Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can't you understand
Oh my little girl
- Depeche Mode

Chapter One: Archie leaves town.

There aren't many women in Jughead's life that mattered very much, as well as men. It sounded pretty lonesome to admit that, but, admittedly, Jughead was a loner. He valued the relationships he had with the very few men and women in his life and he'd leave it at that. There was no need to excel the limit he'd created for himself, it was too much trouble, too much fakery and definitely too much maintenance.

And yet, when thinking about how many was too much and how few were too little, Jughead was stumped. There were definitely the compulsory relationships: Jellybean, his dad, his mom, Archie and Fred- but those were the ones he could really label as 'important' in his life. There were, of course, the odd bits and pieces where he wasn't sure if they were 'friends' or just people he sat next to with Archie: Kevin, Betty and Veronica. The three were nice and obviously a constant feature of Jughead's high school life, but they had yet to cement themselves in such a memorable way.

It sounded cruel, but it was the truth. Of everyone in high school, of course he enjoyed them and Archie. But Archie had been there since... The very beginning. All of them came after, their friendship linked and circulating around Betty or Archie, but never Jughead. And he was fine with that. He knew that at school, they would all circulate together, Jughead that awkward, sardonic teen who just read or wrote or sarcastically commented on something Archie said- but afterwards, when they went to Pop's, they went to Pop's for Archie or for Betty, the OG's of the 'sad breakfast club'.

...He was fine with this reality. That Archie was his best friend, that his family meant a lot (even if it was falling apart), that he didn't need or want another friend.

"...Jug." Came a whisper. It was Archie. The seventeen year old was still like a child: unable to sleep the moment something troublesome entered his mind. Granted, he never suffered over anything worthy of crying over: maybe woman issues or bad grades or something. Yet, an issue was an issue to Archie, when his mind transfixed on something he could never shake it off. Even for the sake of sleep.

"It's... One in the morning." Jughead whispered lowly, rolling to his side. The room was slightly lit by the silver hue of the moon, spilling in the room. The room was squished with two mattresses shoved on the floor together, bags of chips and console controllers littering the ground, and two teenage boys facing each other. Quite obviously, the peeping moon highlighted the concern that crossed the red head's face. His eyes were filled with an itching frustration as they stared into Jug's bleary ones. How could he ignore his friend like that? "...What is it?" Yawning, he sat up slightly, scratching his head. "What's keeping Archie up tonight?"

"Dude..." Archie sighed, mimicking his actions and sitting up, "I... Don't know what to do."

"Second thoughts about new York?" Jughead mumbled.

"God no!" Archie scoffed, but moaned, "But it's kind of on that." The red head was going to New York in less than seven hours with the one and only Veronica Lodge for the winter holidays. What a lucky duck, Jughead thought bitterly. He was stuck in the cold, 'perfect' town of Riverdale for the three weeks of holidays while Veronica and Archie got the perfect lover's retreat.

"Well?"

"It's... Betty."

"What? Is her love for you too much?" Jughead knew that comment would draw some anger and resentment, but he thought it was worth it. Betty Cooper was ... the most beautiful, perfect girl-next-door who was obviously in love with Archie Andrews. Head over heels with him. ...And while Jughead didn't love her, he definitely thought Archie was lucky. She was all A's, on the cheer squad, chief editor of the Blue and Gold and just naturally kind. She was perfect. Too perfect. The kind of perfect that made you feel inadequate.

But Jughead could definitely appreciate that she was ... gorgeous.

They were too close for Jughead to miss the pissed off look he received, "God, Jughead, she's over me- literally, she's... Not in to me anymore."

"Then what's the issue?"

"Look... I love her, we'll always be the best of friends and... I'll always be there for her... And, gosh, if I had to choose between her and Veronica, I wouldn't know what to do-"

"Is Veronica jealous?"

"I know coffee makes you an impatient ass, but shut up." Archie grumbled, "Fuck. It's Polly." Betty's sister? "You ... May have noticed Betty missed school just before break?"

"Wasn't she sick?"

"No, Betty isn't. But Polly is."

"Flu? Pneumonia? Influenza?"

Archie waited til Jughead was over with his sardonic joke before continuing. "No. Polly had a breakdown. A big one. After Jason left for boarding school, Polly – and dude, if you tell anyone I'll castrate you- tried to…" Archie trailed off, before taking in a deep breath, "end it. You know what I mean? And… Betty's been taking it real hard."

