess what, I got a bus ticket to Toledo. Yeah, I thought I’d come see you and Jellybean for a while. Maybe Juniper, if she’s there.” However, he knew the chances of Juniper being with the rest of his family were slim to none. Juniper despised their mom and hated that she took Jellybean away from her and her brother. If there was one person that Jellybean loved more than anyone, it was Jughead, and Juniper was wildly aware of that.

Jughead listened to the other line as his mother declined the offer. “There’s no room for you.” She said. “Not even Juniper could stay.” Jughead nodded dimly and wished his mother a goodnight and trudged back to the bus station. If Toledo didn’t want him, then he would find a new town that would.

“I changed my mind about Toledo,” Jughead lightly said to the woman at the bus station window. He kept his eyes down, straying away from eye contact as to stop himself from breaking into more tears. “Can you just put me on whatever the next bus out of town is? I don’t even care where it’s going.”

The woman grabbed his ticket and stamped it with a grim look on her face. “Citrusville, Florida. Leaves tomorrow morning at six.”

Jughead took the ticket and looked around, sighing as the woman answered his unasked question: “lobby closes in fifteen minutes, reopens at 5:30.” With no where else to turn, and no one he really wanted to see, Jughead went to the only place he ever really found solitude in. Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe.

There was a rattle and a shatter sound that woke up the thirteen year old Jughead. He was startled and frightened until he turned on his light to reveal his fifteen year old sister, climbing out of his window. She froze, and looked at him. Her face held many emotions, but Jughead could only extinguish two: fear and fake happiness. After Juniper realized that it was only her little brother, whom’s bedroom window was easier to open, she grinned, watching as Jughead slowly climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes.

“What are you doing June?” the eighth grader murmured.

Juniper’s eyes flashed with a mischievous glint as the perfect lie rushed to her mind. She loved Jughead, but he was as naive as Jellybean, who was only ten at the time. “I got a call from Polly Cooper. She told me about this poor raccoon that her father hit and was slowly dying. I’m going out to help her.”

Part of Jughead figured she was lying, but couldn’t disagree with her. He loved Juniper. And he knew that she and their father and mother had been fighting more. He also knew that if their father found June sneaking out at night, she would never see the daytime. Therefore, that part of him that screamed she was lying to his face, was forgotten. Jughead smiled at his sister and replied sweetly, “okay.”

Juniper’s face softened. She was so happy that he never asked questions, for she feared she would never be ready to give him the actual answers. She gave him one last smile before climbing out the window. However, before she closed it, she turned back and whispered, “don’t tell dad.” With that, Juniper closed the window and Jughead turned off his light.

Jughead awoke with a small jolt of fear and emptiness. Juniper was not here. Juniper hasn’t been here in a long time, and that was enough for him to hold onto the second memory of the night to cloud his tired mind. Not wanting to fall asleep again, almost afraid of the night scares that might plague him, Jughead opted for laying his head between the window and booth; attempting to find peace amongst the horrors of the night. Unfortunately, that peace did not last as long as he hoped, for his friends’ voices reached his ears and the spell that Juniper had casted around the middle Jones child, had disappeared.

“Jug.” Jughead turned slightly and saw the three sleuths, Archie, Betty and Veronica, walking up to the booth where he was trying to drown in his sorrow. Uninterested in what they had to say to him, Jughead turned back and continued to stare dreamily and tiredly out the window. Despite his gloomy state, his friends stayed and gathered around the booth, looks of pity very clear on all their faces.

“Jug, we’re so sorry.” Betty whispered just loud enough for Jug to hear. Jughead shook his head and sniffled, looking at the window and trying to block his friends from his mind.

“Juggy, we screwed up. We all did.” Archie said, his voice a little louder than Betty’s, but still quiet enough that anyone trying to eavesdrop would have a hard time. “Breaking into your dad’s trailer was wrong, but at least some good came out of it.”

