Jughead Jones was weird, he didn't fit in. Sure he got some pleasant looks from ladies, and yeah sometimes he even got asked questions about his work from time to time. Mostly he was weird. So weird that he gave up listening to music that wasn't produced in the most indie of bands.
If he could get music from the awkward nerd struggling to sell a copy from their Mum's awkward made sign outside the grocery store you just know he was pulling out a ten for it. So being so strange and out of the ordinary once you found a coffee shop that worked you didn't go even if the shop was starting to fill up with a new clientele.
Lightly tapping his fingers on his laptop it was getting harder to ignore how much louder it had become in there. Was there something going on that he didn't know? Surely there wasn't a new high school opening nearby by at the very least. And by the looks of the people who had come in on that Saturday morning, it could be nothing but teenagers.
"They came in yesterday too, bought a couple drinks and wandered off. Still got no clue what they wanted". Pops sighed and lightly joked as the brunette stepped up to the counter.
Pops, the one person Jughead felt somewhat comfortable being normal around. A light sarcastic smile paints his face as he has a quick look around at the kids and back.
"Maybe this whole coffee is amazing is getting a bit too much now", the brunette noted seeing that while they were loud they did all buy a drink.
The older man nodded and without having to ask was getting the beanie loving not a large long black. A blue card was pulled out as he was cupping the drink and with a small smile, their need to interact for the day was complete. It was so simple, easy, just what he needed.
Picking up the pleasantly hot drink a part of him wonders if it's worth looking for a seat in today's crowd. Laptop in its case being brought closer to himself he at least will try to find a place in his own usual spot. Maybe he's woken up on the wrong side of the bed but he finds himself grumbling louder than usual when all the booths come up all damn full.
There's one booth he finds himself almost staying at, it's only got one person and it's tucked away if a little too far for a power outlet to reach. Though the other problem that had to be addressed was that the other was borderline hiding in his clothes. Sorta. His hat was too big to fit his head and the care in his clothing choice was obvious, not much of him could be seen at all.
How did Jughead know he was right? Well, he was weird. Not weird enough to bother the other for today, however. Bringing his drinks to his lips he trails out of the store eager to write his novel at least somewhere else.
—✨—
Having a break from classes didn't mean much when your work either called you very often or didn't give you a shift even if you asked for one. It was an odd complexity that the young man couldn't for the life of him figure out, but what did that matter? Life moved on even if he couldn't sometimes. Work was money and money was time to make his book.
Bringing the laptop closer to his side his eyes are grazing carefully at his favourite spot. Was it possible that it was still that crowded as last time? It was easily within school hours but he wasn't dumb enough to think school hours didn't mean school kids by any definition. A small chime signals that yes indeed he got a message, but it's one he doesn't care for as he's turning his phone off to shove back in there.
So ignoring the feeling of annoyance in his stomach he's going through the ever so trusty doors. Mostly empty, thank everything. Adjusting the watch on his wrist it very proudly displayed "10:42". Definitely out of the zone for the morning rush.
So with an ever so more eager step, he's making his way over to the counter once more. Pop's who for the better of words looks tired from the morning rush but well he doesn't look like he's made enough drinks to satisfy a year in school.
A bit more eager today the male is pulling out his trusty card from his laptop protector before he reached the counter. The look on the older males reads amused and Jughead doesn't feel like it's a bad thing.
"I hope you get more work done on that book today, it's hard to have a copy of your book on my shelf if it isn't currently done". Saying this with smooth compassion it's another thing done while he's making his large tall black.
Eyes looking over to the cupcakes he almost considered taking one. Oh, looking up to the male he cheekily adds, "would you believe work called me in before I got the chance to write".
Pops is of course amused as he does the last bit of stirring, there isn't anything to stir per say it's more so they can talk a second longer. Jugheads weird okay.
The older male is handing him a hot cup soon enough and he gladly accepts it barely able to resist having a sip. A hand reaches out with a cupcake and how can he resist when it's a sign? So he pays for both with the ever so convenient tap on plastic with plastic. The future was here surely!
