Jabitha Oneshots

Bugs

Jughead and Tabitha react to the bug issue in their apartment: set during 6x01.

Tabitha stood at the mirror, tentatively applying ointment to the trail of small welts creeping up her sleeve. The apartment was hot, uncomfortably so, but there was no choice except to layer her body with hoodies and tights; it was either that or she would fall prey to the creatures that lurked in every corner. Her eyes appeared hollow and tired, making it painfully clear that she hadn't been sleeping. Every night, the nightmares came, of spiders and beetles that nibbled at her skin and crawled over her face, made worse by her fears of the infested room in which she slept.

Jughead had been helping though. Every night, he would allow her to cuddle up to him, burying her face in his shirt to protect herself from the terrors that would surely come when the lights went out. Sometimes, he would wake up early and drive them both to various restaurants in order to avoid their contaminated food. And of course, nothing would ease her nerves like a good, old-fashioned cuddle.

Still, Tabitha couldn't wait until the day they could get an exterminator, someone to make all their problems disappear.

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The sun was setting over Pops when Jughead sprinted through the doors, causing the bells to jingle frantically.

"Jug? What's up, are you ok?" Tabitha asked, pacing towards him and placing a hand on his arm.

He grabbed her shoulders, bouncing on his toes in excitement.

"Better than ok, Tabs. I just ran into one of my old high school friends, who owed me a favour, and it turns out that he's got a spare apartment we can stay in until we get an exterminator."

Suddenly, she felt like she was floating. Tabitha laughed, leaning in to kiss her boyfriend passionately. Jughead picked her up, spinning her around on the spot before placing her down in front of him and cupping her face.

"My shift's over in five minutes, can we head over now?" she asked.

He barely got his answer out before she grabbed his hand and started striding towards the door.

"Woah," he said gently pulling her back to face him, "Don't you need to get your bags from the back?"

Tabitha grinned at him.

"Neither of us have had a proper shower in days, Jug, I think my handbag can wait."

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A few hours later, Tabitha and Jughead stepped out of the shower together, water dripping off their bodies. She felt more at ease than she had in days, finally getting the chance to wash and relax without the threat of being eaten alive.

"Are you feeling better?" Jughead asked her, tenderly kissing the top of her head.

She draped a towel around her shoulders.

"I am, now that I can sleep and eat without worrying about spiders crawling into my mouth."

Jughead pulled her into him, cupping her neck with his hands and stroking her hair, "I'm so sorry about this Tabs. I should have checked around for critters before we moved in."

She shot him a smile, gesturing for him to do up the clasp on her bra. He brushed a hand coyly across her neck, careful to avoid touching the dark, red welts covering her shoulder blades.

"You couldn't have known. And plus, I think that we needed this, something to test our relationship and see if we could last in the real world."

He pulled his shirt over his head, wincing as the coarse fabric brushed against his tender back. Ever the optimist, he thought affectionately.

"And did we pass, Miss Tate?"

"An A+ for both of us, Mr Jones," she said, then leaned in to press her lips to his.