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Murder. Jason Blossom. Fourth of July.
Lately, those seemed to be the only words that came out of the mouth of every single citizen of Riverdale. It's not like it was a surprise; the town used to be a peaceful city, the kind of one where everyone knows each other and relies on one another. So when the murder of the Blossom child was announced, the news went around town faster than the sound of light.
You weren't too fond of the family to start with, and you couldn't help but think that it was bound to happen. Troublesome people could only bring trouble, right ? Nevertheless, the thought of someone losing their life at the mercy of a bullet did affect you, may it be Jason or not.
But after this huge event, everything seemed to go downhill. Secrets after secrets were revealed, friendships were falling apart and the city was inevitably changing, especially with the Twilight Drive-In closing. You loved that place, even though it was filled with evil gang members.
It was the end of the school day, the leaves cracking under your feet as you left the establishment. You kept your gaze on the ground as your hands were gripping the shoulder strap that held your bag. It was a late Friday in September, knowing pertinently that your parents would be home late. Which was good, since it gave you time to go and relax at your favourite and secret spot. In a town like this, it was nearly impossible to not have a safe little heaven.
Of course, your parents did warn you to not adventure yourself in the woods since the murder, but you couldn't stop your body from moving on its own and carrying you near a small lake. It wasn't deep into the woods anyways, so you knew you'd be fine.
It was a five minutes walk from the school, and around ten from your home. Going off the gravel road you borrowed, you jumped over a few dead tree trunks and dodged some slippery rocks as you engaged inside the forest. It wasn't long until you felt the air getting cooler and the familiar smell of the water filling your nose. The small rocks that separated the dirt from the water moved under your feet at each step you took towards the shore. You were about to take off your shoes when something in the corner of your eye caught your attention. A sleeping bag resting to your right was spread opened, tossed against the wall of an abandoned shack that was probably used for fishing in his past life. A few empty bags of chips were scattered this and there as you recognized the wrappers of the chips from the vending machine at your school. It was evident that someone had taken your hidden place as a home, but who?
"What are you doing here ?"
The sudden voice startled you in your thoughts as you spun around to see the owner of the voice. It was a boy around your age, blueish-green eyes and a grey beanie covering his dark hair. He had his hands in his pockets while he carefully eyed you up and down, distrust clouding his eyes as he waited for answer.
"What are you doing here ?" you replied, trying to sound and look strong but obviously failing.
"I asked first." he said as he walked by a fallen tree trunk and sat down.
You sighed and explored your surroundings with your eyes. You were pretty sure that you saw his face around at school. On second thoughts, he was the silent kid who sat in the back of your science class. Jughead, was it ? Pretty strange to see him here.
"I come here often to relax when there's something on my mind." you paused, meeting your gaze with his. "As if the water could wash away my monsters. Sounds stupid when I say it out loud." you ended with a chuckle, diverting your eyes towards the small lake.
When you brought back your gaze on him, you noticed that he was still staring at you, a look of curiosity plastered on his face. This time you didn't flinch and looked away but held his glance before the words 'your turn' left your lips.
"It's rather complicated." he answered while looking at his feet, a sigh escaping his mouth.
You didn't want to push him any further, seeing as it was the first time you heard him say more than ten words in a short period of time. Hesitantly, you slowly placed one foot after the other and approached the boy, sitting beside him on the tree trunk and zipping up your coat. The temperature was dropping by the minute, the cold raising goosebumps on your arms. Hurrah for autumn.
"It's okay. How about we make a deal ?" you proposed gently, a little glimpse of hope in your eyes. "You let me come here and I promise I won't tell anyone."
He looked over at you and sighed again for the millionth time. Sure, he was at a disadvantage here, but the deal was still promising.
"I guess I don't have any choice."
Your lips stretched into a big smile. Of course, the idea of sharing your little secret heaven with someone was not pleasing you at all, but at least you were still able to come and relax with the boy's permission and without disturbing him. Even if he didn't admit it directly, you still knew that he was living here, and encroaching on someone's property wasn't your style, even if the ground wasn't legally his. Nor yours, when you thought about it. It made it equal, in a way.
Your eyes switched to the dim light the old lantern hanged on the shack was producing, swinging slightly at the mercy of the wind. That's when you noticed that it was starting to get dark around, and one thing you hated more than (y/f) was walking home alone in the darkness, near a forest and on top of that, with a murderer on the loose.