"Just as long as you finish it before paperback doesn't get made young man"
Lightly laughing Jughead just waves him off as he walks into the shop. An emptish shop was a good one, there was so much choice it almost made it hard to choose. There was the front which had the most PowerPoints, middle which in all honesty had the advantage of being near not at the windows, the back was good but didn't have powerpoints.
Yet as if like a character from his book he was going to the back of the shop. It was like he was pulled in from a written force that was not under his control. As if by luck the prime spot was free, PowerPoint too. Strange. Easing into the booth he's pulling his laptop on it before taking a mouthful of hot drink.
Yeah, the hot drink was painful but it was but a small comfort, he was weird. Putting the cup on the table he's arranging his laptop, pulling out his charger and overall trying to get into work mode. Logging into his laptop's screen is littered around with ideas.
Ideas but yet no main character. The life of an author was a weird one too, you could have everything planned but still have no main character to make them feel lived in. Ignoring the the oh so pressing issue of this, however, the young man could at the very least get what he could be done of the book out of the way. Tapping away at his laptop he almost the strange urge to look up hits him, strange in the way that nothing but maybe the coffee would pull him away from his work like that.
Picking up the cupcake he had almost forgotten about his eyes go up and he sees what he thinks is the most stunning person he has ever seen. Eyes so brown, red hair you think would be accompanied by freckles instead pairing with creamy white skin and that classic charm people like himself could only get if they wanted to go into a place to rob it. A real sense of what the American sitcom family was like without the special effects department. Trying not to choke on his cupcake as he placed it down he tried to look down at his laptop. Maybe he didn't notice the obvious stare?
Looking up the other was staring at him with alarmed eyes, of course, the one time he checks someone out they are probably scared of 'the gays'. Trying to look a little less awkward a hand goes to brush away some crumbs that rested on the corner of his mouth. Maybe it wouldn't be too late to just go back to his usual spot, this was, after all, bordering on a staring contest. Looking down at his laptop there was a hope that this would be done with, well he wasn't going to make this easy on either on them because that wouldn't be very him to do.
So as he types away and munches on his cupcake he almost forgets about though stunning brown eyes and the way that they looked at him with such strangely alert emotion. The last thing he needed was to have an argument and lose his flow of thought. When he's writing a bit about a murder scene that's when he hears the scraping of a chair on the floor, footsteps are light but obvious in the silence. Peering his eyes up from his work his eyes meet instantly with the male he had hoped would just leave.
It's hard to know if he is correct but the man is wearing the same hat as yesterday but the clothes seem less like the other is in witness protection. Lightly coughing the male is going and sitting next to him in the booth. Why did this feel like an intervention?
"Hey I know this is weird but-well could we keep this between us I've just started to come here and the last thing I want is to lose this place", by the sounds of it the redhead had been chased out of quite a few places.
Picking up his drink the beanie-wearing male shrugs, okay he knew what it was like to want to get away, how could he judge. "Listen, if you have a partner you'd rather not know you're here or well ex then I'll keep you here a secret".
It felt simple to say but the confusion was instant on the others face, or was it something else? It wasn't like he knew the other well to be fair. While he's taking a drink of his more empty than full cup the other is deep in thought. The silence is deafening and while he wants to tell the other to leave it's obvious the other had something he wants to say.
"Thanks, if you wouldn't mind doing that it would mean a lot to me" he admits, and if the weird boy wasn't so weird maybe he'd say it's no problem but instead he just watches him instead over his coffee cup. Soon enough Pop's is calling his name telling him it's 2 pm and he better get going before his work kicks him out. The other moves out unsure and without so much as flinching Jughead is packing up his stuff and tucking it under his arm.
Moving from the chair he was sitting in he sees some music paper on the others table he ditched to check on him. But yet he has no interest in letting his curiosity take the better of him so he doesn't care for the scribbles on the page. Bodies awkward move to let each other past and it's longer till he likes till he is at the front of the store. With a thank you to Pops and a small check of his stuff he finds himself going out of the store once more. Is that the feeling of eyes he feels on him? It didn't matter the other would be gone after that interaction surely.
So the boy with the American charm has to most likely be a one-off event. Yet some part of him wanted to understand the character that lay beneath the shocked, off guard eyes.