"Then what's the issue?" Jughead furrowed his brows, "surely this is just another job for the infamous Archie and Betty friendship?" To be honest, Jughead had been slightly busy in the past few weeks, mostly with his own shitty life hitting him. So this was all kind of a shock to hear. He knew Betty had missed a few days here and there in the past three weeks, and that she seemed … extremely down. But this? It kind of was a shock.

The perfect Cooper daughters obviously had their own issues. It were as if the infamous 'Stepford' women were actually... not as pristine as once thought.

"Look, if I wasn't going away for two weeks, it'd be great. Super fine. I'd be there, Veronica would, we'd all be fine." Juggy nodded, "…But you know I'm going away to New York with V."

"Ah yes. Archie strikes again-"

"Dude, cut it out. You know this trip had been planned for months. It's cost an entire semester's worth of wages, and…" He sighed, "Can't I be selfish for once?"

"It'll break her heart. She'll have no one." Juggy taunted, meaning it in the best of intentions of course. But it was pretty obvious: when it came to Betty, Archie was obviously taking a stance.

"She'll have you. She's going to need you."

"And what about Kevin?"

Archie was silent for just a bit. "…It's the winter holidays we're talking about. Kevin's going to Ohio with his dad. Some family holiday thing."

"And so that leaves me… And Betty." Fuck. Yes, Betty was lovely. She'd asked him several times to write for the Blue and Gold, she'd always offer a helping hand or be a lab partner during science, but never… Never too close. It was a friendship held back by warning-sirens. Jughead knew who HE was, he also knew who SHE was. "And you want me to just… Hang with her?"

"Just until I'm back. She's going to be lonely and sad and hurt and … I don't want her holed up in her room, I don't want to see her break down-"

"Relax, Archie." Jughead grunted, biting his lip. What could it do to hang with the Stepford daughter of the Cooper's? She probably wouldn't want to talk to him, all she might do is write beside him in Pop's? It could be easy. But Jughead did owe Archie a lot of favours: seeing that, a) Archie was basically letting Jughead stay in his house indefinitely until Jug's dad cleaned his act up, and b) had defended him from the high school thugs. "I'll do it."

"And… She knows I'm going. But I feel bad. Really, really bad. And so does Veronica. So… Please… Don't let her be mad at me."

"She's her own woman."

"Of course- but-"

"I won't fan the flames. But I'll communicate it with her."

"Thanks."

New York- Wow. A gorgeous place to be, Jughead had heard, as well as tragic and ugly. He knew of the infamous songs, and whenever he imagined it, all he could think of were the screaming trumpets, capitalism, broad shouldered suits and musicals crashing together- an illuminated, dark beacon of dreams. For a place that imitated despair and hope, Jughead wanted to go there. He wanted to go to university and wonder through the endless streets. And Archie and Veronica were going there: a passionate, two weeks.

He was jealous. Archie, stay. Stay here in the snow, stay here and freeze beside me, stay here and let's have milkshakes and burgers and hot dogs and chips and let's just complain- complain about Riverdale- complain about the high school- just... don't go. Don't leave me.

This diatribe within Jug tugged at his heart as he waved goodbye to the black taxi taking both Archie and Veronica to the airport, staring not at the car but at the tracks left behind in the thin layer of white frost on the ground. Of course, while sad, he was happy. This was life: the growing up, the wistful thoughts of the past and the fear of the future- experiencing the lust, mess and heat of the present. Yet he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that he felt... Alone.

He stood there until the car had disappeared into the fog, sighing, standing, accepting that there was nothing he could do- there was no use crying about it. His fingers felt numb in the cold, he tucked them into his jeans, eyes gazing into the general scenery. There was no sign of the sun; the clouds had clotted above them, the fog hugging everyone and everything in it's path, an the ground was white and frosty. It might snow later, he thought.

"You coming in, Jug?" Archie's dad smiled slightly, not in the least bit awkward. Jughead jumped slightly, twisting to see a sheepish smile from the man before smiling back. After all the drama of firing Jug's dad and even driving their family into a state of disrepair… Jughead knew that he didn't mean for it to happen. And while he'd always carry that dread, angst and anger, he WAS Archie's dad- and he was trying to make things better.

"Nah. I've got somewhere to go." He nodded with pursed lips, accepting the nomad character before him.

"Well… Dinner's at seven if you're interested in having some."

