Chapter 26: In Unity, There is Strength

Jughead looked down at the bottle of beer that Sweet Pea had handed him and tried to his fingers through the pale amber liquid. This was the first time that they had talked since that day in the hospital. He had no idea what was about to go down, he just hoped they weren't about to have a fist fight at his dad's wedding reception.

Sweet Pea leaned against the bar and sighed before he began. He had to lay it all out for Jughead now, too. He had so many opportunities to bury the hatchet because Jughead was around him every single day. He was finally ready to forgive him.

"I've been thinking a lot lately, man," he said, taking a drink. "I wanted to, you know, say I am sorry. I think I fucked up."

"Um, OK? What are we talking about here?"

"I quit on you. Walked out on my family. It was not the right thing to do. I was just so hurt by you, man. I was heartbroken."

"It's my fault, Pea. You were right. I was the leader, you should have been able to trust me, rely on me. And worse, I was a shitty friend. To both you and Betty. I let shit get in my head' I guess I really wasn't over her."

"I get it. I don't blame you anymore."

"So what is this? Amends?"

"Can we be friends again?" Sweet Pea said extending a hand to him.

Jughead shook it but answered "No." Sweet Pea gave him a quizzical look as Jughead added, "Brothers. Whether you wear your jacket or not, we are still family. We're good."

"Good. The thing is though, I want to try and work things out with her; I have to ask, you are sure everything is over between you and Betty?"

"Yeah I think she made it pretty clear she is no longer interested in me," he said shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Do I want to even know what you mean by that?"

"Uh," Jughead stammered. Shit, he thought. This was probably the last thing that Sweet Pea needed to hear, but no more lies. "We hooked up once and it was terrible. She told me it was just her trying to get over you."

"That's something, I guess."

"Don't let it bother you. Not like you were sitting on the bench this whole time."

Sweet Pea frowned. Everything is always complicated. Jughead was so right about that. He had slept with any girl that came his way over the last few months, just trying to bone Betty out of his system. He was just going to have to let that go too.

"You're right. We were broken up; whatever happened then, just happened. It's all in the past now."

"Some of the past is hard to let go of. I have to warn you, Betty is not the same person she was before. She acts different. Like she's... haunted."

Sweet Pea cocked his head to the side and took another sip of his beer. Haunted? What could that even mean? Jughead saw the questions in his eyes and continued on.

"We've been texting, you know, off an on since she went to the city. She needed to get away, to try and process everything that happened. But I will tell you one thing; There are two people that she has not been able to get out of her mind. One of them is you, but the other one is Penny. It's like even though she knows Penny deserved it, she can't let go that she killed her. It's like, it has eaten away at her spirit. Seeing you here was the first time in a long time I have seen her smile for real. I think it's been really tough for her."

"I really suck, don't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"All I cared about was that it was over. I never even considered what she was going through."

"You are here now and she is still going through it. I just hope she will let you try to help her. God knows I've tried."

"I'll do what I can. I love her, you know?"

"I know, man, I know," he said punching him lightly on the shoulder.

Sweet Pea cracked a smile and laughed and then took another drink. He would never, ever admit it, but he had missed Jughead. At least a little. They had made a great team; hopefully they could still make a friendship work when they didn't have the Serpents in common anymore. He finished off his drink as he saw out of the corner of his eye that Betty was grabbing her shawl and heading out of the bar. He wondered where she was going but he thought better than to follow her; she hadn't asked him to come.

When Betty got outside she saw that Colt was sitting out on the back deck alone smoking a cigarette. She hadn't known that he smoked. AS she approached, he threw it down on the ground and stamped it out before standing up, hands in his suit coat pocket.

Betty was embarrassed by how she was treating him; he had come to Riverdale because she asked and she had told him that she had an open mind about their relationship. And then she left him to go hook up with her ex. He had every right to hate her in this moment and the way he was looking at her, she surmised like that was exactly how he felt about her.

He kicked a pebble around in front of him for a moment before clearing his throat. "I'm assuming that was the guy."

"Yeah," she said sheepishly, repositioning her shawl around her shoulders.

"You guys are getting back together?"

God, she thought, this was murder. Could she twist the knife harder? "Yeah."

He pursed his lips and shook his head in disappointment. "He's lucky that I am a gentleman. Most Serpents would kick his ass for being dishonored by another, you know? It's a dick move."

"In his defense, he didn't know about you."

