she got the best of me.

Sweetpea nodded his head and followed Toni. She was right, they had turned their backs on a fellow Serpent which broke code number 5 and they easily could’ve been reported. But Amery hadn’t reported them and they did owe her. A lot. They owed her a much better apology than they’d given so far and a show of support. He just really hoped they could earn her forgiveness.

Sweetpea shook his head at Amery, “if it’s okay we’d like to stay and help,” he said getting a vibe that she needed help. Plus from his understanding she’d been dealing with all of this on her own for a while now and that had to be hard so the least they could do was help and take some of the strain away. If she’d let them.

---

“I agree. It feels more like your dad is an easy target because he’s part of a gang that has a bad name. And from what I’ve heard about the Blossoms I’d have to say they sound strange,” Teagan told him wishing that there was something she could do to help get Jughead’s dad out of jail. It really wasn’t fair if he was innocent, and she was sure it was hard for Jughead to see his dad like that too. Teagan could still remember when her own parents had been arrested, and it was something that haunted her honestly.

Teagan laughed softly and shook her head. “They aren’t going to care, and if they do say anything we can simply remind them that your dad is a Serpent. One we all admire a lot and I don’t know that he’d really appreciate any of us turning our backs on you. I know you’re not a member, and you may not want to join either but by association to your you have our protection. And they may not like it because they’re afraid that you’re going to try and take over the group, but they’ll just have to get over themselves,” she told him. She had asked him to move in because it felt right and it wasn’t fair for him not to have a home to go to and she had to use her Serpent sway she would.

@ Kol.

Amery was surprised that Toni and Sweetpea wanted to stay and help her with her father, but she nodded anyways. "I could use a little help." She said, agreeing to let the two help her. "Sweetpea, since you are stronger than me, can you help sit my dad a little more straighter so I can feed him better?" She asked him with a small smile. "And Toni, can you change the tv channel to the sports channel and then grab the extra blanket from the closet, please?" Amery asked and then thanked them both for helping her out.

After taking care of her dad for the moment, the three younger Serpents were now back in the kitchen just straightening it up for the time being. Although they were working together, the silence was awkward and Amery couldn't deal with it anymore. "So...now that everything is on the table between us...where do we go from here?" She said softly, looking down instead at the two fellow Serpents. She still felt a little intimidated by them, not knowing if they were going to repair their relationship.

---

Jughead knew that Teagan was sincere and it seemed that she really wanted him to have a better living situation. He knew that staying at Teagan's grandparents house would be better than staying at his current foster home or even going back to Riverdale. He knew that it wasn't the right time to go back to Riverdale and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to go back now that everyone over there are criminalizing his dad and claiming that he is going to follow the same footsteps.

Jughead placed a hand on top of Teagan's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You've only know me for half a day and you're the only one who seems to care. It's not that I don't think my friends care, but right now you are doing more than they are now." He told her truthfully and he was very grateful for her generosity. "So if you are willing to have me, I will take your offer. I promise I will help out around the house." Jughead smiled and then let go of Teagan's hand.

Sweetpea did as Amery asked him too in order to feel helpful. And as they all stood in the living room cleaning up a little even he felt slightly uneasy in the silence. He ran his fingers through his hair when Amery spoke first. “Toni and I were hoping that we could try and move forward to fixing our friendship,” he said hoping that she would be okay with that. After all, they’d all been best friends and he really did feel like the worlds biggest ass treating her the way he had.

“I know I also wanted to say thank you for not turning us in. I mean us turning our backs on you, especially over something so silly, could’ve gotten us kicked out of the Serpents since it was a break of code. And the fact that you didn’t means a lot. I know you could’ve, you still could, and maybe you had your reasons for not. Either way I know we’re grateful you didn’t,”

---

Teagan sent a smile in Jughead’s direction and squeezed his hand back. “I guess I just understand your situation. Both my parents are in prison with no chance at parol. So if my grandparents hadn’t stepped up to take me in I would’ve went into the system. And given that it was all over the news all over the country when they were arrested I’m sure my chances of landing in a good home wouldn’t have been good. After all, the apple doesn’t fall far from tree according to most people who don’t even know me. So I get it. It’s hard to be surrounded by people who want to help but don’t because they don’t know how,” she told him fully understanding what it was like to be in his situation. The only real difference was Teagan knew her parents deserved to be in prison because they just weren’t good people.

