Y/N PoV
The next day doesn't get any better. Polly came to school with Betty and the whole day I stayed with her. It was fine until someone wrote "Serpent Slut" on my locker. Jughead came to my rescue but it didn't matter, my life still sucked.

The only semi good part was that Veronica was fine with sharing her room with me. She loved having me at her home, I wish I could feel the same way.

Jughead and I walk home, together, like any other day. He decides to bring up what happened at school, "As long as you're with me, troubles just gonna keep coming at you from all sides."

"It was just one jerk." I tell him.

"It's not just one jerk, and you know it. It's Mayor McCoy. It's Sheriff Keller. It's Weatherbee. It's Social Services, it's the entire multiverse telling me that I don't belong here, so why don't I just do everyone a favor?"

I stop walking, "No! I know the feeling and we belong here just as much as everyone else. This is our home." I cup his cheek, "You know that, right?"

"Yeah." He turns away.

I gently tilt his head back towards me, "Jughead?"

He sighs, "Yes."

I lean in and give him a soft loving kiss and he returns it. We walk the rest of the way to our temporary home.

The day after isn't any better, Jughead disappears from Fred's that morning so I'm stuck walking alone, Archie goes with Veronica. When I get to the student lounge Betty tells us she has some news.

She stands up with the biggest smile, "The craziest thing is, I have a secret brother out there in the world."

"It's positively Dickensian. I love a long-lost brother. How old would he be?" Ronnie asks.

"Mid-twenties."

V smiles, "Oh my god. A blonde Adonis, no doubt."

I'm slightly confused at all this, "Are you going to find him?"

"I don't know yet. I would be concerned with living with a stranger of a brother." Betty sighs, "Though he probably wouldn't live with us."

"I wish I could live with my brother." I mutter to my self. My phone rings, interrupting our conversation. I answer it, "Hey Juggie. Where are you? Have you been getting all my messages?"

"Yes, N/N I have. I'm at Southside High."

"What?" I ask angrily, "Get your ass back over here, where you belong!"

"The is where I belong, okay? Not on the Northside. Let's talk about this after school. Please don't worry about me." He hangs up right after.

I turn around towards my friends with a scowl.

Ronnie sees my expression,"Where is he?"

"Southside High. He said it's where he belongs and that no one wants him here."

Archie scoffs, "FP warned me Jughead would cut himself off, go to the dark side."

"Arch, we can't let him do that! I can't let him do that. Let's go get him." They follow me out of the lounge and down the hall. We run as quickly as we can towards Fred's truck. I get in the drivers seat and pull out of the parking lot the second the doors slam shut.

When we arrive and get inside, I don't know where to go. I look around the hallways but they're empty.

"Cafeteria!" Archie says.

I run to the cafeteria and see Jughead siting at a table surrounded by Serpents, laughing at a joke, "Jug?"

"Y/N? What are you guys doing here?"

"Come with me, please." I grab his hand and drag him towards the truck. He leans against the truck leaving me room to stand in between his legs. I look at him for an explaination.

He sighs, "I didn't tell you ahead of time because I knew you would've tried to stop me."

"Damn straight. And I'm still gonna try."

"Y/N, the Southside is where the powers that be want me. Maybe I want to be here as well. I may blend in better here. And the students in the Northside would stop bullying you."

"I am a Serpent so the heat follows me everywhere. I'm not letting Riverdale's civil war split us apart, Jug." We wrap our arms around each other for a hug, "Whats it like here?"

"Some Serpents have been nice or whatever the term you use to describe them."

I laugh, "I should introduce you to the Serpents I know. It could help."

"I want to meet this, Sweet Pea so I can keep him in line." He pecks my cheek.

Veronica comes over yelling for us to get into the car ASAP. I pull away from Jug with a groan. "What's going on now?"

"I'll explain on the way just get us to Sweetwater River as fast as you can." She yells. We all pile into the small truck, not leaving any room.

I drive us there in record time as Veronica tells us that Cheryl is going to drown herself in the river. We get out and run towards the frozen water. Everyone yells and screams for Cheryl to come out until Betty spots her on the river, breaking through the ice, "Over there! Oh my god!"

