Come Back For Me | Jughead Jones

Chapter 17: Behind Closed Doors

"What is this?" Jughead asked me quietly, intimidated by the golden meal.

"The best breakfast you'll ever eat," I gave a confident smile.

Sure enough, he devoured the meal, scooping all of the sauce off the plate and making sure the plate was clean. I did the same, but Jughead was much faster than I.

I checked the time and reminded Jughead that we had to get ready. We ran upstairs and ran through our own morning routine. For Jughead, all he had to do was brush his teeth, put on his clothes, beanie, and some deodorant. I took much longer than Juggy, so he watched me. I had already put on my sweater, jeans, and fixed my hair. All he had to do was watch me as I put on my makeup.

"You do this every morning?" He questioned, confused at the concept.

"Yup," I nodded a little, carefully applying my eyeshadow.

"Why? You look nice without it," he told me.

I smiled a little. "I know. It just makes me feel good. It changes my face up a bit. Something new," I explained to him.

He understood that I wore makeup because I could, not because I needed to.

We darted downstairs after I finished up and left my house, saying bye to my mom.

As we walked down the road, he had his arm around my shoulders, mine around his waist. This was nice, compared to being a few feet apart.

We skipped Pop's for the first time and went directly to school. As we approached, he pulled his arm away from me. I looked at him, confused.

"What's wrong?" I immediately asked.

"Nothing," he assured. "I just don't want you to get teased."

I smiled a little. "Juggy. Do you think I care if I'm teased?"

"Well, I care," he shrugged. "I also would prefer if we kept our affairs under the radar with the gang. Just for the first couple of days."

"Now that I can get behind," I agreed. "Just the first week though. Then we gotta break it to them."

"Okay. It's a plan."

We both briefly kissed and acted as though nothing happened the past two days.

Walking through the halls, things didn't seem much different. All of my classes felt the same. Then lunch came around.

We sat at the table, as usual, but Archie was in Jughead's spot. Then Betty was in Archies spot, and this continued until it was me and Jughead sitting next together.

Jughead approached the table and found his best friend in his seat.

"What are you doing?" Jughead asked, a bit annoyed.

Archie looked up to find Jughead, standing impatiently with his bag of lunch. "Oh, sorry dude. Betty took my seat," Archie blamed.

"My seat is taken too," Betty gave a false smile, glancing at Kevin.

"I don't know," Kevin shrugged, seeming clueless.

Jughead sighed, and walked over to sit next to me. The whole table practically stared us down, examining our every move. Jughead and I had the spotlight on us as we ate our food quietly.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" Archie asked Jughead.

"Nothing," Jughead sighed, pulling out his phone. He held it underneath the table and began texting. I glanced once, making sure I wouldn't bring any attention.

Betty and Veronica began a conversation with each other when my phone vibrated in my pants. I pulled it out to see Jughead texting me.

Juggy 💕: Stay strong. Don't give in.