hungry | bughead

Tart Tangerines

  Archie lied in bed trying to figure out this emotion he couldn't understand. He felt cold is that the word? He felt like he was missing something. And he was. Betty was gone. It wasn't like he owned her, he knew that, he just never figured she would dump him. Sure he ditched her on dates, forgot her birthday once or twice, asked her to do his homework for him etc... and until just a few hours ago, she was his girl.
The night had gotten off to a great start for the redhead. Veronica looked gorgeous that night. They ate at one of the brunette's favorite restaurants. They went back to Archie's house where he played his guitar for her. He had planned to walk her to the park and sit together on a bench in the moonlight when he accidentally walked directly in front of Betty's house. Archie felt his chest tighten at the memory of Betty and her tears, her emotion and her words. He clutched his pillow harder.
Suddenly, his chest filled with heat, with anger as he remembered how easily she ran into Jughead's arms. How she smiled when she saw him, how he embraced her in front of Archie and Veronica. Was he jealous of his best friend? No. Betty didn't like Jughead. . . or did she? They had always been even closer friends than Betty had been with Veronica, some goes for Jughead with Archie. Of course Archie knew of Jughead's crush on Betty, which he had since meeting the blonde girl. But still Jughead and Betty?
Archie couldn't figure it out. How? Was it true? Could they have been together and not have told him? No. Betty was too sweet for that but, were the feelings there but just unspoken? He glanced at the clock 3:32 am. He sighed and turned over in the covers. Why did he feel so uneasy? Even without Betty he had Veronica, Cheryl, and Valerie, but maybe it wasn't losing a girl, it was losing Betty. She was sweet and kind and pretty, with shiny blonde curls and pink lips and a slim body. She was athletic and smart, funny, a great cook and baker, good at video games and amazing at fixing cars. Only now that he couldn't have her Archie realized what he lost, what he could've had.
He got up to clear his head and walked into the kitchen. The bowl of fruit stared at him. He took a tangerine to clear his mind and made his way back to his room. He peeled it in the light of his lamp, the citrusy scent filled his room. He took a bite, and it made his jaw slightly sore, but he continued to eat anyways, he needed to get his mind off things.
The redhead turned on his phone and browsed through his pictures of himself and Veronica. A picture of Betty came up. It was from a bake sale to support the home economics class. Archie chuckled at the photo, Betty was frosting cupcakes while Jughead stood behind her, licking the batter whisk and reaching his hand to steal a cupcake. His heart clenched. Jughead and Betty. He found another picture of them. Jughead broke a glass at Pop's and Betty had to bandage his fingers in the booth. Archie never noticed how close together they sat. Another one was found. They were all at the beach and Jughead was pouring sunblock on Betty's back as he ate an ice cream cone in the other. Archie looked through the photos once more only to find two pictures of him and Betty alone, the others had Jughead. He suddenly remembered how close the blonde lived to Jughead. He felt his stomach twist into knots as he imagined how Jughead comforted Betty as she cried. Archie knew his crown wearing best friend was Betty's comfort when the redhead abandoned her, and it made him sick.
He felt the fires in his chest burn. The fires of his newly forged jealousy. Was Betty in his arms right now? Smiling into his chest again as Jughead caressed her hair, as they did when Betty dumped Archie and ran into the tall male's arms weeping. Suddenly this tangerine was tasting much more tart than before.
But, it couldn't be possible right? Jughead hates women...but he doesn't hate Betty. The redhead felt his mind swirl for any reason that Betty and Jughead would never get together. Ethel! Ethel would never let that happen. She's much too clingy to Jug to ever let him get into a relationship. But, she couldn't control his life, could she? There was all the other admirers of Jughead, all the girls he's ever rejected could lead to his theory that Jughead hated girls. Yet, Jughead didn't hate Betty.
Archie got up again and rinsed his face in the sink. He stared at himself in the mirrored and admired the way his freckles glistened in the light. What did Jughead have that he didn't? Sure Jughead was tall, he had shiny dark hair and a toned body despite eating himself to death. He was sarcastic and he knew how to cook and was mysterious in a strange girl's eyes. He had a dog and he was a great big brother and he played the drums. Archie glared at himself. Who are you fooling Andrews? You know you're ten times better then that. He thought about the good points about himself. He had a car, he was moderately tall, he was athletic, he played guitar, he was charming and he also had a dog. That's it? That's all I thought of? Was Jughead really better than him? No. He was just better for Betty.
Then, Archie thought about how he treated Betty when he was with Veronica. He ditched their dates, he often made Betty pay so he could spare enough for the brunette, he talked about himself, he usually arrived late to pick her up, but he bought her flowers on occasion and took her somewhere special when he had time. But Jughead, he never ditched Betty, despite being low on cash he often offered to treat Betty wherever they went, he always bought her a birthday gift and cooked for her whenever she wanted, he dried her tears when Archie abandoned her, and that was when Archie realized it. Jughead was always there for her. Always. He never ditched her or made her cry, and it angered him. My best friend has been after my girl this whole time hasn't he? Well. I'm not done with her. Or him.
He returned to bed and plopped on the pillows. He might not have been the perfect man for Betty, but her perfect man shouldn't have been Jughead. Archie wandered in his own angered thoughts until he fell asleep. He didn't exactly want Betty to be with him, he didn't want Betty to be with his best friend. He didn't want her to be with Jughead.

Author's note: Did the last chapter move too fast? I feel like I established the relationship top early in the story...