We run to the ice screaming for her to stop. She doesn't stop.

Archie gets on the ice but it cracks under us, "Wait wait wait, Jug!" He pushes his friend off the ice.

"The ice! He's right." Jughead steps farther back. "Too much weight, and we'll all go under."

I can't tell if she can't hear us or she is ignoring us so I scream at the top of my lungs, "Cheryl please!"

She turns around and Veronica waves her over, "Just come to the shore and we'll figure this out together, okay?"

Cheryl takes a pause to think but the ice breaks around her and she falls into the river. Everyone takes off into a sprint towards her at full speed. Archie runs the fastest towards the hole, he falls to the ground.

"The current has her! Spread out! Spread out!" Jughead kicks the snow surrounding the whole in hopes to see her. I do the same.

Snow flies everywhere with no hope until Archie starts to scream, "She's here!! She's here!!"

I run toward him, "What do we do?!"

Archie starts to punch into the ice. "Archie be careful!" Ronnie yells.

Betty screams for someone to help, but I know help won't come. I search my for my switchblade, luckily I didn't take it out.

My brother continues to punch through the ice as blood falls from his hand. I get down next to him and pound on the ice with my switchblade. At some point, I cut my leg with it but I don't notice the cut.

"Y/N! Be careful!" My boyfriend worries about me more when he sees my leg.

Finally, the ice begins to break apart enough to pull Cheryl out. Archie gets her out. He checks to see if she is breathing but she must have swallowed a bunch of water. He begins to do CPR on her while I get my jacket off for her to wear.

Archie keeps going, then after what seems like hours, she starts to breathe again. Cheryl spits out water and coughs violently.

She sits up slightly. I pull my jacket around her to warm her up, "Cheryl you scared us!"

Cheryl's teeth chatter and her whole body shakes, freezing from the viscous river.

"We need to get her warm." Archie picks her up bridal style, not caring about his injured hand. He carries her to shore with us right behind them.

Once we get to the truck, I turn up the heat as high as it can go. "Where are we taking her?"

"My house. My mom can help." Veronica removes her coat and lays it on Cheryl.

I drive to Veronica's house and Archie gets her inside. I'm now realizing how bad I cut my leg. It hurts so bad and it's still bleeding.

"Y/N?" Jughead asks.

"What?" I grit my teeth though the pain.

"How bad is your leg?"

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel, "It's not good."

"The next stop is the hospital once Archie gets back in the car." He grabs my freehand, "Squeeze my hand."

I squeeze his hand, "No hospital, I'm fine."

Betty speaks up from the back, "Your not fine and besides, Archie is going to need to get his hand looked at. While we are there, they might as well stitch you up."

I groan as Archie gets back into the warm of our truck, "How's your hand, Arch?"

"Painful and probably broken."

Jughead smiles, "Then you are going to the hospital, Y/N."

Archie shakes his head, "You weren't going to go? Your leg is really bad. Maybe I should start calling you the idiot." He chuckles at his teasing.

"Remember I own a switchblade and you don't." I drive us to the hospital.

When I try to get out of the car to walk in, I'm met with searing pain from my cut. Jughead notices me and immediately picks me up.

"Put. me. down." I say.

"No way. I can see that hurts to walk." He carries me inside. The doctors tell us to go to a room down the hall to get looked at. Archie goes into the room to the right of us.

Jughead sets me down onto a bed and sits down on a chair. We wait, in silence, for the doctor to come in.

She comes in ten minutes later with a clipboard. "Hello, my name is Dr.Brown and I'll be your doctor today. Can I see your leg?"

"Sure." I whisper.

She looks at my leg for a couple of seconds and writes something down, "That's going to need several stitches. I'm going to go get the things I need to stitch you up. Be right back." Dr.Brown leaves the room.

I groan and flop down onto the bed, "This sucks!"

Jughead gets up. He sits back down next to me on the bed, "I know it does."

"This is going to hurt like a bitch."

