Jughead and Archie had been childhood friends back in Riverdale, predating their entire school careers, including kindergarten; they'd known each other since they were in diapers. That was how Jughead knew from the moment he saw Archie stroll through the front door of the pub that there was something going on in the ginger's head. He raised a hand, catching his attention.
"Hey, man," Jughead greeted him, and Arch slid onto the stool beside him with a practiced, comfortable ease.
"Hey, starting without me?" he eyed the mostly-full beer in front of Jughead and grinned, reaching up to ruffle his hair nonchalantly.
"Beat of my own drum, etcetera."
Archie snorted, and Jughead surveyed him silently as he ordered his own brew and pulled a menu toward himself.
"I need something dripping with grease and bad shit, and I need it now," he mumbled, making Jughead laugh. Archie's recent texts indicated that Veronica was on a healthy streak, and had banned all forms of saturated fat from entry into their apartment.
"Quick, order something deep fried," he advised sagely. "Don't give up on me now, buddy. Stay with me."
"I won't… give up… without a fight," Archie announced back, voice strained with over exaggerated dramatism.
Once they'd both perused the food options and placed their orders - Jughead informing the waitress that under no circumstances was any fat to be drained off of anything of Archie's, which earned them a weird look - they fell into casual conversation.
"How's the new apartment?" Archie asked.
He knew Archie's tone meant that he was asking a much broader question than the one he'd actually uttered, but Jughead wasn't even sure to begin with any of them, regardless, so he answered as if he hadn't detected the hidden inquiries.
"It's good. Jelly's got everything unpacked already."
"I mean more… how are you doing living under the same roof as family again?"
Jughead took a moment to think, absently scratching one nail against the bar. This was something he had really been trying to avoid thinking about.
"It's… It's okay." He nodded to himself after the words came out, acknowledging that they felt right, and so they must be true. "Yeah, they're good. She's - different than I imagined, you know? But also just exactly the same as I remember."
Archie gave him a loose smile.
"I just wonder if this is what she wants," Jughead added lamely.
"What do you mean? Like, a surprise baby with a dude who clearly doesn't give enough of a shit about her to take care of her after the fact is what she signed up for back in Riverdale? Cause I doubt that's what she wanted. But it is what happened."
"No." Jughead shook his head. "I mean, living with me. You know as well as I do that I'm not the easiest person to co-habitate with."
Archie remained silent for a long minute.
"At the risk of sounding actually insightful for once, don't you think that's probably just how she feels about living with you?"
Jughead glanced at him from under his brow, contemplating, but Archie spoke up again, and he dropped his gaze.
"She hasn't really had a huge relationship with you in the last ten years - and it's not your guys' fault, right, you know? It was the shitty circumstances you were dealt. But suddenly she has to call you up and ask for help, because shit went sideways for her, and you know as well as I do that your mom and dad are not in places where they can be much help. Not consistently, anyway."
Jughead kept his eyes fixed on the dark stain of the wood, eyes tracing the almost-invisible grain, his brain clicking things over.
"Ronnie said JB's terrified of taking advantage of you, and ruining whatever relationship she might be able to have with you now that you're both adults. Dude, she - she felt alone in Riverdale, and now she has this opportunity to not feel so alone by having her brother around, but things are complicated because she's gonna be a mom and her kid doesn't have a dad and she has to rely on someone else to make ends meet. Not ideal."
"...Veronica said all that?"
"Well, actually, she had JB on speaker while she was in the bath and I overheard a lot of it myself so… it's coming from a reliable source. But if anyone asks, I know nothing."
Jug took a long draught from his glass, and when he finally looked over at Archie again, he gave him a pointed nod. Archie bobbed his head in understanding - this branch of conversation was over for the night.
"Speaking of Veronica…" Jughead probed, just as their food arrived and their drinks were refilled. He watched as Archie's face softened around the edges at the mention of her name.
"Yeah." Archie nodded, eyes flickering around the bar, a sudden bout childhood shyness rearing its head.
"Yeah?" Jughead's eyebrows hiked up in not unpleasant surprise.
