Twenty Years Old ❣︎ March
(Look how old they're getting I'm hurt. Also see if you can guess each character as they're introduced)
"I can't do this." The frantic raven haired beauty breathes out.
"I know I'm not supposed to be enjoying this, but I'm really enjoying this." The redhead laughs, receiving a death glare from his boyfriend.
"Leave him alone Ed, let him be a pússy, there's no shame in that." The violet haired girl smirks.
"I hate that word." Archie's roommate shivers.
"Why? What's that? I thought those were cats." The blonde asks innocently cocking his head to the side.
"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about. Let's change the subject, please." The girl next door laughs nervously.
"I just want to board this plane." The tall brunette sighs.
"Oh trust me, the sooner I can be away from all of you? The better." The confident vixen scoffs.
"Why are you even here?" Betty scoffs, looking Veronica up and down with total disgust.
"Newsflash, you're not the only one who can go to California. Daddy has important business for me there." She smiles proudly, making Archie, Betty, and Kevin roll their eyes.
"There's so many things that can go badly on a plane. The oxygen can stop circulating, the engine can stop working, it could be hijacked, we could all die." Jughead mumbles nervously with blown out eyes, clearly terrified as Archie tries to suppress a laugh.
"Ed, can you sing your boy to sleep or something so he stops freaking out?" Liliana rolls her eyes.
"This is serious!" Jughead snaps.
"It's just a plane ride Jug." Aaron shrugs.
"Yeah, you act as if you've never been on one before." Jackson laughs.
"It's because I haven't." Jughead blushes.
Even Archie has been on a plane before. Jughead is the only one out of the eight who hasn't. It's spring break and Jackson decided to invite everyone, excluding Veronica, to his house for it. It would be completely empty seeing as Grey is being awarded somewhere for something, so Jackson took the chance. If it hasn't already been said, Jackson is loaded.
He lives in a huge house with 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a gorgeous kitchen, living room, dining room, library, home theater, and an amazingly designed backyard with a huge pool complete with a water slide. Obviously, the six jumped at his offer.
"How could you not have been on a plane before? Are you like poor or something?" Veronica wrinkles her face up in disgust.
"As a matter of fact? Yes I am. I'm broke because people like your father take and take from the poor and screw them over to get on top and produce superficial, over privileged offspring like you." Jughead seethes.
"He gets like this when he's stressed, don't take it personal." Aaron yawns.
"No, I just don't like her and everything she stands for. That wasn't just the stress talking." Jughead corrects.
"Now boarding Fight 18C." The Flight attendant informs with a smile, proceeding to ask parents with small children to board first. Jughead continues to whine and curls up into his seat more as Archie just continues to laugh at him shamelessly.
"Why is this so funny to you!" He whimpers.
"I finally found something you're scared of." Archie smirks. "And out of all things it's a plane." He says before laughing again.
"Sorry to interrupt Archie bullying you, but I just want to know why I was invited?" Kevin rolls his eyes.
"Because you seemed fun!" Jackson says excitedly.
"It's weird having us all in the same place at the same time." Betty comments while pulling her ponytail tighter.
"Very. I've only ever seen Archie in real life once, I'm mad I'm looking at Veronica right now, I didn't even really know Kevin existed before a week ago- No one knows why you're here- And Betty, I've heard of you but I've never actually seen you before." Liliana shrugs.
"I like this girl." Kevin laughs.
"We're about to board, she's calling our section." Aaron sighs, exasperated and annoyed as usual. Jackson thinks that's just how he is, but that's probably why the two get along so well.
"Oh my gosh." Jughead groans as the others laugh and get up to go board.
"C'mon Juggy it's not going to be as bad as you think." Archie sighs.
"Well, at least we're going to die together." Jughead mumbles as he gets up and follows Archie to the line of the plane entrance. The line moves quickly and everyone takes their seats unbothered as Jughead is mentally freaking out.
Jughead takes the window seat, Archie the middle, and Betty on the outside. In the seats across the aisle, Jackson sits by the window, Liliana in the middle, and Aaron on the outside. Kevin preferred to sit away from everyone else because he said he'd rather sit next to a hot guy than "you losers.".
The pilot goes over quick directions for emergencies and soon everybody is buckled up, bracing for take off.
"Babe, calm down." Archie pleads, gently rubbing his hand on his boyfriend's thigh soothingly. Jughead barely nods, just squeezes his eyes shut as the plane starts moving down the runway. "I thought about what you said." He starts again, trying to distract him from the fact that they're not going to be on the ground in the next 10 seconds. "About the music thing. I know it's been a year since we had that conversation but I think maybe I'll spend more time on it." He says before grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.
"Wait, really?" Jughead almost yells, opening his eyes to stare at Archie excitedly who nods in return. "Oh my gosh that's great! That's amazing! That's a..." Jughead pauses to look around, seeing that they're already stabilized in the air. "Distraction. It was a distraction." He finishes, laughing a bit at Archie's antics.
"Congratulations, you made it through take off." Archie smirks.
***
"Liliana, Please I'm begging you not to do it." Jackson pouts, referring to Liliana who is standing in the pool next to Aaron's asleep figure on the floatable chair pool toy.
"Lili, please don't start a war." Jughead sighs from his position on Archie's lap where he was innocently tracing his fingers along his body and whispering like the two always seem to be doing.
"I'm going to do it anyway." She smirks before attacking, flipping the plastic chair and sending Aaron's body straight into the water. A few seconds later, Aaron shoots up out of the water with wide eyes and heavy breath.
"Liliana." He seethes, narrowing his eyes at her as she squeals and starts swimming away from him. "Jackson! I'm calling a team meeting!" Aaron laughs, causing Jackson to smile and dive into the the pool to talk to him.
"Teams?" Betty questions while staring at Jackson's shirtless body, not taking her eyes off of him for a second.
