𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐑𝐀 / / 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐀

CHAPTER 48

WARNING: This chapter contains drug use/abuse and may be triggering to some. Read with caution.

FP Jones was beside himself. He sat hunched over the small, old kitchen table in his static home, head in his hands whilst a cigarette threatened to slip from his fingers, a bottle of beer next to him. He was supposed to be the one with the answers, the one who his people turned to in their time of need, but here he found himself turning to his old coping mechanisms - alcohol and tobacco. 

Frustrated and angry could be used to describe how he was feeling, but then again so could upset and worried. He had finally got his daughter back, he was patching their relationship up to be a proper one. He didn't want to be a 'father figure', no, he wanted to be her father.

But once more, Penny Peabody had to fuck it up.

He fumed as he took the last puff from the Marlboro before pressing it out in one of the old ash trays he had managed to dig out from under the sink, a younger imagine of the snake charmer fogging up his memory. She was given her nickname for a reason, after all. Penny Peabody was the enticing, mysterious, dangerous blonde beauty from the Southside of town and everyone wanted a piece of her. So, when she set her sights on FP at the tender young age of 16, a fresh face compared to his wife, he couldn't turn her down - despite the fact he was with Gladys. They had their fun, over half a year of fun.

That was how this whole mess came to be. Penny was used to getting what she wanted, and she wanted him all to herself. Unfortunately, that's not how things played out. FP came to his senses when Gladys came to him and told him she was pregnant. He realised he couldn't carry on this way and tried to cut all ties with Penny. The next day, she turned up on his doorstep with a doctors note in hand confirming she was seven months pregnant with his baby girl. She gave him an ultimatum, leave Gladys to be with her or she would raise the kid herself. You can figure out how the rest of the story went down.

He had lost his girl once again, and once again it was thanks to Penny Peabody. He had sent the Serpents, every single one of them, out searching for Kitty but all came back empty handed. Nobody could find the princess they all loved and adored. So, FP turned to the bottle.

The handle of the trailer rattled before it slowly opened and Jughead stepped over the threshold warily with red puffy eyes, his hat in his hands. He felt the most guilty out of everyone, it was his plan that had caused this after all, it was his idea to finally be rid of Penny Peabody. He was a smart kid, truth be told, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't thought this through. Kitty didn't even cross his mind, he just cared about getting his father back on track, their father back on track. He had made a mistake, and he was paying for it.

"Dad?"

FP raised his head and the look on his face mirrored that of his sons. Both distraught and confused and not knowing who or where to turn to for help, for it was them who most turned to in their times of need. FP had always been a natural born leader, and since joining the biker gang Jughead had followed in his fathers footsteps, but now they were alone and lost.

"Any news?"

FP shook his head, ripping his gaze away and focusing back onto the half empty bottle, lifting it to his lips and finishing the contents.

"Nope. Nothing." He said, smacking his lips. "How's Sweet Pea?"

Jughead let out a shaky breath, throwing his hat towards the closest surface he could before pulling up a chair and sitting next to his father. He of course noticed the smell of alcohol and cigarettes that wafted through their home, which only made him feel more queasy.