It had a been awhile since they've been alone. No Betty. No Veronica. Not even Kevin was around. It was just him and Archie, the true blue friends back together again. Living in Riverdale certainly was a stressful experience, but at this exact moment, Jughead finally felt at peace. A real peace that washed over him and settled into his mind and heart, and that peace was due to Archie's presence.

Everything felt like the old days. Before the death of Jason Blossom, before the Black Hood, before everything seemingly went to shit. Right now it was just Jughead, Archie, and playing Mario Kart in Archie's room. Jughead tightly gripped his Switch controller, smashing the buttons as if that would help Waluigi race down the track even faster. But his form was much more composed than Archie's, who swerved his body from side to side to control the original Mario adversary, Donkey Kong.

Jughead quickly looked over at the redhead and smirked.

"That doesn't make you go faster." Jughead chuckled.

Archie smiled.

"I know, but it's really fun" he said.

Suddenly, Archie playfully bumped into Jughead and they both laughed. As they finished the last lap, Waluigi became the apparent victor. Jughead seemed satisfied and Archie joyfully threw his controller on his bed. He looked over at Jughead.

"How are you so good at this?" Archie asked.

Jughead shrugged and looked smug.

"What can I say? I've always been a master at Mario Kart." Jughead answered.

Archie and Jughead both laughed and Archie looked over at him. The two boys locked eyes for a second. A brief and fleeting flutter occurred in Jughead's heart as he looked at Archie. One thought passed through his mind: Wow, he looks good! He blushed out of embarrassment and quickly looked away.

Archie continued to look at his buddy, worried. He moved closer to the beanie-wearing boy.

"Hey Juggy, are you okay?"

Archie peered in further and noticed a piece of fluff in Jughead's hair. He delicately and sweetly picked it out of the black locks, which flustered Jughead even more. WIth the two boys almost face to face, the smell of cheap Axe body spray wafts up from Archie's shirt to Jughead's nose. It's a smell he didn't even know that he missed. A smell he didn't know that would put butterflies in his stomach. And it's definitely a smell he wished didn't make his heart flutter a second time. Yet, it did and his face deepened from a soft pink to a light red.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jughead lied.

"Your face is kinda red." Archie expertly noticed, "Do you have a fever?"

"I don't thi-" Jughead starts

However, Archie already puts the back of his hand on Jughead's forehead and cheek. The touch of this rugged yet somehow soft hand sent his heart racing and he flinched away from Archie's touch. A look of confusion washes over Archie's face.

"Sorry, did I do something wrong?" Archie questions.

"No, no, It's just-"

Jughead sighs.

"I don't know, I'm just feeling weird."

"But we were just having fun, playing Mario Kart and stuff. It felt like…" Archie said.

"Old times." Jughead finishes.

Archie nods. Jughead sharply exhales and flops down on Archie's bed. Archie flops down next to him.

"I really missed you, Jug. I didn't know just how much I missed you until today. I just feel...more at home with you. Don't get me wrong, Ronnie is great, but you and me…"

Archie looks over at Jughead.

"There's nothing else like it."

Jughead looks over at Archie.

"I missed you too, Archie. I missed your laugh, your face, your touch." Jughead sighs.

He slowly slides his hand over so that his pinkie finger and Archie's pinkie finger touch slightly and Jughead lightly caresses Archie's finger.

Archie's face turns red and his heart fluttered. The two boys make eye contact again and start MAKING OUT. ONLY IT'S NOT JUGHEAD AND ARCHIE, BUT IT'S ME AND KJ BECAUSE HE'S HOT AND FUNNY AND HE SHOULDN'T SING BECAUSE HE'S NOT GREAT BUT YA KNOW, WE ALL HAVE FLAWS AND I LIKE HIS NEW ZEALAND ACCENT. THE END.