"Sadly, Liliana and Aaron have been in a prank war for the last year and we get dragged into it all the time." Jughead explains.
"Jug! Get over here." Liliana yells from the top of the water slide.
"I'm not your bitch!" Jughead yells back louder.
"Ed! Get your bitch to get over here!" She yells even louder.
"Why does she keep calling you Ed?" Kevin laughs.
"Ed Sheeran." Archie sighs.
"Yeah I called Archie that one time and it kind of stuck with her. Nicknames are her thing." Jughead explains. "Aaron is Double A, Jackson is blondie, Archie is Ed, and I'm white boy." He shrugs.
"How come we don't get nicknames?" Betty pouts.
"She doesn't know you all that well yet, but by the end of break I'm sure you'll have one."
"Hey Betty Boop!" Liliana calls out.
"There it is." Archie laughs.
"Wanna be on our team? I think you'd be a great asset to the cause!"
"No! I wanted Betty on my team!" Jackson wines from below.
"Well too late, I called her." She sticks her tongue out.
"Let me have the pretty girl." Jackson pouts.
"So you only want her on your team because she's pretty? That sets women back thousands of years you know."
"Stop making him feel bad, that doesn't even make any sense." Aaron buts in.
"No I want her on our team because she's nice and she hasn't called me stupid yet and I have a plan that I would need her for." Jackson yells.
Jughead and Archie smirk at each other as they eye Betty who is blushing bright red at the whole scene in front of her.
"No offense Liliana, but I'm going to have to go with Jackson here." She smiles before standing up out of one of the many lawn chairs surrounding the pool and quickly stripping down to reveal her color blocked high waisted bikini and jumping into the pool easily.
"Oh my gosh." Jackson mumbles in awe as she makes her over to them shyly.
"Do you think we should interfere?" Archie whispers.
"No, but let's do it anyways." Jughead whispers back.
"I got Betty."
"I got Jackson." Jughead nods before getting up and making his way towards the waterslide. "C'mon Kevin you're on my team." Jughead sighs.
"Who said I wanted to do this in the first place?" Kevin scoffs.
"You're staying at my friend's mansion for free, I think you can join a team."
"Fine." He grumbles.
"Yes! I really didn't want Ed on our team." Liliana says excitedly.
"I can hear you, you know?!" Archie yells out.
"No offense." She adds.
"That makes me feel so much better." Archie rolls his eyes as he gets up and climbs into the pool to converse with his team. Jughead and Kevin bound the stairs to the waterslide and meet Liliana who has a devious grin on her face.
"Its four against three, but I have a proposition for the other team that I think will give us the edge."
"What's that?" Kevin asks, actually becoming more curious now.
"Instead of me against Aaron like it usually is, how about we have to prank each member for them to be out. The last player standing's team wins."
"How would this give us an edge though?" Jughead furrows his eyebrows.
"Archie wouldn't prank you, but you would without question. That immediately narrows it down to 3 on 3. That, I can handle."
"You make me sound like a bad boyfriend." Jughead mumbles.
"This is war, get over it. I want Jackson." Kevin grins evilly.
"Alright then I have Aaron, of course, and then we'll focus on Betty later. I doubt she'll pose a threat." Liliana shrugs.
"What happens if they don't agree to the deal?"
"Oh, Aaron will agree. He'll never pass up the chance to get me back on a wider scale."
"Huh, sounds good to me." Jughead shrugs and sits down, pushing himself down the water slide and swimming over to the other team. Kevin and Liliana follow, and soon the two teams are facing each other with excitement.
"So here's the deal. My team captain has the idea that everyone gets pranked. Meaning, we each have to take a player out and the last one standing, their team wins." Jughead explains.
"I'm fine with that, what about you guys?" Aaron shrugs, earning nods from everyone except for Archie who tries to protest, making Liliana smirk. Jughead nudges her to get that smug look off her face and rolls his eyes.
"Archie, get some balls and man up." Betty laughs, making him pout.
"Fine, I'm in." He mumbles.
"Good, the pranks begin after dinner. Jackson, what time is that?"
"6:30."
"Okay, pranks can start at 7:30. What are the rules?"
"No pranks that have a high death risk." Jughead suggests.
"Any other rules?"
"Nothing illegal." Jackson adds.
"You have to show everyone you got pranked so there's proof." Kevin adds.
"Anything else?"
Nobody says anything.
"Then that settles it. When the clock hits 7:30 we are at war." Aaron announces and everyone cheers. When everyone calms down and goes back to hanging out, Archie makes his way towards his boyfriend and pulls his hand gently in the water.
"Hey, I have a plan." He whispers.
"Me too. Think we're thinking the same thing?" Jughead laughs before nodding his head towards the deeper end of the pool and swimming over there where Archie follows close behind.
"My team has to win." Archie sighs.
"I was thinking that too." Jughead smiles. "We can't be too obvious though or else they'll figure it out."
"You're right."
"Hey lovebirds! What are you two conspiring about?" Kevin sasses from the other end of the pool as everyone looks over at them suspiciously.
"Nothing. We can't talk?" Jughead sasses back.
"After 7:30, you two are enemies. No talking." Liliana says firmly.
"That's not fair! We literally share a room together!" Archie huffs.
"Sorry guys, I'm with Liliana on this." Aaron sighs.
"I'd honestly like to see you try and pry one of us from that room." Jughead laughs.
"Couples are so irritating." Kevin rolls his eyes.
"You're just mad because you can't get dick!" Archie yells.
"Oh, I get plenty of that. Relationships on the other hand? Too much commitment. Not for me."
"I can't get either one." Jackson pouts. "Not dick! I'm straight! I meant sex!" He clears up hurriedly before turning to glance at Betty. "I'm straight." He reaffirms, making Betty laugh.