"Yeah." The ginger's accompanying smile was blinding.
"If I was a lesser man, the look on your face might have made me too sick to eat, but alas…" Jughead dipped a fry in ketchup. "Still, if you don't put that sappy, lovestruck mug away, I will tell her all about the number of empty calories you're drinking right now."
Jughead slugged back home through the summer heat. Even at midnight, it was still humid and hot against his skin, and he wanted nothing more than to fall into bed after eating whatever he could get his hands on. He'd been run off his feet all day.
He'd been working a lot of 4pm-12am stock shifts at the store, and spending his mornings and early afternoons doing odd jobs around the apartment building. It wasn't hard work, really, but he was starting to consider taking it a bit lighter for a few days so he could catch up on sleep and maybe keep a good hold on his sanity.
Fortunately, the work was paying off. His bank account was steadily acquiring new funds, and Jelly was helping him around the building. She'd started working a few shifts a week at a nearby coffee shop, which he was thankful for. She hadn't had much luck with other interviews, and the coffee shop wasn't giving her as many hours as she really wanted because they knew she would be leaving in a relatively short amount of time. But still, he appreciated her contributions.
When he arrived home, though, Jelly wasn't there. Her usual perch on the couch was empty, the dip in the cushions still visible, and her bedroom door was open to expose its emptiness. Jughead frowned and checked the time on the microwave, the dull glow clearly visible in the near-dark.
12:21.
Jellybean Jones was a 20 year old woman. She could look after herself, and he knew that. He never kept tabs on her - in fact, he made a point not too - but it was out of the norm not to find her puttering around the apartment or fast asleep on the couch when he got home after a late shift.
He shot her a text, and her response was fairly quick. He was just stripping to jump in the shower when his phone chimed.
I'm downstairs with Betty. I'll be right up. I have dinner for you.
Thanking his lucky stars that Jelly knew his top priorities, he climbed under the hot water and stood there motionless for a minute. His eyelids drooped and he took a deep breath of hot, humid air.
When he emerged, towel cinched around his waist, the apartment smelled like something delicious, and he wandered out to the kitchen to find the source.
"Okay, so," JB launched right into conversation, "I think Betty is the best cook I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." She pulled a plate from the microwave and handed it to him, along with a fork. Jughead accepted it eagerly, his stomach curling in on itself in hunger. It looked to be lasagna, and Jughead completely ignored the visible green things and took a large bite anyway.
Heaven.
There was pasta. There was sauce. There was meat, cheese, and spices. His eyes fell closed quickly and he didn't bother opening them as he chewed. Jelly's tinkling laugh moved away from him as she retreated, and Jughead just stood leaning against the kitchen counter in his towel and devoured the rest of the meal. Once he was done, his brain seemed to register he'd had food, and he could resume talking again.
"That was so good," he breathed.
"Yeah, she fed me, too. I concur. There was garlic bread as well, but we ate it all. Sorry." She grinned, folding her feet under her on the couch.
"Why were you up there?" he asked, rinsing his plate and leaving it in the sink. It could wait until tomorrow, when he didn't feel like his feet were about to fall off.
"Betty asked me if I wanted to help her with something for her work," she replied. "She offered some under the table cash, plus she's nice as fuck. But I wasn't expecting dinner."
"That's really nice of her."
"Yeah," JB continued. "We ended up packaging like 250 wedding favours. She gets giggly after half a bottle of wine."
The image of a flushed and laughing Betty Cooper flashed in front of his eyes and Jughead resisted the automatic curl of his lips.
"Is it always this busy?" JB asked, and Betty looked up from the selection of flowers spread out over the floor. She'd asked the other woman to help her assemble centrepieces for a wedding the next morning, and as such, they were surrounded by piles of freshly cut flowers that had been delivered less than an hour ago. JB had already helped Betty out with a massive amount of wedding favours and decorations in the last few days. The arrangement suited them both; JB made a little extra cash on the side, and Betty didn't feel like she was constantly on the verge of pulling her hair out or so tired that she fell asleep sitting up.
