Great Minds Think Alike (Jughead x OC)

Part 3

It happened so gradually that neither of them realized they were becoming friends until they actually were. At some point, Iris was already there when Jughead came to Pop's, she sometimes ordered fries and onion rings and she shared them with him as if it was the most natural thing to do. They liked to dip them in vanilla milkshake and Jughead ate the cherry on top while Iris ate the whipped cream. They no longer wrote all the time and ended up spending entire evenings doing nothing but dipping fries in the vanilla shake and talking, sharing far-fetched theories about Jason Blossom's death or discussing literature and Tarantino movies.

Jughead kept using dry humor to drag her when things became a little too intimate or when a conversation made him uncomfortable. Iris could take a hint and tried not to talk about these again – the first time, it was about his family. It was three weeks after they first met. She stord it I the touchy subjects drawer in her head and never mentioned it again, despite her curiosity. Everything about him stung her curiosity though, she couldn't help it.

After so many hours spent in his company, she began to form a clearer imagine of his persona. He was obviously trying to create a certain image with his sardonic humor and dark clothes, he wanted to the perceived a certain way by other people, but all the information she managed to gather about him was that he was a gigantic movie buff, a classic literature nerd and that he would sell his soul for a white peach milkshake.

He was pretty cute too when he stopped acting like a grump and smiled every so often. It made such a difference when he smiled, but she rarely got to see it first hand. One day though, he did grin from ear to ear, just for her, and the picture was engraved in her mind. It was a normal day. She wanted to come early to Pop's but Jughead was already there when she walked in.

He made a little hand gesture to say hi and deleted something he just wrote, unhappy with how it sounded. He had downed three cups of coffee and barely got any shut eye that night, as proved by the circles under his eyes. Iris sat down next to him. Not across from him. Next to him.

"What are you doing?" Jughead asked, raising his head and staring at her like she had grown a third eye in the middle of the forehead.

He instinctively pulled back a little as he was taken by surprise when she simply sat down so close to him, not even bothered by the sudden proximity. They had never been this close before, they usually kept a polite distance, even if most of the time, they leaned over the table and shared their theories in a hushed, excited tone.

She was grinning like the Cheshire Cat - which couldn't be a good sign, right?

"I have something to show you," she declared proudly, her smile widening a little more.

Jughead noticed there was a thin red gash on her cheek. The kind of wound you got when someone wearing a ring slapped you across the face, or when a small branch whipped you.

"You're bleeding," he said in response, effectively making Iris' smile drop.

"What?!" Her hand flew to her nose, thinking she had a nosebleed.

"No, not there. On your cheek," Jughead took a tissue and applied it to the gash before letting her hold it in place.

"Oh thank," she said. "Anyway, as I was saying, I have something to show you."

"Now?" He groaned, his eyes drifting toward his laptop and cup of coffee.

"Yes now!" She rolled her eyes at him. "I would've told you sooner but I have to way of contacting you!"

"Before you drag me out of my temple of solitude I have questions," Jughead sighed. "First, what is it that's so urgent that I cannot finish my coffee? And second, why are you dressed like a lumberjack?"