His attempt to ignore his friends failed at the end of Archie’s confession. Still staring straight ahead, Jug answered: “Pretty sure my dad was just arrested for murder.”

“That gun wasn’t there when we searched his trailer.” Veronica’s voice popped into the mix. “Someone put it there after we left.” Jughead finally fully turned his head at Veronica, confusion written all over his face.

He looked at Betty, who nodded her head. Looking back at Veronica, Jughead asked, “what are you talking about?”

It had been a long day for Jughead Jones.

First day of freshman year. First day of high school. He really thought it was gonna be different.

First off, he thought that Juniper was going to be with him. He was devastatingly wrong. Turns out, Juniper was not “smart enough” to go to Riverdale High and therefore got her education through Southside High. Which was super unfair to Jughead because his sister taught him everything he knew. Jughead could say without hesitation that she was smarter than him and that was saying a lot.

Secondly, because Jughead Jones did not have his sister around him, he didn’t have protection from the jocks at his school. He knew it sounded lame, but his sister was like his personal “knight in shining armor.” Plus, he knew that his sister liked to beat up jocks for fun. It was “her favorite way to past the time,” or something like that.

Lastly, even though he had known Archie Andrews since they were kids, Archie had turned his back on Jughead and only acknowledged the shadow-hugging teen when no one was around. Which wasn’t the greatest thing.

Trudging through the trailer door, everything instantly felt different. Jug looked around and found himself on the outside of angry voices and broken glass. Curious, but also very cautious, Jughead followed the loud, angry voices and found himself in the kitchen. Juniper and their father were fighting. Again.

It had been a long day for Jughead Jones.

Almost as long as his first day at Riverdale High. When he came back from school that day to find his sister and father fighting about things that were still unknown to him to this day. Jughead never learned why his sister and their father fought all the time, all he ever knew was that Juniper always ran away crying. As soon as she had gotten her license, she would take the old, beat up 1995 Ford truck she bought from Junkyard Steve, and would drive away crying. Their relationship always remained a mystery to him, and he was almost thankful right now, that he never learned the truth.

Shutting Principal Weatherbee’s door behind him, Jug walked quickly. He wasn’t entirely sure where he was headed, but he did know that he wanted to be away. However, when Jug walked back into the hallway, Betty was instantly by his side. “What happened in there?” she asked and Jughead sighed. It’s not like he didn’t want Betty to be with him, but she would never understand and he almost despised her for it.

“My second interrogation of the day. Don’t know who’s more of a dick: Keller or Weatherbee.”

Instantly, Betty defended him. “Don’t listen to them. Everyone else is wrong. Your dad’s innocent, and we just need to prove it, Jug.”

At that, Jughead stopped walking and took in a breath. “Who killed him, then, Betty? Tell me.” He paused, awaiting her answer before continuing on. “If it wasn’t my dad, who killed Jason Blossom? He said he did it, and you know what? I’ve been waiting my whole life for that man to do the right thing, and I’m done. You should be too.”

Juniper hadn’t been home in a few days.

Jughead wasn’t sure how long she had been gone for, he lost count after three. His best guess was ten, but then again, he could’ve been wrong. He seemed to be very wrong about Juniper lately. Apparently, the sixteen-year-old had hidden from him and their father that she was a member of the Southside Serpents. This little unknown fact pissed FP off more than Jughead had ever seen, leading FP to believe that whatever the reason that cause Juniper to disappear, had something to do with the gang.

Even though FP had been a part of the notorious gang growing up, he “lost” contact with them after Jellybean was born. Deep down, Jughead knew this to be false. He had seen his dad mingling amongst the Serpents many times throughout his young life. And just last week he heard through the grapevine that he might have rejoined to keep things in order. However, despite all the times Jughead had seen his dad dealing with Serpents, he was only mad at one occurrence: when he saw him talking to a small group the day before June disappeared. Jughead always knew his father was all talk, but it still pained him to think that the gang that he sworn he would never communicate with again, might be the same gang behind his older sister’s disappearance.

