"Max, get up. You can't sleep during sleepovers. Max. Max. Max. Ma-"

"If you poke me one more time, I will make you sleep on the doormat." I threatened, tugging the comforter over my head and snuggling into the pillow.

Sam pouted, her brown hair falling over her eyes, "But I waited for you in the cold."

"You," I slapped her hand away as she touched my shoulder, "feel asleep on the front porch. I didn't even know that you were coming over."

She grinned brightly at me as if she hadn't stopped me from sleeping at 12 AM on a school night, "That's because Reggie is out partying with Ronnie."

"What's that got to do with this?"

"He talks to me through the phone until we fall asleep. Or get drowsy."

I threw the comforter off of me and turned to her, "You mean, you see each other-"

Sam cleared her throat.

"-meet each other at school, practically spend the whole day together and then you talk on the phone till midnight?"

"We also go for occasional strolls in the park when he's not at football practise."

I gave her an incredulous look, "You guys sure do have a lot to talk about."

"Not really," The brunette shrugged, "He talks about his football practise, how he sucks at Chemistry and we occasionally talk about food."

"…Food?"

She nodded excitedly, "Yeah, I didn't know that they draw on the latte foam. Apparently they draw monkeys and weird designs, you k-"

"I know what you're talking about, Sam."

"Exactly!" She snapped her fingers, "I've never seen foam art. Or these new freak shakes that the diner has. So Reggie and I are making a list of all the food I have to see…and preferably see when I get my eyesight back."

For a moment I was stumped.

'Get my eyesight back'?

"Umm.." I hesitated, "Get your…eyesight…?"

Sam laughed gleefully, "Yeah, I can get my eyes operated! It's got something to do with the nerves in the eyes."

Blinking out of astonishment, I tried to digest what had just been told to me, "If…if you can get your sight back…then why..?"

"Why haven't I done so till now?" She hummed, "Well, we don't have the money. We could barely afford our house uptown so we had to shift to the Southside after Hugo left. So I'm saving up. I got time."

I frowned, "You sure you have enough time to save up for the treatment?"

"Hey," She flopped face first on the pillow on her side, narrowly missing the headboard, "There's still a few years until graduation. I say we have plenty of time."

I shook my head, laughing lightly, "Well, that's good then. Now, we're gonna sleep."

"But-"

"We have school, Sam. Go the fuck to sleep."

"Yeesh. Buzzkill."

I pulled on the hem of my sweater, as I weaved through the crowd of humans. For reasons obvious, Sam and I had to run all the way to school. Well, we didn't do much of running, actually. Because I hate running. We power walked because Sam was complaining the entire time.

"Max, don't run!"

"If we don't then we'll be late."

"AAH! Don't run, I can't see! I'm blind!"

"I'm not runni-"

"You deserted me, you traitor!"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I'M RIGHT NEXT TO YOU."

The moment I spotted Kevin, I shoved Sam into his arms and stalked off to find Jughead. I saw Archie and Betty standing near the lockers talking when the blonde waved at me.

"Max!"

I walked up to them, "Hey, guys. Wha-"

"Jughead just walked into the Blue and Gold office a few seconds ago." Archie grinned ear to ear and Betty let out a hearty chuckle.

I groaned, hiding my face in my hands, "I swear if another person makes me look like some attention cravin…g-" I lifted my head and my gaze fell on Sherriff Keller and Weatherbee, with Jughead in tow.

Betty and Archie followed my line of sight and Jughead lifted his head with a panicked look on his face.

"Call my dad." He spoke hurriedly, making eye contact with us.

"On it."

"Of course."

The three of us had taken turns, trying to phone but to no avail. I paced up and down the corridor as Betty tried again one last time.

"It's not ringing." The blonde announced.

Archie ran his fingers through his hair, "Now what?"

"I'll call my dad." I fumbled with the numbers on my phone as Archie copied me, dialling Mr. Andrews' number.

Dad picked up after three rings.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" was the first thing he asked.

My heart was beating too loud out of worry, "Dad, how fast can you come over to school?"

Assessing the tone of my voice, he asked, alarmed, "What's wrong?"

"Sherriff Keller, he took Jughead to the station for questioning. It didn't look good. Principal Weatherbee was with them too. Mr. Jones isn't picking up. Can you take us to the police station?"

"Yeah, hang on, Max. I'll be in there in five." He hung up and I pocketed my phone.

Betty was tugging on her jacket as Archie finished talking to his dad.

"Dad said he'll go look for Mr. Jones." The redhead informed us.

I fidgeted with the strap of my messenger bag, "My dad said he's coming to school."

"Let's go then."

The three of us sprinted out of school and sure enough, after five minutes, dad had pulled up his Fiat in the parking lane.

Archie sat in the front as Betty and I sat in the back of the car. The blonde had her palms balled into tight fists. I lay my hand over hers, forcing her to open her fist.

"It's going to be fine." I chewed on my lower lip, trying to reassure her. But it sounded as if I was trying to convince myself.

By the time we reached our destination, Mr. Andrews was already there, leaning against his truck. Archie bolted out of the car, towards him and dad followed.

"They're questioning him." Mr. Andrews nodded towards the building.

"And Mr. Jones?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

He shook his head, "Couldn't find him down at the site. He's not at work. Left him a couple of messages."

