2.

The arrival of Jughead at his library table distracted Kevin from his fruitless attempts to coordinate his schedules with his younger sisters. Either Denise was going to need to start biking to volleyball practice, or she would have to carpool. There was no other way to swing it, not when Kevin himself was in both indoor track and swim team.

"Hey, Kev," Jughead greeted him with a smile. "How's it going?"

"To be honest? Not spectacular," Kevin responded, only giving Jughead a quick glance before returning to his task. As his best friend, Jughead was well aware of Kevin's nonstop activities, particularly because Kevin was always trying to rope him into them.

Jughead nodded at the hodgepodge of notes, flyers,and invitations on the table before him. "What are you doing? Codebreaking?"

"That would be easier," Kevin said with a sigh. "I'm trying to plan my schedule for the next month. From the looks of it, I'll be lucky to eat, never mind sleep."

"Sounds horrifying," Jughead offered.

"Well, it's no picnic." Kevin grimaced. He and Denise both had their end-of-season sports banquets on the same night, and their parents never bothered with those type of events. He would have to make an appearance for Denise at her dinner, then rush to his own.

"Maybe you need to take some time to relax, stop stressing about everything," Jughead suggested.

"Not likely," Kevin replied, purposefully keeping his tone absentminded. Talking about this particularly topic with Jughead always made him uncomfortable. Though never spiteful, Jughead made no secret of his opinion that extracurriculars were a waste of time, and the idea was a little too close to the truth for Kevin's liking. He could never quite ignore the feeling that even with all of his projects and accomplishments, he had never truly achieved anything.

Jughead shrugged. "Well, anyway, I was going to head to the movies this weekend. Wanna come with?"

The offer was tempting—Kevin really would like to just escape reality for a few hours. But he had heard nothing from the rest of the gang about a movie, and going by Jughead's phrasing of I not we, it would just be the two of them. The two of them alone together—that was too much like a date for his comfort. And dating held too much of a risk of revealing who he actually was—or wasn't.

He couldn't ruin his friendship with Jughead. He couldn't be found out as a fake. Most of all, Kevin couldn't handle Jughead's rejection once he discovered what an empty shell he actually was.

"I'm really sorry, Jug, but I can't," Kevin lied as sincerely as he could. "I've just got too much to do with the National Honor Society faculty breakfast coming up, and not nearly enough time to do it."

"S'okay," Jughead said amiably, rising from the chair. "Didn't think you could. Just thought I'd ask."

Kevin nodded. "I appreciate it. Thanks for understanding." And he did, for what little that it was worth. True, declining every invitation filled him with guilt for his refusals, longing to accept, and dread for Jughead's reaction. But he was grateful that Jughead found him worthwhile, wanted to spend time with him. Secretly, he was amazed that Jughead bothered even with him at all, let alone continued with his offers.

He knew the honorable course of action would be to sit Jughead down and talking to him openly and honestly, telling him outright that they had no chance of a relationship together. But truthfully, Kevin didn't want Jughead to give up—he wanted to date Jughead, even though he knew he couldn't. He just wanted the possibility of being with Jughead, even if he knew it would never happen. It couldn't happen.

With a wave, Jughead walked away, joining Archie and Betty at their table, and with a sigh, Kevin returned to his scheduling dilemma. As certain as he was that he had done what was best for both Jughead and himself, he couldn't help but feel thoroughly awful for it.

"You must hate your parents," was a common joke in response to Kevin mentioning that his family had moved to Riverdale just before the start of his junior year. Every time, he laughed it off and never replied one way or the other.

Honestly, he didn't hate his parents for moving their family all across the United States and sometimes Europe. He didn't even hate them for leaving him in charge of his sisters, Denise and Patty, all of the time. He couldn't. His primary memories of his childhood were of his parents arguing with each, their raised voices preventing him from sleeping. His mother was staying at home full time to raise them, leaving his father as the only breadwinner. Their positions put a strain on the family, both financially and personally, as his mother hated to "stuck with the kids" while his father "had the glamour of travelling."

"You think this is easy for me?" his father bellowed. "Knowing that we're screwed if something goes wrong, if I get hurt or die out on a job?"

"You think I have it easy?" his mother shouted in response. "I'm home all day! I don't get a break! You don't know half of what I have to put up with from your children!"

Things only got worse when Patty was born not much later. Kevin hoped that Denise couldn't remember the constant yelling and screaming, the viciousness of the arguments, but as she was only two years younger than him, it seemed more likely that she did.

When Patty started first grade, their mother returned to her career, and with two parents working full time, their financial worries vanished. Luckily, their marriage and temperaments also seemed to stabilize. Several promotions later, they moved to Riverdale, where their parents assured them they would stay until Kevin graduated. Neither Kevin nor his sisters believed them; that promise was first made two high schools ago.