Jughead and Blake had spent the entire day together before he left at midnight to go home. It was about an hour after he had left that Blake heard Archie leave through the front door. She was in the grips of insomnia so, she walked downstairs into the kitchen to wait for him to come back. After all, there was a murderer currently on the loose. 

Archie ran back into the house to find his sister sat, wrapped in one of Jughead's plaid shirts, with a cup of tea. She met Archie's eyes and he saw how bloodshot hers were from crying. He looked at her with sympathetic eyes as he grabbed a hoodie from the chair next to her and pulled it over his shirtless torso. Neither of them said anything; neither knew where to start. They only knew that they needed each other for support. Archie finally sighed and spoke up.

"How do you feel?"

"Like shit." She replied with a small smile. "Where'd you go?"

Archie tensed and hesitated. "If I tell you something, do you swear to me that you won't tell anyone? Even dad."

"I promise, Arch." She assured him.

"I was at Sweetwater river on the fourth of July..." He hesitated again but she gave him a small smile of assurance. "With Miss Grundy."

Blake momentarily froze but quickly regained herself. "What-what were you doing there?"

"I think you can take a good guess. But... We heard a gunshot, Bee, and she doesn't want to go to the police." He sighed and covered his face with his hands.

"Arch, you can only do what you feel is right, not what anyone else tells you. I think it's up to you to make your own decision." She pulled him in for a brief hug. "But I think you should get some sleep."

He nodded and went to walk out of the kitchen. "Thanks, Bee."

She smiled as he left before turning back to the cold cup of tea in front of her. She poured it down the sink and went to walk upstairs. But her eyes caught her dad's liquor collection and she couldn't resist the need to drown out the pain.

___________________________________________________________________________

The next morning their dad put Blake's dishevelled appearance down to no sleep and the shock of what had happened to Jason. Archie too wouldn't realise that she had drank herself half to death the night before in the hope of not waking up. But she knew Jughead and she knew he would immediately see through her façade.

"All right. Here you go, Vegas. Good boy." Their dad said as he fed their dog.

"Morning, Dad. Morning, Bee." Archie shot his sister a smile, that she tried to return as he walked into the room.

"Hey, bud. Where'd you sneak off to last night?" Their dad asked and Archie looked at Blake cautiously.

"You, uh, you heard that?" Archie almost stuttered.

"Son, I've been hearing you both sneak out since you were eight years old going to Jughead's tree house." Their dad laughed.

"I couldn't sleep. Went for a jog to tire myself out." Archie lied.

"Yeah? Got something on your mind?" Their dad pushed.

"Just all this stuff with Jason." Archie assured him.

"No more midnight runs, or outings, for either of you until the police catch whoever it was that shot that poor kid. I swear to God, this town..." Their dad trailed off.

"I'm going to meet Jughead before school to sort out an English paper." Blake said as she grabbed her bag and walked out. "See you both later!"

Blake ran to the drive-in at full speed. By the time she got there, she was gasping for breath. She didn't even have to knock on the door because Jughead walked out. He took one look at her dishevelled appearance and froze a few steps in front of her.

"How much?" Was all he muttered.

"Enough." She whispered. "I couldn't sleep and then Archie went out and I didn't know why and..." She trailed off before she revealed anything else.

Jughead sighed and wrapped her in his arms. "You should have called me."

"I know."

________________________________________________________________________________

Jughead took a deep breath before walking over to where Archie was stood at his locker. "Hi." Jughead awkwardly started. "Do you think I can use Jason Blossom's death as an excuse to get out of PE. "Sorry, Coach, I'm just too depressed and freaked-out right now to do pull-ups."" Jughead laughed slightly.

"Don't joke about Jason Blossom." Archie warned.

"What? Sardonic humour is just my way of relating to the world." Jughead glanced over Archie's shoulder and scoffed. "Hey. Look, it's the rich kids from The Goonies." He said looking at the rest of the football team. "All right, I'm out. But... Just watch your sister for me. I think she's close to breaking point." Jughead walked off leaving Archie looking confused.

"Watch it, Wednesday Addams." Reggie shouted as he walked into Jughead.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Blake was sat with Betty and Kevin in the rec room when Principal Weatherbee's voice echoed through the school's speaker system.

"Good morning, students. This is your principal speaking. There have been many inquiries about the upcoming pep rally. So, let me state clearly, it is happening, as scheduled. Now, on a less felicitous note, if you could give your attention to Sheriff Keller."

"Most of you already know the details," The sheriff started. "but your classmate Jason Blossom's body was found late Saturday night. So as of the weekend, Jason's death is now being treated as a homicide. It is an open and ongoing investigation." Betty ran her hand over Blake's arm as she noticed the brunette grip the chair arm tighter.

"And may I interject," Cheryl's voice suddenly cut in. "neither I nor my parents will rest until Jason's death is avenged, and his cold-hearted killer is walking the green mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry. I, for one, have my suspicions. #RiverdaleStrong."

The sheriff then regained control. "If you know anything that could help us find and apprehend Jason's killer, or anything about what happened to him on July 4th, I strongly urge you to come forward immediately. You can speak with me or Principal Weatherbee. A death like this wound's us all. Let's not let Jason down."

Blake stood and walked out of the room; intent on finding Archie. She rounded the corner to find Archie stood next to the water fountain with Jughead in front of him.

"Archie. Weirdest thing. This summer, we were supposed to go on a road trip over July 4th weekend." Jughead took a few steps forward. "Which you bailed on at the last minute. Is there something you wanna tell me, pal?"

Blake quickly interjected before either of them did something that they regretted. "You two do know we need to get to Biology, right?" She said shooting Archie a look and grabbing Jughead's arm. Archie gave her a grateful look as she pulled Jughead to their lesson.

Blake and Jughead took their usual seat at the front of the class. There was a dead frog and dissecting equipment. Archie and Jughead shared an intense look as Archie walked in and went straight to the back of the room. The teacher told them to pair up and put on gloves. They both pulled on a pair of latex gloves and as Blake opened the scalpels, Jughead turned to her.

"Are you protecting Archie from something?" Jughead whispered.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because as soon as I asked him where he was at the start of the summer, you appeared and whisked me away. Bee, is everything alright?" He seemed worried as he kept his tone low.

"Everything's fine, Juggie, but you need to let some demons lie." She muttered as they started the dissection. Blake shot Archie a worried glance over the classroom.