i've been dead and gone bc of school and jobsearching and everything happening all at once but ive been playing the boktai series games lately and i'm enjoying it a lot. I just got past the third boss in boktai 2. I don't know why but i'm enthralled with these games, i highly recommend them

The Partner Revealed - Part 5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader

Description: Their investigation on Jason has to take a break while they try to save the Drive-In. 

Warnings: None I can think of. 

Word count: 5384

A/N: Can’t believe I’m already on Part 5. You guys are awesome for the reading. Sorry it’s such a slow burn. Yep, there’s a subtle Supernatural reference... Thank you @jugheadxreaderinyourhead for helping me with vocabulary. 

Jughead’s point of view 

Jughead is woken up by loud noises at the Drive-In. He goes down, still in his boxers, ready to strike in case it’s a burglar, but it was just the manager. Seeing him makes Jug feel at ease again, relaxing his muscles, although the fact that the man is putting things in boxes can be a little concerning. “Hey, Jake. What’s up?”, he asks, puzzled. “Here’s your payment, Jughead.” The man hands him a thick envelope. “This is a lot more than I earn.” He tries to hand him back the envelope, for he might have given him the wrong one. “Oh, you don’t know yet. They’re shutting down the Drive-In.”, Jake says, while throwing his belongings into the cardboard box in a somewhat rough manner. Jughead stays silent with a dumbfounded expression. “It’s the month’s salary, next week’s advance and a little extra for all these years of good work.”, Jake explains the amount of money and goes back to packing. “Why?”, he simply asks, still thinking it could be a complete joke. “It was bought off.”, the man says sadly. Just like for Juggie, that place means a lot to him. “You should read this.” Jug takes the letter in his hands with the explanation from the Mayor. He can see the man reminiscing about his youth, talking about how he used to take his dates there, or that he worked at the projection booth douring high school, having managed the Twilight for most of his adult life, just as in many occasions they’d talk about all those things. But it was all going down now.

Jake loads his car with the last of the boxes full of memorabilia and personal objects. He closes the trunk door and shakes Jug’s hand, who is now fully dressed, including his beanie. “Take care of yourself, kid.”, he says with a lot of weight on his words. Jughead is left standing there, looking at everything like it’s both the first and the last time he’ll ever do, until the car is no longer visible. He remembers when he started working there and Jake found him sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor, head on his backpack. He was scared to death of being thrown out and fired over it, but the man simply walked out and came back half an hour later with a rollaway bed, a pillow and some blankets he assembled in the projection room without a word. With all that in his mind, he doesn’t even have time to think about what Betty found out regarding Archie and what she might do with such information.

He returns to his room and sits down on the bed, staring at the letter for a while, not being able to read past ‘It will be demolished’.”. His home away from home, the place in which  he has had a few happy childhood memories is being torn down. Jughead looks at the envelope containing his last payment and then at the projection room he’s been living in for the past 2 years, wondering what the hell he’ll do next. He just grabs a jacket and leaves, walking for miles without paying attention to anything. The words from that piece of paper stand out in his mind: anonymous buyer, shut down, scheduled demolition… He adds a few on his own, like jobless and homeless. When this upset boy finally stops to look around, he recognizes the front door he’s standing on: Y/N’s. “When did she became the person I go to when I’m in need?” he asks himself and turns back. “Jughead!”, she shouts. He’s already walking away, not wanting to trouble that outstanding girl with that, when he feels her hand holding his. (She’s not gonna let him go.) He’s actually incredibly thankful she did that. Truth is he doesn’t want to be alone in that moment. He’s just not good at asking for help.

They walk in still holding hands. “Do you wanna talk about what happened?”, she asks, letting go of his hand. “If you don’t mind, that’s the last thing I wanna talk about.”, he answers, missing the warmth of her touch. “I have pizza. Pizza makes anything better.”, she says, taking out the box from the fridge and putting it on the pizza pan to heat it up. “Agreed.”, he tells her, but what really makes him feel better is seeing her. “Your parents aren’t home yet?”, he inquires, looking around, noticing pictures of her as a kid on the walls. “No. There was an emergency somewhere, with some patient.”, she tells him with little interest. “And they just leave you?” He wonders if that sounded rude. “I’m used to it. To be honest, I enjoy it.”, she tells him and he relates to her fondness for being alone, although right now he prefers being with her. “It’s my mom that doesn’t like it. My dad is the love of her life – she can’t stay away from him. But she’d like to be home more often.”, Y/N explains and he wonders if his dad was the love of his mom’s life; if so, how he stopped being.