“Archie asked me to look into your father’s case,” Mrs. Andrews told the tired teen Jones. “I went down to the station and passed myself off as his attorney to try and get as much information as I could.”

“How’s it looking, mom?” Archie asked. Jughead knew that Archie’s intentions were good, and that his heart was in the right place, but he still didn’t understand why Archie would waste his time on an already solved case.

“Well, unfortunately, between FP’s list of priors, the anonymous tip, and the possession of the murder weapon…”

“Don’t forget that pesky confession.” Jughead jumped in, an unhumorous smirk on his face.

“Things look pretty bad.” The two boys sighed and Jug could feel his heart sinking further into his body. “I was with him all night, and he never once budged from his story.” Mary looked between the two boys and slightly lowered her head.

Despite the news, Jughead smiled, but it teased him. “Well, if nothing else, at least he’s an honest murderer.”

There was a brief silence before Mary opened the file in front of her and carried on. “Oh, also, who is Joaquin DeSantos?”

Archie and Jughead looked at each other as Archie asked the question they were both pondering. “Joaquin? As in Kevin’s boyfriend?”

Jughead looked back to Mary. She folded her hands before saying, “He was FP’s one phone call.”

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks when FP got a call from Sheriff Keller, telling him that they had found Juniper Jones. By that time, the men of the family had stopped eating, and FP stunk from all of the alcohol he consumed. Jellybean cried herself to sleep every night, with Jughead aside her. However, their mom stayed silent through it all. Never once mentioning Juniper’s name or even acknowledging that she was ever there. And when Juniper finally returned to the broken family, she continued to pretend that her eldest daughter, was in fact, gone.

When FP, Jughead and Jellybean (who insisted on coming and yelled at her father that “if he told her ‘no’ one more time, she would run there”) got to the station, Sheriff Keller told the kids to stay in the lobby while he had a chat with their dad. According to the story that Juniper had told Keller, she had planned on running away with her good friend Joaquin, who she met when she joined the Serpents. The pair got to Greendale before Juniper realized their mistake and decided to turn back. Joaquin wanted to continue the trek out, but knew he wouldn’t be able to survive on his own. Unfortunately, Juniper’s car ran out of gas and neither teen had any money to get more. It being the middle of winter at this point, and only having the clothes on their back and enough food to last them a few days, they trudged back to Riverdale. Only surviving because of a kind-hearted girl named Sabrina who they met in the middle of the woods.

The two teens were picked up just outside of Southside High and immediately brought to the station. They were also checked out by a nurse before their parents were called. Joaquin, who was asked about what happened, gave the same story as Juniper. He also gave a few more details than Juniper, but because he was younger, and slightly more dehydrated than Juniper, Keller dismissed them. Sheriff Keller left the kids back in their parents custody, Juniper promising Joaquin that they would one day get out of this “god forsaken town.” Jughead would later find out that her promise was only a cover to go along with the lie she had cooked up. He wouldn’t actually learn the whole truth for another two years, but Jughead never questioned his sister’s choices. She was smarter and she was older and she was his hero. So she remained just that: Jughead’s hero.

“When Archie told me about his little plan to help you, get you on your feet, and working with Fred, deep down, I knew it was a mistake.” Jughead stood, in the room where his father sat on a local police station bed, trying to deal with all the emotions that were running through his system.

“Should have listened to your gut.” FP simply replied. He looked almost bored, but at the same time, looked like he was holding back tears.

Jug turned to the cell, looking at his father with great sadness and anger. “You really had me.” He sighed and could feel his eyes water, but pushed the feeling back. “Cleaning the trailer. Convincing me that you had quit drinking. Putting Juniper’s photos back on the wall. I was so happy, for the first time in so long. You paid attention to me. Let’s be honest. The only reason you even read my manuscript about Jason’s murder, was to make sure I wasn’t onto you.  And you didn’t want to take me to Toledo to get the family back together. You wanted to get away. You wanted to run away.”

