Being best friends with Jughead Jones isn't the easiest thing in the world. He's not the friendliest person to begin with, but some can easily look past that, like yourself. You and Jughead had been close every since you could remember, but the summer before Sophomore year changed things. Jughead became more reclusive and less in touch with you. It all happened after Jason Blossoms' death. The day before school started up again, you invited yourself over to his house. Needless to say, Jughead was surprised.
"Y/N?" He asked, the bags under his eyes telling you he must've just woken up. Despite the normal summer heat, he was wearing a loose sweater and sweatpants. Just seeing him again, after so long, made your heart flutter. You quickly pushed it down and regained your angry composure. "I haven't seen you in months, Jug!" You said, obviously breaking him out of his tired state. He quickly pulled you inside his house, and you accidently bumped into his chest. It was so tempting to hug him, but you fought the urge and watched as he closed the door behind you. When he faced you, you saw how intense his gaze was. "I'm sorry about that, Y/N, I am." He said, his tone serious. "I've been working on something," he said as he walked past you, beckoning you to follow him. He lead you to his room then to his desk where an open laptop rested. Pages of text cluttered the screen and just by skimming through the document the words 'Summer', 'Jason Blossom', and 'presumed dead' caught your eye. You turned to face Jughead who stood, unmoving, next to you. "This is what you were doing?" You asked, turning back to study the words he had typed.
"Yeah, ever since I heard he was missing." He muttered, but you couldn't help but be amazed by your friend. His drive and dedication to his writing was eye-opening. You faced him once more with a grin on your features. "Do you need help?"
As soon as you offered, Jughead enlisted your help. You pushed yourself as far as you could to get Jughead new information about Jason's case. You were just shy of breaking the law at some points. You went as far to befriend Cheryl Blossom for a time, which Jughead owed you big for. You were undercover the whole time though; because your real mission was to get close to Jughead again. When he got sucked into the madness of this summer's events, you had been left alone. It was during that season when you realized, just how much Jughead meant to you. That had been the loneliest summer of your life.
So you aided him and you couldn't help but admit that it was extremely interesting. Someone caused Jason's death but no one knew who. You and Jughead were trying to figure it out. After a day of tailing Cheryl and her friends, you had more information on the events leading up to her brother's disappearance. At lunch, you wandered around until you found Jughead typing away at a table by himself. You watched him as you walked closer, smiling at the way his brow furrowed every few seconds while he was writing. You sat down across from him, a soft smile etched on your features. He looked up at you and mimicked your small smile. "Anything new?" He asked, looking back down at his laptop to type again. "I have details about what the Blossom family was doing before Jason died." You said it in a whisper so others around you didn't hear. Jughead perked up at your words, now resting his hands near his face. "What happened?"
You looked around and saw Cheryl staring at the two of you. You looked back at Jughead who also saw the peering eyes. He leaned forward slightly, "We'll walk to my house after school. Meet me at the East exit." You nodded at him and then the bell rang. Jughead packed up and you headed off to your next class, thinking that the end of school couldn't come soon enough.
The walk with Jughead to his house was quiet for the most part. Then you grew your nerve to speak to him again. "I missed you over Summer, Jug." You both kept walking and you looked up at him. "I missed you too Y/N," he turned to look at you, "I should've told you about what I was doing sooner." You nodded and walked closer to him so your shoulders brushed occasionally. To your surprise, he didn't pull away from you as you both walked. You felt a rush in your tummy when his fingers grazed your hand and almost fell over when you felt his fingers entangled with yours. You looked at your joined hands and then at him, but he was simply facing forwards. Part of you thought you caught a glimpse of a light blush on the tops of his cheek, but you couldn't be sure. The rest of the walk was simply chatting about grades, people and teachers that annoyed you. You reached his house before you knew it and he let go of your hand to open the door. After saying "hello" to his family, you and Jughead made it up to his room.
