Chapter Text
The call came at 3:00 pm, 10 months to the day that Betty Cooper had walked out of his life. 10 months since anyone in Riverdale had seen the perfect girl next door.
The call came at 3:00 pm, with the voicemail following promptly at 3:02 pm after he swiped to deny the call he had long been expecting.
It was 10 months too late. 10 months of stewing and contemplating and denying that he wasn't over her. 10 months since she had sent Archie to him to rip his heart from his chest and obliterate in the mud, only for her to run away from their not-so-sleepy town-of-PEP!
He told himself the healthiest option would be to ignore it, delete it, forget her voice was just a click away from hearing. So he went to the Whyte Wymr, telling himself that even alcohol was a better drug than this. What he wasn't counting on was a frantic Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge busting through the bar doors at 5:00 pm, looking like the world was about to end.
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The call came at 3:05 pm, 10 months and 1 day that Betty Cooper had walked out of her life. 10 months since anyone in Riverdale had seen the perfect girl next door.
The call came at 3:05 pm, with the voicemail following promptly at 3:07 pm after she swiped to deny the call she had long been expecting.
It was 10 months too late. 10 months of stewing and contemplating and denying that she wasn't over her best friend betraying her. 10 months since Betty had stood in front of her and all their friends and claimed she was a selfish and self serving bitch, only for her to run away from their not-so-sleepy town-of-PEP!
She told herself the healthiest option would be to ignore it, delete it, forget her voice was just a click away from hearing. So she went on with cheer practice, convincing herself that whatever Betty had to say could wait for never ever. What she wasn't counting on was a frantic Archie Andrews busting through the gym doors at 4:45pm, looking like the world was about to end.
“Ronnie,” he was panting as if he sprinted a mile in 4 minutes. “Have you heard from Betty today?” Her heartbeat was wooshing in her ears from the tone of his voice alone.
It was bad. It had to be bad. Archie was witness to what happened the night of Nick’s party and there is no way in hell he would ask such a question unless…
The blood drained from Veronica's face as she raced over to where she kept her phone during practice.
The fact that even Cheryl Blossom hadn't said a word about Archie interrupting her precious Vixens practice didn't even hit Veronica as she quickly unlocked her phone, scrambling to her voicemail and clicking on that clandestine message from her once best friend.
“V, I'm so sorry,” Betty’s voice was faint, sorrowful, and weak, echoing off the now silent gym walls as all occupants stood bewildered. “For everything. Archie can explain it, I don't have much longer I think. Find her, V. Please. Find her, save her, tell her I loved her. It was all for her. And Juggie... And you… He's going to kill me soon… Save her,” the line clicked dead and Veronica's phone clattered to the floor from the shaking from her hands.
As she looked at Archie, she saw the same devastation and confusion on her face reflected in his. The only thing that flashed in her mind, through all the words that Betty had spoken that didn't make sense, was “Jughead.”
The call came at 3:10 pm, and it was the one day Archie Andrews decided to be early for football practice. It was a call that would change his life forever, one he was both completely torn over not picking up and being glad he didn't so that he had a recording.
10 months had passed since Betty had sent him to destroy his best friend only for his other best friend to immediately disappear. A quick message to him about how she was safe and not to come looking for her came right before her phone was turned off.
The message itself was about 5 minutes long, and he didn't get it until after showering after practice, and as he saw what it was, adrenaline was coursing through his veins.
He clicked on the play message button only to be greeted with a hoarse “Help… Archie, he found us… Help, you have to save her…” It was followed by an agonized sob and then the sound of metal scraping concrete, another frantic sob and a low “Oh Betty, Betty, Betty” that he could recognize but not place.
Her voice alone had him pausing the message, unable to listen on by himself. He knew they might opposed it, but he needed Veronica and Jug. While there was a chance he was the only one he had contacted with the way things had ended before she had left, he knew they had a right to know.
Archie frantically threw on his clothes before grabbing his bag and sprinting to the gym, where he knew Veronica was still in practice.
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“Jughead,” was all that Veronica said before grabbing her phone from the ground and sprinting towards Archie. They both took off towards the student parking lot where Archie’s dad’s truck was parked, hopping in and squealing out of the lot at a breakneck speed, not even taking the time to secure their seatbelts.
“Faster, Archie! Can't you make this thing go faster?!” Veronica's voice broke as she swiped at the tears falling rapidly down her cheeks.
“I'm trying, Ronnie,” Archie ground out while pushing his foot to the floorboard, flying down the shortcut back road that lead from the high school to the Southside.
“It's not fast enough.” She was slamming her hand against the dash is desperation and frustration. Archie reached over to grab her hand in his, squeezing with the little bit of reassurance that he could.
“I know, Ronnie. I know,” he choked out through his own tears, trying desperately to pay attention to the road and where he was going. Seeing the dilapidated sign for Sunnyside, he veered until the trailer park, counting his lucky stars in the back of his mind that the main drag was surprisingly empty.
Archie barely had time to slam on the breaks and put the truck in park before Veronica was launching herself out of it and up the steps, banging with both fists and screaming through her tears. “Jones! Open the goddamn door, Jughead! OPEN! THE! DOOR! You piece of shit!”
Archie reached around her, trying the handle, and as they both stumbled through the door, they didn't register the silence as they started tearing through each of the small rooms.
