Just as promised Jughead got Izzy over that threshold that same day, to be fair he should have known that she would do it by herself. He had sat patiently for another half an hour just holding her hands- offering his support- before she quickly dashed out of the car to the Andrews' front door hastily knocking out a quick and rapid melody.
In that moment Jug didn't think he had been prouder of anyone in his life than he was watching Izzy face her fears while still being terrified out of her mind.
Funnily enough the whole experience reminded Jughead of the first time the went to local swimming pool for lessons when they were younger; Izzy had spent five minutes simply glaring at the water before deciding to go ahead and jump in feet first whereas Jug had slowly dipped his toes into the water letting his body take the time to get used to the temperature.
Luckily for everyone involved Archie opened the door before Izzy changed her mind and run back into her car.
"Hey Jug, Izzy" Archie greeted obviously surprised to see the youngest Tate at his door.
"Izzy wanted to come visit and see how your dad was" Jug said as a way of explaining his hand automatically reaching for hers giving it a quick squeeze before they stepped into house.
It didn't take long to settle Izzy's fears as both Fred and Mary Andrews could clearly be seen seated on their living room couch reading different newspapers.
"Hey dad you have some visitors" Archie said after getting his parents attention. "Ronnie and Betty are in the kitchen if you want to join us" Archie offered to Jug unaware that he wasn't planning on leaving Izzy alone for a moment if he could help it.
"I will come through later. I want to see how your dad is doing for myself as well" Jug quietly explained not wanting to draw attention to the vice like grip Izzy had on his hands.
x.x.x.x
Archie returned to the kitchen announcing that Jughead and Izzy had been the ones to visit and were currently in the living room talking to his dad.
Betty nodded taking it in stride. She knew Jug had especially been concerned about Izzy all week as their text had mostly been about how she and Archie were coping in the aftermath of the shooting.
Amazingly apart from the little snippets Jughead had let slip Betty didn't really know Izzy Tate beyond the fact that she was Pop Tate granddaughter, a member of the Pussy Cats and the other one of Jughead's close and long time friend apart from Archie Andrews.
She guess it was a bit like how she hadn't known Jughead before they started investigating the Blossom Murder; before that incident Jughead was just a friend of Archie that she herself never knew anything about except for the fact that he went to Pops nearly everyday and was the other one of Archie's best friend.
Betty's thoughts were pulled from the past as Veronica started speaking. "How does Jug know Izzy exactly cause I don't think her serving him burgers is enough for them to be actual friends- although he does go there enough times; so who knows. And how didn't I know this I have been here for a year and I even sang with the Pussycats."
Veronica couldn't see a way in which the self proclaimed loner and one of the most socially out going person in school could possible be friends.
Archie looked across the kitchen table at his confused girlfriend. "I am not sure how you missed all the times Jug spent with her during lunch but those two have been friends since she moved to here when she was like five or six. He see her more than he sees me some weeks... Wait did you think that all those times Jug went to Pop's it was for the burgers?" Archie asked chuckling at his girlfriend.
"Well he's there a lot and every time I see him he's eating" Veronica said slightly defensive.
"Yeah but that's cause Izzy has a rule about feeding Jug anytime he is there. Plus no matter how amazing those burgers and milkshakes are, no one can go there that often just to eat them." Archie explained. "Half the reason he likes that place so much is because you can usually find a Tate working behind the counter"
x.x.x.x
Twenty minutes after their visitors had arrived Mary Andrews walked into the kitchen stating that the living room was no longer needed by the adults as Fred had to go and take his afternoon nap having easily tired.
Veronica watched as Jughead and Izzy had a silent conversation through a series of looks passing between them as she walked into the Andrews' living room. Sure she had just been told that the two of them were best friends but she didn't think they were so close as to communicate using facial expressions; she wasn't even sure that Archie and Jughead could do this.
Jughead stood up from the couch positioning himself between Betty and Izzy. " I am not sure if you two have officially been introduced but Isabelle Tate this is Betty Cooper my girlfriend" he said pointing at his girlfriend. "Betty cooper meet Isabelle Tate aka my other best friend. I am assuming you already know Veronica from her adventure into singing with the 'Cats."
"Nice to officially meet you" Betty replied reaching out for a hand shake.
"Nice to officially meet you too" Izzy responded getting up to shake the blonde girls hands.
x.x.x.x
Authors Note: As no one commented on wanting to see a particular point of view; I just kept going; sorry about the short chapter but the next one is long, I had to break it up into two chapters or you would end up reading a three thousand word chapter. More backstory in the next chapter.
Please comment and review or send me a message. I would also like to welcome all my new followers; I woke up to 5 new ones so I decided to update for them.