↳ Saturday Morning
Nov. 12th↵
I woke up to find myself laying on the couch, daylight breaking in through the blinds. I silently panicked for a moment when I felt an arm squeeze around my stomach.
I heard Jughead tiredly groan as he cuddled me. He was curled up behind me, still sleeping. I was tempted to pretend like I didn't notice and wait for him to wake up and deal with it, but someone had to make breakfast.
I waited for Jug's grip to loosen, so I moved his arm and sat up. I rubbed my face, trying to get my blood pumping to my eyes. Once I stood up, I quickly jumped on one leg. I had forgotten about my ankle for a moment. I hobbled to the kitchen where I started cracking eggs and making toast and bacon.
I looked over at Jughead and remembered Betty asking me if I liked him.
"So. You and Jughead," she looked at me.
I shrugged, acting clueless. "What about us?"
"You like him, don't you?" She smiled, tilting her head, looking brighter than before.
I looked at his features from afar. His curly dark hair, his perfectly placed moles, his long nose that twitches occasionally when he's focused; but that's not what I actually like him for. He listens to me and was sweeter to me than anyone else. He's sarcastic, fairly smart, funny, charming.
The toast popped up, startling me. I made a small gasp, quickly looking back at Jughead. He was still sound asleep.
Thank God.
Once the eggs and toast were finished, I perfectly placed them on the plate, along with the bacon of course.
I walked over to Jughead and stared at him for a moment, which felt elongated.
"Juggy," I cooed to him, not wanting to rudely awaken him.
His blue eyes fluttered open, squinting at me. They quickly widened as he swiftly sat up.
"Oh my god," he panicked, looking at the couch and then me, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," I assured, giving him a small smile. After handing him his hot plate, I sat beside him. "It reminded me of when we were younger and we would just bomb out in your treehouse."
Jughead scoffed, sticking his fork into the scrambled eggs. "Yeah, I remember. I think that was my favorite actually."
"Favorite what?"
"Favorite memories," he told me, softer than before.
I looked down, saying "Mine too," quietly following with "Still is."
His head perked up for a moment, before sulking back down. I knew he heard me, and the butterflies in my stomach went wild.
"This is some Pop's level breakfast you made," he complimented, changing the subject.
I just smiled, before turning away in thought. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened yesterday. I gently touched my cheek and could feel a bruise coming.
"How are you feeling?" He asked me, noticing how aloof I was.
I looked at him and wearily said: "Honestly, I'm a little scared." He shifted in his seat, turning his body towards me a little. I continued by questioning, "What if dating Derek got me into hot water? Do you think I'm in danger or something?"
Jughead touched my cheek and looked at me in the eyes. "I promise you, the serpents won't come after you. If they did, for some strange reason, there will be hell to pay."
We both realized how close we were to each other's faces, and inched closer and closer. I closed my eyes, ready for the kiss. Time suddenly became slow, and my senses were heightened.
I felt his hand on my cheek, guiding me like the lights on a runway. Then, I felt his warm breath touching my face, sending goosebumps all over me.
Knock Knock Knock.
Jughead and I pulled back, our eyes shooting open. In reality, that was all in the span of five seconds. Those five seconds were crushed by the stranger at my door.
"Coming," I hollered, getting up. I set my plate on the couch as I made it over to the door. I peeked through the peephole to find that it was Betty and Veronica. I looked at Jughead with fear.
"It's Betty and Veronica," I mouthed.
"What should I do?" He mouthed back, shrugging in a panic.
I looked back at the door to hear Veronica knock and shout "Wake up, Cath!"
I turned to Jug and said "You came here for breakfast because I needed to tell someone about Derek," I pointed to my cheek.
Jughead nodded, and I opened the door. Betty and Veronica went from casual to horrified.
"Oh my god, Cath! What happened?" Betty gasped, taking my cheek. "Did someone hit you?"
"Derek," I admitted, staring down at my socks. "We got in a bad fight and broke up."
"What a loser," Veronica fumed. "What else did he do to you?"
Veronica walked in, and Betty naturally followed. Both stopped and looked to see Jughead with his cheeks stuffed with eggs.
"Jughead walked by and, well, I had to tell someone about what happened last night," I lied.
Jughead took a large swallow and said "I came by early, hence the Breakfast Club," he raised his plate of half-eaten food.
All of them sat on the couch while I sat in my dad's reclining chair. I went through the whole night all over again, my voice trembling at some moments. I ate my breakfast as I told the tale.
"So he left me with a hurt ankle, a bruised cheek, and a broken glass table that I now have to pay for slash explain to my parents," I sighed, leaning back in the chair.
"Okay. How do we get him back?" Veronica proposed.
"I think we should trash his stupid bike," Betty grinned.
"Ooooo," Veronica wiggled, raising her brows. "I like your thinking, Betty."
"No, guys," I shook my head. "We can't. He's already a serpent. He could hurt us somehow if he ever found out we trashed his bike."
"I have to side with Jingle here, guys," Jughead gnawed on bacon, looking at both of the girls.
They both sighed, then looked at me slightly defeated.
"Can we do anything to help?" Betty asked, still seeming concerned.
"Maybe you can find me a new coffee table before my parents come home? I have two hundred dollars, if that can even get a glass table," I told them.
"We're on it!" Veronica perked up. "Where's the money?"
"In one of the cabinets," I pointed in the kitchen. "It's out in the open."
Veronica rummaged through the wooden cabinets before pulling out two hundred dollars.
