Chughead pairing story
The Twilight Drive-Inn is closing soon.
This is everything Jughead can think about this evening, it's where he works and also his current home.
Jughead, Betty, Kevin and Veronica are sitting in a booth at Pops, talking about what Jughead should show at the Twilight Drive-In for the last time. During their conversation Betty sees that Archie enters the restaurant with his father and Mrs. Grundy who she by now guesses is having an affair with Archie after hearing Doyle tell them that Mrs. Grundy's car was at the river, it also explains why Archie is now interested in music.
Deciding quickly Betty confronts Archie in front of the restaurant with Veronica joining them and Archie confesses that he's in a relationship with Mrs. Grundy and Betty tries to tell him that she might be dangerous and that he knows nothing about her, but Archie doesn't listen to her.
Betty, being the up and coming reporter that she is can't let go of this and investigates Mrs. Grundy with Veronica and informs Archie of her changing her name. Archie confronts Mrs. Grundy with this and she confesses that she comes out of an abusive marriage and is trying to hide from her husband.
In the meantime, Cheryl taunts Veronica with the information that her mother is doing business with the south-side-serpents, a biker gang. She confronts her mother with this knowledge, but she assures veronica that she knows him from when they went to school together.
While most people are at the last show at the Drive-Inn, Betty's mother searches her room and finds a gun Betty took from Mrs. Grundy and her diaries, where Betty has written about Archie having an affair with Mrs. Grundy. So, Mrs. Cooper goes to find Archie's father at the Drive-Inn as soon as Betty came home and the three of them go to the school, where they find Archie with Mrs. Grundy. Mrs. Cooper makes a big scene about what kind of person Archie is but Betty refuses to end her friendship with Archie, while Mrs. Grundy agrees to leave Riverdale and quit her job.
Meanwhile at the Twilight Drive-Inn Jughead is watching the movie from the screening room, monitoring the equipment while countless cars are parked with people relaxing in their seats or the back of their trucks.
Cheryl pulls up behind Kevin's truck, while he and Veronica are sitting on the back of it with blankets around them.
"Make some room outcasts." Cheryl tells them and grabs her own blanket, sitting down next to Veronica.
Soon after, some serpents who are disturbing the show at the end of the parking lot are getting louder and Veronica tells them to stop and they quiet down.
"I can't believe you just threatened a gangbanger." Kevin tells her.
"I've dealt with worse in the east-village. I just hate when people interrupt my cinematic experience." Veronica replies before grabbing Kevins almost empty popcorn bucket, shoving it at Cheryl saying, "How about a refill."
"Yeah Kev, how about a refill? Cherry colored as always?" Cheryl asks Kevin, holding the bucket out to him and grumbling he takes the bucket and leaves to get some more snacks but after getting the snacks he stumbles upon Joaquin, a gay serpent member who takes him to a secluded spot to make out.
Meanwhile with Veronica and Cheryl
Veronica sees her mother sneak behind some buildings close to where the serpents are at and decides to follow her.
"I'm gonna look for the ladies' room." Veronica says already going after her mother.
"I don't like to sit alone during movies." Cheryl mumbles to herself annoyed and looks around for someone else she knows until her eyes fall upon the shadow of a familiar hat from the projector room. Cheryl goes over to the building and enters the small hut, making Jughead look towards the door surprised already saying "Look my dad is…."
"Your dad is what projector boy?" Cheryl asks amused at his surprised expression while walking up to him, glancing at the small room, lingering on the mattress and other home items.
"Nothing, I thought you were a serpent trying to make trouble. What are you doing here anyways Cheryl?" Jughead asks, offering her his chair while he clears his mattress and sits down.
"Kevin and Veronica bounced on me and I noticed your hat through the window and decided to pay you a visit." Cheryl tells him.
"I see and why not look for let's say anyone else of your cheerleading squad? Other than the one time at the pep rally we haven't talked more than 3 sentences this school year and I think most of them were you just calling me a southside trash hobo." Jughead inquires quizzical.
"Looks like I'm not that wrong about it huh?" Cheryl taunts until she sees his angered glare.
"Relax I don't care where you live or what you do when we're not in public." Cheryl says more gently, not wanting to anger the teen who has shown her some kindness recently.
"Hmpf, still haven't answered my question." Jughead replies looking at her warily.
"When I'm watching a movie, I don't want to need to watch my every move to stay at the top of the food chain. Also, this is my first time not being here with my brother, he liked this place that's why I came to honor his memory." Cheryl answers honestly.
"OK then, here. If you want, you can also make yourself comfortable on the mattress." Jughead offers, getting up and handing her a bag of red liquorish, which he noticed she seemed to like.
"Thanks." Cheryl says and takes the sweets before sitting down on the mattress, propped against the wall from where she'll have a perfect view of the movie.
"Here." Jughead says handing her a blanket from atop one of the shelves holding the various movie reels.
"Thank you. I gotta ask, do you live here or are you only making yourself cozy at work?" Cheryl says looking at him interested.
"Yeah, I live here. My home situation as I've already told at the pep rally you is unfavorable." Jughead answers.
"So, what are you gonna do when they close this place tomorrow?" Cheryl asks with some concern showing in her voice.
"I'll find something, I always do. I haven't lived at home for close to four years now." Jughead replies stoically, trying to hide how he really feels.
