I just wanted to point out that this is canon-based but because canonly they are so young I'm gonna say this is more when they're seniors.
Jughead had agreed to go to Pops with Archie after the game. He hadn't planned on seeing her there. Hadn't planned on seeing anyone there really. But there she was anyway. He stopped for a moment just staring because he just knew that it had to be her from all the rambling Archie did just on the way to the diner.
They got invited over and Jughead wouldn't pass up free food and Archie apparently couldn't talk so he took charge.
Archie sat with Betty which left him to sit beside Veronica. One bright side was he'd know it was really her when he sat down and not just have to assume.
"Veronica Lodge" flowed from her lips. He could feel his mark burning at the words.
"Jughead Jones the third." He smiled at her. He knew damn well that his real name was a completely different letter but he believes if she had a mark she'd figure it out.
A slight reaction infected her face but was gone in a second.
"Jughead Jones the third?" He got that question way too often.
She'd seen him staring from the doorway and immediately felt something change but she didn't know what. She had never seen him before in her life.
Betty obviously knew him and eventually, they somehow ended up at their table. Before she knew what was happening he was jumping over the back of the booth to sit next to her.
She could have sworn she saw something pass through his face when she said her name but nothing was there when she looked back.
"Jughead Jones the third." She almost fell right over. The first person to ever have a third and he also just so happens to have the J but then it hit her, it wasn't JJ on her body it was FPJ and so her moment was lost. She fixed her features and tried not to look at him much hoping he didn't see anything.
She focused everything she had on Archie. Not just that night at pops but even after when they started dating. She knew for a fact that he wasn't FPJ the third but she really did love him and it was cool to have a relationship here or there before meeting your soulmate.
Most people with soul marks met their soulmate before the age of twenty so she had some time but not as much as others presumably had. She had college, (Riverdale shared their community college with Greendale, something like Green River community college or something equally stupid) so she didn't stress too much.
Archie and Veronica had been together for a long time for high schoolers. She was so happy that her mark was easy to hide in most times because Archie was not the type to stay with someone with a soul mark if it wasn't his initials on them. When she did have times where it would be seen she used makeup and poor lighting to her advantage, the fact that Archie was oblivious to most around him didn't hurt either. She hated but loved how easy it was to lie and pretend.
Jughead knew for a fact it was Veronica that he was supposed to be with but he hated her with almost every fiber of his being. She was rich, and stuck up, and thought that she was better than everyone and it gave her a pass to do as she pleased. But he couldn't help but think about her day and night always hyper-aware of his mark.
He kissed Betty to see if he could forget about Veronica just like she obviously forgot about him. It worked. She was beautiful, and kind, and it made him happy. Eventually, he began to love her.
There was really only once that they did anything where it could be seen and she never once looked down far enough to see it. On some level he was relieved but mostly he didn't care if she had seen it. It would be freeing for someone to finally know about it other than his parents.
Veronica loved Archie but she knew deep down that eventually she'd have to break his heart and leave him alone in Riverdale while she moved on with someone new.
She felt it in her core when she thought about her mark. She knew she was going to meet them that she wasn't going to be the 1 in a million person. She was determined but while she waited she wanted to distract herself with Archie the sweet small town red head that loved her as much as she loved him, probably more. She was happy.
She was happy. Until Betty dropped a bomb.
They walked in the halls together never really paying attention to the world, Veronica never really paying attention to Betty's words. But it stuck out like the universe needed her to hear those words. They were the only ones she heard from all of Betty's rambling.
"...Forsythe Pendleton Jones..." the words burned in her brain and she could feel the flames in her chest right where she knew the letters resided.
She stopped dead in her tracks grabbing Betty by the arm effectively dragging her back to her side.
"What did you just say!?" She practically screamed it but managed to do a much more even tone.
"Jughead's real name is Forsythe Pendleton Jones. Why what's so important about it?" Betty was so innocent and her best friend and the girlfriend of the man she was supposed to marry, or at least be with until one dies. Death was more likely.
"Nothing it's just... really funny that's all." She continued to walk forward with Betty at her side every step of the way. She never took her eyes off Jughead who was down the hall talking to her boyfriend who was also his best friend. God, they were screwed.
Jughead felt it. He knew the exact moment she found out. He looked up seeing her stock still at the other end of the hall staring straight at him like he was the only person she could see (definitely not like they were the only ones in the room because that shits way to damn cliché for Jughead).
His mark burned that familiar pain whenever she was involved. He stuffed his hand in his pocket pushing the heel of his hand into his hip to make it all stop.
He had no idea what to do now that she knew. When it was only him he could pretend that it wasn't real that everything about the marks was fake and he didn't really have one. He couldn't do that anymore. Never again.
He could tell she didn't tell Betty and he was equally disappointed as he was relieved. He loved Betty and he never wanted to hurt her ever but he needed something to change so he didn't feel too alone. In a room full of people who love and care for him he felt like he was behind a glass wall no one else could see but could feel all the same.
Veronica knew she needed to talk to him fast. She needed to talk before all four hung out that night at pops like they do almost every night. She needed it off her chest.
She slipped a note into his desk as she passed it telling him to meet her in the empty classroom after class. No more information as to scare him. She needed to know.
She never saw him leave class but he was no longer there when she left and she hoped he wouldn't just leave her.
She walked into the room and he was already there sitting on one of the desk, not the chair and she scoffed immediately.
"So you found out?" He spit it out before she could even speak.
All she did was nod. It's all she could manage. He hopped off the desk and walked closer to her but not close enough to touch. She felt disappointed deep inside.
He reaches his hand to his left side peeking down the waistband if his jeans revealing the VL plastered on his skin. No words were spoken.
She followed suit slightly, reluctantly, scared of showing someone her mark for the first time. Still no words as she pulled her shirt back down running her hands over it to smooth it down, glad she didn't wear the dress she had originally picked out.
"What now?" She found her words.
"Nothing." And with that, he walked out of the room careful to never touch her as he passed.
She stood in that room staring at the wall for a long time until the bell brought her out of her trance. She smoothed her hair down to gain control before heading out herself.