—✨—
Money meant food, food meant for a happy Jughead that didn't want to start arguments with people and thus meant a Jughead that got more done. It also meant more work which lead to inevitably him missing a week of writing. Pulling at his jacket it doesn't feel like enough to alleviate the anxiety of missing writing his book for so long. Playing with his messenger bag didn't feel like enough as he dodged traffic but maybe playing with his clothes would.
The walk to Pop's was one that usually made him feel more fulfilled in his writing but sadly he felt more dejected than anything. How much could he write when he didn't even have the time to write. Yet complain about getting hours again was stupid, he still had to eat and well not be homeless again so there wasn't any use in being sad he was getting money now right? The raven haired boy is gritting his teeth, deep breaths feel stupid when his chest feels empty anyhow. But he has to write today, he had to there was no way he could go a day more without adding to his book.
As he arrives at the shop he finds himself peering through, empty. It looked empty, well expect for Pops who was of course going to be in there. A deep breath and a push of the door and he's once more walking into the shop towards the familiar man. If the soft smile on the others face is anything to go off on he's glad that he's back. A week was a long time to not see someone when you know they are someone like Jughead Jones. Though the other doesn't ask because Jughead won't tell anyway.
It's later in the day than he usually comes in so the morning brew is being replaced by the smell of something more sugar filled. Gross but what could be done. At the counter he orders a sandwich and a drink of water which he supposed was a human requirement outside of coffee sometimes. With a small nod and a fatherly smile the man tells him to take a seat and he'll bring it out. So Jughead before he goes puts some cash on the counter because someone from work tipped him nicely gave him cash and why not use it.
Though there's no point in grabbing a number he takes one and he is wondering towards the empty back of the room. The place he sat last time is empty and he doesn't mention the pang in his stomach he feels when he realises the back is very empty. Putting his bag on the table he's fishing out the stuff he will use and plugs in the charger before putting the bag on the floor. The number on the desk is on the near edge and overall he looks like he's as settled in as he's going to get.
With tapping of fingers his laptop blooms to life and his work is once more filling his screen. The murder, perhaps the most important character the male liked to think, he made things happen. Afterall what would a murder mystery be if there was no killer on the loose? Pulling up a word document he has brief character notes and if he is honest it's almost good enough to go into the final stage but yet. What was his motivation? Killing needed a end goal to it as well didn't it?
Wiping his face his mind is going back to the protagonist, right that always was something the killer needed something to do with to. Was this another issue that was going to be blockading his road to finishing this dreaded novel. The sound of steps fills the shop and it isn't coming from near the counter. Looking up from his writing the red head with that ever familiar hat was walking out ever so carelessly wiping his hands on a jacket. Quite a nice jacket the man had to note. Obviously someone that attractive had to have money he reasoned as he looked down.
The walking stops but only sort of near him as the other takes the booth next to his almost unaware that he was being watched. Thought last week...The other must be off his guard. Maybe there was less fear of the others ex storming in, that was reasonable he could guess. Clicking his fingers together it was only fair if the other wasn't worried about the raven haired male that he shouldn't either. Then Pops came and the others eyes shot up and with that ever so more relaxed posture watched as Pops walked over to the beanie wearing young man. Talk about alerting someone to them not being alone right. Yet the other is not scared, well as scared as last time. With an easy smile the red head waves over and of course he doesn't wave back because why not just stare right.
The food and drink placed before him is good of course and the number is swiftly taken away with a 'enjoy your meal'. Looking down from the other he can't help but look at his food. Crisp lettuce, juicy tomato and from the looks of it fresh ham and bread. Pops quality through and through. Picking it up it's just the perfect weight and as he brings it to his mouth it isn't too big. Oh and the other is picking up his stuff and sitting next to him. The other didn't pick up cues too well it would seem.
"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, I thought I pissed you off on that hogging the last booth" he gently said putting his sheets of music on the table. Faced down but the awkward boy didn't care to see what he had written anyhow. "At least i'm glad i didn't chase you off last week, thought you would never come back".
Ironic that the thought was very much shared with the raven haired male about the other. Taking a bite at his sandwich he chews and stares at the other as if he will continue what he wants. Maybe then he'll leave and take with him that god awful bright smile. What was Jughead some cute girl he saw sitting in the booth.
