Rosemary ⋇ Jughead Jones

VI

Rosemary ended up crying herself to sleep in Jughead's embrace and he looked down at her, slowly reaching forwards and wiping the tears from her cheeks. Rosemary hummed and Jughead froze, not wanting to wake her up. Her body relaxed and she sighed, still fast asleep.

"You're an angel, Jughead Jones," Rosemary whispered in a raspy voice.

Jughead couldn't tell if she had said it in her sleep or if she was awake, but he couldn't help but smile a bit and feel a warmth fill his heart. Jughead wrapped his arms around her protectively and slowly drifted off to sleep, holding Rosemary a little tighter before completely knocking out, his last thought wondering:

Why do awful things happen to wonderful people?

⧊

Rosemary woke up to Jughead's alarm two hours before school had to start. She opened her eyes groggily to see Jughead already up and getting dressed. Once he slipped his shirt on he turned around, hearing her sit up in the cot.

"Morning," Jughead greeted. Rosemary hummed in reply and stood up, stretching.

Jughead turned around so she could get changed. Rosemary changed into a pair of leggings and one of Archie's sweatshirts she stole the previous school year and never gave back. She kept her sneakers on and tied her hair up in a messy bun to hide the knots, her bangs still hanging down and framing her face. Once she was ready, the two went to Pop Tate's for some breakfast before school. Jughead got a stack of pancakes and a coffee. Rosemary got french toast, some fruit, and orange juice.

"So," Rosemary looked up at Jughead from across the table. "You going to write for the Blue and Gold for me? I need an extremely talented and tortured author to help me make my boring stories exciting."

Jughead rolled his eyes. Besides going to a school dance, Rosemary has also been begging Jughead to write for the Blue and Gold for her. Rosemary was amazing when it came to photography, but couldn't write a story like Jughead could.

"Rosemary, you know what I'm going to say," Jughead said from across the table. Rosemary's hopeful face fell and she nodded, looking down at her plate and nudging a strawberry with her fork.

Jughead felt kind of bad. Rosemary really wanted Jughead to be more social and do more extracurriculars and he always turned her down. Maybe, just this once, he should try and make her happy since she seemed to be barely keeping her head above water as it was.

"I'll think about it," Jughead stated. Rosemary looked up at him and for a moment, her usual, bubbly, excited self had come back. She wasn't faking her joy like Jughead knew she was doing for a bit now, she was genuinely happy.

After they finished their breakfast they paid and began their walk to school.

"Crap," Rosemary groaned as he phone rang. "It's my dad, hold on."

Rosemary answered the phone and heard a sigh of relief come from the other end.

"Rosemary Arleen Holland, where the Hell are you?" Rosemary's dad's voice echoed. Rosemary rolled her eyes towards Jughead, who chuckled at her reaction.

"I'm with Jughead, walking to school," Rosemary told her dad. "Sorry for sneaking out last night, I forgot Jughead and I had a mini project to do over the weekend and I stayed the night at him and FP's trailer finishing it."

Lies rolled off the blonde's tongue so smoothly that for a moment, Jughead really believed that's what happened. That she didn't come crying to the projection booth. That she didn't spend the night with him. That she wasn't carrying a huge weight on her chest.