"Blondie, if you're done with your horrible attempt at flirting I'd like to get back to the point." Liliana rooks her eyes.
"Lili, you can keep us separated during the day but he's mine at night, sorry." Jughead laughs again while wrapping his arms around the redhead's neck to prove his point.
"Fine. Let them be. We just have to get one of you out fast." Aaron shrugs.
***
"I already planned my prank for Jackson. Knowing Archie and Betty, I don't think they plan to strike first. I don't know Aaron and Jackson that well though." Kevin whispers. The three teammates are currently sat in the closet by the theater room, going over their plans for the upcoming war.
"Jackson always ends up screwing up his pranks. He's not very good at them but he is good at helping Aaron with his. Aaron never strikes first." Jughead offers.
"That's true. Aaron's pranks are very elaborate and well thought out. You never know when it's coming. He's also very good at detecting pranks too." Liliana says sadly.
"So I think we can say for sure that no pranks will go down today unless it's initiated by us. Do we want to make the first move today?"
"No. I need time. I have to think like Aaron so I can get him. You know, beat him at his own game. While I'm doing that I'm going to need you two to cover me. I don't care if I'm the last player standing as long as I get Aaron before I'm out and my team wins. Do you guys want to strike?"
"Getting Archie out is going to be too easy and I'm going to feel so guilty if I get him out as soon as we begin. I know he won't be mad but it's the principle."
"I want to get Jackson out in the morning."
"Fine then. I guess the first hours of battle will be uneventful." Liliana concludes.
While their meeting is going on in secret, the other team is holding a meeting far more casual.
"Are we going to come up with anything today?" Jackson asks excitedly from his bed as everyone else sits on his bedroom floor, passing around a bag of chips.
"Nah, let's not attack until they attack first. My biggest opponent is Liliana. Just buy me time to do that." Aaron shrugs, typing away on his phone.
"Alright but who would each of us have?"
"I'll take Jug!" Jackson tossed his hand up.
"I wanted Juggy." Archie pouts.
"Fine. You can have Jughead until he gets you out. Then Jughead is Jackson's." Betty suggests.
"Why does everyone think he's going to get me out?!" Archie Huffs.
"One, you're soft. Two, Jughead makes you even more soft. And three, you're terrible at doing anything devious. You always get caught or end up telling the truth." Betty goes through the list, counting on her fingers.
"I'll tell you what. We'll make a special deal just for you two. If Jughead gets you before you get him, you'll still be out of the game but if the other team agrees, we'll allow you to try and prank him back. If he's still in and you're out when you prank him, it won't count. How's that sound?" Aaron suggests.
"Good enough I guess."
"Guess I'm getting Kevin then." Betty muses.
Two hours later with plans all complete, the seven sit at the dinner table. The tension is high, friends turning against friends and strangers developing new bonds.
This is war.
Jughead is sat far away from Archie with a visible pout on his face as he plays with the food on his plate. He honestly finds this whole prank war pretty stupid and he doesn't get why everyone's taking this so seriously. Break is the only time he gets to spend with Archie, if he would've known they'd be separated, he wouldn't have agreed to come. The simple solution would be just to get himself out of the game. Archie would do it for him if he asked, but if he gets out it'll ruin the separate plan he and Archie made. Jughead sighs and looks up to meet Archie's gaze who offers a soft smile.
"No smiling!" Liliana narrows her eyes at Jughead and Archie.
"Oh my gosh this is hell." Jughead groans before banging his head on the table. Everyone surrounding them laughs, but they also feel slight guilt. "If I say I'm done with dinner can I go to the room?" Jughead pleads, locking his eyes with Jackson.
"Yeah, there's nothing against that." Jackson shrugs.
"Yes! Thank you!" Jughead says excitedly as he stands up and pushes his chair in.
"I'm done too! I'm going to go to the room too." Archie laughs, repeating his boyfriend's actions.
"Okay no that's not fai-" Aaron begins but is cut off.
"Bye guys! Goodnight!" Jughead smiles, grabbing Archie's hand and him pulling out of the dining room.
"We need to end this quickly." Archie whispers.
"I know. I have a new plan." Jughead whispers back.
***
"Jughead! Seriously?!" Archie's scream can be heard across the whole house, awakening everyone from their peaceful rest. The raven haired beauty laughs from his spot on the bed as everyone starts to tiredly bustle into the open room.
There Archie is, standing infuriated with just a towel around his waist, paired with dripping wet green hair.
"Oh my gosh." Liliana laughs. "Guess I can't call you Ed anymore. Nice job white boy, didn't think you had it in you to go this far." She shakes her head, high fiving him.
"Everyone kept telling me you were going to prank me first but I didn't believe you because I had more faith in you but then you die my hair green?" Archie continues yelling.
"Sorry baby." Jughead pouts, getting off the bed and making his way towards his boyfriend who hold his hand out and stops him.
"Don't." Archie sighs, turning away and walking back into the bathroom to deal with the green monstrosity on his head.
"How'd you mange to do it?" Aaron laughs.
"I put dye in his shampoo." Jughead smirks.
"Archie seems really mad, you sure things will be alright?" Jackson asks nervously, glancing back towards the bathroom door.
"Yeah, I mean he'll get over it." He shrugs.
"Well the game is now 3 vs. 3. I look forward to continuing the war." Aaron bows.
"I as well." Liliana curtseys.
Kevin just laughs and exits the room causing everyone else to follow and do the same.
The first shot has been fired.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Jackson tried to get Jughead back for his green hair dye trick on Archie, but failed miserably. Jughead had always been smart, he can clearly tell when someone is trying to put plastic wrap on his door. Dinner was surprisingly awkward with Archie and Jughead sending death glares towards each other. Everyone felt really guilty about making them so angry at each other, but it was Jughead who pranked him. Besides, his green hair is entertaining to look at.