"I have to go home, it's getting late."
He only nodded and watched as you left, not failing to catch that small glance that you sent him before disappearing into the forest.
♢~♡~♢
The next day at school, you were walking in one of the main corridor towards your next class. Ever since you woke up this morning you've had that strange feeling fluttering in your chest. You knew it was anticipation, and you even knew exactly for what. With your head up in the clouds, you turned around the corner that led to the rest of the corridor.
That's when you saw him.
The boy you supposed you had befriended the evening before was sitting on a bench, the faint light his laptop was producing reflecting into his eyes who were filled with passion and interest. You couldn't help but to be curious as to what could capture Jughead's attention this way, but didn't feel quite comfortable asking what. At least not yet.
For a moment, his eyes left his screen and met with yours, but were quickly glued right back on his computer. You pursued your way past him and not a single word was spoken. Pain shot through your heart for a couple of seconds and before you knew it you were far away. He ignored you. A stranger ignored you and yet you couldn't help but feel sad. You finally arrived to your class, walking over to a vacant desk by the window and sitting down, confused with all these new feelings coming up to mix your brain.
And the worst part is that it went like this for the whole week.
At the end you convinced yourself that it didn't affect you anymore, drew a cross on that boy and said goodbye to your safe spot. You knew you'd find another one —the town is still pretty big— but nothing could compare to what you had. You lied to yourself, and maybe that's why you weren't surprise when you found yourself walking on that same old gravel road, a late Friday night, towards the small lake, a big fluffy blanket in hands accompanied with your favorite box of cookies. With your hands full it was hard to prevent yourself from falling but managed to make a safe trip to the hiding spot. At first sight the place seemed empty, and if it wasn't for the light of the moon reflecting on the water you wouldn't have noticed the sleeping bag still there.
"I was about to think that you'd never come back."
You spun around immediately, coming face to face with the boy. He had a relaxed posture, his hands resting in his pockets. His eyes instantly traveled to the box of cookies then back to you. You smiled slightly, glad that the goodies that you brought caught his attention.
"Care to join me ?" you proposed as you lifted up the blanket and the biscuits.
He only shrugged his shoulders, and even with the darkness surrounding you both, you didn't fail to notice the discreet smile that hanged on his lips. You placed the blanket on the ground, making sure it would be beside a rock so that you could lean your back onto. You and Jughead sat significantly far from each other, wrapping each side of the blankets around your bodies so that it would make a sort of cocoon. You then proceeded to open the box, offering a cookie to the boy as he gladly took one. After munching on one yourself, you had to think of a conversation to start, or else the night would be long.
"So... I noticed that you spend a lot of time writing on your laptop. And I doubt that you're one of those nerds that does homework in every free time of their life."
He let out a low chuckle and glanced at the lake in front of him. You didn't fail to notice that he was hesitant, leading you to the conclusion that he wasn't used to talk about himself. You lifted the box of cookies right beside his face, knowing that he couldn't resist the temptation. He took a good look at your smiling face, rolled his eyes and snatched a cookie.
"I'm writing a novel." he confessed with his mouth full.
You were taken aback for a bit. Never did you think of Jughead as the writer type.
"That's pretty cool actually. What is it about ?"
"Jason's murder. Well, not the actual murder —'cause I didn't do it— but the investigation and all. Ugh, I'm bad at this..."
A giggle escaped your mouth as you placed your hand on his shoulder.
"I get it, no worries." Noticing where your hand was, you retrieved it quickly and continued talking. "I could give you infos if you'd like. I may not be the most social type, but I do have good hearing; especially for juicy gossips in the school's corridors. That is, if you don't mind, of course."
He looked over and smiled at you —as you took it as a yes— subtly eyeing the box of cookies once again. You laughed, pushing it in his direction.
"I'm not bringing this back home so be my guest."