Jughead nodded, before turning around, dreading the short walk waiting between Archie's home to Betty Cooper's. He'd never been inside, never really gazed at the actually building for too long. While gorgeous and great and pretty and everything that was 'Cooper', it held an eerie kind of feeling to it. Like… The candy home, where outside looked warm and filled with sweet cookies and fluffy cupcakes, but within was something insidious… Something dark.

The stark figure of Jughead Jones sauntered up the frosty, white front-yard of the Cooper's, the glassy grass crunching beneath his boots, before climbing up the front steps. Each step was careful, perhaps a bit sluggish from a lack of caffeine, and perhaps a bit on edge (considering he'd never actually been this close to the house).

All he needed to do was talk to Betty. Chat with her. See if she wanted to go to Pop's or organise a meet up somewhere else (maybe the library? Maybe Archie's garage?)- just anywhere. She'd probably be upset that he's gone. She didn't even go down to say goodbye to either Veronica or Archie.

It took Jughead awhile to realize he'd been staring at the bright blue door for awhile. It just seemed like behind that door would be a cauldron of bubbling potions and hacking cackles and screaming souls locked up in a cage. Or maybe there was just a really silent home. Alice and Hal probably typing up a story for their dramatic and controversial paper, Betty probably eating cereal silently.

God. What a mess.

With a sigh, Jughead beat on the door a few times before taking a step back. He was already regretting this. It's not like he DISLIKED Betty. He liked her. She was nice. But did he really have to go all out for her? For Archie?

Would he even do this for Archie?

It was too late to turn around, the door opened, and there was Betty. She was wide-eyed, dressed in a dressing-gown with her hair messily pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck. "J-Jughead?"

He was slow in responding, just a bit agape at her appearance. Even looking a bit tired, shocked and unkempt, she was god damn gorgeous. "Hey."

"What..." She quickly looked behind her shoulders, before stepping out of the house and shutting the door behind her. Realizing the chill was actually quite vicious, she hugged herself and gave her signature 'concerned Betty' look, "What are you doing here, this early in the morning?"

"Well." Archie internally kicked himself. What the fuck was he going to say? 'Hey, Archie is scared for you. Veronica is, too. We want to make sure you don't turn out like Polly. Oh, yeah, I shouldn't KNOW about Polly, but here I am- I know about her!' "Uh…" She gave him a look, confused and suspicious, "Archie and Veronica are gone. So is Kevin." She gave a stiff nod, lips pressed in silent acceptance. "And… I was wondering if you just wanted to hang at Pop's today."

"Just Pop's?" She gave an uncertain smile. "To do what?"

"Well. I'm going to be writing." Jughead's face fell as Betty didn't react positively or negatively, infact, she looked to be pursing her lips and taking into account that, yes, her friends were gone, her family was bat shit insane, she was practically alone, and school was over for the next few weeks. She sucked on her lower lip for a second, eyes gazing to the ground full of thought. It was almost preferable to leave her there, all the beanie wearing guy wanted to do was get his writing done. He'd fallen behind during the last week of exams and shit. But he was also embarrassed. Fuck.

"Well-"

"Elizabeth?" Came a distant call. Betty immediately slumped, a look of exasperation striking her. The call was repeated again and again, getting louder and louder until the door was opened and a slightly disgruntled looking woman appeared just behind Betty. Her blonde hair looked as luscious as Betty's, her eyes as blue as well. Perhaps, as a teenager, she was just as sweet as Betty. As caring and passionate, as well? Who knew. Alice's response to the sight of Jughead was one of obvious disgust. "…Jughead?" One hand gripped Betty's shoulder, to which the teenage woman rolled her eyes with an obvious look of guilt and embarrassment. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh…" Jughead swallowed, "You know…"

"No. I don't."

"Just checking on some friends, like a good human. You know, reaching deep into that thing I call a soul." Again, he swallowed, dryly. Alice made him nervous. "Like a good human."

His show of incompetence may have been absolutely degrading to Alice, who deemed each word unsatisfactory, however Betty's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Like a good human?" Betty repeated with a hidden laugh.

"Well." Her mother sighed, gazing from the back of her daughter's head to his face, "You've checked on her, she's fine- have a good day-"

"Wait." Betty called, pulling away from her mom slightly. To be honest, it kind of shocked Jughead to see that kind of resistance, even just a little. Her eyes stared into his, full of meaning and alive with the tiniest bit of happiness, "Sure."

