RIVERDALE IMAGINES (DISCONTINUED)

Seventeen (Part 5) - C.S

"Oh my god." You glance over at him as he stares almost angrily at the messy area. You know that he's very good at channeling what Jughead's feeling, but from what you can see, Cole's acting is coming from a place of genuine pain — and it kind of scared you.

"This was my childhood home. My mom destroyed it." He tries to hide his crying as he walks into the next section. 'Pull yourself together!' The man thought to himself as cameras focus on him again. You linger in the kitchen for a bit, trying to pull yourself together and stay focused on the Bughead scene before following. Cole walks slowly, almost painfully towards the couch, making sure to pretend to inspect the entire room. "And how the hell did it get here? When did our lives go from worry about who was going to sit next to us on the bus to drug lord mothers?" Cole sits down, feeling Jughead's agony. You follow suit, sitting beside him but not making eye contact.

"And serial killer fathers." You glance at Cole, your hands resting together as he shook his head, holding back Jughead's tears. It isn't just that, they're his own. It hurt, not being able to talk to you, you running away — part of his heart is breaking. "And unstoppable cults." You look down for a few moments, unsure of what to do.

"What are we gonna do?" Cole exasperates, throwing his beanie in frustration and running his hands through the sides of his hair as he finally allows himself to cry. He's so done with having to hide his feelings, especially from you. His whole life, everyone expected the best from him, for him to be okay all the time — he was finally letting go. You try not to cry as you watch the man that you love in pain — real or not, you weren't sure. You take a deep breathe before continuing.

"I've got a crazy idea." You sigh, not needing to act to bring tears to Betty's eyes as you continue the scene.

"Let's be normal, see bad movies, sneak a beer and watch TV." You put your arm around him comfortingly, gazing at him as he continues to stare at the ground, improvising the scene just as instructed. They want emotion, well they'll get it. "We'll bake brownies or go bowling. Don't you want a life with me?" You lean your head against Cole's, allowing the tears to leave a little as he looks away again, slowly pulling away. "Can't we be seventeen? That's all I want to do. If you could let me in, I could be good with you." Cole stands up, walking away from you and glancing around the set of the trailer. He isn't okay and he's finally okay with that. He's finally allowing himself to tell you everything and finally allowing himself to be with you, to have happiness.

"People hurt us," You follow, standing up and watching him as 'Jughead' mentally debated with himself.

"Or they vanish."

"And you're right, that really blows." You admired Cole and how much he really committed to Jughead's character, his voice sounding exhausted emotionally and physically.

"But we let go."

"Take a deep breath."

"And go buy some summer clothes." He turns around to face you and it scares you, knowing this man could break your heart again.

"We'll go camping." He shrugs and you can't help but smile. You notice the bags under his eyes and you want to frown, had he been stressing about what had happened? You continue anyway, singing softly.

"Play some poker." Cole continues to stroll towards you, stopping in front of you and it made your heart go crazy. Cole looked at the woman in front of him and allowed himself to accept what his heart yearned for — you.