"Well you know how life goes one day you're sitting in your booth the next you're working your butt off for rent. But hey, life right? Plus it's not like you didn't need the booth for your own stuff anyway" he reasoned. Though it was a bit rewarding having the other admit it was him, why he was dressed the way he was something he didn't want to ask still however.
"Haha, though I'm sure the booths are better here on weekdays aren't they. Do you mind if I sit here?" the redhead asks ever so unsurely. The other didn't seem the type to sit alone in a coffee shop and work alone. But Jughead was very much that type, but yet. With a nod he's looking back to his laptop and putting the sandwich away to rest on the plate. The sound of typing and scribbling on paper is better than him saying something dumb anyhow.
—✨—
The next time he wonders into the shop with his messenger bag on his hip isn't a week thankfully if he had to do that again he wasn't sure he was going to make it through work. Making it there at 11 am there isn't a need for him to buy food quite yet as money is tight and he doesn't need to eat as he has already had breakfast. Even if that cake on the stand looked good. Trying to push it from the back of his mind he offers Pops a small hi and the man nods and greets him warmly in return. Like a home he could always fall back into.
The stranger is already there deep in thought scribbling down notes or words on the paper before him. Hand steading his head as he stared at the paper below him he looked almost too attractive even if he was poking his tongue out almost comically. Strolling past the other into the booth next to his the usual process of getting his stuff out is done and the click of a charging laptop is a comfort. This was something he could do, have company that is. It wasn't exactly a distraction from his work. So he doesn't sweat it and brings up a minor character sheet he had began instead of but of course starting the main character.
Like clockwork the chair is pulled away and the sound of the other going to him and taking a seat is clear. Same old hidden away music paper is put on the desk and the other is once again giving him that wholesome who could hate that face smile. He felt almost a little threatened by how good the others vibe felt.
"I see you've been writing something it must mean a lot to you if it can make you seem so comfortable" the red head inquires almost a little too easily, like he's used to asking questions and having people just tell them their life story. With a small look from the man the red head quickly realises that he dug in too deep. "What i mean to say is you always look a lot happier writing than you do walking into the shop. Like you've sunk into a world of your own".
That did not exactly make the other not feel not invasive but by the look on his face he seemed the type to say how he felt no matter if he was being a tad bit odd. Sitting up in his chair Jughead simply states, "I've been working on it for a year now I would hope that i enjoy writing it by now".
Why did he have to give in to talking, this was his quiet time and a time to break off okay. The other was happy to have the other talk to him so he picked up his pencil and played with it as he listened of course.
"It's easy to fall into loving your work when things click isn't it? Just, something about what i'm writing isn't working so I thought coming here would help but it only is making me feel more well conflicted". Was Jughead becoming a diary? "I was thinking maybe you knew what that felt like, being so close to a finish only to have something well not there".
The other sounds like he was sure he was wrong but he wasn't. Not that the other needed to know he was indeed lost at how to bring together his book, it was hard without the heart to his story. Without a main character what was a book besides a series of events happening to vague people he did not want to explore anymore than their actions? What was a story without the depth of the main characters emotions, worries and fears. Looking to the other and back to his story notes he simply says, "That's the good thing about writing it makes you want to push yourself to do things you would never do in real life".
Nodding the other one looks thoughtful and if Jughead feels his heart skip a little in his chest he doesn't bother to care for the moment.
—✨—
Gentle brown eyes capture his mind as he stares at the ceiling of his room. Outside the sound of the city is loud and the lights hidden behind his thin curtain too bright to the unused to eyes. There was something there that caught him, seemed beyond what they were in what he could understand about the other. Bringing his hand to cover his face he tries fall asleep even if he feels his stomach fill with butterflies.
—✨—
Writing with company and a cup of coffee becomes easier the fourth or so time around. The fifth time feels normal almost as he takes a sip of drink and adds to the history of the town he is having the story being set in. They hadn't talked last time and if things would go the way they were they wouldn't this time either. It was for the best it wouldn't help with his concentration if they didn't talk a lot anyhow.
"I've never seen you listen to music when you work" the redhead states simply looking at the raven haired male. Okay so they weren't doing the whole quietly working thing. That was okay. Not really but he wasn't going to chew the other out over it. Raising a brow still he didn't think they would talk music.
