Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader
Word Count: 2383
Description: — Reader is too shy to tell Jughead about her feelings, so Veronica and Betty take matters into their own hands (mostly Veronica)
Warnings: Swears, fluff so much fluff
Written by [crankpendletonplays] • Tumblr ©
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Being in love with your best friend isn't easy. It feels like taboo, like it's wrong and unhealthy. You'll lay awake at ungodly hours of the night, wondering, "How did this happen?", you'll replay every moment of every waking minute you spent with them, wondering how in the world you ended up lying on your floor with an empty bowl of ramen beside your head and imagining what it would feel like to kiss them. You'll catch yourself admiring the tiniest insignificant things about them, and every detail of their stupidly cute face, and every indent and curve and freckle on their body, and let me tell you, it sucks. Falling in love with your best friend isn't easy, especially when your best friend is Jughead Jones.
I sat across from the raven-haired boy at Pop's, Betty next to me and Veronica across from her. Betty and Veronica were having an open conversation about school and Jughead sat staring out the window, an uninterested look on his face and a milkshake sat in front of him. I would glance up at him in between paragraphs of the book that sat on the table below me, my arms crossed in front of it. My friend looked distracted and I was curious to know what was bothering him. I rested my hand on the fabric of his jacket sleeve and he finally came back to reality, turning his attention towards me.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I questioned lightly, and I saw a hint of a smile flash across the boy's face.
"I just can't seem to piece my thoughts together." He spoke to me softly, smiling back reassuringly.
"I think I'm gonna head out." Jughead hopped over the back of the booth seat, waving goodbye to Veronica and Betty and climbing in to the booth behind me to press a friendly kiss to my cheek. I was glad he couldn't see my face because he would have seen the blush that spread across my face as fast as a wildfire.
After Jughead left, Veronica scooted over so she was in front of me, and Betty moved to the other side of the booth. I sucked in a deep breath, knowing exactly where this was going.
"No." I spoke immediately, dipping one of my fries in to my shake and popping it in to my mouth.
"Yes." Veronica and Betty both replied in unison. I shook my head, opting to keep my mouth shut this time.
"Come on Y/N! You have to tell him!" Veronica urged, slamming her hand down on the table. I jumped a bit before relaxing back into my seat.
"Guys, you know I can't do it! What if I lose him? What if he hates me? What if I catch on fire or spontaneously combust! Or—
"Y/N!." Veronica cut me off.
"First of all, stop being so dramatic: that's my thing. Second of all, Jughead likes you! It's written all over his face!"
"Then why hasn't he told me?" I argued.
"Y/N, Jughead wouldn't be able to make the first move if his life depended on it." Betty pointed out, resting a hand on mine.
"You can do this, we know you can."
"Yeah, you just need to practice." Veronica spoke and I could almost see the lightbulb above her head flicker on.
"Oh, no." I muttered, letting my head fall in to my crossed arms that rested on the table.
"Oh, yes."
• • • •
"This is dumb"
"No, it isn't!"
"Ronnie, it kind of is."
"Betty, you're my girlfriend! Be on my side here!" Veronica crossed her arms, staring at the girl sitting beside me. We are at my house now, after finishing at Pop's and Veronica had gotten the bright idea to "pretend" to be Jughead so I could practice confessing my feelings. That led to Veronica now standing in front of me in Jeans, a flannel, one of Jughead's jackets he had left over here, and her hair tucked in to one of my gray beanies.
"Come on, just pretend." Veronica changed her posture so she was slumped over a bit, shoulders hunched, and a scowl on her face.
"Hey, Y/N. What's up." She spoke in a deep, monotone voice, trying (and failing) to mimic Jughead. Betty cracked up laughing which made me start to laugh. We ended up hunched over on my bed, our arms holding our stomachs.
"What, that was spot on!" Veronica yanked the gray beanie from her head, whacking me with it. I raised my arms over my head in defense, still laughing at her. Ronnie eventually stopped and we all settled down.
"I just, I can't do it guys. I can't. Jughead is so... confident in who he is. He knows what he stands for and he knows what he wants. I'm like, the complete opposite! I have the bravery of a chicken nugget!" My arms raised over my head dramatically before falling back down to my sides.
"I hate to say it but that is kind of true." My friend Kevin peeked his head in to my bedroom before coming the rest of the way in.
"Heard you're having a crisis, so I came to help."
"You called Kevin too?!" I whined, flopping back down on my bed and shoving my face in to one of my pillows.
"Who else knows?"
"Just us. Archie and Jughead are both horribly oblivious heteros." Kevin sighed, sitting down next to me and patting my back lightly.
"Okay, how about this," Veronica sat down on the other side of me, brushing the hair away from my neck.
"If you had the confidence to tell Jughead how you felt and you weren't so shy, what would you say?"
I turned around and sat up, climbing off my bed. I stood in front of my friends and took a deep breath, turning away from my friends.
"I would tell him that he is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and that I have no idea what I would do without him in my life, and that there is never a time that I think about him and I can't help but smile. I would tell him that he makes me the happiest person in the world and that no matter what, whether we're friends, or more, or less, I always want him in my life."
I turned back around to face my friends, who were all grinning brightly at me.
"That's it. That's what you have to tell him."
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• I now stood under a street lamp at 8:13 in the evening, waiting for my best friend to show up. I told him I would meet him here and we could walk to Pop's together, except I left out the part where I would be confessing my undying love to him. I paced back and forth, wringing my hands out in front of me as I mouthed the words I had planned to say to him. My friends were waiting for me at Pop's, ready to "congratulate us" even though nobody knew for sure what Jughead would say but I hope for the best. I could do this.