"Can we watch Moana guys? I love Moana." Jackson says excitedly when everyone finishes dinner and starts moving from the table.
"Jackson, were all on different teams we can't all watch it together." Aaron sighs.
"But I invited you all here so we could do things together in the first place." He pouts.
"Why don't we just call two hours of peace." Liliana suggests, giving into Jackson's request.
"Really? I love you so much." Jackson claps before wrapping his strong arms around her, picking her up and swinging her around. Betty frowns and looks away, walking back over to Archie who is still grumbling over his hair.
"See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me!" Jackson sings horribly, dancing around the dining hall like an idiot.
"Betty! Who's your favorite Disney princess?" He asks curiously, stopping in front of her with a smile.
"Probably Mulan or Rapunzel." She responds sheepishly.
"I love Rapunzel! She totally bashed that stupid stereotype for women. I'm only good for the kitchen, huh? Well I'm going to take this frying pan and bash you in the face with it."
Betty laughs at his explanation and smiles at him fondly. He's an idiot sure but he's a cute idiot. "Exactly. I've never watched Moana though."
"Really? Now we really have to watch it. She's not really a Disney princess per say and even if she was she wouldn't be ranked very high in my book. Everyone hypes her up but she's not all that to me. I mean I love her, but she'll never beat Merida or Elsa or Rapunzel or Mulan or Tiana." He explains while gently grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the theater room.
"Huh, Betty and Jackson." Kevin muses, staring at them with squinted eyes as they disappear down the hall.
"Jackson seems sprung." Aaron laughs.
"Relationships suck lets not think about putting them in such a bad situation." Archie scoffs.
"You're still mad at me?!" Jughead yells.
"You died my hair green!"
"Would you have preferred blue?"
"I would prefer you not responding to me with smartass questions."
"I think they're even more annoying when they're mad at each other." Liliana mumbles under her breath as she leaves the room to follow Jackson and Betty.
"If you're going to keep being mad at me over a harmless prank maybe it's just best we don't speak to each other until the war is over." Jughead sighs.
"Fine by me." Archie spits.
"I'll go stay with Jackson in his room then." Jughead frowns and turns to leave.
***
The next day the gang is hanging out in the living room on their phones like true millennials, barely saying a word together. The only one who is missing is Jackson who went to go take a shower. In all honesty, that's probably the reason for the silence.
Jackson is really good at engaging people into having fun whether he realizes it or not. It's hard to believe who didn't have many friends growing up. He's always happy and bubbly, it's something the whole group can definitely admire.
However, Kevin wants to see if that bubbly attitude will still be there after he gets though with embarrassing him for this prank.
"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Kevin says to no one in particular, winking at Liliana as he starts to get up. He receives a series of grunts in recognition and sanders off up the stairs to where the bedrooms and bathrooms are. Last night, it was Archie who ended up taking Jackson's room, and Jackson who ended up taking Archie's place in Jughead's assigned room. Kevin smiles to himself as he enters Jughead's room and hears awful singing coming from the attached bathroom.
Everything should go as plan.
He quickly looks around in search of Jackson's clothes which are thrown lazily across the bed. He snagged them up along with Jughead's suitcase which he refused to unpack but preferred to life in. In a last minute smart decision, he also takes the blankets from the bed and the towels with him. The last thing he does before leaving is snatching up Jackson's dirty clothes and removing the master key to every room in his back Jean pocket.
"Too easy." Kevin mumbles to himself as he exits the room with all the stuff and throws it into his own room before locking the door that connects the bathroom to the bedroom, the bedroom door itself as he leaves, and all the other bedrooms in the hallway. He also locks the hall closet and the main bathroom, forcing Jackson to have to come down stairs eventually. If he doesn't come downstairs, then he'll bring everyone to him.
Kevin comes back downstairs and sits on the couch next to Liliana calmly. "It's done." He announces.
"What's done?" Jughead mumbles uninterestedly.
"I pranked Jackson. He'll probably be down in a few minutes." He smirks, getting a high-five from Liliana.
"Do you think it worked?" She asks excitedly.
"Wait, how come I didn't know about this prank?" Jughead pouts.
"You were too busy arguing with the Grinch over there."
"Oh great, that's even worse than Ed." Archie huffs.
"Aaron?" Jackson calls from upstairs a few minutes later, causing Kevin to break out in laughter.
"Yeah?" Arron replies, squinting at Kevin.
"I got pranked." Jackson calls out shyly, and at this point Kevin is laughing so hard tears are coming from his eyes and Liliana is trying her best not to laugh.
"Well, you know the rules you have to show us the prank." Aaron says nervously.
"I can't." Jackson wines.
"Why not?" Betty questions.
"I'm naked."
Betty blushes bright red and at that point Liliana and Archie can't help but to laugh with Kevin as Aaron and Jughead stare at each other with worry. They both Jackson will never get over being humiliated like that, but what can they do? It's war.
"Jackson." Aaron sighs.
"Don't sigh like that. That's your defeated sigh." Jackson pleads.
"Where are you?" Jughead speaks up.
"I'm at the top of the stairs." He sighs.
"How many seconds does he have to show the prank for?" Aaron ask Liliana, sending her a pleading look.
"I guess five seconds will do. But he has to stand in front of us, can't hide anything."
"That's low, c'mon it's Jackson." Aaron begs.
"I think the terms are fair." She shrugs with a smile on her face.
"Lili, please?" Jughead buts in.
"Who's side are you on?" Kevin scoffs.
"Jackson. You have to stand in front of us for five seconds. You can't... cover anything." Aaron yells out hesitantly.
"Really Liliana?!" Jackson yells back angrily, causing everyone to gasp a bit downstairs. They've never actually heard or seen Jackson get angry before. It seemed like a myth.
"It's just a prank. C'mon it's just five seconds." She reasons. If she does have any remorse, she's not showing it.