“I did what I had to do! What I always do!”

Furious, Jug stood up from his seat. “Are you even sorry?”

Forcing himself to be the bad guy, FP got up slowly from the uncomfortable cot and walked over to Jug. Putting on a serious face he replied, “Sorry I got caught. We done?” Jughead turned and began to walk away before his dad called him back. “Look at me, Jughead! Never come back here! Understand?” FP was beginning to lose it, but he couldn’t do that in front of Jughead when there was so much on the table. So, he held it back. He shook with anger, with fear, with sadness, but he held on and stayed strong. However his eyes wavered and Jughead caught sight of the broken alliance between FP’s posture and the windows to his soul.

Before leaving completely, with a new sense of revelation, Jughead simply stated, “Got it.” And left with no further need of an explanation.

It was late at night on July 11th, when Joaquin got a call from FP; talking about some “clean up job.”

Joaquin quickly left his trailer, heading down to the Whyte Wyrm where he found FP in the basement and Jason Blossom on the floor in a pool of his blood. Joaquin turned to FP’s stone face with shock, but kept his mouth shut even though his mind was screaming at him.

FP walked towards Joaquin, trash bag and mop in hand. “Don’t worry, I called an expert.” Joaquin was confused by FP’s statement. An expert? In what? Burying Northsiders? Joaquin’s parade of questions was quickly answered when he heard a car door slam outside and a familiar face walk down to the basement. Juniper Jones, his childhood (and current) best friend. Now he understood FP. Juniper Jones was known around the Serpents for being the best to call when one needed to get rid of evidence or move it. She was a master at framing others and knew her way around twisting others words to get what she wanted.

Joaquin knew her talent first hand. Hell, it wasn't too long ago that the two set out to Greendale for a drug deal gone wrong. Joaquin has had that memory crawling around in his head longer than any vocabulary word ever could.

Juniper sighed heavily when she got to the bottom of the basement stairs. FP walked over to her, bringing her into a hug before whispering something in her ear. The eldest Jones never told Joaquin what words were shared between her and her father, and he assumed that she was planning on keeping it that way. After a quick hello to Joaquin and a small, quiet “I’ll tell you later,” the trio set off to work. FP and Joaquin gathered and wrapped Jason’s body before placing it in a freezer, while Juniper searched the basement for any evidence that could link them to the murder. At one point of looking back, Joaquin saw Juniper with a small box and lighter fluid. There was no question in his mind to what she was doing. However, the ongoing thought of “She shouldn’t be here,” did ring through his mind obsessively.

When the deed was down, it was early, early morning and time for Juniper to head back to Greendale or wherever it was that she had placed herself in hiding. FP gave her a quick thanks and kiss on the cheek before heading back towards the bar, leaving the two childhood friends by their lonesome selfs. Joaquin desperately wanted to ask the many questions that burned in his head, but wasn’t exactly sure how to phrase them without sounding like a total ass. Therefore, when Juniper saw the look of distraught on his face, she wrapped him in a hug and pulled him in close.

“I know it doesn’t make sense,” she told him, the first thing she had said to him in three hours. “But, I want you to know, when I got the call from my father about a clean up job, I was praying that you would be there to do it with me.” She pulled away from the hug, wiping away a small tear that had escaped her eyes and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. “If you ever need anything, and I mean anything Joaquin, don’t hesitate to call. I will always be there for my family, no matter what.” With that, she kissed him on the cheek and walked back to her car, looking around to make sure no one saw her. When the coast was clear, she drove off, but not without a small wave and a sign that only Joaquin knew.

Low and behold, when Joaquin checked his jacket pocket he found a flash drive with a small note, reading: “Just in case.”

“You gotta tell your friends to stop before they get hurt.” Joaquin told Kevin outside of the bus. Joaquin was leaving Riverdale. It was about time he did what Juniper suggested he do right after they went to Greendale. Leave. She told him. Leave and never come back. Avoid the inevitable for as long as you possibly can. Sometimes, he wished that he took her advice sooner.