He nodded slightly, "Yeah. Sure. I'll… See you round ... I guess."

What did 'sure' mean? Sure, she'd come? Sure, she'd text him? Did she even have his number? Were they even facebook friends?

Alice sent seething daggers into Jughead's blank face, holding Betty's shoulders tightly but lovingly, "Good bye, Jughead Jones." She almost played with his name, knowing it was ridiculous and knowing it would absolutely send crimson clouds into his cheeks, "We'll see you around Riverdale after the holiday's."

"Sure."

"Sure."

Betty turned around slightly as Alice tried to shut the door, mouthing 'sure' with the perfect Alice Cooper impersonation, to which Jughead's face burst into a crack of a lopsided smile.

While this meeting meant nothing (perhaps it meant a slight case of 'what the fuck has Archie gotten me in to?'), he could feel that perhaps Betty wasn't that little glass ballerina. She had spunk. She had something.

Pop's was buzzing all morning long as liberated students came in for a fix of coffee or hot chocolate before they could play in the whitening land of Riverdale, yet Jughead managed to find his usual spot empty. The booth at the very end of the restaurant called to him and lovingly seated him, coaxing him with the warm corduroy seats and the free wifi. It was almost easy to start writing again.

The ambience of the red, pink and blue neon lights that stubbornly flashed in the light of day put in him a hue of relaxation: there was no longer the indignantly bright white lights of the classroom, no longer the irritating words of the teachers or the threats of the high school thugs… There was just… Coffee. Black, deep, bitter coffee. Warm seats. A friendly Pop's who would always give him a free basket of chips… And best of all: time to just escape in his mind.

Except…

Vrr…Vrrrr…Vrrrr

His phone vibrated.

Hey, Jughead, r u in Pop's?

It was from Betty. Leaning to the window and pressing his nose against the glass, Jughead could see the shape of the blonde woman standing sheepishly outside, unsure of whether or not to come in or walk all the way home. Her hair was pulled up in her usual ponytail, body hugged by a baby blue sweater and legs coated in skinny jeans.

Yeah Jughead typed, I'm in the back booths. As usual.

As soon as she got the text, she was already wondering in, opening the door with grace and ease. God. Jughead swallowed, eyes distracted from the carefully placed words on his laptop. He'd seen her a thousand times: dancing on the field in that stupid uniform, wondering through the halls with books and folders held against her chest, running during Phys ed, and yet.. Now?

She just looked like she was determined to be there, determined to get away from the bullshit behind her and to find some sort of relief. Like a lioness escaping a group of hunters. She glanced in his direction and a smile danced on her lips, where she quickly sat opposite of him.

"Are you still being good? Like a human?"

It took Jughead a minute to remember what she meant before he gave a lopsided grin, "Yeah… I mean, I'm trying. I don't get how humans can do this."

"It's hard, isn't it? All that smiling, all that bullshit?" She feigned a sigh, "How can anyone be a human? It's much better to be an orc." She laughed at the look of sudden shock on his face. "What? Terrified I found out your secret identity."

"Well," Jughead grimaced, "horrified, really." She laughed louder, covering her mouth as he broke into a wide smile. "More shocked that Betty Cooper even knows about orcs."

The blonde played with her ponytail, suddenly rolling her eyes, "Betty Cooper must only read romance novels, watch irritatingly dramatic soap operas and write in her diary, right?"

"Well…" Jughead made a face, "When you put it that way…" He was joking of course. Betty gave him a kick under the table, where he attempted to redeem himself, "To be honest, I can only imagine you drinking milkshakes, writing for the Blue and Gold and hanging with Veronica and Archie."

"I do have my own hobbies." Betty seemed to unflinchingly ignore the names 'Veronica and Archie', "And… Well, yes, I read romance novels and watch soap operas- and I do own a diary- I have a tendency to read everything else."

"So it's just books for you?"

"Well, what about you?"

Jughead remained quiet for a second, thinking earnestly, before sighing, "I basically ingest books."

She grinned. The two were taken aback at the realization that they'd actually had a laugh with each other. It had never happened. Jughead usually remained the voice of sardonic humor between the four of them, or rarely spoke to any of them with such closeness. "…Well…" Betty's face dropped the smile, before she gently picked up the well-worn menu, "I'm in desperate need of a hot chocolate."

"No milkshake?"

"At ten o'clock in the morning? With weather like this?"

"Fair point."