"Fine." Jackson mumbles. He takes a deep breath before bounding down the stairs and walking over to the living room with a bright red blush on his face.
"Damn blondie." Liliana mumbles under her breath, glancing downwards at something she really shouldn't be looking at. Somehow Jackson blushes even harder and closes his eyes tightly.
"Just start counting already." He squeaks as Kevin proceeds to look at Jackson with his mouth wide open.
"Damn is right." He breathes out.
"You two are so wrong for this." Jughead grumbles as he takes off his flannel.
"5" Aaron starts counting.
Kevin reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a $20 bill, handing it to Liliana shamelessly, earning glares from Aaron and Jughead.
"4"
"What's the money for?" Betty asks shyly, doing everything in her power to look away from Jackson's body, although failing miserably.
"3"
"Well you see we made a bet on his-" Liliana begins awkwardly.
"2" Aaron continues, relieved for the five seconds to almost be up.
"Did you really bet on how big his dick would be?" Archie whispers harshly.
"1" Aaron finishes. Jughead looks at his teammates in disgust before tossing his flannel to Jackson who opens his eyes and catches it easily, shooting Jughead a grateful glance before tying it around his waist so that the back is in the front.
"I'll take you upstairs okay?" Jughead says sympathetically.
"Me too." Aaron adds, following Jughead who goes to stand directly in front of Jackson, not without asking for the key from Kevin first. They both tell Jackson to turn around and make their way up the stairs so that he can save himself from more embarrassment. When he is gone, Betty frowns and looks at the other team with resentment.
"Did you immediately have to jump that far? You know he's shy he didn't deserve that." Betty snaps.
"It's just a prank." Liliana rolls her eyes.
"Then I can't wait until someone gets you back." She spits sternly with a fire in her eyes even Archie has never seen before.
Upstairs Jackson is curled up in Jughead's arms now fully clothed, staring blankly at the wall. Maybe he's taking this too seriously. Maybe he's just sensitive. It is just a prank after all, but he can't help but to feel extremely humiliated and violated. Maybe it wouldn't have upset him so much if things like that didn't used to happen to him all the time. Getting pants'd, getting exposed in the locker room, it's not new. Sure Liliana wouldn't have known, especially not Kevin, but that's the thing. She's always taking things too far without taking account of the fact some things are touchy subjects and events for some people.
It just hurts a lot because he finally thought he was over being bullied and humiliated but now someone who's supposed be his friend just condoned the very same thing his bullies used to do, but took it much further.
"You okay?" Jughead whispers gently, wrapping his arms around Jackson tightly. That's the thing that makes Jackson smile. Jughead usually hates hugs and cuddling with anyone else besides Archie, but when Jackson is hurt he'll always offer his affection because he knows that's what he wants.
"It's whatever." He mumbles.
"You're clearly upset." Aaron sighs.
"Am I supposed to be happy?" Jackson scoffs, taking Aaron aback a little bit.
"I suppose not." Aaron agrees.
"I thought this was going to be fun. I thought having us all together was going to be really amazing but instead all it did was cause problems. You and Archie are fighting, we're all divided over a stupid war I never wanted to be in in the first place, and six people have seen me ass naked, including Betty, and I could practically die of embarrassment." Jackson mumbles pathetically.
"Well this probably won't make you feel any better but at least you had nothing to be ashamed of showing." Jughead offers, earning a small chuckle from Jackson.
"That was awful." He sighs.
"Don't worry, I'll get Liliana back for this." Aaron says determinedly.
"Well, it was Kevin's prank." Jughead points out.
"But she consigned on it, and that can't go unpunished."
***
"Jackson is like the brother I never had." Jughead frowns. "I hate when he's upset I honestly just want to drop them both in lake."
"Don't worry, Ill get Kevin back and Aaron is working on Lilliana." Betty promises.
"I hope this war hurries up and ends because at this rate, I don't know how much more our friendships can take of this stupidity." He sulks, sinking back into couch.
All of a sudden, the front door opens and in walks someone who very closely resembles Jackson, but Jughead knows much better.
"Hey, do you know where Jackson is?" He asks exasperatedly, darting his eyes between Jughead and Betty.
"Is this a prank?" Betty raises her eyebrow and Jughead can't help but to chuckle a bit.
"Why would I spend time on pranks anymore? I'm 19." He scoffs.
"I feel attacked." She mumbles under her breath.
"Jackson! Get down here!" He practically screams, causing everybody in the whole house to wince. Jackson quickly makes his way down the stairs and gulps at the sight of his brother, hesitantly making his way over to him.
"He has a twin." Betty's mouth drops open.
"His name is Grey. He's a dipshit." Jughead sighs.
"Hey." Jackson says nervously as Grey rolls his eyes.
"Care to explain why there's a bunch of random people in my house?"
"I mean technically it's my house too and they're my friends." Jackson barely whispers.
"Like they'd want to be friends with you." He laughs, causing his brother to frown.
"Did you want anything else?"
"I heard you got pranked yesterday. Stripped naked just like old times, huh?"
Jughead furrows his eyebrows and looks at Jackson. Grey sees his confused facial expression and smirks.
"He used to get pants and stuff like that all the time in high school. In the locker room we used to steal his clothes." Great smiles proudly.
"Jughead, you were right. He is a dipshit." Betty seethes, looking at Grey with pure hatred.
"What did you say, bitch?"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Jackson snaps.
Grey just smirks and grabs Jackson's wrist, twisting it painfully. "Remember when I broke it this way?" He laughs. At this point, Archie, Kevin, Liliana, and Aaron make their way downstairs to see what the commotion is all about. Their eyes widen in shock at the identical twins in front of them.
"Yeah I remember when you broke my arm that one time, and my leg the other time." He winces in pain, and that's when Jughead has had enough.
