𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚗// 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙿𝚎𝚊

𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚜 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

I sit at one of the desks at Mr. Andrews Construction site and twirl around in a chair.

"Anna, can I ask you a question."

"What is it Arch."

"When we met up with the Blossoms, something snapped in you. What happened."

"I don't know, I just hate the fact that Penelope and Clifford are pointing fingers. What happens if it comes down to Clifford Blossom was the one who shot Jason wouldn't you want to protect your secret." 

"Why do you say that."

"It's feels almost like a gut instinct to me, I don't know. It's probably not even him I was just trying to make a point." The door opens and Jughead walks in.

"Hey, Juggie." I smile and he sits down.

"What are we talking about."

"Nothing just some stupid stuff." Jug sits down and the door opens again. My dad and FP were actually talking.

"Oh, how was your first day back?"

"Oh, it was great."

"Your dads are the hardest working guys on the crew, as always"

"Oh, in that case, why don't we celebrate to mark the occasion?" I smile and Archie speaks up.

"Yeah, Jug, Anna, and I were thinking the six of us could have dinner or something."

"Uh, tonight? I don't know..." My dad goes to say and FP cuts him off.

"I'm game if you're game. On me." My dad and Fred nod.

"Alright let's go then." I smile and grab my purse before leaving.
***
"Anyway... We spent the whole summer fixing up that old VW bus. Yeah. Remember what we called it, Fred?"

"The Shaggin' Wagon." He says and I laugh.

"The Shaggin' Wagon" FP hits the table and I shake my head.

"This was before your dad had game. Senior Year, Fred started a band, and then the girls were all over him." He points at Archie.

"We were awful." My dad shakes his head and I smile.

"Yeah, yeah, we were."

"Oh. But it was great. Best time of my life."

"You know, your dads were what is commonly known as a BMOC, Jughead."

"Come on. The hell we were." 

"In what way?" I ask and he laughs.

"Football, for one  He single-handedly defeated our arch-rivals, the Baxter High Ravens. You dad Anna was one of the star basketball players." I look over at my dad and raise an eyebrow. The bell on the top of the door rings and I look over my shoulder to see my brother walk in with Reggie and Moose. He smiles at me and I smile back.

"He doesn't care about that stuff, Fred. Football, sports. 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 me and Betty." I smile and he looks at Jughead with surprise.

"Betty? Ooh." He drums on the table and leans closer.

"Who is Betty? Is that your girlfriend?"

"She's... I wanna know more about the band. What was the name of the band?" Jug changes the subject. 

"Ah, yeah. It was called The Fred Heads."

"Wait, the what now?" I ask and Fred shakes his head.

"Yeah, that's why it doesn't come up very often." Pop comes over with the check and Fred takes it.

"Oh, thanks, Pop."

"Oh, come on, Fred. This was supposed to be my treat."

"Hey, you get it next time." FP turns around and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Hey, excuse me. Pop?" He gives the check back and FP gives Fred back his money.

"We invited you guys out. Let me pay." I go to pull out money and FP looks over at me.

"Put your damn money away."

"FP, take it easy." My dad says and he gives Pop the check.

"You owe me this." He points to Fred and he nods.

"Yeah, sure."

"Yeah. Go ahead. You get this one. You know, if I'd have known, I would have gotten another milkshake." He jokes and I laugh.

"Alright, why don't we head back to my place," Fred says and we nod before getting up. Nick gets up and stops dad.

"Dad, is it okay if I can stay at Reggie's for a bit."

"Yeah your curfew is eleven." He nods and we leave.
***
Archie and FP were playing guitar and I smile as they finish.

"Damn, Hoss, you're good. Way better than your dad." He says and Archie chuckles and puts his guitar down.

"Hey, does Fred keep any beer in there?"

"Uh... Dad, don't you think it's a little late?" Jughead says and he nods.

"Kinda... Oh, yeah, yeah. No, it's all right. You know, I got a big day tomorrow anyway."

"Hey, Mr. Jones, before you go, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah."

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

"Hey, Archie, why don't we quit while we're ahead?"

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

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

"You and my dad were partners?"

"He wouldn't call us that. Anyway, we, uh... We struggled at first. Fred, he just had you and your mom to provide for, I had Jughead and Jellybean and their mom and hospital bills. Sam had Anna and Nick to provide for but he was more well off anyway. 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 ten times that, easy. So that was that. He went his way, and I went mine. You know, I think I need something a little harder than beer." He grabs his flask and I saw the worry on Jughead's face. He walks away and goes inside.

"Jughead, what your dad told us... I had no idea."

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

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

"For screwing over my dad?"

"Are you ready to roll, Jugs?" Jug quickly throws me the flask from his dad's jacket pocket and I hide it. FP walks in and tosses Jug the keys.

"See you tomorrow." He walks out and I get up.

"I'm going to head home."

"Alright, I'll see you at school." He hugs me and I make my way inside to get my dad.

We walk across and I look up at him.

"Earlier Archie asked FP about the company. He said that Mr. Andrews fired him and forced him out of the company you guys founded."

"That was his story." He says and sighs.

"FP was doing some shady things. Taking odd jobs for the Serpents, stealing from sites and we had to bail him out. I had left the life a little bit before that because I and your mom had you and your brother. But Fred couldn't keep helping FP anymore. So many second chances were thrown his way and he just kept messing up. I know you've been trying to help him but sometimes you just can't fix something broken."