“Oh I’m sure my grandparents will love that one. They’re always looking for help around the house. Other than me of course,” she told him really happy she could help him out. But it felt like the least she could do for him. After all, he needed a good home to go to. “So Jughead tell me about yourself and your life in Riverdale, what are your friends like? Did you do any extra curriculars? Did or do you have a girlfriend there? Do you miss it? I mean I know you haven’t been gone long but it’s still possible to miss it,”

@ Kol.

Amery nodded and put away the last dish away in the cabinet before facing Toni and Sweetpea. "I would like to fix our friendship too." She said with a small soft smile, as she really wanted things between them to go back to normal. "I know I could have reported you two, but I didn't...I couldn't. I felt that if I did, then there would be no chance of us being friends ever again, especially since you guys are all I have left once my dad is gone." She admitted, looking away to prevent tears to fall from her eyes. Amery didn't want to seem weak or emotional towards them, but she couldn't help it. Amery was dealing with a lot when it came to her father's health, but she was also worried about what would happen to her when her father died. She was afraid where she would go, especially if she were to be placed in a foster home, and if she had to leave, she just wanted to know that she still had her friends to be there for her.

---

Hearing Teagan tell Jughead about the situation with her parents and how it was very similar to what he was dealing with, made it so much more comfortable to talk to the fellow Serpent. It was really the first time he met someone who was actually similar to him and it made him actually happy.

"Well while I was in Riverdale, I didn't really have the best life, but I managed. I spent most of my time at the drive-in theatre or at this retro diner called Pops. They have the best burgers and milkshakes ever. My friends are an interesting bunch. My best friend, Archie, he's that Jock that everyone loves. He and I had been friends since we were kids, but he's one of those guys that is nice to everyone, no matter what your background is. And there's Betty Cooper who is my girlfriend. She's sweet, smart, and is a really good writer and problem solver. We had been writing the school's newspaper together where we have been trying to solve the mystery of Jason Blossom death. She's a great person and I miss her, but at the moment, I have no desire to go back to Riverdale to visit. I've just felt like I have been targeted and once you have a target on your back, you're going to be dealing with hell until they break you and I don't want to deal with that." He explained to Teagan about his life in Riverdale.

Sweetpea wasn't exactly an affectionate person. He wasn't even really sweet like his name may have suggested to some, well he could be, but it wasn't an all the time thing. This was a moment though when a hug seemed like the most reasonable response, and before he even really knew what he was doing Sweetpea was pulling Amery into a hug and thinking of anything they could do to prevent the worst from happening. "You don't have to worry about after your dad's gone. I know you'll be upset because you and your dad are close but you won't be alone," he told her thinking he might've had a plan. He didn't want to tell her yet though until he knew if it would work or not. "You'll still have me, Toni, and all the other Serpents. And I'll be damned if I let them put you into the system. That's just not going to happen," he said really hoping the idea he had in his head would work out well. Because if it did then it could totally save Amery from going into a system that wouldn't care for her at all, one that would likely break her down until she was less of herself than ever. There was a reason so many people who ended up in the system ended up dead, on drugs, or in jail if they aged out or went in as teenagers after all because the system was broken. And Sweetpea wasn't going to let that happen to his friend.