The pizza is eaten before any slice even has a chance to cool down. Then they talk for hours, about the first time they watched ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and could barely blink, their favorite potato chips flavors, how they both love Edgar Allan Poe, some video games they both play and even a little bit about things he wrote before starting the novel. Jughead even forgets about the Drive-In. That girl makes him feel things he never felt before. He’s never even had a crush on a fictional character and now all he wants to do is be there, looking at her and hearing her talk about things they love. “I can’t help but notice you haven’t used the free food ticket I gave you.”, he remarks, wondering if she hasn’t used it because she’s not into him. Besides, it can be the last time he’s able to. “Wasn’t aware there was an expiration date.” They both laugh. “I was saving it for tonight, obviously. Come on, Jones. Buy me dinner.”, she says with a confident smile, something he had never seen on that pretty face before, and it matches her. “It’s a date… Did I just say that out loud? No, thank god. Also, did I just call this a date?” He rambles in his own mind.

Y/N’s point of view 

The Chock'lit Shoppe isn’t far from her home. Even in the slow speed they’re going, it won’t take them too long to get there. “Sheriff Keller stopped by this morning, before you.”, Y/N tells him as they walk. “He’s been going around door to door.”, Jughead reports.  “He heard about the fight and wanted to know about my involvement with Jason.”, she says mockingly, with air quotation marks, immediately noticing a barely perceptible frown on Jug’s face. “I told him he should come back another time, when my parents get home. I’m pretty sure he found that suspicious.”, the girl adds. “He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing. I mean, nothing like that was ever supposed to happen in Riverdale.” He stops as the Sheriff drives by them not failing to stare until he was out of sight. “It’s starting to look a lot like Salem during the witch trials.”, he delivers it eerily and she can see he’ll use that in his novel.

They arrive at Pop’s parking lot. The red light form the neon sign shading their faces,  the amazing smell of food being cooked inside watering their mouths. “Jughead!”, someone shouts and they turn around. Betty, Veronica and Kevin are walking towards them. “Hey, guys.”, Jughead responds unexcitedly. “And who’s this?” Veronica asks curiously. Y/N’s just about to answer, detecting Jughead’s difficulty in finishing his sentence. He’s stuttering on ‘she’ when Betty finally answers for them. “This is Y/N Y/L/N. She’s writing with us at the Blue and Gold.”, the blonde reveals and both Veronica and Kevin move on to a different conversation. “Am I?”, she inquires with a quite puzzled expression. “Yeah, if you take my offer.”, Betty concludes hopefully. “What offer?”, Jug asks, even more confused than Y/N.  “Betty called me last night inviting me to work with you guys, but I’m not a writer.”, she says, expecting that would be the end of it. “Acording to my mother, you are.” Betty is not comfortable to bring her parent into the conversation, but she’s kinda desperate. “Alice is kind to say that. But if that internship taught me anything, is that I’m not cut out for it.” Y/N tells her, remembering how hard she had to work to keep up with the Coopers. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”, Kevin interrupts, already walking in. “I’m Veronica by the way.”, the raven-haired girl introduces herself, shaking Y/N’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m a fan of the DIY manner you used to deal with the Chuck situation.”, Y/N says, observing Betty doesn’t take that the same way Ronnie does.

