𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑
HE BELIEVED IN YOU
; ♡⋆.ೃ࿔*

Things hadn't been the same. Everything felt different. Nothing could go back to the way things were now. Jughead knew this, yet, didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that maybe, just maybe, this might've been his fault. Seeing Chris lying unconscious in that hospital bed, a tube down his throat with the beeping of the heart monitor. Perhaps he pushed Chris down this path of self-destruction. Maybe he'd been too blinded by the mystery of Jason Blossom to never realize the damage he could've fixed for his brother.

Maybe he could've saved him.

But even then Jughead had his doubts. These problems had been here way before he even could realize it and Chris was too far gone. Well, that's what Jug wanted to tell himself. Reassure himself that this wasn't at all his fault and that his brother did this as some cruel joke. Just to try and get the last word in their strained relationship. They've had their arguments in the past from fighting, punching one another, and belittling one another. But this, this wasn't what Jughead wanted.

He never wanted to have to see his brother in a hospital bed with a bullet in his skull. Barely on the cusp of even being alive, Chris's fate still being hung in the balance. The reasoning for this stupid decision does not have any right answer. It could've been Jason haunting Chris, becoming too much for Chris. But then there was the other reason that left Jughead sick to his stomach. The guilt weighed heavy on him as he stared at Chris, tears brimming in his eyes with his bottom lip trembling. Inhaling shakily as his hands shook uncontrollably.

Maybe it was his fault.

The cold sensation of tears streamed down Jughead's cheeks. Sniffling harshly as he parted his lips to breathe properly, nose stuffed. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, eyes continuing to be fixated on Chris. Wishing he could hear him, just be there with him, even if it's their last time being together as brothers. "I'm so sorry for what I said to you." Pulling his chair closer to the side of the bed, Jughead grasped his brother's hand.

What are you supposed to do when you lose a brother? It should be like any other loss in a family, Jughead presumed, but this was far worse. This was someone Jughead grew up with and spent almost every moment of every day with. Laughing, smiling, crying together and creating memories that were both good and bad, but still mattered. A brother is supposed to be someone you look up to and strive to be like. You want them to be your best friend until the last days of your lives. To be there for one another up until the last moment. Well, that's what Jughead believed at least, as well as Chris.

But now, things have changed and everything felt foreign without Chris's energy. Who was supposed to put a smile on their friend's faces when things were intense? Who would be there when a fight broke out and one of their friends was involved, who was supposed to jump in? All these unanswered questions all stem back to the fact of the boy that lay in the hospital bed in front of Jughead. His own flesh and blood, his brother. He was the key to all that normalcy they've built as a group. Now, it all just stopped.

A click of the door got his attention, leaning back in the chair and rubbing away the tears. Letting his eyes find the floor with the sound of chains drew his attention once more towards the door. His eyes widened at the sight of his father and Sheriff Keller. "Dad, what are you doing here?" Jughead questioned, frowning as his eyes flickered to the officer. "I brought him down here. We don't know if Chris will make it so, I wanted FP to say his final goodbyes just in case." Sheriff Keller told the boy who looked back at his dad. "I'm sorry." The Sheriff said before exiting the room, standing right outside the door.

FP stood frozen, hands cuffed together as he moved slowly. Every single second was watched by Jughead who was unsure of even how to feel seeing the man. Suspecting him to be in a holding cell, wasting what every else amount of time he had left sitting there doing nothing. Not coming forward to confess the truth of what happened. Clifford is dead, Jason's dead, Olivia is on the other side of the hospital and now Chris is a ticking bomb, waiting for the clock to run out before he finally went on to whatever was after this life. Jughead just couldn't understand why his father- their father couldn't just come forward and tell the truth - Get his sentence reduced at least.

But, no. He was here, quieter than a mouse, staring at his oldest son in shock. Regret, guilt, hope, Jughead wasn't sure and didn't care. He was angry. At his father, at himself, and at Chris. Their family was broken and Jughead wasn't sure anything would go back to normal. This must've been the final thing to break it officially, in Jughead's opinion. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jughead questioned, the tone alone telling FP that he wasn't impressed or pleased to see him.

How could he? His brother and his father's relationship may have begun repairing over the past weeks. But Jughead was too angry and stressed to truly just brush over their past problems as a family. And for a moment Jughead didn't feel like he could blame himself for what happened to his brother. He could blame the man that he called his father for his brother's life leading to this. To him trying to kill himself.

"You shouldn't be here," Jughead muttered which had earned a harsh glare from FP.

"Like hell, I'm not!" FP barked. "He's my son."

"A son that has hated you since he got the fuck out of the Southside," Jughead countered. "If you really think you're a saint, you should rethink that because you are as much as a monster as Clifford."

"You better watch your tone-"

"And you'll do what? Hm?" Jughead questioned. "He has survived too much of your anger and hate that when he put that bullet to his head, I didn't blame him. You stood by as he mourned his friend and did nothing! He believed in you to finally be the father you never were to him!"

FP stood silent as Jughead had tears streaming down his face. Unable to stop himself from grabbing his father by the collars of his shirt and pinning him against the wall. "Where were you? Where were you when he needed you?!"

The door swung open with Sheriff Keller and another cop separating the two Jones. "That's enough!" He exclaimed, grabbing FP and moving him outside with Jughead quickly wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

Keller made sure the other cop took FP away before glancing back at Jughead, who turned to Chris and stood beside the bed. Pursing his lips and exiting the room quietly, leaving the two brothers alone.

Jughead let out a shaky exhale as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. Staring at CJ's face that was relaxed. A sight that was so rare to Jughead that he wasn't even sure it was real.

"Do you know how much I've hated you for some of the things you've done in the past?" Jughead asked aloud, hoping that in whatever place you were, you could possibly hear his voice. "When you left me with dad, I hated you for it. I wanted to disown you as my brother and forget you even existed."

The boy pursed his lips as he ran a hand over his face. "But it was a sacrifice you had to make to be happy - I see that now," he said. "You did all you could to help me and protect me and I'm forever in your debt for that. Sacrifice. That's the things we do for the ones we love."

Sitting up in the chair, Jughead grabbed his brother's hand and squeezed it tightly. Feelign another wave of tears sting the back of his eyes. "But I want you to hear me, 'kay?" He said. "I want you to live, alright? I want that more than anything else in the world. I want you to fight tooth and nail to stay with us."

Inhaling deeply, Jughead stared down at his brother's hand and shook his head as his lips wobbled. "But with mom and Jellybean gone, I know that might not be what you want. Or it might be too hard for you to wish upon a dream that isn't meant to be." Sniffling, Jughead looked up at Chris with a sad smile. "If you want to go, I want you to know it's okay. It's okay. I understand."

He let out a sob as he rested the back of his brother's hand against his forehead. "You can rest."