---

"I understand, I don't think I could go back to New Haven, where I'm originally from. My dad's family is from this area but he moved away after high school and met my mom in college. They got married young and happy. They ended up settling down in this tiny town of New Haven and they eventually had me. And I grew up there. Then they got into drugs they weren't using they were just selling, at least to my knowledge, I'm not really sure how exactly I just noticed they weren't the same people and I wasn't seeing them as much. So I spent a lot of time at friends houses. I had a boyfriend back there and he was the best. He kept very grounded, he was always reminding me that I'm worth more than what I felt. That my parents and their actions aren't what define me and that I don't have to go down the same path as them. I can be better. Then one day my parents were all over the news and I was being taken the station for questioning about their whereabouts because my parents killed a young boy and it wasn't pretty. But I didn't know where they were. I also found out it was my boyfriend they'd killed. And suddenly people didn't want to be around me. They were all worried I was crazy like mom and dad or that rather than deal with things I'd just kill people who agree with me or at least have my parents do it for me. The police were going to put me in the system but luckily they'd gotten ahold of my grandparents who decided to take me in. And then I came here and it was weird for the first few months. Because even people here had heard about what happened and they saw me the same way everyone else did, and it took time but eventually Fangs actually broke the ice. He sat with me at lunch every day and he'd always ask how I was until I gave in. Then the rest of the Serpents kind of followed suit and I ended up joining them because they're my family now," Teagan said knowing he hadn't asked about her own life story, but she'd felt compelled to tell him about her own anyway.

@ Kol.

Amery was surprised when Sweetpea pulled her into a hug, since he never was an affectionate guy. She could remember when he would stiffen up when she would give him hugs when they were younger. However, the hug he was giving her was giving her comfort and it just felt nice. Soon, Amery pulled away and wiped the stray tears away. She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly. "Thanks, Sweetpea. Sorry to breakdown like that. I just have been going through a lot on my own." She said and then looked at her friends. "I'm glad to have you guys back though."

---

Jughead listened to Teagan tell him about her situation and what led to it. He moved closer to her and draped an arm around her shoulders. "We're so much a like that it's scary. But you're a stronger person than I am, and I give you credit for it because I dont know what I would have done in that situation." He told her, truthfully. "I may not know you as well as your friends, but I can tell you are a good person and you have a good head on your shoulders, even with what you went through."

Sweetpea shook his head. “Don’t be sorry, you’re dealing with a lot right now and it isn’t easy shit to deal with. Plus you’ve been doing it alone and that just isn’t right,” he told her feeling so badly that he’d just bailed like he had especially with all this going on with her dad. He was there now though and he really would make everything right somehow. “And we’re both glad to be back as well,” he told her actually happy they were all working on repairing a relationship, even if it could’ve easily never been broken in the first place.

---

Teagan smiled and without thinking about it laid her head over to rest on Jugheads shoulder. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually opened up to someone so quickly or easily. After all, it had taken her a few months to open up to Fangs and the rest of the serpents. Jughead was just going through so much that she understood from personal experience that it made it easy she supposed. And honestly even though she knew it sucked going through shit like this she was kind of happy to know she wasn’t so alone anymore. Because someone else understood what it felt like to have their parents ripped away from them. Even if Jughead’s dad was more than likely innocent this was still going to alter their lives forever.

“So do you have any idea where to start on proving your dad is innocent?” She asked fully intending to do whatever she needed to in order to help her his dad out of jail. And she’d be happy to put Hiram Lodge back in jail, especially after all that he’d tried to pull with her grandparents since his return to Riverdale.

@ Agust.D

@ Kol.

Amery smiled softly, and it was the first real smiled she had in a while. She was happy to have her friends back. She didn't know what she would do if they didn't made up, especially if her dad were to die any time soon. "Are you guys hungry? I can make us something?" She said although Amery was craving a burger from the local burger joint nearby that her, sweetpea, and Toni used to go to all the time, but she was afraid fo leave her dad home alone.

---

Jughead shrugged his shoulders lightly. "The only thing I can think of is to figure out what really goes on at the Blossoms' family home." He said softly as he looked down at Teagan. "There's something really weird about that family and I just think this chaos starts with them." He said. "What do you think? Base off what you may already know, do you think I'm heading in the right direction?"