Hermione Lodge comes to take their orders as they sit in a booth. Jughead chooses the place in front of Kevin and Betty quickly sits next to him, leaving both Jug and Y/N wondering if she didn’t notice they arrived together for a reason, but neither being able to tell the girl. Veronica is already sitting next to Kev, so Y/N finds a chair to sit at the corner of the table, felling a bit left out. “So sorry about the Drive-In, Jughead.”, Kevin says, taking a sip from his soda. “What about it?”, Veronica asks indifferently, like she’s just making conversation. “They’re shutting down and demolishing it.”, Kevin explains, as if it was some simple small town gossip. “The Drive-In closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale... No, forget Riverdale, in the coffin of the American dream.” Juggie sounds as if he was holding that in all day and now she knows why he looked so doom and gloom earlier. Y/N has a hard time processing the news but doesn’t fail to notice how poetic Jug is, even with the saddest of things. “This doesn’t make any sense.”, she agrees. The Drive-In is where she’d go with her father to watch cult movies and then they’d discuss their opinions afterwards at Pop’s. She can’t imagine that special place not existing anymore. “As the godfather of indie cinema, Quentin Tarantino, likes to say...” Jughead starts, but is cut off by Kevin. “Please, God, no more Quentin Tarantino references.” Y/N definitely doesn’t feel the same way as Kevin over Tarantino references. “What? I’m pissed. Not just about losing my job, the Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. We should be trying to save it.”, Jughead claims desperately and Y/N is just about to back him up. “In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there?”, Veronica asks rhetorically, making Y/N look at her with contempt, wanting to prove her wrong. “Me.” Y/N starts saying, but is cut off by Kevin, who she thinks has the annoying habit of doing that. “People who want to buy crack.” They both look at each other reprovingly. “And cinephiles, like me and Y/N, car enthusiasts.” Jug looks at her thankfully, really appreciative of her help on the subject. “Anyways, it’s closing because the town owns it but didn’t invest in it. So when an anonymous buyer made Mayor McCoy an offer, she couldn’t refuse...” Jughead is trying to explain, but Veronica cuts him off. ”Anonymous buyer? What do they have to hide? No one cares.”, she speaks her mind, laughing. “I do.” Both Y/N and Juggie say at the same time. “Anyways, you guys should all come to closing night. I’m thinking ‘American Graffiti’, or is that too obvious?”, he changes the subject a little bit. It’s visible he’s already thinking of other options. “Anything starring Audrey Hepburn, or Kate Blanchett.”, Veronica votes and Y/N thinks it’s probably because the girl herself looks like she’s been taken out from one of those movies. “Or ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’.” Kevin suggests and Y/N wonders if they only enjoy movies they can relate to. She also wonders the same about herself. “You do have Tom’s jaw, Kevin.”, she says. “Thank you.”, he says and she’s not sure if it’s utter thankfulness or sarcasm over being compared to a killer, although a very handsome one. “Betty, your choices?” , he looks at the blonde girl who’s been silent this whole time, snapping the girl’s attention into the conversation for what seems to be the first time so far. “Maybe ‘Pretty in Pink’. How about you, Y/N?”, the Cooper girl wants to know, and Jughead stares at Y/L/N intently. “I think ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ is a good fit.”, she shoots. Hermione arrives with their food, putting an end to that debate.

“That’s an odd combo.” Kev says and looks at the trio who just walked in, making everyone turn heads. Archie with his dad and Miss Grundy, of all people. Betty quickly walks out without Jug or Y/N even having a chance to stop her. They know perfectly well that approaching him like that isn’t a great idea. “What’s happening?”, Kevin asks confused, just like Veronica. “Trust me, you don’t wanna know.”, Y/N responds, hoping they’ll let it go, but it actually makes them more interested. As soon as Betty walks out with the ginger boy, their curiosity grows. Unfortunately, none of them is about to tell why the blonde needed so desperately to talk to Arch. Y/N has just met Betty, having no long lasting friendship loyalty to her, and she doesn’t even know Archie, but she wouldn’t want to be told on if she was in that situation. “What’s happening out there? Do we know? Is it about me?” Veronica asks hurriedly and Y/N thinks how self-centered that girl has to be to think everything is about her. “I have a strong inkling.”, Jughead says vaguely. “I’d stay out of it if I were you.”, Y/N advises the New Yorker and she looks surprised Y/N even knows what’s going on. “But you’re you and I’m me. You do you, girl. I’ll be back.”, Veronica spits on her way out. Kevin respects their privacy out of fear of the unknown.

