Rosemary ⋇ Jughead Jones

XLIII

No Loitering

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Rosemary and Jughead stood together in the small phone booth. Rosemary had her back pressed against Jughead's chest with one of his arms wrapped around her waist to hold her tightly against him. His other hand was dialing a number. In the pocket of Rosemary's jacket, her phone was buzzing out of control. Without even looking at the texts or calls, she pulled out the phone and shut it down, hastily shoving it back in her pocket.

"Hi, mom," Jughead said into the phone, a soft smile growing on his face as he heard his mother's voice. Rosemary was still shivering in the cold and he noticed, quickly pulling her tighter against him and hoping his body warmth would warm her up. "Hey, guess what? Ro and I got bus tickets to Toledo... Yeah, we thought we could come and see you and Jellybean for a while..."

It was silent for a bit and Rosemary turned so she was facing Jughead, her arms wrapping around his waist underneath of his jacket and his free arm holding her tightly.

"We could crash on the couch," Jughead continued his conversation with his mother. "No, Ro won't mind sharing the couch with me..."

It was quiet again and Rosemary felt Jughead tense underneath of her tight hold, her head lifting up from his chest and looking up to see the soft smile he once had falling to a sad frown.

"Yeah," Jughead nodded, sounding disappointed. "Mhm... No, I... No, I understand. Look, I... Forget I said anything, okay?... All right. Bye."

Jughead quickly slammed the phone down and hung up. Rosemary looked up and saw Jughead's eyes tear up as he let out a shaky sob. Rosemary quickly cupped the sides of his face to force him to look at her. Jughead looked heartbroken and that's how Rosemary knew that his mom had turned him down.

"It's okay, Jug," Rosemary whispered, fighting back her own tears. "Sh... Come here. It's okay."

Jughead pulled Rosemary into a tight hug and the two stood for a few moments in the clear glass phone booth in a tight embrace, Jughead shaking as he cried and Rosemary silently crying on his shoulder as she ran her hand through his hair beneath his beanie and softly rubbed his back.

"Come on," Rosemary whispered, pulling away from the hug and taking Jughead's shaking hand in hers. "Let's see if we can get different tickets."

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"We changed our mind about Toledo," Jughead told the woman behind the ticket booth as he placed the two tickets on the counter. "Can you just put us on whatever the next bus out of town is? Don't even care where it's going."

"Citrusville, Florida," The woman said as she stamped the two tickets. "Leaves tomorrow morning at six."

"Thank you," Rosemary smiled as she took the tickets and sent the woman a thankful smile, slipping them in Jughead's backpack.

"Lobby closes in fifteen minutes," The woman told the two as they looked at a sign that said 'No Loitering'. "Reopens ar five thirty."

The two teens nodded before slowly made their way out of the house and stood under the overhang outside. Jughead took a heavy breath and looked down at Rosemary with sad eyes.

"How about one last Pop's trip, huh?" Jughead asked the blonde innocently, who sadly smiled and nodded, taking his hand tightly on hers and beginning their walk back towards the twenty-four-hour diner.

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Jughead and Rosemary sat in a booth together with two untouched drinks in front of them, one being a cold milkshake and the other a hot coffee. Jughead was against the wall with his arms wrapped around Rosemary who was trying to sleep. His hand ran through her long, tangled, blonde hair and for the first time that night, she looked peaceful.

The doorbell chimed and in walked three guilty friends. Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews, and Betty Cooper.

"Told you," Veronica's voice echoed, catching the attention of Jughead and waking up Rosemary.

"Jug... Rosie," Archie called out. Jughead looked over his shoulder and Rosemary's eyes fluttered open. Veronica slid in the booth seat behind the couple while Betty and Archie sat across the table from them.

"Guys," Betty whispered softly as she sat down, staring across at her friends. "We're so sorry... About everything."

Jughead was staring at the window and Rosemary was looking around at her friends with tearful eyes. Jughead's hand still ran through her hair comfortingly and, to get some warmth since she still felt cold, she snuggled closer to him.

"Juggie, Rosie," Archie added. "We screwed up. We all did. Breaking into your parents' trailer was wrong, but at least some good came out of it."

"Pretty sure my dad and Amelia were just arrested for murder," Jughead spat, glaring out the window. 

Rosemary took his free hand in hers and squeezed it tightly, softly lifting it up to her lips and placing a small kiss on his knuckle.

"That gun wasn't there when we searched FP's trailer," Veronica added, catching Rosemary and Jughead's attention. "Someone put it there after we left."

Jughead and Rosemary turned to Betty and Archie for confirmation, both up them quickly sitting up when they got two head nods in response.

"What are you talking about?" Jughead asked.

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The five teens ran into the Sheriff station in distress, Jughead dragging Rosemary behind him by their linked hands. Archie rushed to the front desk with Betty and Veronica right behind him.

"Excuse me, sir," Archie said to the man behind the desk. "We have to speak with Sheriff Keller."

"There's been a huge mistake," Betty added. Just as Betty said that in walked Sheriff Keller and all five teens quickly turned,

"Sheriff," Veronica caught his attention, pushing to the front of the group. "We need to talk to you about FP Jones and Amelia Holland."

"What about 'em?" Sheriff Keller asked in confusion.

"They're innocent," Archie quickly butt in.

"They're being framed," Veronica continued for him.

"Then why did they both just confess?" Sheriff Keller asked.

Rosemary and Jughead both froze, looking behind Sheriff Keller to see FP Jones and Amelia Holland getting led away with their hands cuffed behind their backs. Rosemary was the first to react, pushing forwards too quickly for the Sheriff to grab her, and rushing straight to her mother.

"Mom!" Rosemary screamed, her arms wrapped around her mother's shoulders as she held her tight. She felt an officer and the Sheriff try to pull her back, but her grip on her mother was too tight.

"Sh," Amelia whispered in her daughter's ear. "It's okay, kid. Everything's going to be okay."

"No, please," Rosemary sobbed as she felt the Sheriff rip her arms off from around her mother's neck. "No, mom!"

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Hi, I'm really inspired to

finish this book becauseI have like two moreepisodes of season 1 leftand then I can finally finisha book on this website andgo on to book 2!