After waiting a while, an officer stepped out, telling us that one of us could go see him while the adults had to talk to the Sherriff. Betty and Archie turned to me.

I shook my head, "Right now, he needs someone who knows what to say because I'm pretty sure he's scared beyond belief. Betty, you should go."

"No, Max, you-" She protested but I cut her off by placing my hand on her shoulder.

"I'll just make things worse with my motor-mouth. Just tell him that I'm right outside with Archie, okay?"

The blonde nodded and followed the officer inside.

"Fred, you go talk to Keller." Dad gestured at Mr. Andrews, "I'll try to reach FP."

Mr. Andrews nodded and hurried to the Sherriff's office, with Archie following him. I leaned against the car, biting my nails as dad tried again and again to call Mr. Jones. He suddenly let out a cry.

"FP! Thank fu- Hurry down to the station, will you? Don't ask questions." Keeping the call short, dad hung up.

Few moments later, the three, along with Jughead walked down the stairs. I scampered towards him. He wrapped his arms around me as I pressed a fleeting kiss to his temple. Pulling back, he stayed close to me while holding my hand.

"Jughead!" We turned our heads to see Mr. Jones cantered towards us, clearly hungover, "I'm sorry. I came as soon as I got your messages." Chuckling he continued, "My phone, the friggin' battery. I forgot to plug it in last night." He stood there casually, "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing." Jughead was quick to answer, "It's fine now. Mr. Andrews took care of it."

Mr. Jones's face morphed into rage, "What jacked-up crap did they accuse you of in there, huh? Those bastards trying to throw you in jail like they did your old man?" His voice grew more louder and terrifying, "Well, screw that. I will rip Keller a new one for trying to pull that."

He tried to make his way up the stairs when my dad and Mr. Andrews blocked his path.

"FP, settle down." Mr. Andrews grabbed him by the shoulders but got shoved away harshly.

"Hey! Hey!" Mr. Jones continued to push Archie's dad away as Jughead continued to look on, helplessly. "This is my son, he is my son, Fred! You'd do the same-"

What I never expected in my wildest dreams was for my father to step up and grab someone who looked as frightening as FP Jones by the collar.

"Calm the fuck down, FP." Dad used a voice that I had never heard before, "Look at your son and then at yourself. Realize what you're putting your boy through."

Mr. Jones mouth was twisted into a sneer but before he could shoot a retort, dad shook him harshly, "Look at him." And with that, he released Mr. Jones as if something had shocked him.

I had long since let go of Jughead. I had never seen him like this, so close to tears.

"Dad." He stepped towards his father, "Don't make things worse. Please." Jughead pleaded and realization dawned upon his father's face and he sobered up.

"Yeah" Mr. Jones nodded and threw glance at us, "Yeah, all right, then." He started to back away and walked past us, "You, uh, coming home with me?"

Archie interjected from beside me, "He can stay with us, Mr. Jones. We already offered."

Mr. Jones turned, "Is that what you want?" Jughead looked away, hesitating, "Maybe that's for the best. If you don't mind, Fred."

Mr. Andrews looked over his shoulder, "Whatever you want, FP. It's between the two of you." Dad and he shared a look.

"I-I'll go with you, Dad." Jughead voiced, not looking up from the ground.

Betty wrapped her arm around mine, stopping me from going to him as Jughead walked dejectedly towards his dad. Mr Jones placed his arms on his shoulders.

He sniffled once, "Son, listen to me. I'm gonna do what you want, get my act together. I'm gonna get your mom and Jellybean home so we're all under the same roof. I promise. But I-I just need a little time to do that. Not a lot, not long, a month, two at the most. Hey. And then we'll be back on track, all right? You-you believe that, don't you?"

"Yeah, I believe you, Dad." With that, Mr. Jones pressed his forehead against Jughead's, and they embraced.

Mr. Jones pushed Jughead away and tried to stagger away when my dad went after him.

"Get in the car. I'll drop you home. No, don't argue, FP. Just do as I say."

Jughead watched as dad drove Mr. Jones away and then turned, wiping his face with his sleeve. I hurried forward to him and he was quick to place his hand on my bicep. I nudged his nose with mine.

"Come on, let's go and get your stuff."

Oh my god, how many years has it been?

Jk, it's been a couple of months. And I'm so so so sorry for this delay. College has sucked out what little happiness I had left in me. Yes, I've made great friends and I've been trying to keep up my grades but my course is just. So. Damn. Difficult.

Hello, new readers! Hello again, my old readers who are probably used to my sudden disappearances.

I'll be really honest with all of you. I'm extremely glad that I'm getting such a wonderful response to this story. It makes me happy and a teensy bit important. I haven't gotten back to writing as often as I used to before but I will certainly try my best to catch up. I've been through a lot in these past months and to be frank, my mental health is better than before but at the same time, I'm still in pain. I'm not looking for sympathy of any sorts. I'm just stating the reason for my delay in writing and updating my story.

On a different note, how have you all been? How is your school/college/job/life treating you? Did you all have a good Thanksgiving?

WHO'S LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS AYYY

*ahem* sorry

Anyway, do let me know about this chapter. Or thoughts in general about the story so far. Leave a review. Favorite. Follow. Send me an IM, feel free to rant about anything and everything. I love talking to people.

See you all soon!(Hopefully)