Jughead's dad had finally agreed to going back to work for Fred. After school that day, Archie, Blake and Jughead found themselves stopping by the site. Archie and Blake were sat on one of the tables as Jughead lounged on a chair as their dads got back.

"Oh, how was your first day back?" Jughead smiled.

"Oh, it was great. Your dad is the hardest-working guy on the crew, as always." Fred said as they walked past the three kids and FP chucked Jughead his helmet with a chuckle.

"Oh, in that case, why don't we celebrate to mark the occasion?" Jughead smiled and perched the helmet on top of his beanie.

"Yeah, the three of us were thinking the four of us could have dinner or something." Blake said as she took the helmet of Jughead who playfully glared at her.

"Uh, tonight? I don't know..." Fred said.

"I'm game if you're game." FP shrugged and looked at Fred. "On me."

Fred sighed and gave in as the three kids cheered. They ended up sat in a booth at Pop's, Fred and FP on one side and the three kids crammed into the other side with Blake in the middle.

"Anyway. We spent the whole summer fixing up that old VW bus." FP said.

"Yeah." Fred nodded nostalgically.

"Remember what we called it, Fred?" FP queried.

"The Shaggin' Wagon." They both said at the same time as the trio laughed along.

"The Shaggin' Wagon." FP repeated as Fred laughed. "This was before your dad had game. Senior Year, he started a band, and then the girls were all over him." FP shared a piece of information that was new to the twins.

"We were awful." Fred groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, we were." FP chimed in as they both laughed.

"Oh. But it was great. Best time of my life." FP said almost sadly.

Fred turned to Jughead. "You know, your dad was what is commonly known as a BMOC, Jughead."

"Come on. The hell I was." FP disagreed.

"In what way?" Jughead was curious.

"Football, for one. He single-handedly defeated our arch-rivals, the Baxter High Ravens." Fred said.

"He doesn't care about that stuff, Fred. Football, sports." FP cut in. "Takes after his mom in that respect, and I mean that as a compliment. I'd rather see you spending your time writing, thinking up stories, you still do that? Nose in a book? Typing away?"

"Yeah, yeah, Jughead works on the school paper with Blake." Archie said.

"Ooh." FP said tapping the table. "You two finally pluck up the courage to admit your feelings for one another?"

Blake nearly choked on her milkshake. "Um."

"I wanna know more about the band." Jughead saved them both. "What was the name of the band?"

"Ah, yeah." Fred started as FP was already laughing. "It was called... The Fred Heads."

Everyone laughed as Fred tried to keep his dignity.

"Wait, the what now?" Archie asked still laughing.

"Yeah, that's why it doesn't come up very often.â" Fred laughed as Pop's came over with the bill. "Oh, thanks, Pop." Fred went to get his wallet out.

"Oh, come on, Fred. This was supposed to be my treat." FP said as Fred gave Pop the money.

"Hey, you get it next time." Fred said.

"Hey, excuse me. Pop?" FP called. Jughead tensed up and Blake grabbed his hand under the table. Pop handed the bill back to FP.

"We invited you guys out. Let me pay." Jughead tried.

"Put your damn money away." FP warned him.

"FP, take it easy." Fred tried to deescalate the situation.

"You owe me this." FP said almost casually but there was a bite hidden under it.

"Yeah," Fred agreed.

"Yeah." FP said.

"sure." Fred said putting his money away. "Go ahead. You get this one. You know, if I'd have known, I would have gotten another milkshake." Fred chuckled.

____________________________________________________________________________

They went back to the Andrews' and the trio and FP were sat in the garage. Archie was strumming away on his electric guitar as FP used his acoustic. Jughead and Blake were sat together on one of the old sofas just watching.

"Damn, Hoss, you're good. Way better than your dad." FP complimented as Archie stopped playing. "Hey, does Fred keep any beer in there?" FP pointed to the old fridge.

"Uh." Archie said.