Jughead’s point of view 

Alice shows up to pick Betty up before things get worse. Archie walks back in to his table as if nothing has happened and Veronica looks both pissed and surprised at the same time. “I’ll leave this to your very capable hands.”, Jug tells Kevin, who is desperate for gossip. “Y/L/N, if we may?”, he says pointing at an empty booth on the other side of the diner and she quickly gets up waving the ones staying good bye. They sit in front of each other, just the two of them. “As it should’ve been all along.”, the beanie-clad boy adds trying to salvage what could’ve been their first date. “Why didn’t you tell me about the Drive-In?” That’s exactly what he’s expecting her to ask. “I wanted to forget about it.”, he says sadly now that the anger has gone. “I want to be able to help you, Jug, but I can’t if you won’t let me.” He can hear the honesty in her voice. “Help me print out and distribute the flyers about the last screening?”, he asks for her assistance. “Absolutely. But we shouldn’t give up yet. We have to hit pause on Jason’s investigation. It’s not like we have any new leads anyways.” He nods in agreement. “We should talk to Mayor McCoy about keeping the Drive-In.”, she suggests and he realizes it would be incredible if they could find a way to change her mind about the sale. He’s also amazed at her tenacity to fight for something that is probably doomed, because it’s the right thing. After all that happened this night, he’s glad he didn’t call it a date. It would’ve been a complete epic fail. He pays for Y/N’s food as she hands him the ticket. “Keep it.”, he tells her. “Give it back to me when you need a free meal.”, she says, putting the piece of decorated paper in his jacket’s pocket. He can feel her finger gently touching his body. If they weren’t in a diner full of people, he would’ve probably kissed her.

Jughead arrives early at school to hand out as many flyers as he can. Archie finds him on one of the hallways and starts rambling about Betty discovering his affair with the music teacher. Jug cares about his friend, but he has more important things in his mind, like the roof over his head that is about to be demolished. Even if he didn’t, saying nothing was the most moral choice. He couldn’t either betray Arch and tell Betty not to do anything or warn the red-haired guy without going against Betty, who wasn’t wrong. He assures his friend Betty wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. Despite everything, he can’t miss the chance for some irony. “We’re both trying to hold on to something much older than us.”, he says, as he glues a poster on the school’s wall with a near perfect drawing of James Dean, made by Y/N, revealing the movie of choice: Rebel Without a Cause. Could he make it more obvious he’s falling for her?

Y/N is waiting for him outside after their last class, for they planned of walking to the town hall and talk to the Mayor. “Interesting friends you have.”, Y/N states, referring to the previous night’s scandal. “Archie and Betty are my friends, the others were just there…” He knows how mean that sounds. “So, only the womanizer jock/musician and the absent-minded blonde? Not the gay kid? Or the deluxe rich girl?”, she hits him with the same level of sarcasm he strikes the world with and they both laugh.

Mayor McCoy is not pleased with their visit and she makes that pretty obvious by not giving them her full attention, messing around with papers they are sure could be dealt with after the 15 minutes they asked for. Jughead looks longingly at the town’s model in the middle of the room and Y/N walks right to the Mayors desk in a stern way, demanding to be heard. “The Drive-In is a piece of this town’s history. You want to throw a 75th Anniversary Jubilee while you destroy our roots?”, Y/N asks with conviction and Jughead doesn’t think he could’ve put it better himself. “It’s called progress, Miss Y/L/N. Do you think we kept everything exactly like it was 75 years ago?”, the Mayor asks like Y/N is a kid and that angers Jughead. “There must be something we can do to keep it.”, he demands with a hint of desperation. “I’m sorry, but the Twilight Drive-In it’s a blight that’s become a cesspool, and a hangout for criminals… and transients.”, she says with little regard to the people who love that place. “And the deal’s done. Andrews Construction is scheduled to demolish the lot on Monday.”, she adds happily like that’s a job well done. “Mayor McCoy, when I was a kid, my family and I would go to the drive-in all the time. We couldn’t afford tickets for everyone, so my sister Jellybean and I would hide in the trunk until we parked. We’d sneak out.”, he chuckles and notices the soft expression on Y/N’s face who was listening attentively. “It’s like I’m home.” He emphasizes the word ‘home’, hoping that a more sentimental way could get to her. “Thank you both for your input on this. But the future of Riverdale is at stake. There’s nothing I can do.” She motions them to the door.

