"Are you sure we should be trusting Archie and Veronica to this?" I ask Betty and Jughead as they pick at their food. 

  "We have to," Betty says, "we have no other choice."

"No," I say, "Jughead and I have no other choice. Your being a fucking pussy about it."

"Hey hey hey," Jughead says, "she went through some stuff give her a break." They exchange a look and I roll my eyes.

"We all have," I say, "and she can get over it." I leave them and head to my tables towards the back. Stupid fucking Betty Cooper. I mean Jesus. We have all been through worse. Archie saw his dad get shot, Veronica's went to jail and her family ripped in half, almost all of mine is dead, and Jughead's mom ran off with his sister leaving him to an alcoholic father. And what happened to Betty? She saw her reflection with a fucking mask on. I hear a crash and I snap my head over the direction. Cheryl staring at FP with a smashed glass on the ground.

"Clean that up, Plebe," She bitches, "The way you did my brother's blood." Jughead and I both walk over.

"Jug, don't. We'll get you another milkshake right away," FP says, "On the house."

"Actually," I say steping forward, "I'm in charge when Pops is gone. And I can't have some asshole abuses my coworkers. So. If you would like to throw your milkshakes around like a fucking toddler we can take this outside. It's like you said before Cheryl I'm a crazy bitch thats no better than her drugged up father.... So do it again. I. Dare. You." She looks at me with fear as I turn from her and walk away pulling Jughead back to the counter.

"Damn," Jughead says, "I'm impressed."

"I feel like my level of bitch improved when I joined the serpents," I say, "like I'm an actual bad ass bitch." I turn to the milkshake machine and grabbing it. Spitting in it before I put everything in the cup. I sit it in front of Jughead. "Spit in it." He complies and I move it back to the mixer. He scoffs.

"My dad used to be a king. A leader of men," He rants, "Now he's being demeaned by the likes of Cheryl Blossom. He deserves to be honored, not humiliated." He sighs.

"So, why don't we do just that? Seriously, why not throw your dad a retirement party fit for a king?" Betty says to him. I hand FP the spit filled milkshake and point to Cheryl

"Don't worry, Betty and I'll take care of everything," I say to him, "together." 

******

"You have a stage," Betty says, "Would you be open to me bringing in a karaoke machine?"

"For FP's retirement? Sure, why not," Toni says. Toni was working behind the bar and I was helping Betty plan as we sat at the bar.  

"Y/n where's Jughead?" Betty asks me. I shrug.

"Do you need him?" I ask her.

"Yeah," She says, "can you go look for him?"

"Yeah," I say looking over at Toni. She winks at me and I stand up. I move away slightly and Look back at Toni who nods. I could hear Betty again.

"Toni, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you, beyond the party-planning, is I've been walking the razor's edge since Jughead joined the Serpents and all I've been thinking is- You know, as soon as FP gets home, everything will get better because he'll be there to protect Jughead and make sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Yeah, I'm following you, I mean, with FP out of the picture -" Toni says.

"But that's my whole point. I do worry. So, I wanna keep an eye on Jughead, myself. Make sure that as deep into these snake-infested waters as he goes, he doesn't do something that you know, puts him in danger," Betty says.

"So, what? You wanna be a Serpent?" I ask laughing approaching the bar again. Betty looks at me and sighs.

"Let's say Serpent-adjacent," She says, "But, yeah, part of this world." I hear laughing behind us.

"Shut it, Byrdie," Toni says.

"Sorry, Sweet Valley High, if you wanna join the club, you gotta do the dance Serpent dance," Brydie says.

"Excuse me, Serpent dance?" Betty asks.

"It's an outdated, sexist Serpent tradition. Tried to get it outlawed, but misogyny dies hard," Toni says, "You don't wanna know."

"Uh, yeah, I do," Betty says.

"Seriously-"

"No Toni. Let her," I say, "let her know it all. She won't do it anyways. She's too much of a pussy."

*****

"A party? No, no, no, no," FP says as we walk into the trailer, "The problem is, I'm trying to keep the Serpents in my rear view mirror, remember?"

"It's one night," I tell him.

"Not even, it's like three hours," Jughead says and FP sighs. We spread the takeout over the table as FP walks over with plates and silverware. "You've done right by the Serpents, more than right. Why can't they do right by you? Come on, it's the end of an era."

"Okay," FP says, "Okay, let's do it."

"Great," Jughead says then pulls out his phone, "It's Archie...Don't bogart the egg rolls." He gets up and leaves the table leaving FP and I.

"Serpent?" He asks me. I nod. 

"Sorry," I shrug.

"Don't be," He says, "its fine."

"Good," I say, "and I'll be out of here soon... I just got kicked out of The Coopers so Jughead let me stay here."

"Its fine," FP says, "Its better than you living on the street." I chuckle.

"I don't think Jughead would of let me," I say.

"Not a chance," FP says.

"Hey-" Jug says walking back in, "I have to head down to Archie's for a sec. It won't be long." I nod.

"Okay," FP says. Jughead nods and grabs his keys heading out quickly. Hmmm. That was strange. "Are you really left in charge when Pops leaves?"

"Yep," I say, "perks of working there when no one else wanted to.

******

Jughead's POV

"I won't be held hostage by you," I tell her, "I did my one favor, I'm out."

"No, no, you have debts to pay. And ours is an ongoing arrangement," She assures. 

"You know what, Penny? I'm about to have a sit-down with Mayor McCoy. She's not really so big on the whole drug dealing thing and I'm sure that she would love to know who took over Clifford Blossom's operation," I threaten her.

"You'd need proof to make an accusation like that stick," She says smirking, "Like the video I have of you and your pal making that delivery for me. What do you think of that?" 

"I think that an attack against me, or my father, is an attack against all of the Serpents," I warn her angrily, "And not even some fuzzy surveillance footage of me delivering a crate is going to stop us from coming for you." I jump up and start to walk off.

"Your girlfriend" She says. I stop in my tracks, "Y/n L/n, I believe? She's quite fetching." I turn back and slid into the seat.

"What did you say?" I ask harshly.

"All snakes have a soft underbelly," She remarks, "She's yours, am I right?" I jump up and stomp out of the restaurant. If that bitch even thinks about laying a hand on Y/n.. I'll kill her. Right then and there.