He chuckles, "You can squeeze my hand and lean on me if you want."

"Thanks." I hold his hand and the doctor returns with the things she needs.

She prepares my cut for the stitches, "If your okay with me asking, what happened?"

"I was breaking through ice with my switchblade to save someone from drowning and I cut myself." I tell her like it means nothing.

"That sounds more eventful than you made it sound." The Doctor laughs, "I'm going to stitch you up now, it will help to hold onto your..?"

"Boyfriend." I say with a big smile.

She smiles back, "Then hold your boyfriend's hand." Dr.Brown begins to do the stitches. It hurts badly and she can see my pain, "So tell me more about what happened today."

"Um well we went to Sweetwater River after my friend got a text from the person we saved. She fell in and got taken by the current so my brother, Archie the boy in the room over, pounded on the ice with his fists and I used my switchblade. The ice finally broke and that's about it." Talking distracted me from the pain.

"My girlfriend is a hero!" Jughead looks at me with a big dopey smile.

"She sounds like one to me," the doctor keeps stitching, "What does a high school girl have a switchblade?" She asks curiously.

"I'm a Serpent." I remember my jacket, "Shit. I forgot to get my jacket from Cheryl."

"It's okay, we can go get it tomorrow."

I laugh, "I can't wait to ask Ronnie what Cheryl looked like when she realized she's wearing a Serpent jacket."

Jughead laughs with me.

The doctor puts in the last stitch, "I need to do one last thing and you can go." She leaves the room again.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought. The talking was a huge distraction." I lay my head in Jughead's lap.

He plays with my hair, "I'm proud of you."

I scrunch my face up, "Me? Why?"

"You saved Cheryl. Not to mention you took those stitches really well. You are amazing." Jughead kisses my forehead.

"Thank you."

The doctor comes back in, "You are free to go, Miss Y/N.

"Thank you Dr.Brown. How is my brother doing?" I ask.

She frowns, "I'm sorry but I can't give any information to you unless the patent gives me permission."

"Can you go ask him then? Archie won't have any problem with it." My phone dings.

"I'll go ask. Please keep your phone on silent." She goes again.

I take out my phone, unbothered to silent it. When I read the text, I groan, "Keller says our dads want to talk to us about their jail time."

"When?"

"Before the Jubilee which starts in an hour." I put my phone back in my pocket as I sit up.

The doctor comes back in, "Your brother is okay. He broke his hand and will need a cast for awhile. Archie told me to tell you, he will meet you at the Jubilee and someone named Veronica will give him a ride." I nod, "One last thing, be very careful with your leg. You don't need to break any of the stitches so no more saving people for a bit."

"Fine." I stand up but Jughead picks me up again.

"I'm still carrying you everywhere." We leave the room and go to the car.

"Don't carry me into the police station. My dad doesn't need to see me like this and he'll blame it all on you." I get put into the passenger's seat.

Jughead drives us to the station. He gets out and quickly runs over to help me. "I don't care if he gets mad at me."

I get carried into the station and into the room where our fathers are being held.

My dad crosses his arms when he sees Jughead carrying me, "What happened to you?"

"I'm not telling the whole story again so, basically, me and Archie were breaking through ice to save Cheryl and I cut myself with my switchblade." Jughead sits down on a chair.

"You should have taken better care of my daughter!" He yells at Jughead.

I sigh, "It's not his fault! It's mine and he's been carrying me everywhere because he doesn't want me getting hurt more even though I hate being carried!"

FP looks at my dad, "Your not going to win this argument. She almost always wins."

I nod happily.

Jughead walks over to the bars, "Sheriff Keller tells us that you guys still haven't given any names. He's hoping we can convince you otherwise."

"I've been sweating it out, Jug, and uh the only conclusion I've come to is that both options suck." FP purses his lips together.

"I'm not betraying my own." My dad says.

Jughead sighs, "Hey, I wanted to let you know that I...I'm gonna be okay. I met the foster family that's taking me in. They're nice."

"What about you Y/N?"