“You really don’t know them at all, do you?” Kevin replied, slightly laughing at the thought. Sadly, his smile disappeared quickly, realizing the truth. “Just like I don’t know you.” Saddened at the thought, Joaquin gave a tight smile and walked away, heading towards the bus door. Before he could get to the steps, Kevin called him back, grabbing his face and kissing him one last time.

“I’m gonna miss you preppy.” Joaquin sighed and got on the bus, but he stopped as the ongoing thought of the flash drive that Juniper gave to him ran through his mind. He turned back, deciding this was a fine goodbye gift to give to Kevin. “Look, I didn’t want to say this in front of your friends, but there’s something else.”

“Whatever it is we’re looking for, Joaquin didn’t know if it would help your dad, or make things worse.” Kevin confessed to Betty and Jughead. After Joaquin turned back to Kevin, he revealed that the day that FP called him for the Jason Blossom clean up job, Juniper Jones was there as well, whom he had kept out of the story for everyone’s sake. Joaquin also told Kevin about the duffel that Juniper had placed in the woods just outside of town. Apparently, she told Joaquin to use it for any evidence that he didn’t want to “get rid of,” but didn’t want to hand over to the cops. Leading to this fateful night.

“Um, guess we’re going to find out.” Betty replied, trudging through the snow. “And why did he wait so long to tell us?”

“FP called him from jail.” Kevin explained. “Told him to forget about their plan, some contingency plan. He said it was too dangerous.” He sighed before continuing, wondering if it was worth the trouble to say; but when Jughead turned and gave him a questioning look, Kevin carried on. “Joaquin also said that he was worried your sister was going to find out.”

“My sister?” Jughead questioned, instant worry flooding him. “What does Jellybean have to do with this?”

Kevin shook his head. “Not Jellybean. Juniper.”

Jughead took a step closer to Kevin. “What are you talking about? Juniper wasn’t even in Riverdale the night Jason was killed. She was off in Toledo with my mom and Jellybean.”

Once again, Kevin shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “No, she wasn’t. According to Joaquin, she helped him and FP with their little clean up job. He told me about her reputation amongst the Serpents; how she’s the person to call to help get rid of evidence.”

“Wait, what does that have to do with Joaquin being worried about Juniper?” Betty asked.

Kevin looked down at his hand, suddenly finding them very interesting. “Joaquin believes that Juniper might, I repeat might, have been involved in Jason’s murder. He was worried that someone was going to point the finger at her because she left so suddenly and was connected to the Serpents. And since the majority of the town believes that FP killed Jason, the likelihood of her being an accomplice was quite high. Even though she was “out of town,” Joaquin says that she’s done things like this before.”

Jughead walked closer to Kevin, causing Kevin to take a step back. “She’s done what things before? Murder? You think Juniper, my sister, killed Jason Blossom? Why? They didn’t even go to the same school!”

“Jug-” Betty tried to call.

“No, Betty! Kevin thinks my sister is a murderer!”

“Tell me Jug, how much do you actually know about your sister, huh?” Kevin rapidly asked. “Joaquin told me that you and FP had no idea that she was even associated with the Serpents until she was sixteen. By that time, she had been in the gang for three years. For three years you didn’t know that your sister was in a gang. And Joaquin told me-”

“Oh Joaquin told you!” Jughead interrupted.

“Yes, Joaquin told me!”

“How can you trust what he told you?” Jughead seethed. He was beyond angry that anyone would ever believe that his hero, Juniper Jones would ever commit murder. Yes, Juniper hid a lot of things from Jughead, but she would never kill someone, especially someone that she didn’t even know. “He was involved in a clean up job with my dad and didn’t tell you about it until today!”

“Your sister was also involved in that clean up job, Jughead!” Kevin practically yelled. “Look, I’m not saying that Juniper killed Jason, but she might’ve had something to do with him being locked up in the bar’s basement. Joaquin and Juniper have been friends for years, and he told me a lot of things about her that I bet you don’t even know.”