"Summer is," Betty answered. "It'll be like this until the end of September, probably."
Betty snagged another handful of irises and started distributing them in with the muscari. The girls worked in relative silence for awhile. JB had always seemed to be friendly to Betty, but now that they were more familiar, the lavender-haired girl didn't incessantly chatter quite as much while they were working. She hoped it was out of familiarity, anyway, rather than anything else.
"Where did you learn to do all this stuff?" Jellybean asked, passing her more hyacinth.
Betty wrinkled her brow.
"I don't think I learned it in any one place," she started. "My mom, she always had a thing for throwing parties. And then when I finished high school, I just started helping out at a family friend's event company and…" She spread her palms. "The rest is history."
JB regarded her quietly for a minute, her hands stilling.
"Thanks again for offering me a bit of extra income," she stated, flicking her eyes back to the bundle of flowers in front of her.
"You're the one helping me out, really," Betty assured her, not for the first time. "Having an extra pair of hands sometimes takes things from 'Threat Level Midnight' down to something bearable."
"Oh my god, you watch -"
There was a knock at the door, cutting JB's question off. Betty frowned, but rose and went to see who could be calling on a Tuesday afternoon, especially since she hadn't buzzed anyone into the building. Betty opened the door.
"Hello!"
"Veronica?" came JB's perplexed voice from the other room.
"Hi," Betty greeted her. "Are you... here for JB?"
"No, Betty," Veronica tilted her head. "I'm here for you!" The dark-haired beauty gave her a dazzling smile and held out a black envelope.
"What's this?" Betty asked, and she heard JB approach behind her.
"Oh, are you inviting Betty, too?"
Veronica nodded over Betty's shoulder.
"What is this?" she asked again, confused. The paper was thick and smooth against her fingertips, and the front was addressed to her in gold lettering.
"It's an invitation to our Annual Labour Day Barbeque! You have to come," Veronica insisted.
"Oh, wow. Thank you. Are you sure?"
"Am I sure?" Veronica laughed lightly. "Of course I'm sure. JB speaks very highly of you, and any friend of Jug and JB's is a friend of mine. Besides, I already know you're fun."
"There's going to be food, so Jug and I are obviously going," Jellybean piped up, and Betty realized belatedly that she hadn't invited Veronica in yet. "You can catch a ride with us!"
"I'll have to ask your brother first," Betty stepped back, gesturing inside, and Veronica took the hint.
"You have your own invite - you don't need to be his plus one," Veronica quipped with an eyebrow quirk and Betty felt the familiar blush of crimson on her cheeks as she brushed by. "Though that would be a nice change, Jughead bringing a date to one of my parties."
"I meant ask him if he's alright giving me a ride," she clarified, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sure he'll give you a ride, too." Veronica winked and JB's mouth dropped open, the rest of her features elated.
"You actually said that," she breathed, her eyes wide and focused on Veronica for a beat until they flew to Betty.
"Ha ha," Betty responded, brushing the comment off. Her face was surely still pink. "Do you want something to drink? I've got half a bottle of rosé to finish and present company isn't legal drinking age - and is also bound by impending motherhood."
"Wine is my happy place," Veronica announced by way of an answer.
JB lead Veronica into the living room where their mass flower assembly line was situated, and Betty stopped to pour two glasses of wine.
"JB, do you need a lemonade refill?" she asked as she came around the corner, but JB had her phone at her ear.
"Hey, Jug," she paused. "No, no, Veronica invited Betty to their party and I said we'd give her a ride. That's okay, right?"
Betty felt the flush revive and shook her head at Veronica as she handed her a glass. Veronica was surveying her face with a shrewd expression that made her feel vaguely off kilter. Betty pursed her lips, mildly uncomfortable, and resumed her spot on the floor as the other women settled on the couch.
"Oh, good, I didn't think it would be a problem," JB announced pointedly and Veronica gave her an extremely pleased looking smile.
A/N: Thank you SO much for the feedback on this! I'm still trucking along with it, and having a good time.
Leave me a note below! ❤︎