“Jug! Jug?! Are you here?! We need you!”
“He's not here, Archie. What do we do?” Veronica collapsed to the ground in a puddle of sobbing just as a tall, dark shadow filled the trailer doorway.
“What the fuck are you Northsiders doing in the King's trailer? You can't be here,” a deep voice came from the shadow as he cracked his knuckles menacingly.
“Can it!” Veronica screeched before she broke into more sobs, unable to articulate why they were here, and why they were looking for Jughead.
“Hey man!” Archie held up his hands as the guy in the doorway started to take a step towards them, fists still clenched and ready to fight. “We need Jughead, it's an emergency. We don't have time for your shit. Do you know where he is?”
“Boss man doesn't deal with Northsiders like yourself any more. In fact,” the guy squinted at Archie, “I remember you're the one that little bitch sent to break up with him. So I'm really going to enjoy this.”
“You don't fucking touch him,” Veronica lurched in-between the two boys, glaring up at the taller one in indignation. “Just tell us where the fuck Jughead is.”
“Pea,” a new, feminine voice came through the doorway, adding to the already chaotic atmosphere swirling in the Jones’ trailer.
“What's going on here?” a petite girl, with pink hair and a presence bigger than her 5’1” would normally convey, demanded as her eyes shifted from cautious and curious to dark and furious once landing on Archie. The same recognition that had flashed in Pea’s eyes duplicated in hers.
“Nothing', Toni. Just some preppy Northsiders lost their way,” the guy gruffly stated, looking slightly put-out at Toni’s appearance that Archie was sure ruined his fun.
“We need Jughead, have you seen him?! It's urgent, it's about Betty,” Veronica, wild look still her eyes, turned to Toni in a desperate attempt to speed along their search.
Throwing up a hand to keep the Latina from approaching her any further, Toni’s eyebrow arched in disbelief.
“Ok, first off, back off Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Secondly, Jug doesn't want to see you, any of you. Especially you,” she turned her finger pointedly at Archie. “And in any case, if this has to do with Miss Priss, you can count him out. She thought she was too good for him and the Southside and now she needs his help? Get real,” Toni rolled her eyes with a huff.
Veronica looked like she was going to break down into another puddle of tears and Archie knew they were running out of time.
“Look,” he started pulling at the roots with both his hands. “Betty sent me to break things off with Jug because the Black Hood was stalking her and threatened to kill Jughead unless she cut him out of her life. He made her do the same thing with Veronica,” his arm swooped to indicate the raven haired girl next to him who was staring at him in horror, finally learning the truth to Betty’s actions all those months ago.
“And that’s why she ran away 10 months ago, to try and escape him. She texted me she was safe and I haven’t heard from her since.” He paused to breathe as he had spoken as fast as he could, looking on as three pairs of wide eyes stared back at him in shock.
“Until today, when both Ronnie and I got calls from her - and I’m 100 percent sure Jughead probably did too - and she’s in trouble,” he slapped him hand palm side up into the palm of his other hand, hoping to convey the brevity of their situation. “She didn’t say it was the Black Hood, but I would bet the entirety of my dad’s construction business that it was. And we need to find Jughead like yesterday!”
Jaw slacked faces gazed back at him, trying to process the magnitude of all the Archie just told them. Getting frustrated, he pushed past Toni and Pea, grabbing Veronica’s arm and dragging her out of the trailer to the truck, hoping inspiration to Jughead’s location would pop into his head.
“The Wyrm. He’s at the White Wyrm!” Toni yelled while sprinting down the trailer steps after them. “Follow us!” she darted to the yard over where there were two motorbikes waiting, Pea hot on her heels.
Revving the engine and peeling out after the two young Serpents, Archie vaguely registered Veronica in the passenger’s seat wringing her hands and pulling at the ends of her hair.
“Fuck!” she slammed her hand on the dashboard, causing Archie to swerve with the unexpected exclamation. “Fuck, why didn’t she say anything?!”
Realizing that Veronica was still processing the news, Archie reached over with his right hand. “Ronnie, she wasn’t supposed to. The Black Hood threatened your life. You’re her best friend, she would never put you in jeopardy like that. Hell, he even threatened my life, and hers, for telling me. If I didn’t push so much, she might have been able to cut me out too.” He paused, feeling Veronica squeeze the blood from his hand.
“She did cut me out. She ran away, but at least I knew why. Fuck,” Archie slammed his own hand on the steering wheel, “I just wished she told me where she is! Then we could find her so much easier.”
They were pulling into the parking lot of the Wyrm at top speed, causing Archie to slam on the breaks and swing the truck around so they didn’t hit anybody.
Once again, they scrambled out of the truck, Archie barely taking any time to turn of the engine. They sprinted through the doors of the iconic Southside bar, Toni and Pea hot on their heels.
With wild eyes and even wilder hair, they locked eyes with a slouched, dark figure, beanie on the bar next to him.
“Jug!” they both let out in unison, slight relief coloring their adrenaline filled tones.
“Jug,” Archie raced up to him, placing his hands on either shoulder, forcing the brooding teen to look him in the eyes. Ignoring the several Serpents who started to come towards him for putting his hands on their leader, Archie gave Jughead a shake. “Have you heard from Betty today?”