Jughead has the look of defeat all over him. “We’re not giving up. We can talk to Mr. Andrews. If he backs out, it will at least slow it down until we find a permanent solution.” She cups his cheeks talking very close to his, making Jughead’s heart skip a beat. He takes a moment to regain control of his body after she let go of his face. “I should be the one to do it. I’ve been best friends with his son all my life.”, he says trying to find an explanation to why he doesn’t want to involve her in this without having to mention his drunk father. “Makes sense. Let me know how it goes. I have to meet Betty for something anyways.” He thought she would be hurt by being left out but it actually surprised him she has plans with the blonde cheerleader. “Are you guys friends now?”, he asks with jealousy. “I wouldn’t go that far. She asked if I was in for some sleuthing. It’s probably Jason-related and she just wants my opinion.”, she explains. “So, about tomorrow… I can borrow my mom’s car. And I was wondering if you’d like to watch the movie from the audience’s point of view one last time?”, she asks with so much insecurity he thinks it’s cute. “I’d love to. I’ll fix the roll and meet you there.”. He looks at the beautiful smile now forming on Y/N’s face, not realizing he has the same one on.

Y/N’s point of view 

Y/N stands at the address Betty texted her. Despite she’s not late yet, the Y/H/C girl has her doubts if she’ll really come or if this was just a prank. Thankfully, before she has time to fall into a panic attack over it, she spots the blonde Nancy Drew walking her way, alongside the raven-haired princess. “So much for letting this go.”, Veronica says as Y/N now realizes they are standing in front of Geraldine’s car. “Wow. Are we really breaking into Grundy’s car right now?” Y/N asks while Betty pulls out a slim jim out of her bag. ”How do you even know how to do that?”, Veronica asks whispering and looking around. “My dad and I fix cars together. Thank God, she drives an old…” Betty looks at the other girls with a proud look since she has successfully opened the blue beetle’s door and they all get in. “I have to say, when you said sleuthing I figured it was about Jason and not breaking in the music teachers car.”, Y/N whispers and Betty quickly looks around the car. “If I’m committing a felony, I need at least to ask the question. Are you doing this because you still have feelings for Archie, or…”, Veronica asks and that makes Y/N huff and fall back on her seat felling her body hit something. “No. We’re doing this because Grundy has Archie under some kind of sexual spell, and he won’t listen to reason. We’re looking for anything that proves Grundy isn’t as clean as she says she is.” Betty says. “Probably what you’re looking for.”, Y/N says and hands her a lock box she found on the back seat and Betty expresses a deep ‘thank you’ with her eyes. “Bobby pin.” She looks at Veronica who obviously had many hidden around her perfect wavy hair. “Ok, Ms. Gyver.” Veronica hands her the bobby pin and she masterfully opens the lock. “Nancy Drew detective handbook?” Y/N asks impressed. “Yeah!” Betty is proud to be compared to such a wonderful writer. She opens the box pulling out a driver’s license with the name “Jeniffer Gibson” and Ms. Grundy’s picture making the girls question the teachers real identity. However, what really surprises them is the gun Betty pulls out. They hear noises in the house. “We gotta go.” Y/N urges, already opening her door with as much care not to make a noise as she does when sneaking out of her room when her parents are home. Those little outlaws leave.

Betty convinced them they should tell Archie about what they found. Y/N really wants to be left out of it as she doesn’t even know Archie. But she was involved in it either she likes it or not. Obviously the red-haired wasn’t too pleased about the illegal actions the girl took, but he couldn’t deny that it’s suspicious for his lover to have an ID with a different name and a gun, considering a student was shot. He said he’d deal with the situation on his terms, not Betty’s, and Y/N thinks he’s right. Even if what the lovers are doing is wrong, it’s not their business. They leave with a very angry Archie slamming the door on them.

 Y/N hadn’t looked at her phone while she was out breaking the law with Betty and Veronica, so when she get’s home, there are a few texts to answer. She skips her mom’s, going directly to Jughead’s.

From: Jughead

No luck with Mr. Andrews.

From: Y/N

Then let’s think of something else. 

He doesn’t reply after that and she’s sure it’s because it must be a lot to take in. She has a lot of unfinished homework to get to. Since they became friends, she’s been spending her time in getting to know him rather than schoolwork. Fact is her parents wouldn’t be pleased if her grades started getting lower, which creates a strong conflict, because she really wants to keep his friendship. Y/N decides to sleep a bit less to try to make everyone happy, including herself, by making a cup of coffee to get her through those papers. She eventually falls asleep on the desk with only a few words left to write on her last essay.