"You don't have to make us anything Amery, I mean I can always run and pick something up if you want that way you don't have to worry about anything," Toni said smiling at her friends. "Actually how about I go get us all some burgers and tots and we have a nice chill night like we did when we were kids?"

Sweetpea sighed and rolled his eyes at Toni before nodding his head. "That sounds like a good idea T," he said totally in the mood for a burger but he also knew that Amery probably was going to want to leave her dad alone. Which he understood if he were in her position he wouldn't want to leave his pops either. Sadly though Sweetpea didn't really have a good relationship with his dad. Actually, he'd moved out about a month a half ago because things just got really bad with his ole man and he couldn't take it anymore. But he hadn't exactly told anyone about that yet. Mostly because he was still trying to figure out what to tell people, and he knew someone sooner or later would know what was up when they saw that his things were slowly being moved into the Whyte Wyrm. But he'd deal with that when he had to.

---

"I don't think it could hurt to look into the Blossoms also from what I've heard of them just know that I wouldn't be shocked if one of them killed Jason. We should ask my grandparents actually if anyone here in The Southside would know anything about them at all it'd be them. I mean they've been here long enough to see and hear things that others have likely forgotten all about. Plus I think my grandma use to clean their house back when she was younger so I'm sure she knows a thing or two," Teagan told him really hoping they'd be able to help. Because she actually hated that this dad was in jail for this murder when it was probably someone else, after all, FP had never seemed like the kind of guy who would kill a teenager just because and Teagan couldn't think of any reason he'd have a motive to kill Jason.

@ Kol.

Amery looked at Toni, who only gave her a wink and a sly smile. Before the friends had their falling out, Amery had told Toni that she had a crush on their best friend, Sweetpea, and at the time Toni would have plans to get them together. However, that was then and although Amery still had feelings for Sweetpea, she was sure that Toni was just being generous and isn't leaving Her and Sweetpea alone together on purpose. Shaking the thought out of her head, Amery nodded. "That sounds nice. I havent had a burger from them in a while and it would be fun to hangout like we used to." She said to Toni with a soft smile.

After Toni had left to get the food, Amery and Sweetpea were standing in the kitchen in an awkward silence. And it was like they would avoid eye contact with each other and they would have a hard time just even trying to speak to each other. However, Amery couldn't take the awkwardness anymore and took a deep breath, before moving over to Sweetpea , who looked like he was having an internal debate with himself. "Hey, what's going on? How are things with you and your father? I know things weren't great when we last spoke." Amery said as she was now in front of him, holding one of his hands in hers while her free hand rested on his cheek.

---

"Your grandmother used to clean for them? Poor lady, she must have seen really crazy stuff at their mansion. Do you think we can ask her some questions?" Jughead asked but then an idea popped into his head. "Maybe I can find former maids or other former workers that worked for the Blossom family who were there before Jason death, and ask them questions. I honestly believe that it was someone in that crazy family that committed the murder." He said and then smiled when he looked at Teagan. "Since my former investigation partner isn't with me, do you want solve this crime with me? You suggested some great ideas and things that I hadn't thought of beforehand." He asked, really liking the way she thinks.

Sweetpea looked away from Amery the moment she put her hand on his cheek. He really didn't want to talk about this ever really, but least of all with any of the girls. He just had this thing about being all emotional in front of them. However, if there were ever any of the girls he'd open up to about things it was Amery, Toni, or Teagan and especially Amery. The two of them had just been friends the longest and she'd always been able to tell when something was bothering him. Sometimes she knew something was bothering him more than he did. But talking about his dad was a lot different than anything else he could talk about. This was something that ran real deep and he honestly wasn't sure how to deal with it at all. "Things are still pretty bad with him but I'm not really sure I want to talk about it," he said knowing he should at least just be honest with her rather than pull back all the way. At the same time though he had a feeling if she got him to open up she'd try and help him someway and he really didn't want to burden her with his mess of a life.