"You should count yourself lucky, too. Crossing me is unwise."

"Colt!" she exclaimed, scared.

"Don't worry; I will not start anything with you. At least not right now. But you are close to making us, your brothers, an enemy."

"Colt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you."

"It's too late for all of that now. I think I am just going to hitch to the train station. Do you think you could come with me to get my bag?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"It's weird now; isn't it?"

"Yeah. Maybe I can get Jughead to take you instead? And he could take you to the train."

"Yeah, that might be better," he said.

She went inside and found Jughead, who was now joking around with Sweet Pea and Toni. Of course, Jughead agreed to take Colt; Betty told him exactly what Colt had said about them potentially not being friendly with them in the future and Jughead said he would try to smooth things over. He told his dad that he had to work and he understood, saying good bye. Colt loitered in the doorway as Jughead went back to the office to trade his suit coat for his leathers.

When Jughead arrived back at the reception an hour or so later, things were winding down but he was at least able to say things with Colt had gone well. On their ride, they had realized they had a lot in common and had come to an understanding. Jughead went out on a limb for Sweet Pea, saying he truly had meant no dishonor, he was just nursing heart break. After cooling down, Colt knew he was right and even though it hurt to admit, he knew Betty was going through the same thing. Before he boarded the train, the two men exchanged numbers just in case they needed each other's back someday and then shook hands. Jughead felt that it was a sincere gesture and even though the other man's hand maybe lingered a bit longer than it should have he left with sense of accomplishment and an eased mind.

Jughead saw his friends hanging out in the parking lot as he pulled in and headed over to join them after putting the station wagon in park. They told him that his dad and Alice were getting ready to head out for their week at Niagara Falls and they needed the stash of bubbles he had been keeping in his office. He quickly retrieved them and without a second thought he grabbed something out of the closet and slung it over his shoulder.

"Ouch," Sweet Pea chirped five minutes later when he was blindsided in the face. Something warm and familiar was sliding down his chest when he was able to finally see it, he realized it was his old jacket and there was Jughead walking past him like nothing happened. Betty busted out with a loud giggle as she saw the puzzled look on his face.

Jughead put down the box of bubbles and shrugged. "It doesn't feel right just hanging in my closet. You can put it on. Or not. It's still yours."

"Thanks, man," he said looking at it in his hands as the inner thoughts started.

He knew what it meant if he put it on. He was back in the club and everything was back to normal; but did he really want to go back there? He was doing OK on his own. He paid his rent. He was learning a trade. He was going to work on things with Betty. What else did he really need?

In the distance there was a loud bang that startled them all. Veronica all but jumped in Archie's arms as the rest of them turned towards the sound. Flames blazed not too far away in the direction of Sunnyside. They all looked at one another and they all silently agreed to go and see what had happened at a run.

Rounding the corner, Toni was the first to know what had happened when she saw the blown out windows of the trailer engulfed in flames. "Drug lab," she whispered. On the ground in front there were words spray painted across the sidewalk: This is your only warning.

"I thought the Ghoulies or whatever were gone?" Archie said looking to Jughead.

"They were supposed to be."

Veronica's lips parted in nervousness. "I don't think it was Ghoulies. I think it's my dad or someone who works for him. Telling you he is in charge of the South Side. All of Riverdale."

"That. That is not happening," Jughead replied.

"What are you going to do, Jug?" Toni asked him still mesmerized by the sight in from of them.

Jughead balled up his fists in anger before grabbing off his hat and turned away. He let out a yell that echoed throughout the mostly empty trailer park. He turned back around to look at his friends. He couldn't let them down.

The girls didn't even have to look at each other. They took a step forward and Toni spoke for them, "Whatever you are going to do. We are in."

Jughead felt relief and nervous at the same time. Toni and Betty, they needed him to be their strong leader. All of the South Side did.

"Us too. Someone has to stop my dad," Veronica said.

There was only one person there left who hadn't spoken. Jughead looked in Sweet Pea's eyes last to see what he was going to do. He couldn't blame him if he wanted to sit this one out. They had just gotten out of one conflict and he finally had his stuff together.

Without breaking eyes contact Sweet Pea took a deep breath. He knew what he had to do. He slipped on the jacket he had been holding onto, tighter than he had realized, and gave Jughead a determined look back. He stepped up and grabbed Betty's hand. "What do we do? We go to war. Together."