I shake my head, "I'm not okay with it at all. Even if I get to live with my best friend, I don't want to leave Fred or Archie."

FP sighs, "What about Southside High?"

"It's a high school. It's got the jocks and the burnouts, and the nerds, the like. But I'll survive." Jughead smiles.

"You just might." His father laughs. "Jughead, listen to me, I'm more innocent than I am guilty, but L/N here isn't. Take good care of Y/N. Don't let her go, she's a good one." He looks down, "Listen, I've done some stupid things, some bad things, and come what May? I have to answer for my part of it, you understand? I don't know what's gonna happen when this goes to trial, but you need to be there for your mom, for Jellybean. They might not need you right this second-"

"I'll do my best."

FP smiles, "Not a doubt in my mind."

**Time Skip**
"Remind me why we aren't going home and at the Jubilee instead?" I ask as Jughead gives me a piggy back ride into the Jubilee.

"Archie is singing and Betty is giving a speech. We should go cheer them on." We walk up the stairs. Betty's voice can be heard when we enter.

She gives us a big smile, "But what is Riverdale? It's the people, right? You, me, our friends, our neighbors. Riverdale is Archie Andrews."

Several people from the audience whistle and clap for him.

"Kevin Keller is Riverdale. Veronica Lodge, she's Riverdale. But you know who else is Riverdale?" Betty asks.

"Oh please god no. Not my dad..not my dad." I whisper.

She smiles, "FP Jones and D/N L/N who we were so quick go blame for Jason's murder."

I look at her angrily, "Ugh!"

"Jughead Jones is Riverdale, the very soul of Riverdale and right beside him ready to kick some butt, Y/N L/N, she is Riverdale. Without them we may not have ever found out what happened to Jason. And yet how do we thank them? By banishing them. Which is what we do when the truth gets too ugly in Riverdale. Truth being that, Clifford Blossom was also Riverdale.

"Riverdale's at a crossroads. If we don't face the reality of who and what we are, if we keep lying to ourselves and keeping secrets from each other, than what happened to Jason could happen again. Or god forbid something even worse. Riverdale must do better. We must do better." Betty steps away from the microphone slightly. The crowd stays silent until me and Jughead start to clap.

"You go Betty!" I yell.

Kevin, Archie, and Veronica join us until the whole crowd is up on their feet clapping and cheering. Betty gives everyone a genuinely happy smile, and exits the stage.

The Jubilee continues on the rest of the night. When Mayor McCoy thanks everyone for coming, we go out into the hallway to congratulate Betty and apologize for missing Archie's performance.

Our friend make their way over to us.

"Betty that was an amazing speech! I'm so proud of you." I smile at her, "And Archie, my super great understanding brother!"

"I'm not mad."

I let a breathe out, "Okay good. I'm still sorry though."

Veronica laughs at us, "I see someone is being a protective boyfriend."

I roll my eyes, "It's ridiculous."

"The doctor said to be careful so I'm taking extra precautions." He smiles.

Then an idea pops into my head, "Set me down or I'm not going to kiss you for a week."

Jughead puts me back down on my feet.

Kevin laughs at us, "You two are so cute!"

"Uh thanks, Kev. You know what, my leg doesn't hurt at all. I can walk with no problem see?" I walk around Jughead in a circle, "I'm not going to get carried anymore!"

Jughead sighs, "Fine."

Betty glares at us, "We are gonna go to Pops. Want to join us?"

My boyfriend gives me a smile, "Actually, tonight we are going to my dad's trailer."

"We are?" I ask confused.

He smiles, "Yes we are."

Veronica gives me a smug smile, "Have fun."

I purse my lips, "Thanks. We should go, Jughead."

"Sure." He holds my hand as we walk down the hallway. I glance back to my friends. Betty is frowning at me, Veronica is smiling, and Kevin mouths 'Get some.'

I stick my tongue out at him playfully. We leave and go to the trailer.
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Sorry I didn't know how to end this.

I'm practically crying! One more chapter and it's over! Just one last chapter to write. Just one last chapter to read. Then off to book two!