"I'm more a work silently and absorb the work kinda guy I guess". If that was said with an disdain the other didn't pick it up instead looking at him with curiosity. So music was to actually be the topic.
"Speaking of music who do you listen to, you don't seem the type to listen to the big names out and about" he poked a little more interested than he should have been. But he was right and part of him wanted to wonder if he was profiled by the way he dressed.
"Well my musically loving friend I do not, i'm more a ramage your brothers cousin's mixtape box for something that wouldn't be listened to by then more than two people kinda music guy". Wow did he sound pretentious as he simply said this. Maybe a bit too honest. Though the other chuckles and that had to be a sign it wasn't bad thing to say. "What about you, are you going to convert me to listening to the chainsmokers as I write my novel?"
"No, no I think I'll let you continue listening to Jordan's mixtape it suits you more" the other insisted eyes not looking away from Jughead. Did he look oddly comforted in his answer? Maybe he was used to people shoving their popular music taste in his face.
"Maybe I'll listen to whatever you're working on" Jughead lightly jokes dryly and by the way the other laughs it's good to know he understands what he means.
—✨—
Explaining it to his friend Veronica that no he does not need a lift to the coffee shop after work is hard to do when you don't have a car and it's raining cats and dogs. The young woman is harder than his own mother to convince that walking in the rain is okay. So of course she wins and he arrives at the coffee shop more dry than he would have before and if he isn't going to try to thank her with a coffee he wouldn't be him. Well that and she bought him a coffee for everyday it rained before today. Though he let's it slip that they wouldn't be alone and she is intrigued.
"You have a writing friend Jug, is she well a writer too?" she asks simply as she parked before the shop.
"He is most likely a song writer, what else besides that is beyond me" he states back ever so simply.
"Wait like you don't know his name, anything about his music and well anything".
"It's not like i'm writing a story about him Veronica, he is just somebody that i see at the store and i drink coffee with" He insists looking to the store with a tad bit of confusion in himself.
"Not knowing someone's name is strange, but well who am i to fault your love story in the making" only Veronica could say stuff like that in that ever so sweet tone and not get an eye roll from Jughead.
"I would stick to your sitcoms Veronica, has a lot more romance than my life" he stated walking opening the car and walking out. She shouts goodbye as he runs into the store and he says a soft if awkward goodbye back. It wasn't romance, he didn't know him and he didn't need to know the strange redhead.
So why did he feel eager when he saw that the redhead had already set up shop in their booth. Sometime between their fifth and seventh time sitting with each other the hat had left and his clothes were much more suited to not being in hiding. Of course the other was fit as well as handsome. Trying not to look to much at his arms alone Jughead is walking over to the booth, the other is attentive picking his stuff up so he can slip in. Was this really a habit?
Comfortable in his position by the wall and laptop charging away the sound of rain was but a background for the sound of typing and writing. Though that question wrang through his mind, what was the other's name? Usually the few regulars he saw and bothered with didn't need a name, they were there and that was that he didn't need to know them to know they existed. Yet, here was someone he had sat next to for a few weeks or so and he knew nothing. Nothing but he was writing music and he really didn't know how to make anything more he liked.
It was comforting to see another artist struggle with that feeling even if it was something he probably shouldn't have felt. The other is looking at him and he only knows this because he looks to stare at the redhead of course.
"I have no clue what your name is" Jughead says without meaning to. Wow why did he say that, why did he actually want to say that. He didn't need to know the others name surely. The other doesn't seem to mind instead looks a bit amused.
"Alex, i'm Alex" he states simply with a grin on his face. "Jughead though right? I heard Pops call you out for your order sometimes, unusual name isn't it".
"It's a nickname, a nickname to a name you are not going to hear (ever)" Jughead simply says without any hint of humour. That name was something he wished he could have undone, but yet what was his life without that want right?
Though the other gets it and nods and says, "Jughead is a cool nickname". And while he knows that isn't any of the imaginable true he doesn't push it further.
—✨—
A month or so later Alex seems to be more alert to Jughead than he had before, if he didn't buy food within a few hours of coming in the redhead was always buying him a small drink and food to go along with what he himself had gotten. It was nice even if the raven haired male tried to tell him he didn't have to.
