Jabitha Oneshots

Clean Slate

Jabitha met for the first time as kids.

The first time Jughead and Tabitha met, they were eleven years old. He was sitting in his regular booth at Pop's re-reading his favourite Baxter Brother's novel, when Pop had appeared beside him, a young girl in tow.

"Jughead, this is my granddaughter, Tabitha. She'll be around town for the next few days, so I thought it would be nice if she had somebody to talk to."

And talk they did. They spent hours discussing everything their young minds could think of; his dream to become a writer and hers to be a CEO, which teachers from their respective schools they hated, and who they had crushes on. He cried after she left, burying his face in his beanie and insisting to Pop that he was just tired.

The second time was more fleeting, over a simple shove in a New York club. Jughead turned around to toss the culprit a snarky remark, only to stand there, stunned. He recognised her immediately, for she had the same gentle eyes he had loved so much as a child. As much as he begged himself to say something, to make up for all he hadn't said, he couldn't will the words to come out.

And then, they both found themselves back in Riverdale. Jughead noticed her immediately, matching her face to the one he hadn't been able to get out of his head for years. He wished he could go over, embrace her like an old friend and joke about how her dream to be a CEO had finally come true. But he knew that they were past that point. And seeing her up close, ignited a glimmer of understanding between them. A clean slate.

"It's Tabitha, right, Tabitha Tate."