Riverdale was on the edge of something big, yet no one knew exactly what. Although Jughead and I had suspected the interference of  Hiram Lodge. But with no proof of criminal behavior, all We could do was speculate.

  "What is Hiram's master plan for Riverdale?And why does it feel so close to fruition?" Jughead mumbles to himself as he stares at his wall. A crime board plastered against the wall showing what we knew about this case. The only proof being The Drive in and Southside.

  "Hey. What's all this?" FP asks us as he joins us. Looking exhausted and dirty from his Pops Shift.

"Hopefully," Jughead starts Turning from the maze of papers and articles, "this is the article that saves the town from Hiram Lodge."

"-Jughead"

"If I can fit the pieces together-" Jughead mumbles.

"Boy, you need to drop this," FP says to his son then points at me, "and you need to stop encouraging this.  He rescued us. He bought the trailer park, forgave our debts." 

"What? He's the reason we almost lost the trailer park," Jughead says.

"He just wants his name here," I say, "to what- evict you later?"

"Hiram's slicker than a bottle of snake oil, no doubt, but this is.."

"Dad, please!" Jughead says, "listen to us." He looks at me for reason and I sigh.

"Hiram Lodge just bought The Riverdale Register," I tell him. His eyes go wide and I sigh.

"He's trying to silence dissenting voices before he makes his big play," Jughead says, "He's afraid. He's afraid of this exposure."

  "He has reason to," I tell him, "between you and Betty... He has to watch his moves... And Veronica knows that I'm on their scent."

  "You two don't know how to leave well enough alone," FP sighs. He looks down at the ground then at the wall. "Be careful."

  "As always," I tell him as he walks off. Jughead plops down beside me and places his hand on my thigh. "No."

  "What?" Jughead asks me pulling back, "I wasn't-"

  "I don't care don't touch me," I hiss. He was my friend and I did care. Hell I even would of wanted to. But I couldn't let myself do it. "I still have a boyfriend... And you still have a girlfriend..."

"Have you told him?" Jughead asks me.

"No," I admit to him, "and I'm guessing that you didn't talk to Betty."

"Not with her toxic family," Jug says, "and.... we haven't been around each other since the cabin." I stand up and collect my things. 

"I'll see you tomorrow Jughead," I say waving bye to him.

*****

   "Well look here," Sweet Pea says as I sit beside him and the other Serpents in the lounge. "My beautiful girlfriend." I wince a little but ultimately send a forced smile.

 "Hey Pea," I say as he kisses my cheek. Toni watching every action between us. I knew she would figure it out first. "You're free tonight right?"

"Yeah," He says, "want me to come over?"

"Please,"  I tell him. He nods, but my attention was on the raven haired "weirdo" with his arm draped around Betty. How can we both act so natural with this? We both are awful people. I mean, Betty might be a bitch. But she doesn't deserve to cheated on. No one does. And I mean fuck, Sweet Pea is fucking amazing yet I was so quick to throw it away. 

"Y/n!" Toni says waving her hand in front of my face. I look back to them and shake my head slightly. 

 "What?" I ask. Toni and Fangs share a look then she sighs.

"We were talking about the movies. If you guys wanted to join us?" Toni asks. I nod quickly.

"Sure that sounds great," I tell them as my eyes wonder back to Jug, "hey listen Sweet Pea I'm not feeling too good. I think I'm gonna head up to the nurse." He looks slightly taken back then nods.

"Oh okay," He says, "do you want me to walk you up there?"

"No I'll be fine," I tell him, "I'll catch you in class." He nods as I rush from the room. Speeding down the hallway until I reach the bathroom. As I walk in a shoo away some freshman collected in the corner and take their spot. Sinking to the ground and burying my face in my knees. Tonight.

*******

   "I'll meet you at my house!" I call to Sweet Pea as he and the others leave. I walk to the front of the room and sit on the desk beside Jughead. "Well detective Jones..... Got any news?"

  "None at all," He sighs. He looks away from me to the door. Confusion covering his expression. I turn to see Archie standing in the doorway. 

  "Am I interrupting?" Archie asks.

"No," Jug and I say quickly.

 "No its fine," Jug says, "come in." Archie walks to the desk and eyes us both closely.

"Are you two still going after Hiram Lodge?" Archie asks us. I roll my eyes and look at Jug.

"Well, that depends," I say to him.

"Yeah," Jughead says as he sighs, "Who's asking? You? Veronica? The archfiend himself?"

"Jug, there's gonna be a special election to replace Josie's mom," Archie admits, "Hiram Lodge wants my dad to run."

"What the hell?" I ask.

"Why?" Jug asks.

"Who freaking knows?" Archie sighs as he sits down, "Jughead, I'm with Veronica, so that means I'm with the Lodges. But my dad, I can't let him get in any deeper with them. So tell him he shouldn't run. Veronica would kill me if I did. And ditto the Lodges. Maybe I could give you guys something. Maybe you could write about it and that might make my dad hit pause."

"Okay," Jug says quickly.

"Are you sure Archie?" I ask him, "they still might kill you if they figure out you told us."

"Its for my dad," Archie says. He looks around then settles on us, "You remember when Hiram Lodge gave Pop Tate that charitable donation to keep that diner open?"

"Yeah, we were all there," Jug says.

"Except Hiram Lodge didn't give Pop's a donation," Archie says, "He bought the diner."

"What?" Jug asks in shock.

"Wait I'm working for Hiram? Man... I should ask for a raise," I say mostly to myself.

"Not the time," Archie says.

"Fine... Go on," I tell him.

"And for some reason, he doesn't want anyone to know about it," Archie says, "Can either of you do something with that fact? At least enough to make my dad think twice about this stupid mayor idea."

"He bought the diner?" Jughead asks jumping to our map marking it down.

" -Yes! God! Hiram is like Dracula. Snapping up properties from all over Riverdale to expand his empire and feed," Jug says. I point to the link and share a look with him.

"If what you're telling us is true... Everyone is in danger," I tell Archie. I pull my phone out and dial Sweet Pea's number. "Hey Pea..."

"Hey beautiful," He says happily.

"Listen I'm gonna need a rain check Jug and I just got a tip on Hiram...."

"I can help," He says. I nod and look to Jughead.

"Meet us at Betty's house."

******

Betty, Jughead, Sweet Pea, Alice, and I stand at the table facing the map of evidence him and I had been collecting. "We figured out Hiram's methodology," I tell them.

"He acquires devalued land at a deep, some might say criminal discount. Twilight Drive-In, Sunnyside Trailer Park, Southside High, and now Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe," Jughead tells them.

"Wait, Pop's?" Alice asks.

"Hiram bought Pop's?" Betty asks.

"Yeah. His charitable donation wasn't entirely... or at all true," I tell them, "he bought it that night."

"And while most people didn't care about Hiram's other acquisitions, probably because they were on the Southside-"

"And you northsiders don't care about us," Sweet Pea says coldly.

"Play nice," I hiss at him. Jughead looks at me as to ask if he can go on and I nod. 

"Pop's is the heart of Riverdale," He says, "People will care about this one." Alice steps back and sighs.

"So, when are you talking to Pop?"