I was so happy that my stupid brother had made the right decision. Although I didn't really agree with him in the matter other than that. I listened to what he had to say, but that didn't mean that I wasn't on Betty's side in this mess. I didn't bring that up. Instead, I got into Kevin's truck with him and Veronica and we headed out to the Twilight Drive-in. Rebel Without a Cause was playing when we got there, one of Jughead's favourites. V, Kev and I climbed into the back and laid out blankets. As soon as we were comfortable, I pulled out my phone and texted Jug. He must've been bored because he answered right away.

Me: Heeyy we're here

Jug👑❤: Where

Me: Back of Kev's truck

Me: Come outside

Jug👑❤: I have to stay in here and make sure the movie keeps running

Me: I'm coming back there then

Jug👑❤: Stay there, better view of the screen

Me: I'm not even really watching

Jug👑❤: wtf this is the best movie ever

Jug👑❤: you know what

Jug👑❤: don't even come back, I can't be with smone who doesn't appreciate this movie

I laughed but before I could respond, Cheryl pulled up in her cherry red convertible and got out.

"Make some room outcasts." She said.

I rolled my eyes. "I was just leaving." I said, standing up to get out of the car.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ronnie asked.

"Oh, ah, Jughead works in the projection booth and I told him I'd go back and see him."

"Ooooo, Y/N/N's off to see her boyfriend."

"Hey, Y/N/N, if you two start making out, just try and stay away from the projector, okay? Don't want you to knock it over and interrupt the movie." Kevin oh, so generously warned me.

"And what's this new gossip I hear? Y/N/N and Jughead are dating?" Cheryl asked as she settled into my spot.

"It's not gossip, Cheryl." I said quietly.

"Don't be silly, of course it is. The school loners finally found each other."

"Cheryl!" Veronica started to defend me.

"Don't Ronnie. I don't care." I said, shooting her a smile and walking towards the projection booth. On my way back, I spotted my dad in our truck with Hermione Lodge. Yeah, that would be very weird, but as far as I was concerned at the moment, they were here as friends.

I wandered in between cars, looking down at my feet and watching them pass by dirt and rocks and occasionally a candy wrapper or popcorn bowl. I walked up to the projection booth door and knocked on the metal with my fist.

Jughead must of been sitting waiting for me because the door opened less than a second after my knock. Before I could even say "Hey", his lips were on mine and I was being pulled inside. I heard the door slam behind me as Jughead practically attacked my lips. My hands flew up to his face (mostly to keep my balance) well his one arm was around my back, guiding me inside and the other was closing the door. After a minute or so, I had to pull away for air.

"And I thought you didn't want me to come back here." I teased him.

Jughead smiled. "I thought about it and I guess it doesn't really matter if you see the movie." He said, emphasizing the word "guess".

"Translation: you're bored and lonely."

"Maybe." He leaned in and kissed me again. That's basically what we did the whole night, kissed and watched the movies through a small window in the booth. I wasn't paying attention to the movie, but I kept my eyes on either the screen or Jughead because I couldn't stand to look at the setup of the room. It made me sad looking at the bed and all of his stuff. He just didn't deserve what was happening to him. It was some sort of misguided karma and it wasn't fair.

I texted Archie and told him that I was with Jughead. He didn't text back, but it said that he read it and I didn't get any calls from my dad so the message must have been passed on.

I was packing up Jughead's stuff to keep myself busy as the sun came up. I found a ton of candy and a couple photos of him and Jellybean, him and Archie around age five, Betty and Archie on the swings, the four of us sitting on Betty's porch with a board game. And then one that I had no memory of. It was me and Jughead sitting in a sand pit in the Pickens Park playground. We were the only ones there, other than whoever took the picture, which had probably been one of our parents. I didn't remember being alone with Jughead a lot when we were kids and yet here we were laughing and looking at each other like we were best friends.

I stared at the picture in a trance, happily lost in the thought that there was a time the two of us had shared a happy few moments together before the world grabbed us by the ankles and dragged us into reality. The absence of the noise of the projector brought me away from the photograph. Jughead was looking at the machine with a strangely sad, yet almost relieved look on his face and I realised that that had been the last reel. The last reel that would ever go through that projector, the last scene that would ever appear on the Twilight Drive-in screen. That made me a bit sad too.

Jug made himself look away from the sad little show and started packing the photos in his bag. He still looked sad, so I handed him the picture of us in the sand pit. He took it and smiled at me.

"This is one of favourite photos. We just look..."

"Happy, carefree." I finished for him.

"Exactly." He put the photo with the one of him and Jellybean and stuck the two into the front pocket of his bag. He looked around the room one last time and then reached out and grabbed my hand. When Jughead Jones reaches out and grabs your hand for emotional support, you fucking take it.

We went outside, but before we got more than ten feet away from the building, Jughead stopped.

"Wait one second." He opened his bag and pulled an old can of blue spray paint. Soon enough, his name was the wall with a crown over it. He tossed the can to the can to the ground and we shared a smile.

"Let's go."

"Go and never come back?" I questioned while staring at the graffiti, wondering if this was really it.

He sighed. "Yeah. Go and never come back."

"They'll tear that booth down too." Said a voice from behind us. A serpent. But not just some random serpent, FP Jones. I remembered him, but only vaguely. It had been a long time and now he looked older, dirtier, scruffier then when I was a kid. He looked like he had lost the ability to care. From what Jughead told me, I shouldn't have expected anything less.

"Raise the whole place, send it to the junkyard. Us with it." FP said.

"Yeah, maybe they'll save it. All the pieces." Said Jug. "Store it the town hall attic, build it in a hundred years, wonder who the hell we were."

There was a silence. A sad one. And yet for me it was reassuring. Reassuring that a boy so beaten up could think that such a tiny, insignificant building could be saved and let him live on in the lives of future Riverdale residents. But to be rediscovered, you must first be forgotten.

"So where are you gonna live now?" FP asked.

"I'll figure it out dad. I always do." With that, Jughead reached over for my hand again, in which moment FP gave him a look. You know the look I mean, the one that's as if to say "and what's going on here?". We left the drive-in and began the lengthy walk to the north side.