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As soon as Jughead’s alarm went off, he knew today was going to be a shit day. His muscles ached in a way that he should find concerning, but he pinned it on exhaustion from staying up until the early morning hours writing murder developments for the last few nights and not on the fact that a strain of the flu was going around school.
While getting ready normally took him five minutes max, he found he couldn’t go five seconds without having to stop to cough or sneeze. So, maybe what he thought was exhaustion turned out to be a small cold—nothing he couldn’t handle. He had two tests today, and while normally he would skip and sleep off this cold, he didn’t feel like showing up after school to do the makeup tests. He figured his best option was to just go in and lay low, which wasn’t hard for him at all.
He mentally marked another check on his ‘why this day will suck’ list after having to walk in the rain all the way to school. He wasn’t soaked per se, but it was enough to be cold and uncomfortable. He wrapped his arms around himself as he made his way into the school building, maneuvering around students with his head ducked down to get to his locker.
“You okay, Jug?”
Jughead met Archie’s concerned expression with raised brows. While he and Archie were still mending their friendship, it was good to see that dumb red hair around again. “Yea, why?”
“You’re shaking, dude.”
Jughead glanced down at his trembling hands. “Yea—had to walk in the rain.” He watched as Archie moved to slip out of his letterman jacket. “Jesus, Archie. I’m good.”
Archie paused—jacket halfway off. “Are you sure? I don’t mind, really.”
“Go drape your jacket over Betty’s shoulders,” Jughead muttered as he stepped around Archie to start towards his first class. He paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Or is it Veronica this week?” He took the eye roll Archie shot him in response as a good enough sign. He then lifted his hand in a half wave before turning his attention back to the front. He had a test to get to, and he only had about a minute to get to it.
*****
The beauty of this teacher, Jughead thought as he walked to the front of the room to turn his test in, was that she allowed students to leave once the test was finished, which was a good thing, too, considering his coughing and sneezing had become more frequent and people had started to give him hesitant glances throughout the test. Luckily, he knew the material on the test like the back of his hand, so it took a whole, whopping ten minutes before he was gathering his stuff and heading to the teacher to turn in his test.
He had time to kill until his next class, so he decided to occupy one of the back corner tables of the library and possibly take a nap. His muscles were aching worse than they had been when he first woke up that morning, and his head was starting to throb enough to consider ditching after his second test in his third class.
The library was filled with students who had study hour first period, and Jughead dropped his gaze to the floor as he made his way down aisles of books to his favorite table in the back corner. He always had the table to himself, so it came as a surprise to him to see a person hunched over a book at his table; however, upon closer inspection, the striking red hair and letterman jacket gave the person away pretty easily.
“Archie,” Jughead greeted, wincing at the rasp in his voice. He dropped his bag on the table before pulling out the chair across from Archie.
“Was the test hard?” Archie asked—face still buried in his textbook.
Jughead opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a rather harsh bout of coughing that had him gripping the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white.
Archie was out of his seat and at Jughead’s side in seconds, placing a steady hand on Jughead’s shoulder.
“I’m good,” Jughead wheezed out once the coughing subsided, and Archie loosened his grip on Jughead’s shoulder.
“Why did you come to school if you’re sick?”
Jughead shrugged Archie’s hand off his shoulder before slumping back in his chair. He wrapped his arms around his body to try and combat the shivers coursing through him. “I have tests.”
Archie stared down at the shaking boy with a frown. He slid his letterman off and draped it around Jughead’s shoulders, growing more worried when Jughead didn’t protest. “You should go home,” Archie said as he moved back to his own chair.
Jughead sighed, shifting around until both arms were in the sleeves of Archie’s jacket. He wrapped it tightly around his front before meeting Archie’s worried eyes. “I’m going to after my test in third period.”
“Juggie—”
“It’s a cold, Archie. I’ll live.”
Archie studied his friend, seemingly unconvinced, but he didn’t press further. He watched as Jughead leaned forward, pressing his cheek against the table while tightening his arms around his small frame. Archie stared at Jughead for a few more moments before turning back to his book.
*****
Forty minutes passed in relative silence albeit Jughead’s persistent coughing and sneezing. Archie had long since abandoned his book in favor of studying his sleeping friend instead, and he found that the longer he started, the more the anxious pit in his stomach grew. Jughead’s brows were furrowed as if in pain, and despite the jacket practically burying him, he was still shivering.
“Jug.” Archie called out quietly, watching as his friend opened his eyes slowly and raised his head.
Jughead sat up fully and tilted his head slightly in question.
“Are you still cold?”
Jughead nodded while coughing into his fist. “Mm. My clothes are still kind of wet.”