"See, this is what we're not going to do." Jughead practically growls, getting up from the couch and walking over to the two, punching Grey square in the face which sends him tumbling to the ground.
"Jughead what the fuck?" Liliana yells.
"That honestly felt really good." He shrugs, glancing at his fist in awe.
"Jug, you didn't have to do that." Jackson says worriedly.
"That was hot." Archie mumbles under his breath, earning a glare from Aaron. Jughead grabs Jackson's hand and pulls him over to the couch as Archie and Kevin rush over to help Grey up.
"I can't believe you just did that." Betty laughs before turning her attention onto Jackson who is holding his wrist and blushing in embarrassment. "If it counts for anything, although he looks as good as you do, you're the better twin." She whispers into his ear, making him blush even harder.
***
"Classic prank, going to guess Betty did this one." Jughead laughs, smirking at Kevin who is now soaking wet with an angry grimace on his face.
"This doesn't feel like water."
"It's not." Betty smirks.
"Oh my gosh." Kevin grimaces, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the substance on his body. Jackson cracks a small smile at that and sends Betty a grateful glance who responds with a wink.
"Well, looks like it's 2 vs. 2. Watch out." Aaron glares at Liliana.
"I'm so scared." She rolls her eyes.
"You should be. The last player on your team doesn't even seem to like you at the moment." Aaron smirks, gesturing towards Jughead. Liliana looks at Jughead questionably who just shrugs and looks away.
"Really?" She groans.
"You condoned that prank on Jackson, and nobody messes with Jackson like that. Nobody likes Kevin but I expected more from you." Jughead says simply.
"Well, he's being honest." Kevin shrugs.
"It was a prank!" She yells.
"Nobody else got pranked to that extent! And you know how Jackson is! Then you go and bet on how big he is! That was out of line and you know it." Jughead frowns.
"I'm trying to win a war here, it's clear to me on who's side you're on."
"If the other team pranked you that way, and I knew you'd be extremely uncomfortable with it I would have done the same." Jughead sighs before turning around and exciting the room, everybody else deciding to follow except for Aaron.
"Well great, everybody hates me because I messed with precious little Jackson." Liliana scoffs and turns to sit on the bed. Aaron sighs and sits next to her.
"Well...yeah." Aaron agrees.
"I didn't know it would hurt him that much." She mumbles sadly.
"That's the thing though, you never know." Aaron laughs.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're not a very likable person."
"Wow, tell me how you really feel."
"Okay. You're loud, way too loud. You have absolutely no filter. You pressure people all the time into doing what you want to do. You think that everybody likes the same things you do, and when they don't you bash them for it. You have no regard for others people's feelings, and then you wonder why you don't have a lot of friends. That's probably why a lot of your relationships fail, and instead of maybe wondering if it's your fault, you act as if it's carefree and you only dated that guy for sex. Truth is you're gorgeous, you already know that, and you've learned to fake the confidence you need because you don't think you're worth anything more than sex because every time you've tried to get into a relationship you've left it with a broken heart. That's why you only bother to have hookups nowadays. Stop me if I'm wrong."
Liliana just stares at him sadly and shakes her head. "No, keep going." She mumbles weakly.
"I think you have a lot more depth. I don't think you're as tactless and rude as you make yourself seem to be. I think that after a long day, you go back to your house, go into the room shut the door, take off your makeup, change into probably the most embarrassing pajamas and paint because thats the only time you can truly express who you are."
"So basically I'm a broken bitch." She laughs.
"Well in simplest terms, I'd say so yes." Aaron shrugs.
"So if you think this, why are you even talking to me right now?"
"Because despite you being a broken bitch, you still intrigue me against my will." Aaron laughs.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Liliana smiles slightly.
"I'll give you the invitation to find out, but it's up to you if you want to take it though." Aaron winks before getting up and exiting the room, leaving the broken bitch alone again.
***
"I really love Brett." Jughead sighs as the blue eyed husky lays in his lap, wagging its tail excitedly.
"Brett is my one true love. C'mere boy!" Jackson calls from the other side of the room, making him leave Jughead's lap and crawl into his instead. Jughead just pouts and stares at the now empty space sadly.
"I'm so lonely and so sad." Jughead whispers under his breath.
"Wait where's that from? That sounds so familiar." Jackson laughs while petting Brett.
"I don't know, the song is always stuck in my head." Jughead agrees as Betty walks into the room snapping her fingers softly.
"It's from those old jamster commercials for text tones that used to air on Teen Nick all the time back before smart phones existed." Betty says matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah!" Jughead and Jackson yell excitedly.
"I'm so bored. Everybody is all mad at each other and we've been at a stalemate for the last day and a half." Betty sighs after sitting down next to Jackson on the floor and scratching behind Brett's ears, making him go limp at her touch.
"Woah, you're really good with animals aren't you?" Jackson says in awe, staring at her happily as she blushes.
"Yeah well I want to be a Veterinarian." She admits shyly, noticing the zero amount of space between her and the other blonde.
"Why do I feel like I'm intruding." Jughead mumbles to himself.
"No, no you're not." Betty says awkwardly while pulling away from Jackson and shaking herself out of it. "I was thinking that there should be a prize for whoever the last one standing is, because at this point it's kind of pointless if nobody wins anything." Betty says thoughtfully, and Jughead smirks because he was waiting for somebody to say it.
"The person who wins gets to go anywhere of their choice with one other person." Jughead suggests as Jackson eyes him suspiciously.
"Wouldn't that be like a date?"
"More like two friends getting out of this house where everyone is mad at each other and having fun." Jughead shrugs.
"Sounds good to me." Betty nods, instinctively scooting back towards Jackson so she can play with Brett more who was practically wining for her attention.
"Relationship goals." Jughead mumbles under his breath while looking at the two smother Brett together.