"Dad, don't you think it's a little late?" Jughead saved them once again.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. No, it's all right. You know, I got a big day tomorrow anyway." FP said as he went to grab his flannel shirt.

"Hey, Mr. Jones, before you go, can I ask you a question?" Archie shot up and put his guitar to the side as Blake and Jughead shared an uneasy look.

"Yeah." FP said.

"Earlier tonight, you said my dad owed you. What did you mean by that?" Archie queried,

"Hey, Archie, why don't we quit while we're ahead?" Jughead tried to stop the conversation going further.

"It's just I mean, it's just a question." Archie retorted. "Did something happen between you two?"

"It's ancient history, but your dad and me, we... We started Andrews Construction together." FP started.

"You and my dad were partners?" Archie sounded confused.

FP chuckled. "He wouldn't call us that. Anyway, we... We struggled at first. Fred, he just had you two and your mom to provide for, I had Jughead and Jellybean and their mom and hospital bills. So, I took some odd jobs that weren't exactly on the level. And sure enough, one of 'em landed me in some hot water, and your dad was good enough to bail me out.

"But then he said we should part ways. That I was a liability. Made me sign a paper saying the bail money was him buying me out of the company. Never mind that my share of the business was worth probably 10 times that, easy. So that was that. He went his way, and I went mine." FP finished. "You know, I think I need something a little harder than beer.†He fished a hip flask out of the pocket of his jacket and Jughead's face dropped.

FP left to say bye to Fred, Archie started putting his guitar away and Jughead pulled Blake into a hug. He told himself it was for her, but he knew he was lying to himself.

"Jughead, what your dad told us I had no idea." Archie said as Jughead let Blake go.

"Me neither. Illuminating, isn't it?" Jughead muttered.

Archie sighed. "My dad must've had a good reason."

"For screwing over my dad?" Jughead scoffed.

"Are you ready to roll, Jugs?" FP called.

Before FP entered the room Jughead grabbed the hipflask and shoved it under the sofa cushion. He grabbed his dad's coat as his dad staggered into the room and threw him the keys. He kissed Blake on the cheek and walked out. "See you tomorrow!" Archie and Blake watched as they walked away.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Jughead pretty much lugged his dad to the sofa in the trailer.

"I'll sleep right here on this couch, you can have the bedroom." FP muttered.

Jughead sighed. "I'm not gonna take your bed, Dad."

"It wouldn't be the first time I crashed on this thing." FP said as Jughead started taking off his boots. "Ah, thank you. If you stay... Are you? You're gonna stay?" Jughead merely nodded. "Don't be late for school."

"It's all right. I'm already way ahead in all my classes." Jughead assured him. "Hey, I talked to Mom. She got a job at a call centre to pay for her online classes. I guess she's finally going after her GED. Jellybean is helping her study. By the way, Jellybean wants to go with JB now. She thinks it sounds cooler. She's 10 years old and listens to Pink Floyd on vinyl, I don't think she could get any cooler." Jughead trailed off as he noticed his dad was already asleep.

______________________________________________________________________________

Archie and Blake were both sat on Archie's bed mulling over everything that had just happened. Archie was laid down staring at the ceiling as Blake leaned with her back against the wall.

"Hey, kids. How was your jam session?" Fred asked as he walked into the room.

"It was great, until FP told us you forced him out of the company he helped found." Archie said as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

"That's his story, wanna hear mine, hmm?" Fred asked. The twins nodded as Archie sat up. "FP was a mess. He was stealing from the company and selling stuff on the side. All things considered, I was pretty generous."

"So generous you didn't give him a second chance?" Archie scoffed.

"Of course, I did." Fred said. "You have no idea how many times I bailed that man out of jail. When someone is drowning, you can try to save them, but not if they're gonna drag you down with them. I did the best I could for my family. For you two."

"Yeah, and who cares if Jughead ended up drowning, too." Blake scoffed as she stood and walked out and into her own room.