Pop almost knew miraculously when to come by, holding his usual notepad and pen. "What can I get you Betty? Vanilla milkshake?"

"No, thanks." She smiled, "just a hot chocolate."

"Coming right up, Miss Cooper!" He practically skipped away, obviously enjoying today.

Betty and Jughead sat down in relative silence, him returning to his story with energy. He could almost finish this chapter, almost just get halfway with this tale- he just needed to stay focused. But he couldn't. He could almost sense the leather boots by his, he could literally smell the jasmine perfume- he could see the bouncy, blonde hair out of the corner of his eyes. He looked up from the laptop to see Betty staring at her phone icily.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

She looked up, alarmed, "Oh, what? Yeah. Everything's fine."

What a liar. Jughead ignored it. Time to move on. She wasn't going to tell him, he definitely wasn't her Archie. But remembering what he was told by that damned Archie, he had to try and talk. "Your mom sure hasn't changed since the last time I saw her."

She leant back as Pop landed the large mug of hot, steaming chocolate by her side. With a small thanks, she turned back to the beanie wearing teen in question. "Really? It's like she got worse."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Just lately. Because of you know, just, stuff. She's being extra protective."

"Does she even know you're out?"

"She thinks I'm studying with Josie." Jughead raised an eyebrow, "Jughead, come on." She gave him a pleading look, "You know she doesn't like anyone I like. Yet, Josie is the mayor's daughter. To mom, she's this goody-two-shoes with good ties and good blood and … you know… Bla, bla, bla."

"I just don't know why she's like this lately?" Of course he knew. Polly was crazy. Polly was driven to attempting suicide because of her mother and, Jug guessed, Jason. But better to hear it from Betty. He furrowed his brows, "Are you okay?"

"Me?"

"Well, you were gone from school for awhile?"

"You noticed?" She twerked one fine, arched brow. "Jug, I'm flattered."

"School is basically empty without the fine Blue and Gold's chief editor."

She sucked on the insides of her cheeks, before smiling, "Yeah. Everything's fine. I got a bit of a cold for awhile."

And of course. She wouldn't budge. Wouldn't tell him, wouldn't let Bughead know the truth so he could try and patch it up and now he was with this quiet, perfect, cracked doll. What was he supposed to do for two weeks?

Vrr… Vrrr… Vrrr…

Jughead sighed and opened his phone. It was Archie.

How's Betty? She's not answering my texts. V says hey.

An internal groan basically allowed Jug to control his irritation. Come on. Why was he irritated? This blonde girl was perfect. Kind, sweet, intelligent and beautiful. Yes, her mom was crazy. So was her dad. Her sister, too. But surely… Betty was not.

Or maybe she was.

Betty stared at her phone for a minute, about to say something before Jughead just asked it, "Hey, are you alright?" She gave him a confused face, before he continued, "Archie says you're not answering his texts."

She rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her mug before placing it down, "I just don't want to talk." And yet, she didn't look angry or stubborn. While she was definitely okay, definitely in the short-term happy, he could see the depths of sadness. "…"

Jughead stared at her intensely. This was so much more than he thought it would be. "…You can tell me."

"…Maybe… I'm sad. About everything." She spilled. "And I don't know if I can tell you."

"But you can." Jughead insisted, "Look, I'm not Archie, I'm not Kevin and I'm definitely not Veronica. But … Seeing that everyone has gone and left… You can tell me."

"You won't tell Archie?"

Well, would he? He wouldn't have to? After all, Archie hadn't really given him any favors landing him with babysitting Betty. But… All he really had to do was just get her to text him back, see that Archie didn't mean to abandon her… Whatever could be done, Jughead would try.

"Scouts honor." Jughead sighed, shutting his laptop.

Betty gave him her charming smile, holding her hands tightly together, "Well." Though her lips curled into something uneasy, "Maybe I'm sad."

"It sounds like it."

"You know, Archie and I were friends since the very beginning. He and I… We'd do nearly everything together. Even when mom became… Controlling… He would always make things better. Always make me feel like, you know, I could just, like, do anything." Her blue eyes seemed to fill with tears, "And now, it's like I've lost him."

"But you haven't."

"But it feels like I have." She insisted, "I… GET that he and I will never happen. I've come to peace with that, and I'm not in love with him," contraire to popular believe, Jughead thought, slightly shocked, "but I love him. And I miss him. And these past few weeks have been so bad and I don't know what to do and seeing him leave to have fun and enjoy his life while I'm stuck here hating it just sucks. It's like…"

"He doesn't feel you're as important as he used to?"