A few seconds later, Archie and Liliana enter the room laughing about who knows what, causing Jughead to roll his eyes at the both of them.
"The sass is prevalent." Liliana frowns.
"Oh, really?" Jughead mocks surprise.
"Can you please just forgive me already? I'm sorry, I hate that you're mad at me." Liliana groans.
"It's not even me who you should be apologizing to, that's my point." Jughead mumbles, gesturing towards Jackson who ducks his head down to avoid her gaze.
"Jackson." Liliana sighs, walking up to him and taking a seat in front of him on the floor.
"You don't have to apologize, it's obvious you don't want to." He says shyly, instinctively pulling Brett a little bit closer to him.
"Why would you think that?" She asks softly.
"Because you're only doing it so Jughead isn't mad at you. You could careless if I'm mad at you, or me in general. But don't worry it's whatever that's how it's been since I was little I'm used to it." He laughs a bit at the end of the sentence, trying to reassure her it's fine.
"This boy deserves the world I seriously want to beat everyone up right now!" Jughead groans causing Archie to laugh a little bit.
"You deserve an apology though." Liliana sighs.
"Yeah, I do. But I don't deserve a fake one for the wrong reasons." Jackson shrugs before patting Brett on the back, signaling for him to move and following the husky outside.
"Well, he told you didn't he?" Jughead smiles.
"Shut up." Liliana pouts.
"He's not as dumb as he looks or acts. Okay? He's an actual person with actual feelings and you can't keep pushing him around and thinking he'll just be okay with stuff and he'll always forgive you. He's not a toy." Jughead points out.
"You're right." Liliana smiles, the wheels in her head already turning. "I've got an idea!" She says excitedly before getting off the floor and starting to run upstairs.
"What are you going to do?"
"You'll see!" She laughs.
"Please don't come back downstairs naked, nobody wants to see that." Jughead scoffs.
"Eh, I wouldn't be opposed to it." Betty shrugs, making Jughead and Archie turn to each other with wide eyes. "What? She's like drop dead gorgeous." She mumbles under her breath.
***
"What's going on?" Jackson yawns tiredly, making his way downstairs while lazily putting on his shirt and joining the others on the couch in the living room.
"Apparently Liliana is making an announcement." Kevin shrugs, clearly uninterested.
"I personally don't want to sit through this either but she promised cookies." Jughead sighs.
"Give her a chance, DAMN." Aaron chuckles.
"Well I'm actually curious." Archie smiles.
"Same. I'm hoping this has to do with Jackson." Betty says hopefully.
"Why me?" He mumbles sheepishly.
"Because maybe she's going to give you the apology you actually deserve." She smiles, shoving him playfully.
"I'm not even sure if I want one anymore." Jackson admits.
"Why?"
"I love Liliana a lot, okay? Her, Aaron, and Jughead are like the family I never had. They're the only people that seem to care about me and they're the only ones who actually put up with my stupidity." He laughs. "But sometimes it just feels like I don't know, she doesn't care about me at all? She always pushes me around and gets me in the craziest situations with her. I literally got stuck on the subway for two hours because of her. And she's never apologized for anything that she does. And she expects me to be okay with it and I just let it go because I don't like confrontation and I don't like being upset because that's such a waste of time. But this time I feel like I'm kind of done with it. She's going to have to actually try for my forgiveness this time. If it's a bullshit apology I don't want it." Jackson sighs, rubbing his eyes out of exhaustion.
"You know, for someone who's supposedly stupid you say a lot of smart things." Betty shakes her head.
"No trust me, I am stupid." He laughs.
"I don't think so. If you were stupid you wouldn't have gotten into NYU." Betty insists.
"It's not that hard to get in. Hardest part was just the SAT." He blushes.
"And what did you get on that?"
"I don't remember, 1500 something." Jackson shrugs.
"Jackson! The test is out of 1600!" Betty gasps.
"Oh really? I studied a lot for it but I took it last minute so I didn't get to retake it again. I thought I did bad on it."
"Wait what are you studying to be?" Betty furrows her eyebrows.
"Pediatrician." Jackson smiles. "I love kids they're so adorable. I want to make them feel better." He laughs quietly.
"Wait, so you're going to medical school after this?"
"Mhm. I have to get my application and stuff together next year. My parents never really asked what I wanted to be, they're so focused on Grey because he's a lawyer and way smarter than I am."
"Well if you're dumb compared to him than I don't even want to imagine what his grades are like." She mumbles under her breath.
"Probably way better than mine. My gpa is only a 3.9 right now in my classes, but my teachers really love me so I think medical school will accept me hopefully."
"Jackson, I would kill for that gpa." Betty frowns.
"I'd give it to you if I could."
"I can't believe you're actually a genius." Betty laughs.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a presentation for you all today." Liliana voice sounds from the back of the room as she steps forward with a folder in her hand.
"What is it about?" Aaron asks.
"Well it's me publicly embarrassing myself in front of all of you and begging Jackson for an apology." Liliana says bluntly.
"I feel like there's no way you could possibly embarrass yourself." Jackson rolls his eyes.
"Oh just wait." She snorts, taking the position in front of everyone. "Well believe it or not I wasn't always as hot as I am now." She begins.
"I knew you got a nose job!" Kevin yells excitedly.
"What the fuck... no I didn't get a nose job."
"Face lift?" Archie suggests.
"Botox?" Jughead buts in.
"Jesus I'm 20 not 42" she mumbles.
"Please get on with it." Jackson yells harshly, causing everyone to jump once again at the harsh tone that he rarely possesses.