"Betty, Jughead, let's go," Veronica announced
"Maybe Jughead should stay," Betty stood up, then looking at me with a small smile. She looked back at Veronica. "He should probably keep her company. Besides, he'd probably not be that great for table shopping."
"Hey," Jughead chimed in. "I'll have you know that I am an expert at table shopping. I table shop all the time!"
We all rolled our eyes and smiled. Veronica and Betty left, leaving Jughead and I alone once again.
I took a deep breath once the door shut, before shivering at the thought of Derek once again.
"Are you cold?" Jughead asked, pulling the blanket off from the top of the couch.
"A little," I lied, not wanting to talk about Derek ever again.
Jughead wrapped the blanket halfway around himself along with a space beside him on the couch.
I limped over from the door and filled in the empty space beside Jughead. We turned on the news and finished our breakfast, which was colder than before. It felt nice being embraced by Jughead, especially in the comfort of my own home.
After about an hour or so, Jughead began to stand up.
"I need to get my backpack and my laptop. No offense, but I was planning on working on my book this weekend," he told me, leaving the comfort of the heavy blanket.
"When will you be back?" I helplessly asked. "Will you be back?"
"Of course," he scoffed, as if it was obvious. "I'm your caretaker, remember? I just need to do my work, that's all. I'll be back in twenty minutes, tops."
I watched as Jughead walked towards the door. "Don't do anything that I wouldn't do. See you in a bit."
"Alright," I looked over to see him halfway out the door.
Once the door shut again, I was left in a tense silence as the TV played in the background. I turned off the TV and ended up laying down on the couch for a nap. I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts for a whole twenty minutes. I closed my eyes, but not for long.
I felt a hand on my thigh, slowly moving up. I opened my eyes to see Jughead with a smirk on his face. Without thinking, I took his face and we both passionately made out with each other on impulse. Our lips parted, and I went to stare at his beautiful face. Instead of staring in awe, I stood in horror. Instead, I saw Derek and watched as he put a blade to my throat.
"Catherine," he said, in Jughead's voice.
My eyes shot open, my breath heavy and my whole body shaking. I sat up the minute my lids were raised. I saw Jughead with his hand on my knee, looking at me with concern.
"I'm okay," I trembled, looking around at my surroundings.
"Are you sure?" He raised a brow.
I nodded, sitting up a little bit more.
Jughead grabbed his laptop case from the ground and sat down on the couch. He unzipped the black case and pulled out his large laptop, before opening it up.
"How long have you had it?" I asked, referring to the laptop. I was trying to make conversation to make up for the awkwardness of my nightmare.
"A year or two, give or take," he shrugged. "I saved up money from the Twilight-In and bought it."
I smiled a little, reminiscing over the old drive-in. Jughead, Jellybean and I would always sneak in. It always seemed so easy. Or maybe the workers knew what we were doing and decided to let us have fun.
Once Jughead's computer started, he immediately opened his novel up in a Word document.
"Mind if I watch you write?" I asked, eager to see the magic first hand.
"I do," he said rather flat.
I looked down at my lap, taking that he doesn't want me to know about anything in his novel.
"Wait," he backed out, realizing that he came off as blunt. "I mean that it's hard for me to write when someone's over my shoulder. You can read the last couple of pages after I'm done with them this week."
"You don't have to show me anything if you don't want to," I assured.
"But I do want to show you," he insisted, looking over to me.
I gave a gentle smile, laying back on the couch. I pulled out my phone and looked at my Snapchat while Jughead wrote. I switched the camera to him and switched it to the dog filter. I zoomed in on his face, his brows furrowed as he quickly typed. I hit the white button, which made the camera noise.
Jughead looked over and I remained quiet, trying to not laugh at my mistake.
"What did you do?" He asked, disappointed.
"Nothing," I replied, my voice wavering as I tried to conceal my laughter.
"If I look ugly, delete it," he demanded, turning more towards me.
I silently turned my phone screen to him, smiling to myself.
He looked at me dead in the eyes and said: "Delete it."
"No! You're a cute dog!" I laughed, pressing a button so it would add to my story, causing everyone to see it.
"Catherine!" He complained, raising his voice.
"Fine! Fine. It's gone," I lied.
Jughead doesn't use Snapchat that often as it was, so he'd never know.
Either way, Jughead wasn't stupid. He set his laptop on the ground and reached for my phone while I held it back.
"Jingle!" He pinned me down, taking my phone.
"Stop!" I laughed, trying to grab it back. He used his long arms to hold it away from my reach, looking at my story.
"You said it was gone!" He turned to me, trying to hide his smile.
"It was! I just placed it onto my story," I said quieter.
He rolled his eyes and switched back to the camera mode. "When was the last time we took a picture together?"
"I think they're in your room," I told him, honestly.
He held my phone up, and I sat up behind him, taking his shoulder for stability. He smiled and so did I. He hit the button, and the camera noise sounded.
"Use that for your story and delete the other one," he told me, handing my phone back.
He returned to his writing while I went through filters and captioned the picture as "BFF's" before hesitating. I wanted to be problematic and vague. I deleted the original caption and used the double heart emoji sticker instead. Then, I put another heart emoji on my cheek to cover the painfully obvious bruise. I posted it on my story and deleted the other picture, as promised.
I set my phone down and ended up taking another nap, letting Jughead type in peace.
AN: Hey all! Sorry for the late upload. Thursday I was swamped with homework and today (Friday) I had a pretty garbage day. All of this reminiscing between Jughead and Catherine is making me feel a bit better though lol. Thank you all for supporting and commenting on the story! It means a lot!