She remained silent, sucking in her lips in some attempt to not burst into tears and slowly nodded, "It sounds dumb, doesn't it?"

Jughead tentatively moved his head between a mix of a nod and a shake, pressing his lips together, "Not really. I can definitely see what you mean."

She mouthed, 'can you?' tearfully.

He carried on, "But … Archie thinks you're incredibly important. He loves you, definitely. And… Not that I'm saying you're DEFINITELY saying this, but just because he's left to be with Veronica doesn't mean he thinks she's more important or anything else, he just… Couldn't waste a few months of wages."

"But… I feel like," She groaned, rubbing her eyes in frustration, "He knows what's happening- with my family- and …" With another groan, she dropped her head onto her outstretched hands, sobbing quietly. "I know it's selfish. I just miss him. And Ronnie. And Kevin. It sucks to see them go. I just have no one to talk to."

Jughead sat there, sighing and staring at the shaking form of Betty Cooper. He'd never seen her cry, and it suddenly made sense. Who wouldn't cry? Hell, even Jughead cried: there was no point lauding over any fake form of masculinity to deny it. But it just seemed outlandish to see someone so confident and perfect to just break down. What could he do? How could he comfort her?

Slowly, he placed a hand on her shaking shoulder, sighing, "I may not be Archie, or Veronica, or, admittedly, anything like Kevin, but you can talk to me. Anytime."

For Archie.

God, what was he doing? This morning was a fuck up. He didn't hate Betty, fuck, no- he had no reason to- but from seeing this woman who was the daisy of Riverdale to actually being someone with problems, with real feelings, with baggage that wasn't all haute couture, it was.. Weird. And awakening.

It was like digging through plush, white snow and soon finding imperfect layers of muddy slush and pressed, autumn leaves… Ugly, but incredibly real. "…Juggy…" She whispered, looking up into his eyes, "Thanks. And sorry."

"Don't apologise. I don't exactly know what's going on in your house," What a liar, Jughead thought grumpily, "but if Alice Cooper is involved, I can imagine it's not exactly fun."

Betty sat back up, haughtily snorting, "It's a nightmare, Jug." The two teenagers were interrupted gently by Pop's who came with another coffee refill and a complementary cup of hot cocoa for Betty, smiling with joy at the sight of the two dedicated customers.

"Is everything alright, Betty?" He asked, eyes drooping sympathetically.

"It is now, Pop's." She smiled, an image of cherries and bubblegum summers popping into Jughead's mind. Just like that, she could wipe all that angst away.

As Pop and her had a quick conversation, Jughead found himself leaning on his hand, staring intently at the blonde. God. She's beautiful.

The day ended for the both of them at three pm when Betty was sent a tirade of hurried, furious texts from her father and mother- and when she attempted to ignore them, calls were made, until the blonde couldn't ignore them anymore.

She gave him a sheepish smile, sliding out of the seat, "…Sorry, I have to go. But thank you, Jug. I hope I wasn't too scary," She laughed at Jughead's roll of the eyes. They both smiled at each other silently, before she filled in the silence with a hurried, nervous and almost mumbled sigh, "Maybe we could hang out again?"

Jughead leant back in his booth, thinking for a second or two.

"Or not. You know, like, it's up to you, I guess."

"Well, I'm free tomorrow." Archie would want him to hang with her, just to see how she was doing. Jughead nodded inwardly, it was the right thing to do. Plus, he wasn't against seeing her again. "If you want." He added uneasily.

Smiling yet again, she laughed, "Sure. I'm free tomorrow. Maybe we could do something else, then?"

"Yeah. Sure, sounds like a plan."

"Sure! Definitely." She gave a small laugh, turning away before turning back, waving awkwardly, "I'll see you."

Oh, Jughead, he thought to himself. I'm so confused.

He quickly picked his phone up, texting Archie, She's okay. Stop worrying, enjoy your holiday.

Almost instantly, he got a reply, Vrr…Vrrr…Vrrr…

Thanks, man. I owe you.

Sighing, and maybe even regretting the next few words, he texted, Yeah, you really do.

Fuck. I sound like my dad.

Trying hard to speak
and Fighting with my weak hand
Driven to distraction
It's all part of the plan
When something is broken and you try to fix it
Trying to repair it anyway you can
- Coldplay