Archie studied the deep red flush spread across Jughead’s cheeks with a deep frown. He glanced at his phone, noting that they had five minutes until second period. Biting down on his lower lip, his eyes darted between his phone and Jughead before he stood up, walking around the table until he was at Jughead’s side.
“Arch, what’re you—” Jughead’s words trailed off as Archie’s blessedly cool palm pressed against his forehead. He leaned into the touch, ignoring the curse words Archie muttered under his breath.
“You’re burning up, Juggie.”
“Damn,” was all Jughead could muster up the energy to say. He should have expected this, really. He’s not immune to the illness. He’s known deep down that this “cold” was actually the flu, but he didn’t want to admit it.
“I think you have the flu, dude.” Archie pulled his hand away, stepping back and crossing his arms as he stared at Jughead with wide, worried eyes.
“Yeah,” Jughead agreed. He should probably go home, but the short walk from the school to his house just did not seem possible in his condition.
“I’ll take you,” Archie said as if reading Jughead’s thoughts.
“You’ve got class,” Jughead rasped out through another harsh coughing fit.
But Archie was already shoving his book in his backpack. “It’s fine,” he started, shouldering his backpack before taking Jughead’s bag. “Besides, we haven’t ditched school together in a while,” he said with a soft smile.
Jughead breathed out a low laugh, which turned into another coughing fit. He felt Archie’s hand rubbing small circles on his back, and he forced all of his focus onto Archie’s warm, steady hand until he was able to catch his breath. “Okay,” he wheezed out. “Get me out of this hell hole.”
*****
Archie kept a steady arm wrapped around Jughead’s waist as he walked him through the library, and if people in study hall were staring and whispering at their close contact, he didn’t care in the slightest. He was focused solely on getting his best friend home as soon as possible because with each passing second, Jughead was getting worse.
He led Jughead through a back exit to avoid office workers questioning where they were going. It was a bit of a longer walk to his car that way, but it was still quicker than the twenty questions the office workers would ask. Thankfully, the rain had let up outside; however, the wind was bringing in colder temperatures, and Jughead’s shivering seemed to intensify as soon as the two walked outside.
“Almost there,” Archie reassured as his car came into view. By the time they reached the car, Archie had broken out into a light sweat. It wasn’t that Jughead was heavy per se, but his friend had been increasingly leaning his weight onto Archie throughout the walk to where Archie had contemplated carrying him at one point.
He helped Jughead into the car before placing their bags in the backseat and bolting to the driver’s seat. He glanced towards Jughead, who had his knees drawn to his chest, making him appear impossibly small. He seemed to be asleep, and Archie watched for a few moments before making a decision.
*****
“Juggie. Jug. Jughead!”
Jughead started with a groan, which irritated his throat enough to lead to a coughing fit. He turned away, coughing into his shoulder, and when he was finally able to catch his breath, his eyes focused on the house they were at. “Why?” He whispered—throat too sore to talk any louder at this point.
“You shouldn’t be alone right now, and I know where all our medicine is,” Archie answered nervously, unsure of how Jughead would take being back at Archie’s house for the first time in a while.
“Oh. Cool,” Jughead mumbled, and Archie breathed out a low sigh of relief before hopping out of the car to help Jughead out.
The trip to Archie’s room took some time, but soon enough, Archie had Jughead settled in bed. He then went off to retrieve a thermometer, a bottle of water, and medicine. When he returned, Jughead was asleep, and Archie really didn’t want to wake him, but he knew getting him the medicine as soon as possible would be best.
“I need you awake for a few more minutes, Juggie.” Archie called out softly as he approached the bed. He ignored Jughead’s groans and slipped the thermometer into his friend’s mouth when he had opened it to protest being woken up. Jughead rolled his eyes but pressed his lips down against the thermometer, and a few moments later, Archie was studying the beeping device with a frown.
“102.6,” Archie announced upon seeing Jughead’s questioning look. He bit down on his lower lip as he started to open the pills he brought in with shaking hands.
“It’s high, but I won’t die,” Jughead mumbled upon seeing Archie’s semi-frantic state. “I just need drugs and sleep.”
Archie wordlessly handed the pills and the water to Jughead, breathing out a low sigh once Jughead swallowed the pills and downed half the water.
“I’m going to sleep now,” Jughead announced quietly. He had things he wanted to say. He wanted to tell Archie to call his parents to pick him up later and then to wash the bedding so Archie won’t get sick, but he could feel sleep tugging at him full force. He managed out a weak “thanks, Arch” before drifting off.
Archie smiled down at Jughead. “No problem, Jug.”