Y/N takes one last look at herself in the mirror before leaving for the Drive-In. She’s not usually worried about her clothes the way Veronica and Cheryl are, because she feels there are more important things than appearance, but right now she wants to look good. She chooses a black see-through buttoned-down shirt that barely shows her bralette underneath, a red wine jacket, dark gray skinny jeans and simple converse shoes. She lets her Y/H/C hair loose and natural. The girl even attempts on wearing some lipstick, giving up at last because it feels too much.

She arrives quite excited at the Twilight, only second to the Serpents, who were probably there a lot earlier. Looking at the big sign showing “Rebel Without A Cause” makes her blush. The girl parks her mom’s 1967 Impala in the middle of the field where the lights from the concession stand won’t be visible and the noise from the gang won’t be too loud. The smell of fresh popcorn fills her nostrils and she buys two buckets, since Jughead will be joining her. Not too long goes by and the whole space is filled with cars. It has been a while since the Drive-In is this crowded. So sad to think it will be the last time.

Half the movie has gone by and Jughead is still in the projection booth. Y/N wonders if she’ll be stood up one more time. The Serpents are being loud and obnoxious, making it hard to hear what the characters are saying. Thankfully, Y/N has watched it many times before, enough to memorize the lines. She can faintly hear someone screaming back to the gangers, telling them to shut up. When she looks behind her, she sees Verocina sitting back down in Kevin’s truck. Everyone hunks in agreement.

The passenger door opens and Jughead sits next to her. “Took you long enough.”, she says, handing him a half empty bucket of popcorn. “Yeah, I ate it.” He chuckles, resting his hand on the back of the seat. “Smooth.” She thinks, glad he did that. Jim has just kissed Judie and Y/N faces him. He’s leaning in, getting closer to her face, brushing the locks of hair away from her face, glancing at her lips. She’s desperately waiting for him to finally reach her. Perfect mere inches from contact are ruined by one of the Serpents turning on his bike to leave and the noise makes him back away, quickly opening the car door. “I should get back to check on the film...” Before she even has a chance to reply, he’s already out of sight.

 Jughead’s point of view 

Joghead closes the projection booth and slides down till he hits the ground. “What the fuck was that?” He has never kissed anyone, never even wanted to. But then there he was, just about to do it, and he truly wished it had happened. Best of all, he could see she did too. If that darn bike hadn’t made him self-conscious of the risks of his actions, he probably would’ve. He’s not used to being scared, so he just left her there to be alone in his safe haven one last time, but in deep regret.

The movie ends and the loud noise of cars leaving makes him look from the small window at the field. Her car is the only one still parked. Jug wants to go down, but he can’t face her now. His phone buzzes.

From: Y/N

Do you need a ride? 

From: Jughead

Nah, thanks. I still gotta fix some stuff, it’s gonna take a while. 

From: Y/N

Ok. Good night, Jug. Sorry we couldn’t save the Drive-in. 

He’s relieved at her messages. He was expecting her to be mad but it seems as if she could read his mind and know he was just afraid of being rejected. Jughead watches her driving away, wanting to scream for her to come back. Instead, he keeps his mouth shut with dread. He proceeds to pack his bag with whatever he can make fit, mentally preparing to leave for good in the morning, not even sure yet where he’ll go to, his dad’s place being the last one on the list. When he finally lays down, both his mind and body are tired and he falls asleep immediately, letting his unconsciousness continue the act he left unfinished earlier.

He grabs his heavy bag containing all his belongings and some souvenirs from the Drive-In. He takes a look at the walls that were about to be destroyed and he wants to add something of himself to that place. He tags “Jughead Jones Wuz Here” adding a crown on top with spray paint. After leaving his mark on the world, he’s ready to leave but is met face to face with the Southside Serpents’ leader. Anyone else in his place would probably shiver, but he was at ease. After all, the man standing in front of him is his father. FP may be an alcoholic gang-banger, but he truly cares about his son. He ensures his father he will be fine, mostly trying to convince himself. And he leaves The Twilight Drive-In without looking back.