I could do this.
"Hey, Y/N." Jughead waved to me when I saw him turn the corner of the street, now only meters away from me.
I couldn't do this.
I was chickening out.
My friends would understand, right?
"Hey, Jughead!" I waved back and he picked up his pace. I met him halfway and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, giving me a hug.
"So, what's on the agenda for this evening?" He asked me as we began our trek to the chock-lit shoppe.
"Food? Movie at your place?"
"You mean, the same thing we do every Friday night? Yes, Jughead." I laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully. He knocked his against mine lightly, laughing as well.
I liked this. I liked things not being awkward between us. If I told him how I felt, it would just ruin things.
On the way to the diner, we found things to talk about, whether it was something or nothing, words never stopped leaving our lips. That was something I loved about him. We always had something to talk about.
At one point of our walk, Jughead's hand began brushing against mine, which led to our fingers lacing together. It wasn't unusual for us to hold hands, it was just an unspoken thing we did sometimes. Like how Jughead would carry me on his back sometimes after I would complain about being too tired to walk or how we would cuddle in to each other on my bed while watching a movie. Friends did that, right?
I snapped out of my thoughts, realizing we had arrived at the diner. It had felt like a short walk. Jughead was opening the door for me and I walked in, my content demeanor replaced with a panicking one when I caught the eye of my friends sitting a few booths away.
"Hey, guys!" Veronica quickly scrambled out of the booth, practically bouncing over to us. I began to shake my head quickly, waving my fingers quickly across my neck as I tried to silently tell them I had not gone through with our "plan"
"Did you tell him?" Veronica asked me, a bright smile on her face. Jughead looked between the two of us questioningly.
"Tell me what?" He looked at Veronica, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"You didn't tell him?" Veronica looked at me with wide eyes, her head falling forward a bit in disbelief.
"Tell me what?" Jughead asked again, sounding a bit irritated.
"No,no, no, I don't think so, you two are going out there and you are going to tell him, whether you like it or not!" Veronica grabbed both of our shoulders, pushing us towards the exit and shoving us out the door.
"I'm getting really damn tired of watching you guys go in circles!" Veronica closed the door and popped up in the window beside it seconds later, pointing towards her eyes with two fingers and then back at us before going to sit back down with Betty, Kevin, and Archie.
"Y/N, what is Veronica talking about?" Jughead motioned towards her before turning his attention back to me.
"Well, uh, you see, the thing is," I began, looking away from my friend. I took a deep breath, saying the first thing that came to my head.
"Your hands are really nice!" I blurted out, before freezing where I stood. Really? His hands?
"My hands?" Jughead laughed, looking at me like I had two heads.
"Yeah, y-your hands are really nice, a-and I really like it when they uh, uhm, hold mine." Good, good, cheesy, but good.
"A-and I really like when we're together and you tell me something really dumb but it's funny so I laugh and then I start wheezing because of my asthma and then we can't stop laughing because of that. And I really like our movie nights, and I like when we eat at Pop's together, and I like it when you put your arm around me when we walk home from school, and I like how you don't make me feel like an idiot when our math lesson confuses me, and you help me understand it, and I just..." I sighed, running my hands through my hair.
"You make me feel safe, Jughead and you make me feel protected and when I'm not with you it's almost like I'm missing this part of myself, and it's almost as if I don't know how to function properly, but with you, I feel like I can do anything." I looked up at Jughead, who still looked confused.
"Jughead, I know I'm not perfect and I know that I'm shy, and unsure of myself, and I'm insecure, and I have no idea how to be the person I've always wanted to be, but I know one thing, and that is that whenever I'm with you, all of that changes. What I'm trying to say here, is that I'm in love with you." I stopped my pacing, finally looking up at Jughead, who looked shocked to say the least.
"You're in love with me?" Jughead repeated. I nodded my head and a smile began to grow on his face. Jughead strided towards me, cupping my face in his hands and kissing me. I froze in shock, not believing that this was happening, before I started to kiss him back.
"I'm in love with you, too." Jughead told me, after he pulled away from the kiss. My eyes fluttered open, looking up at him. I smiled brightly, wrapping my arms around his neck. Jughead's arms went around my waist, hugging me tightly. Jughead kissed me again, pulling my body closer to his. I smiled against his lips.
After a few moments, Jughead and I walked back in to the diner, hand in hand.
"I called it!" Veronica's hand shot up from the table after spotting us. Archie got up from the booth, grabbing a chair, and Jughead sat down, pulling me in to his lap. I giggled, my arms resting against his that were wrapped around my waist.
"Veronica, everyone called it." Kevin said.
"Yeah, but did you dress up as Jughead? I don't think so." Veronica sassed Kevin before turning her attention back to us. "My ship is thriving!"
"Wait, why did Veronica?—
Jughead began to speak.
"Jug, just, just don't ask." Betty cut him off. Veronica grinned in the seat next to her.
"Also, just to warn you guys, she took pictures."
"We all took pictures, Betty. Wanna see?" Veronica pulled out her phone and I groaned, slumping against Jughead. Jughead just chuckled lightly, pressing a kiss to my cheek lightly, except this time, not in such a friendly way.
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A/N:
— I found this cute potato from Tumblr and please, check (crankpendletonplays) out, he/she writes the best ones ❤️