Chapter One

"Hey, you okay?" A soft knock on his office door pulled Jughead Jones out of his thoughts and he tore his attention away from the worn out picture he held in his hands. His eyes met his closest friend, Veronica's, and he sighed as he shook his head.

"I don't know, V." he muttered as he set the picture down, a teenage image of himself and his best friend, Archie Andrews, smiling back at him from a booth in Pop's from a time that felt so long ago. Jughead slid the picture in the top drawer of his desk and Veronica walked over to him, taking his hands and pulling him to his feet.

"You know if you don't go you'll regret it. This is your last chance to say goodbye, Jones." Veronica said as she reached up and straightened his tie, smoothing the collar of his black button up shirt down and walking a full circle to make sure nothing was out of place.

"I'm going to a funeral, not a date."

"You still need to look like you didn't just walk out of a bar."

"That's exactly what I'm going to be doing." he grumbled and Veronica reached up, pulling his gray crowned beanie off of his head, "Hey!"

"Calm down, I'm making sure you actually combed your hair today.

"I'm fine." he snapped and snatched the beanie back, sliding it on his head and feeling a wayward lock of hair escape and brush against his forehead, "My best friend may have died but I can still function."

"I'm just making sure. Ready to go?" she asked as she looked down at her knee length black dress and smoothing out any wrinkles. He nodded in response and followed her outside, waving to his bartender and letting him know he wouldn't be returning until after opening. A chilly breeze swept through the parking lot of the Whyte Wyrm, Veronica shivering and pulling her black pea coat on over the sleeveless dress. Her high heels tapped loudly against the pavement as they rushed to her SUV, Jughead opening the passenger door for her. She thanked him as she tossed him the keys and he hurried to get in and start the car as she checked her watch.

"If there's no traffic we'll make it with a minute or two to spare." she said as Jughead hurried out of the parking spot and rolled on to the main road. He took the fastest route he could think of to get to Sweetwater Cemetery, Veronica fussing as he blew through a few yellow lights that had turned red as he was entering the intersections. He shrugged her off as he turned onto the little two lane road that led to Riverdale's final resting place and filed in line behind a caravan of cars that were headed in the same direction. His fingers drummed the steering wheel impatiently, his stomach churning as he saw the wrought iron arch ahead that marked the entrance to the cemetery. His hands felt sweaty and clammy, his heart beating rapidly as the cars passed one by one under the entrance.

"Whoa, Jones, you look like you're gonna hurl." Veronica gasped as she reached over and felt his forehead, "You're paler than normal."

"I just don't know if I can do this, V."

"You can, I promise you can. I'm right here next to you, we don't even have to go to the reception afterwards. Just make it through the graveside service and we can go." He inhaled sharply and nodded, her knuckles going white as they passed under the arch and into the quiet graveyard. He parked off the side of the road behind a line of cars and they stepped out, Jughead brushing off his black dress pants and falling into step with Veronica as they made their way to the group of mourners gathered around a dark blue funeral tent.

"Stilettos were a bad idea." Veronica muttered as she grabbed Jughead's arm and tried to keep her heels from sinking into the well manicured grass. It had rained nearly every day that week since Jughead received the devastating phone call that his former best friend had been crushed to death by a suspended load of support beams that had broken loose. A new guy on the crew hadn't been paying attention where he was walking and walked right under the load, Archie running and pushing him out of the way when they heard the cables give. Unfortunately, he hadn't been fast enough to save himself and had died almost immediately. They reached the growing group and Veronica pulled him over to a nearly empty spot, Jughead feeling his face pale again at the sight of the dark mahogany casket that lay suspended over the open vault. A large assortment of red and white flowers lay on the top of the closed casket and Jughead felt a pricking in his eyes as he choked back the tears that he was surprised were surfacing.

No, he shouldn't be surprised.

Little Archie at eight years old had run up to the weirdo loner kid in ripped pants that were almost too short and an oversized t-shirt that had seen better days, a bubbly blonde girl in tow who had been just as happy to see him.

"Hey, you wanna come play on the monkey bars with us?" Archie had offered as they stopped in front of the swingset where he sat by himself.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Jughead asked as he eyed them suspiciously. No one had ever wanted to play with him before so why now all of a sudden?

"No, it's for real! You look like you could use a friend so how about two?" the little red head urged and the blonde smiled, rustling around in her back pack and pulling out a pack of snack cakes and a juice pouch.

"Come on, we can share my snack." she had offered and from that day forward Archie, Jughead, and the little blonde girl known as Betty Cooper had been inseparable.

"There are so many people here." Veronica said as she pulled him from his past. Jughead looked over at a large group of men that he recognized from their high school days, all of them wearing their Riverdale High Letterman jackets as honor to the fallen brother who had once played football beside them. He recognized the squad of River Vixens that used to cheer for the football team back them, the girls standing right next to the alumni football players and talking quietly among themselves. He recognized a few of Archie's extended family he had seen a few times during the holidays when he stayed at the Andrews' house when it was too hard to deal with his drunken father. His eyes moved to the tent where immediate family sat directly behind the casket. He saw Mary, Archie's mother, her vibrant red hair starting to streak ever so lightly with silver. Fred sat on her right, his hair thinning and already a salt and pepper look taking over the brown.

And then there she was. Shoulder length blonde locks lay loose in soft waves, framing her sad pale face. What were once bright emeralds for eyes were now a dull, dark green and they lay fixed to the casket.

Betty Cooper.

Actually, Betty Andrews since she and Archie had wed straight out of college. Four years later Jughead still had that invitation stashed somewhere at his old trailer, but he never made it to the wedding, a choice he was starting to regret.

"She still looks the same as the day we graduated high school." Veronica said as she followed Jughead's gaze to their old friend. He remembered their last meal they ate together at Pop's, the night before they all left for their respective colleges they had been accepted in to.

The preacher took his place by the casket, clearing his throat and silencing the whispering crowd.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming today." he began, Jughead staring at the casket and the rest of the world just falling away.

"Okay, we have to promise that on holidays and summer break we come back here and do this." Archie said as Pop sat their milkshakes down, the other three nodding in agreement, "I don't want us growing apart."

"I don't think that's possible." Jughead said as he reached over and swiped the cherry off of Betty's milkshake, smiling as he popped it off the stem and into his mouth. She scooped some whip cream on her finger and flung it at him, laughing as it landed on his cheek and splattered a little in Veronica's raven hair.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much." Betty said sadly and Archie wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head and giving her a comforting squeeze.

"It's only temporary, B, we'll be back here before you know it. Nothing can keep us apart." Veronica reassured her, Archie and Jughead picking up their glasses to signify a toast.

"To the best of friends forever." Archie said and the four clinked their glasses together.

"Oh. My. God." Veronica muttered as her hand shot over and squeezed Jughead's arm.

"What?" he asked as she brought her hand to her mouth and tears rimmed her big brown eyes, "Ronnie, what?"

"Oh God, poor Betty. I didn't know." she whimpered and Jughead turned his attention to the tent where the immediate family was standing as the casket was slowly being lowered into the cement vault.

"What are you talking abo-." he stopped before he could finish as he watched Betty turn to leave with Mary and Fred, her black dress tight around a small round belly.