When inside, he closed the door and set to work on his computer. He questioned each bit of information you heard just to check it's validity. It grew silent as he continued to type, adding details and saving the drafts. You took this time to wander about his room; it was a simple set up, with his bed, desk, and dresser. It was the posters and words on the walls that made it his own. You found yourself looking at the pictures he had on his dresser, flipping through his photo album. It was mostly pictures he had taken in the forest and of the sky, but some were of his family. You reached the last picture and you gasped in shock. It was a picture of you and Jughead as children, messy with paint on your faces. "This is too sweet," you said, drawing Jughead's attention away from typing. You turned to look at him, holding the picture up. "I found the original photo and I made a more clear copy of it." He said, spinning his head back to the laptop. You carefully took the picture out of it's cover and studied it closer. "What grade were we in?" You wondered aloud, causing Jughead to jump out of his chair darting towards you; but it was too late.
You had flipped the picture over to read the back and found a paragraph written in Jughead's hand writing. Your eyes scanned up and down the words and you felt your heart beat faster every second.
Y/N,
I have been carrying this picture around everyday in the hopes of getting the courage to finally tell you. I know it's only Freshman year and a relationship is probably the furthest thing from your mind but, I like you. Not the way I like my favorite video game, or the way I like the burgers at Pop's, it's more than that. I'm writing this to you, hoping that there's the slightest chance you feel the same way. I know I'm not as talented as Betty or as cool as Archie, but I know with all my heart that I would do anything for you; and I hope that's enough for you.
I love you....
Jughead
You looked up at Jughead and he was looking at you with eyes you had never seen. They were scared and yet they glimmered with the most wonderful hope. "Is...is this still true?" You asked, taking a step towards him and clutching the picture close to your chest. "Of course it is," he murmured, taking another step closer. "Then why didn't you tell me?" Your voice felt so small when you spoke, but he heard it loud and clear. "The same reason I didn't talk to you all Summer," he answered, "I was scared you'd say no."
You felt his hand on your arm, trying to pulled you closer and you let him. "Say no?" He nodded, "To me. That you wouldn't want anything to do with me." Your heart almost shattered at his somber tone. The picture forgotten, you reached up and pulled his neck closer to yours. Your lips brushed at first, as if he was afraid he'd wake up and you'd be gone. You weren't going to leave, not now, so you kissed him. His hands found your hips, pulling you and closing the gap between your bodies. Your hands slid down from his face to his chest and he starting walking backwards towards his bed. You finally broke the kiss for air and you laughed when you heard him panting. "Please," he begged, "do that again."
You leaned forward, kissing him slower than last time. When the back of his knees hit the edge of the bed, you fell on top of it. Before you knew it, he was laughing, and you had almost forgotten about it's beautiful sound. He turned so he was on his side, looking at your face. "I love you too," you murmured reaching up to stroke his cheek. His blue eyes were the brightest you had ever seen them before. He leaned over and pressed his lips to yours and your hands tangled in his hair, knocking his hat off. He smiled into the kiss, deepening it. He pulled away a moment later, trailing kisses on your jaw and to your neck. He was humming in delight as your hands stroked his hair. He kissed his way back to you lips and the feeling was overwhelming. He rested the side of his head on your shoulder, still smiling. "I've waited so long for this." He said, his voice was hoarse and full of longing. Your hand continued to play with his hair and you couldn't help but sigh in contentment. "I waited a whole summer for this." You smiled and so did he. He pressed a lazily kiss to your shoulder and you couldn't help but giggle. "What," he asked, turning his head to look at your face. "I can't believe you carried that with you all of Freshman year..."
"Is it so hard to believe I'm romantic?" He lifted himself to hover above you, resting his hands next to your head. You reached your hands up, hooking your arms around his neck. "No," you whispered, staring at his face. He leaned down and kissed you once more, letting his lips linger on yours. It seems you didn't have to go undercover for Jughead to like you after all.