"I just don't like eating alone" was Alex's reason at least even though after a while the other was buying more for Jughead than he did himself. Why complain though? When rent means no food until dinner the other buying him a meal didn't hurt exactly so he took the food and in return gave the other the company he seemed to enjoy. Did he enjoy it too?
—✨—
One day he gets more money than he needs to make it through the week and if he isn't going to try to make it a bit more even with the other than he wouldn't be Jughead Jones now would he. So he's standing in front of the booth with his hands wrapped around his other. October meant the beginning of cold so the shops age was showing especially.
"Alex would you like something to eat" He states simply to the male who was looking at the page.
It takes the other a moment to realise he was spoken to and bushy brows were up in confusion before it clicked. "Oh, if you don't mind i'm dying for a muffin".
Nodding simply Jughead had chalked it up to the other simply not used to him calling him by his name. Usually he didn't address him by name did he? It didn't matter Jughead rationalised he would just start doing a bit more often so it would break in.
—✨—
Writing in his shitty apartment was hard but yet he was chalking out a character design. The character in question was bold, yet soft. Handsome yet unabashingly cute and unaware of it seemingly in a genuine way. The line Alex had said to him was striking as he wrote more attributes down in his laptop.
"Maybe we don't have to just be what others think we are, maybe we can be more than what we think we are at least too".
—✨—
"Do you ever think I could hit it big Jug?" Alex asks one day out of the blew, it's drawing closer to halloween and thought that doesn't add much to the question it feels like it's a holiday kind of question. Jug, only Veronica would call him that. But it's different coming from him, it's warm and it feels like he knows him.
"If it's before I listen to your music then well, sorry Alex I don't think I can listen to it. My honour code and all". Stating this only it is supposed to come out as a joke but he says it like he means it as he takes a drink of his mid morning coffee.
The others laugh is strained, and he says "true true", but there's something in that he doesn't say under his words.
—✨—
"You, me halloween party tomorrow. Meet in front of Pops" Alex says one day before he goes. Jughead doesn't get to say no, but he isn't sure he would want to anyway.
—✨—
When the other said party he didn't think it would be a sit in in at Pops after dark. The older man gave them the keys and asked if they saw a raccoon attacking the bins to feed it some food he bought instead. Sitting in Pops with the street lights being the only thing in the dark outside was something else, the pumpkins that had been placed by the people days before unlit by strong winds. Not being able to be without his laptop for even a night he's sitting on top of a table closer to the front.
Alex is somewhere in the back, looking around the fridge. For what? Who knows he would wait and see he supposed. Though soon enough he is walking in with something behind his back and it's hard to not look amused when the other is purposely trying to look so goofy and strange. When the other walks in front of him is when the thing is shown and if doesn't look as white as a ghost he doesn't know what else he would look like.
The sight is as familiar as his walks alone to school when he was in middle school. It's not open but he doesn't need it to be to know how awful that smelt spilt all over a person as they took another swig of it instead of making dinner. Biting at his lip it's dumb but he's having trouble breathing. Thick bushy brows go up in concern as he seems to understand that something is wrong. Quickly walking to where he came from he's putting the drink in fridge most likely as he doesn't have it in his hands when he walks back.
His arms are wrapping around the stunned young man, and the redhead is rubbing his back. They knew each other but not really, they talked, but their past was not something that they wanted to devalge.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked softly pulling back to look at him with a soft look of worry.
"It's just my dad, he was a shitty drunk I guess. It gives me some more emotions than I ever want to talk about" he admits, and he hates how dumb he sounds.
Nodding the male holds him and then shows him the new dumb thing he found on his phone he knew Jughead wouldn't search on his own.
—✨—
The main character had a love interest, didn't need one per say as he had enough development to not need something so silly but alas his character was a helper so as a damaged boy fell into his arms one rainy night after a fear for the killer who was he to deny a rain kiss? It wouldn't take over the murder mystery and the boy could easily become a victim if he so much as to wanted but for now it could be something he had to just add to the story.