"I'm sorry. And I thought I had it rough with my unloving parents." Cheryl says.
"Yeah, I saw that the other day, are they always like that?" Jughead asks her.
"Ever since Jason passed, yeah before that they were strict, but it was to a somewhat reasonable degree." Cheryl tells him.
"I see, looks like we've hit the jackpot in the bad parents' category huh?" Jughead jokes.
"You said it." Cheryl agrees, taking a big bite from her liquorish.
"Just out of curiosity, are you so let's call it unfriendly at school because of your social status or do you just not like me?" Jughead asks.
"status, if my parents were to see me befriending people from the south-side I'd be in trouble with them. Just by looking around this room and knowing you live with your own rules I already find you more interesting than most of the other cheerleaders." Cheryl tells him.
"Thanks? And I've got to say when no one is around you are actually a nice girl deserving of your stunning looks. In all honesty I always thought that it's a shame that a girl as beautiful as you is so bitchy, glad to know that's not the case in reality." Jughead says with a little embarrassment.
"Thanks. You know you almost sounded like Jason there, he also used to say that I should be nicer in public to not diminish my beauty." Cheryl replies.
"You were pretty close huh? Sorry, I just wouldn't know the only thing I've come in contact with from the football team was their fists and feet." Jughead asks.
"Yeah, we were inseparable I'm certain that if we hadn't been siblings, we would've ended up falling in love he always seemed like my soulmate." Cheryl says tears welling up in her eyes.
"It's OK to cry you know, you don't have to hold back until it becomes too much and floods over like at the rally." Jughead tells her handing her a tissue.
"OK but promise you'll keep everything we've talked about here to yourself." Cheryl says sobbing.
"You've got my word." Jughead tells her supportively and sits down next to her, stroking over her back slowly to show her that she's not alone.
"Want to talk about him?" Jughead asks to which Cheryl only nods in between sniffles before she starts to tell him about every little detail that comes to her while he sits there listening intently.
After a while she calmed down and has not much more to say about Jason for the moment and Jughead says "Cheryl, as you probably know I'm writing a novel about your brothers passing and I promise everything you'll say to me unrelated to his death is strictly confidential and I'll let you read everything over to make sure I do right by you and your brother, OK?"
"Thanks, I appreciate it. And please keep me informed of what you've found out. The sheriff has been useless up till now. You and Betty are pretty much the only ones having any success at finding out what happened to JJ." Cheryl asks him.
"Sure, no problem." Jughead agrees.
"You know I still owe you a favor. Archie got one, but he told me you actually believed in my innocence and pushed him to come forward." Cheryl tells him.
"I knew from when we were in the locker room that you couldn't have had anything to do with your brothers' death, it's plainly visibly that you love him. But I don't need any favors." Jughead tells her.
"Come on, for you I might even remove the only restriction I gave Archie." Cheryl tells him smirking.
"restriction?" Jughead asks confused.
"I told him he gets one wish, nothing is off the table except my body." Cheryl informs him smirking devilishly at seeing him blush due to her implication.
"Don't joke about that. Wait, now that I think about it, I have one request." Jughead says making Cheryl think 'Oh well looks like he's after something after all, so much for appearing to be a selfless person.'
"Let's meet up somewhere once a week at least while your brothers' case is still active, so I can catch you up to speed and if you want you can tell me some more about your brother, I think I'd help you. When my sister left, I was constantly thinking about every little thing she did until it became too much, and I lashed out at anyone close to me." Jughead says making her look at him with small tears in her eyes.
"Huh? Sorry, you don't have to it's just I've been enjoying getting to know the real you and thought I could get to know you even more but …"
"I'll grant your wish dummy, I'm just happy that at least someone, especially one with your situation doesn't want to use me and genuinely cares." Cheryl says wiping away the tears.
"Oh, great and here I was wondering what I did wrong." Jughead says relieved, taking off his hat.
Jughead hears the familiar clattering of the movie reel coming to an end and looks outside, seeing the white screen and the cars parked in front of the hut pulling away.
"Looks like our time has come to an end, or do you want to stay for another movie?" Jughead asks her.
"If you actually had a bigger bed and my parents weren't so riled up, I'd have liked to stay here." Cheryl answers honestly.
"Yeah, guess you better not give them more fuel to add to the fire. But wait before you leave, here take these." Jughead says fishing out three movie reels from a stack of them.
"These should have been your brothers' favorites." He tells her while handing her the reels.
"Thank you, before I go there is something I have to see though." Cheryl says and puts the reels away to snatch up his signature hat lying on his bed and puts it on herself, getting out her phone and taking a selfie.
"I kind of see why you like the hat so much." Cheryl tells him looking at her picture with the hat making her look like a queen due to its shape.
"I'd loan it to you, but it was actually a gift from my dad from when our family was still together."
"No worries, I just wanted to see what It'd look like." Cheryl says with a grin, before she puts the hat on his head, straightening it out and fetches the movies. "See you around." Cheryl tells him before she breathes in deeply once and goes out the door with the usual pep she shows in public in her step.
"Well this was weird but surprisingly enjoyable." Jughead says to himself before he puts on the next movie, even though there are only maybe 10 cars left.
AN: Hope you enjoy it (also I know Cheryl is actually gay but I've had the idea of this pairing since ep 4)