---

Teagan tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded her head, "I'd love to be your crime-solving partner," she told him glad that it at least seemed like she could make his transition to The Southside a little easier. "And I'm sure she wouldn't mind you asking some questions she'd probably be able to tell you at least names of some of the other people who've worked for the family over the years. Just like I'm sure you could get a lot of information about The Lodge family too because well the families go way back and have a lot of history. And while The Lodges haven't been in town since Hermione and Hiram graduated high school and then literally bolted out of town words still travel quick in a circle like The Serpents and when you know the right people and have gained their trust it's a little easier to get them to spill what they know," she told him which made her think that they should probably go visit FP. Because Teagan knew that he had to be keeping something to himself, and while she was sure he felt he had good reasoning they needed to figure out what he knew before it really was to late.

@ Kol.

Amery knew that Sweetpea was holding back some and she knew that she could easily get the truth out of him. Bringing her had back to his cheek and resting her forehead against his. "I know you are holding back Sweetpea, but I'm not going to force it out of you. But just know that I'm always here for you and that if things continue to go bad between you and your dad, you can always crash here for as long as you need." She said as she looked into his eyes, feeling his breath lightly hit her lips. "I know you like to show that have control of your life, but you should let the people who care about you, help you. You have helped me many times before, the least I can do is the same for you." She said, feeling how close they were.

Although the two just renewed their friendship, the two of then have so much history together for her to start out completely fresh. Sighing, Amery removed her hand from his cheek and backed up from him when she heard Toni come back with food. Amery placed a small smile on her lips when she could smell the burgers and the tater tots in the bag. "Gah I havent had one of these babies in forever." She commented as she grabbed her food and took a bite into her burger.

---

Jughead smiled when Teagan agreed to being his crime-solving partner. "Great!" He said and smiled even more. "I have a good feeling with the information your grandmother may tell us will help us prove that my dad is an innocent man in all this chaos." He said softly before looking down. "You know, my relationship with my dad was just starting to get better before all of this and I just want to show him that I care and that all of the serpents care about him." He admitted to Teagan as he picked at the hole ripped on his jeans. "I'm supposed to be seeing him in an hour, would you like to come with me? I'm sure he would enjoy seeing you and it would cheer him up." Jughead offered as he stood up on his seat, lending his arm out for her to grab to help her up too.

Sweetpea knew that Amery was right and he should just open up to her about everything. Just like he knew that she'd help him out because that's the person she'd always been. But this was something he was quite ready to put out into the open yet. Because the moment he spoke into words what had gone down with him and his dad over the last few weeks was the moment it would actually all be real. It didn't feel real right now, right now it just felt like some kind of dream with an outcome that was still up in the air. And Sweetpea knew he was going to have to figure things out but he really didn't want to.

"Those smell delicious," Sweetpea said smiling at Toni as she walked back in with a bag full of burgers, tater tots, and onion rings. "You really do know the way to our hearts," he said as he took his own burger and onion rings out of the bag so he could chow down. He honestly didn't remember the last time he'd had a burger from this place either. It had always been a thing the three of them did together and then once Amery moved to Riverdale he and Toni had stopped going because it really didn't feel the same getting burgers from their place without her.

---

"I'd like that," Teagan told Jughead happy to help however she could and if this was it then okay. She'd gotten to know FP fairly well over the last few years since she'd been living with her grandparents. With everyone calling FP the King of the Serpents and how much Sweetpea and Toni looked up to FP it only made sense that Teagan should get to know him as well. And from what Teagan had gathered about him he was a pretty good guy. He'd made a few mistakes here and there but so has everyone else and that was nothing she could judge him on especially since she knew he was trying better himself. It actually sucked that all this crap with Jason and the Blossom's happened. "As long as you're sure you don't mind me tagging along, I mean I don't want to interrupt your time with your dad," she told him as she tucked her hair behind her ear.