Under The Blood Moon

Halloween Party

The wind whipped across Jughead's face as he sped down the street. Pop's neon light came into view as he turned the corner. The ride had been silent, Jughead stewing in his thoughts about Veronica and Archie.

What was it about Archie that made women fall head over heels for him? Was it the boy next door vibe? The jock status? The looks? Because it certainly wasn't the brains or impeccable wit.

And Veronica? God, she was insufferable and cold-hearted. Not to mention she can make people magically fall in love with her. How is that fair? Archie probably only wants to be with Veronica because of the stupid healing magic. Veronica didn't like that Archie was slipping away with Betty (his girlfriend might he add) so she kept up her magic rouse. It made him sick thinking about it.

Jughead turned off the engine and felt Veronica's hold on his torso loosen and fall away. He missed the heat immediately and contemplated pulling her back in. He thought better of it and just took off towards the front door to Pop's, anger still heavily at the forefront of his mind.

Jughead immediately headed to the booth they had sat in the night he helped her hide that body. He still wasn't sure why he'd done it. Maybe it was because he'd always seen Veronica as a put-together socialite and it was so odd to see her in a new light. Or maybe it was because he wanted so badly to see the dark side of her, not the perfectly polished part she shows the world.

"So I got a little done but I'm just as confused as ever. I feel like this is gonna take forever." Veronica dropped her head in her hands.

"What are you doing with Archie?" Veronica's head snapped up at the bluntness of Jughead's statement.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you said it yourself, you make people obsessed with you. People like Archie. You can't just use people like that Veronica. Archie doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

"You don't even like Archie. Not since Betty kissed him at that Halloween party last year. So tell me what's really going on because I'm not putting up with you hating me for something I didn't do."

"That is not what this is about." The reminder of that stupid night fueled more anger in Jughead. How dare she bring that up knowing full well how it ended? For both of them.

Cheryl's annual Halloween party was in full swing. The music could be heard from the gate leading to the property. Half-naked men and barely clothed women came in droves to this highly anticipated bash.

Jughead was only there because Archie and Betty had dragged him. Betty had gotten all dolled up and looked absolutely beautiful in her sexy witch costume. Veronica accompanied her in a matching costume. Archie was dressed as some superhero Jughead had never heard of. He wasn't totally sure Archie hadn't made it up.

Jughead stuck out like a sore thumb. His costume was, guy who doesn't wanna be here, and he was killing it. He had chugged a beer within the first five minutes just to help drown out all the noise. He had no desire to listen to overly loud techno-party remixes of the top 100 from the year and had an even less desire to hear what everyone else was talking about. "OMG, this guy's so cute" "OMG, did you hear what she did?" "OMG, I just can't". It was all so... boring, useless.

The wall became Jughead's new best friend for the next few hours. He began to people-watch as he nursed a beer. Most people were doing and saying what you'd expect for a high school party so it didn't surprise him when someone screamed over the music to announce a game of spin the bottle being held in the other room. What did surprise him though was Betty rushing towards him through the crowd, Archie in tow, screaming about how he had to join them for the game. She chattered on and on about how much fun it would be, how all four of them just had to do one thing together at this party.

Jughead was dragged into a room with about ten other people, excluding Cheryl who stood at the head of a very long table looking ready to give a speech. Betty lined up at the end of the table next to Veronica and across from Archie. Jughead regretted walking into the room almost immediately. Hell, he regretted walking into the house at all.

Jughead didn't want Betty to be upset he wasn't playing but he sure as hell would not be kissing anyone so he stood at the end of the long table directly across from Cheryl. There was no way the stupid bottle would land facing him.

Cheryl spoke with authority as she explained the rules. When it's your turn you spin the bottle whoever it lands on, no matter the relationship status, you must kiss or face a dare given out by Cheryl herself. The threat of public humiliation hung in the air.

A couple of people Jughead had never seen before went without incident. Nothing crazy or special had happened and Jughead could see, plain as day, the boredom in Cheryl's eyes get replaced by mischief. That was never a good sign, especially when directed at Jughead.

"Betty your turn!" Cheryl practically sang.

Jughead's grip on the beer bottle in his hand tightened until he was sure it would shatter as he watched Betty slowly turn the bottle. He watched that bottle spin for what felt like an eternity before it stopped. He could feel the air in the room getting pulled out slowly.

Archie freaking Andrews. It landed on Archie fucking Andrews. The man she had been in love with for years.

All the sound of the party began to fade away as Betty crossed the table to reach Archie. He couldn't see it but he could feel it. Veronica was watching him. That made it all that much better.

He didn't even blink as he watched Betty grab Archie's face and pull him into her. She could have given him a peck, a two-second there-its-done kiss, but no. They kissed as if they had waited their whole life to finally do this and nothing would stop them.

Jughead downed his beer before leaving the room entirely. He could vaguely hear Veronica calling to him and for a moment he thought about turning around and grabbing her and kissing her like his life depended on it but he didn't. He wasn't going to hurt the most important people in his life even if they had done just that to him. He didn't just leave the room he left the entire party and went back to his trailer where he'd wished he'd stayed in the first place.

*****

"Sure it isn't. Look I'm gonna keep working on this and when you figure out what the fuck is going on in your beanie-covered head let me know."