The rest of the night went on with an overdosed of cookies, as you and Jughead exchanged ideas for his book. He showed you what he wrote till now and what he planned next, always eyeing your face to see your reaction and approval. A warm feeling tingled in the bottom of your stomach as he opened up to you, plastering an ever-lasting smile on your face. Your names were exchanged, even if you already knew his. At some point he seemed to remember the main reason you came here usually, asking about what was on your mind. You were surprised at first, but found it thoughtful that he remembered and talked about your life problems, never going further than the surface. He seemed like the kind of person you could confide in easily, and actually payed attention to what you say, unlike other guys. After your little therapy you got him to talk a little bit of himself, getting the chance to know more about his mysterious life. He opened up about his father and his family situation, and even about his friends at school. You learned that he has a big white fluffy dog named Hot Dog (♢oh hell yeah I'm bringing Hot Dog from the Comics, he was one of my favs♢) that was currently living with his mom and little sister, Jellybean. In the end you both came back on the subject of the murder. The moon was way past above your heads when you yawned for the first time of the night. It was only then, your mind slowly gazing off to the land of dreams that you noticed how close the two of you got, wether it be in your friendly relationship or physically. Shoulder to shoulder and warmly snuggled in the blanket, you close your eyes against your will and fell deeply asleep.
♢~♡~♢
You woke up to the sun piercing through your eyelids, the soft sound of waves washing over the small shore. Your back ached a lot, and you thought that maybe it wasn't the best idea you had to fall asleep on a rock. As you lifted your head, you saw that Jughead had fallen asleep beside you, his facial features looking more peaceful than ever. You stared at his face as you recalled the events of last night in your head. It was as if you'd known each other for always, and yet you couldn't help but giggle or smile when he said a joke every now and then. That's when it hit you: you liked him. You, (Y/n) (L/n), liked Jughead Jones III.
You stumbled backwards, your face flushed in a deep shade of red. You tried to shake the feeling out of your head but failed, giving in to the goofy smile that appeared on your face.
Finally realizing that you had spent the night here, you hurried to your feet —making sure to not wake up Jughead— and scrambled out of the woods. Surely your parents were freaking out right now, possibly calling the police and saying that it was your turn to be murdered. You laughed as you played the scene in your head but soon stopped when you thought about the speech you were about to get and the fact that you had to explain that you spent the night with a stranger in the woods. R.I.P. to yourself, you thought as you hurried your pace back home. At least you'd have a funny story to tell Jughead later.
♢~♡~♢
As the week went on, the two of you started to hang out more, may it be at school or at the lake. His book was progressing a lot, both of you sharing your findings that you would discover in the same day. At school, you started to spend your diners together, laughing and talking about whatever happened in your day. You would even team up with him in your science class to do the required experiments. That's when you found out that he was really good in sciences, or school in general.
One evening, the both of you went to hang out at Pop's and you couldn't help but think in your twisted mind that it was just like a date. But the problem was that it wasn't, sadly. Maybe because Betty and Archie sat in the same booth as you and Jughead, sharing a single milkshake with two straws. You had to admit that they made quite the cute couple and wondered if you and Jughead would. You mentally slapped yourself; you had to get that boy out of your head.
And there you were, both wrapped in that same blanket and watching the sun set down over the lake. The colours were simply breathtaking as you sighed a happy sigh, leaning your head on Jughead's shoulder. Looking a few weeks back you saw the Jughead that was uneasy with human contact, but got used pretty fast. Another thing you liked of him. Suddenly, his voice pulled you out of your thoughts.
"(Y/n)... I gotta tell you something."
You hummed in reply, keeping your eyes closed. There was a moment of silence, followed by another, topped with some awkward fidgeting. You finally decided to open your eyes and lifted your head so that you would get a better look at Jughead's face. He was looking down but soon met your gaze when he felt the weight lift off his shoulder. You tilted your head to the side, wondering what has gotten into him all of a sudden. For a brief second his eyes switched to your lips and the next thing you knew, his lips were on yours. You didn't ask yourself a hundred of questions before closing your eyes and joining in, placing your hand softly on his cheek as his rested on your waist. It lasted for a moment before both of you pulled back, smiling.
"I've never met someone that gets me like you do, (Y/n). I—" he looked like he was searching for his words, his eyes frantically wandering around." I love you." he stated, looking straight in your eyes.
Your smile grew even larger, if it were even possible.
"I love you too." you whispered as you kissed him softly, stealing with your other free hand his signature grey hat, slipping it on your head as you leaned back. He smiled, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you closer to him. You closed your eyes as the sun set over the horizon in a gorgeous spectrum of colours, proving that time continued to go forward. But for both of you, it was as if the latter no longer existed.