Thank You, For Everything

Threats

FP put his face in his hands when the other Serpent left. Penny was back. He knew she would try and hurt Jughead after what he did to her. He screamed and threw his empty glass at the wall, putting his head back in his hands when it smashed, the pieces of glass covering the floor. There were so many ways she could hurt Jughead. If she went for Betty— Alice would publically murder him. That damn boy. He told him to stay away from her, and he didn't listen, in fact, Jughead never listens. It was entirely Jug's fault, but he couldn't let his son deal with the snake charmer alone. He was going to keep him out of this, he needed to protect him at all costs. FP would never forgive himself if anything happened to Jughead. He sighed and grabbed his Serpent jacket before heading out the door, intending on talking to Penny.

After hours of searching he finally gave up and headed back to his trailer. FP hadn't seen Jughead all day, what if she found him? He took his phone from his pocket to call him as he opened the front door.

"Hey, dad," Jughead kept his eyes on the tv and carried on eating one of the many burgers he brought from Pop's, and held up another paper bag full of food, "got some for you too."

FP sat on the sofa next to his son and pulled out some fries from the bag, "where've you been? I got worried for a second," he looked at Jughead, who laughed, and his small frown turned into a grin. He was happy that Jughead was at home and safe, but his mind filled with dread, knowing he still had to tell him about Penny.

"I went to Betty's after school, we're investigating something."

"Can't say I'm surprised, kiddo. How's the mini detective doing?" He took the rest of the food out the paper bag and screwed it up, throwing it into the bin from where he was sat.

Jughead smiled, "she's okay, Chic's a bit weird though. I asked her if she wanted to stay here for a little while, but Mrs Cooper said no before Betty could even answer, so," he looked at his dad and shrugged before turning back to the tv. They both sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching whatever came on the tv, before FP turned it off and looked at his son.

"I have a couple things I want to talk to you about."

"What've I done now, dad?" Jughead sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Nothing, boy. This is serious. Alice wants to know if anything happened at that cabin," when Jughead opened his mouth to answer, FP cut him off, "and tell the truth, Jughead. For once, just tell me the damn truth."

"Alright! Jeez. Me and Betty fell out with Archie and Veronica because Mrs Cooper called Betty and told her that Mr Cooper sold the register to Hiram Lodge. And some people from the village broke in and threatened us but Veronica called security, so they ran, and Archie followed one of them, and the next thing, we all heard a gunshot. That's the truth dad."

FP nodded, "you need to tell me these things, Jug. It's better to tell someone you trust than to bottle it all up. I know it's hard to trust anyone lately, with Jason Blossom's murder, the Black Hood, and now Hiram, but you need to trust me," he grabbed his son's shoulder and made him look at him, "you need to trust me Jughead."

"What's the other thing you want to talk about?"

"Penny's back in Riverdale, and I want you to stay far away from her. Understand?" He raised an eyebrow at Jughead and waited for an answer, knowing damn well the boy would involve himself somehow, but he was still going to try his best to keep him out of it.

"Dad-"

FP cut him off again, "after what you did to her, boy, she's going to want you dead. Hell, she'd burn you alive if she got her hands on you. So stay away and let me deal with this. If I catch you trying to involve yourself in this then wave goodbye to Riverdale, Jughead."