"Okay so in high school I had a lot of nicknames. Brace face, that was so original. Toilet girl was the most popular one. I got bullied and made fun of a lot. I've had guys date me on dares, I was that typical ugly high school girl in the movies. I was that girl who walked around school wth a sketch book and I dressed ugh so awful because my parents wouldn't let me dress the way I wanted to and I definitely didn't have any friends I'll tell you that. So this is me pranking myself. I'm officially out of the game because I'm going to show you guys pictures of what I looked like and suffer through all your big mouthed comments because I love that little shit over there and I want him to forgive me." Liliana breathes out.
"You're going to lose the prank war for me?" Jackson smiles.
"Yup, and you know how much this war means to me." She pouts.
"Well okay then show me the pictures." He says excitedly.
Liliana sighs before reaching out into the folder and pulling out a picture.
"Ew get that away from me." Kevin shrieks, practically jumping off the couch.
"It's hideous! Hideous!" Jughead screams.
"Esto es lo que las pesadillas se hacen de!" Aaron gasps.
Archie, Betty, and Jackson just stare at the photo with their mouths wide open in shock as Liliana rocks on her heels out of nervousness, looking up at the ceiling.
"Okay, okay I think that's enough." Jackson says weakly, feeling bad for her now.
"Oh thank God." She sighs happily, stashing the picture back into the folder and throwing it behind her. "I'm sorry for always treating you like shit and willingly allowing someone to embarrass you like that and you know, betting on how many inches you are. I'm also sorry for all the other things I've put you through these past two years. Forgive me?" She pleads, staring at him with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah, yeah I guess I can forgive you." He smiles, holding his arms out for a hug which she gladly accepts.
While all of this is going on, Jughead decides to attack, bending over and tying Aaron's shoelaces together. Only a few seconds later, the brunette gets up, trips, and falls on his face, sending Jughead into a fit of laughter.
All's well it ends well.
***
"Finally!" Jughead sighs once he comes out of the room, hair laced with white flour from the old "flour in the hair dryer trick".
"Why are you so happy about being pranked?" Jackson laughs.
"Because I've wanted this to end since day one." Jughead sighs. "Hey guys Betty won, woohoo! Where's Archie?" Jughead yells in an annoyed tone. Everybody wakes up and comes outside, staring at Jughead unimpressed. Kind of a crappy prank to end the war with in all honesty.
"Yes!" Archie yells happily, running out of the room and hugging his boyfriend, pressing his lips to his which makes everyone grimace at the pda.
"Weren't you two like fighting or something?" Betty yawns, looking at them suspiciously.
"Nah, but we won the prank war." Archie smirks.
"No, I won." Betty pouts.
"Sweet, sweet Betty you've just been played." Archie smiles before taking the green wig off of his head and tossing it on the ground triumphantly.
"I'm out." Kevin sighs before walking back into his room slamming the door.
"I wish I would've thought of that." Liliana mumbles.
"I'm honestly feeling pretty betrayed right now, but I'm also feeling proud." Aaron says thoughtfully.
"Jughead and I decided that it would be best to pretend like we're fighting, and we snuck out of the house to buy the wig. Then we just kept up the act even though it was agonizing and fooled all of you suckers." Archie says happily.
"And, since we both won. We get to pick people to go out with us. I'm picking Betty." Jughead smirks.
"And I'm picking Jackson." Archie smirks as well.
"So we're leaving at 4, be ready." Jughead says cheerfully as Archie pulls him into the room and closes the door behind them.
"I can't believe they just played us like that." Betty says in awe.
"I don't get what just happened. Can someone explain?" Jackson blinks, looking at everyone curiously.
***
"Oh my glob." Jackson breathes out, staring at Betty with blown out eyes as she makes her way down the stairs in a gorgeous pink dress that slits down the side and accentuates her curves beautifully. Her usually pinned up hair is down, curls cascading down her back that bounce as she takes one step at a time in sparkly silver heels. "Jughead, I'm not being corny or anything but I think I died and went to heaven because FUCKING shit." He whispers to the raven haired beauty next to him.
"I don't think you're allowed to curse in heaven buddy." Jughead laughs as Betty finally makes her way to stand in front of Jackson with a nervous smile on her face.
"You're like, the most breath-taking thing I've ever seen." Jackson says softly, making Betty blush.
"Yeah, same to you too you look actually really amazing in a suit." She bites her lip.
"Thanks." Jackson blushes, and Jughead can't help but to tap Archie on the shoulder and roll his eyes.
"Are we like that?"
"I hope not, that's so cheesy." Archie scoffs. "But you do look really amazing." He points out, and of course it makes Jughead blush.
The four end up going to a really fancy restaurant, and there might of been some flirting along with causal hand holding between the two blondes.
There also might've been a kiss, the two don't like to kiss and tell.
But...
maybe Jackson kind of let it slip when he entered the room Aaron was in and started jumping around, screaming like the adorable idiot he is.
🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾
This chapter was soooooo longgggggggggggggg omgggggggggggggggg
I doubt many people made it to the end of this but believe it or not this is kind of a filler? But I meant it as a treat because I know a lot of you like Jughead's friends so this was a chapter built around that :)
Especially because they're entering their third year of college and they're all not going to be living so close to each other forever Yk?
But Jackson and Betty...
I lowkey planned it from the beginning, I'm not sure it it'll be a serious thing since like I said, their characters won't be around as much but I really think that they'd be so cute.
Also Jackson's secret smarts. Y'all probably saw that coming not going to lie.
But I bet you didn't see the twist at the end coming.
You probably did.
Um what else. Oh yeah Liliana is kind of an unlikable person, I'm really not going to lie. I made her that way for a reason. You gotta have a taste for some people Yk? I personally love her personality but well yeah she is pushy and bossy and she is kind of self centered but she's still a good person I think.
Aaron is lowkey kind of boring. He's the mom friend. Always watching out for his friends, making sure they're safe, giving advice, doesn't say much. He's chill though I fuck with it.
This is seriously 9,000 words omg.
But change in plans, I won't be able to update until next week so here's this long ass chapter today :(