—✨—
The redhead didn't come back for another two weeks, why he wouldn't know even if he tried. Their lives started and ended with the coffee shop, and while that made things more comfortable, the pang he felt as he sat alone in the booth was something the raven-haired male didn't ever think he would feel. Sitting alone on his bed the coffee shop that day it once again had no Alex. Had he did something wrong?
A phone was buzzing he picked it up and brought it to his ear.
"Hey, Jug I just" the voice started. It wasn't Veronica, couldn't be Alex and well as he hung up on the sound, it wasn't someone he wanted to talk to anyhow.
—✨—
When he sees the other again he's halfway through a part of plotting where the main character's love interest is about to be cut up by the killer to punish his lover for failing to understanding his motives. It's almost the end of November and the male looks different, a new haircut and he has a shimmer of glitter around his face. He looks like a star in the middle of the simple diner and Jughead's heart might have skipped a beat.
"Thought you moved on to another shop" the raven-haired male admits.
"You're not at another shop," the other says as he missed him too.
—✨—
Maybe killing off the love interest like that would be anti-climatic. People liked it more when people teamed up, dynamics changed, and characters shifted. So he plans out a scene where the pair explore some woods and the love interest almost dies instead.
—✨—
It's the third of December when they first kiss, to be fair it was under the mistletoe, and it wasn't like they didn't have to so. Well, they kissed and Pops told the males that he was glad he didn't have to litter the place with it so they would kiss. Jughead asks what if Alex and Pops himself was under the mistletoe and of course Pops teased that he would never make Jughead that jealous. Going to their booth they hold hands as they write every now and again and if along the way they kiss of their way out what is the harm in that?
—✨—
The main character which he has named Steven is smitten with John his love interest. The names are generic, but for the best so he can focus on plot rather than their love escapades. But it's hard not to write them into the plot as it seems to enrich the story more than he likes to admit.
—✨—
"Veronica, don't you have a meeting with your other boss to get to?" Jughead asks as the raven haired girl does not leave his side as they get out of the car. Locking her car, she quickly puts her keys in her purse as she does a quick check of her makeup.
"Jug just because you don't ask about my non-existent love life doesn't mean I don't want to meet the guy you're casually seeing. Think of this as a well, shovel talk" She teases as she walks to the door with him. You think that they would have been siblings with the way she was talking.
"Just as long as you don't do anything that makes me have to explain why you know how to use throwing knives okay" he replies sighing. He couldn't ask Veronica not to be herself as the other was unabashedly herself even if that did lead to some awkward moments.
"Okay. Okay, it's a cool talent but it it makes you feel like it should be brought up later" she sighed pretending to be upset. Opening the door for her she is the first to stroll in, it's a bit busier than usual but it's good for company at least. Instructing her through the crowd he finds Alex in their usual spot, al be it more uncomfortable with the larger crowd.
"He's over there, just um he's looking down at the music sheet" he states pointing to Alex.
Veronica is too quiet, and she can't believe her eyes, what was she lovestruck also? Well, she wouldn't flirt with him he knew she was loyal. Grabbing her arm, he's walking her over to the other who doesn't seem to notice until he's looking up when they get to the booth.
"Archie, Andrews?" Saying this in disbelief her eyes are wide and she looks like she is in the twilight zone.
"No that's Alex", he insists, but when Alex doesn't deny it, he feels like the floor has fallen away from him. The other's mouth opens after he realises being quiet for so long is strange, but Jughead is head tailing it out of their Veronica stuck in motion behind him.
—✨—
Usually, he wouldn't bother doing this, why would he? After all, he lived his life, and people in his life told him their names and not a lie they made up. As he googles Archie Andrews Alex pops up, there are tonnes about him, and according to tweets he wasn't there in November because the other was on tour. It feels like he was being thrown into another world. Closing all the tabs he had opened he finds himself putting away the laptop and staring at his wall.
How much of that was a lie?
—✨—
In the following weeks, he avoids Pops even though he misses Pop's christmas recipes. Trying to throw himself into work it's hard as every extra shift he goes for gets ignored and he's but lying in his bed trying to understand the heartbreak he is feeling. But what was this feeling? Was it because he also felt stupid he believed everything?