“Things like what?” Jughead spat. He tried to remain calm, but his heart was racing from hearing the awful lies Kevin told him of his sister. “What could Joaquin possibly tell you about my sister that would make you believe she had something to do with this?”

Kevin paused. He knew he had to tell Jughead the terrible truth, but it was hard to say, and Kevin wasn’t sure if he was ready for Jughead’s reaction. Still, he knew he had to finish what he started. “I-”

“Guys look!” Betty called, interrupting the tension filled conversation. Kevin was quite relieved, but knew that this wasn’t the end. Jughead turned towards Betty and saw her holding a duffel bag. The duffel bag that Joaquin was talking about. Jughead sighed and put his hand out, silently asking Betty for the bag. She handed it to him, but not without a weary look. Ignoring the look from Betty, Jughead unzipped the duffel and pulled out a letterman’s jacket. Jason’s letterman jacket.

“This is meant to help FP?” Archie asked, confused and concerned. The group of teen sleuths stared at the varsity jacket that once belonged to Jason Blossom.

“I don’t know.” Kevin answered, slightly shaking his head. “Looks like more incriminating evidence to me.”

“Yeah, this just confirms that my dad torched Jason’s getaway car.” Jughead pitched in. He was still mad at Kevin, but had calmed down quite a bit since then.

Kevin nodded, hearing the hurt in Jughead’s voice and regretting everything he said about Juniper. “And that his confession was true.”

“Why would FP say Jason’s varsity jacket is dangerous?” Betty questioned. “What could that mean?”

“I can ask my father,” a new voice chimed in. The group all turned, revealing Veronica to be the source. “He would know, considering we found concrete proof that he hired the Serpents to kill Jason. Which probably means that your dad pulled the trigger, Jughead. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, Veronica. At least it wasn’t my sister.” Jughead mumbled only loud enough for Kevin to hear. Who in turn, looked at the ground, a grim smile on his face.

The room was silent as everyone’s minds settled on the facts. However it didn’t stay silent for long, when Betty spoke up. “No. No!” she simply said. “No, I’m not giving up yet.” She picked up Jason’s jacket and examined it, flipping it around before holding it up to Archie. “Put his on.” she told him, leaving no room for arguments.

“What?” Archie asked.

“Put it on.” she simply replied.

Against the idea of putting on a dead teen’s jacket, Archie commented “Betty, this is weird.” But still slipped his arms into the sleeves.

She stepped behind Archie, slipping her hands into the pockets. She felt around in them, searching, grasping for anything that could solve the question of why this jacket was so damn important. Going into the left pocket, she noticed something weird. “There’s a hole in the pocket.” Realization flashing on her face.

Okay, now we’re just grasping at straws…” Kevin started, done with whatever Betty was cooking up.

“Okay, no. I don’t know about you guys, but whenever I have a hole in my jacket pocket, I always lose my chapstick in the lining.” Betty continued to search through the jacket, silently praying that something, anything would pop up. Luckily, something did. After a little more rummaging around, Betty pulled out a small, silver flash drive.

“What the hell?”

That night, Sheriff Keller and Mayor McCoy saw what we watched in Archie’s garage. Jason, tied to a chair, in the basement of a bar, on the Southside of Riverdale, while a Serpent, Mustang, taunted him. Then, the unthinkable. Later, we would learn why my father confessed. Because Clifford Blossom visited him on the night of his arrest, with a threat. That I, Jughead Jones, would suffer the same fate as Jason Blossom, if my father didn’t confess. My dad was protecting me from a monster, and the nightmare was far from over. And our families, far from repaired. And though one question had been answered that night, that it was Clifford Blossom who killed Jason, a new mystery loomed over Riverdale. Why had he done it? It was a question only Clifford himself would be able to answer.

Please write me back June. I miss you and need good news.