Most of all he feels more like the trailer trash he was raised to be. He was probably a charity case to the other. Veronica says sorry, Jughead is just sorry he was so stupid, to begin with.
—✨—
It's a week before Christmas, and he can't go to Pop's to put something underneath the charity tree, the old tradition made his once shitty holiday into something more normal. Holding his thick jacket closer to him as he entered the chilly shop the tree was next to the empty counter, Pop's was probably in the back dealing with stock. The shop was quiet, and as he strolled into it, he felt like he could leave.
"So you're the beanie boy who Andrews fell head over heels for" a voice that just dripped with power said.
Looking over the last thing he thought he would see was a strikingly beautiful redhead. The other is next to him before he can put the present down and run. The smile on her face is cautious if not careful.
"Okay so Veronica your friend told me to come to find you here, and well I can't hide the fact that so did Archie," she notices that he sighs and looks away, so she doesn't stop. "Look, Archie, is a lot of things, loyal, a bit too compassionate but well he is always falling for people who use him. Can you blame him for not telling you the (whole) truth"?
Rolling his eyes, he hates that he can agree with her. But loyal how could a loyal person lie so much? "Maybe I deserve the whole truth," he asks with a sarcastic tone.
The redhead sighs and doesn't try to argue. "Just know that you don't get a lot of people like him and well, if you don't think you can forgive him then I hope you can forgive yourself".
When she walks out why does he feel like he was the only one that was wrong?
—✨—
Breaking a rule of his, he sits down near another shop so he could steal their wifi on his way home from work. While the Archie had made a lot of music, there was popular fanfair most about his recent stuff. Very raw, and real they had said. So he's picking one at random and sitting by the side of the road.
Maybe you would understand
Maybe you could hold my hand, and the silence will fall away
There is more than a secret
Secret
Would you hate me for my secret or could we maybe just run away?
I would just run away if you hated me
That would be the end of me
—✨—
It's two days till christmas, and it's hard to celebrate when your heart hurts, and you thought you would celebrate it with someone. Veronica is gone from work, and worse yet Archie had not come to the shop since. What had he done? What had they done? Why couldn't he be the weird man who wrote about death and the pointless things of life?
—✨—
He sees him covered in snow on Christmas, he is standing in front of Pops, and it's so early in the morning Jughead thinks it's just the lack of sleep getting to him at last. But he walks in and begins to help prep the food drive that would eventually be fed to the people that visit on the day. Archie, of course, can't resist but walk into the back and as they are almost being done.
The other seems tired, less well dressed and like the gym hasn't been a priority but most of all he can't help but look scared as he stares at Jughead. Staring him back with similar uncertainty they stand in silence for a moment as the other locks the door. Well, not lock just closed, it felt locked.
"Jug-" he started, and Jughead feels like he wants not to be weird.
"Arch I know, I just. Well, I need to understand why" he asks softly.
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't want to be Archie Andrews Anymore? I wanted to be the person you thought I was. I, I was just Archie" he confessed. But he wasn't Archie he was Alex. But the young man understands, he wasn't Forsythe Jones the third he was Jughead. Was it the same thing maybe not but did it matter?
"Let's just worry about this later" the other wants to say more, but Jughead continues. "It's Christmas, and we can do this later, common we got hungry people to feed".
The other wants to say more, but he just nods, as he walks closer to Archie the other hugs him? Holds him? It's a comfort that makes him feel a bit more normal for a moment. They feed who come, and in the end, they plan to talk later.
—✨—
It's almost the next year as they sit on a hill far from the lights of the city. Super star Archie Andrews was a farm boy it would seem as he had lived his life far from the glow of the rush of city life. But that didn't matter, it did, but it didn't have to tonight.
"Promise me you'll explain everything you didn't Arch, I know you were scared, but if you lie to me we can't ever be together" Jughead states softly looking into the other's eyes.
Archie is but of course nodding, how could he not agree? "I'll tell you everything you want, just please don't shut me out. I don't want to lose you to something I don't understand".
How could he not agree to the other as well he supposed? The timer was ticking down, and they kissed the new year into appearance. There were things to fix, and truths to be told but if he didn't get an idea for his book he would be lying. The other was his muse, and as the other cupped his face he knew something he would never have expected.