Jealousy

• 10 •

    

"Fred wasn't comfortable with having a girl around in the house, especially with Archie's recent cycle of girls so you can't stay there. Although Fred did say that if you needed anything else, he would be happy to oblige." Jughead said quietly, rubbing small circles on Y/Ns back. She had been sitting on the lawn of her newly burned down apartment building, watching as the embers glowed and ash fell from the sky like a black snow. She stayed silent, and Jughead couldn't blame her too much, all that she had worked so hard for was being doused in water, everything in her life seemed to be falling apart.
     "My dad on the other hand gave me a call, heard what had happened on the local news and said that if you needed a place to stay, you could come and sleep at our trailer for a few nights... or as long as you need." Y/N shook her head slightly, looking over at the other people affected by the fire, their apartments hadn't been spared either. The fire caught on quick, and the whole building of four homes were destroyed.
     "What about them?" Y/N mumbled, and Jughead looked at her confused.
     "What do you mean?" he asked, and Y/N nodded in the direction of the other 3 families. One was a single mother who had two kids, she was crying to an officer and her kids were by her side, both young and confused and scared. Jughead looked over at the mother, he knew of her. She had just recently gotten out of a bad relationship, she used to live by Archie and after the divorce was forced into these apartments, living right next door to Y/N. He had remembered several times where Y/N would go over and watch her kids for her while she worked because she couldn't afford daycare, and when she would try to pay Y/N for her time she refused to take it.
     His eyes fell on the people who lived under Y/N, a man and a woman who were newly out of high school, they had graduated last year and Jughead remembered seeing them in the halls when he was a freshman. They had been together all of high school according to rumors, and moved together right when they got out. They often invited Y/N and Jughead down for dinner, they enjoyed the company and always thanked them for not being rowdy loud kids. They were waiting a year until they went off to college, although he was sure they now regretted their decision.
     His gaze finally found the last family whose home was destroyed in the blaze, an old man and woman. Jughead had seen them plenty of times, Y/N often went over to their apartment under the singles mothers and helped out around the house. They didn't have much in their home, always claimed that they didn't need materialistic things as long as they had eachother, and Jughead had always admired that about them. He could only hope that one day he'd feel the same way, and he couldn't lie, he had always hoped it would be with Y/N. He watched as they spoke to the officer, both of them obviously upset about the whole situation.
     "They'll figure it out, I have faith in them." Jughead said, and Y/N just sighed.
     "They shouldn't have to, this is all my fault!" she said, and Jughead shook his head, pulling her into him.
     "This is not your fault, this is whoever set the building on fires fault." he tried to reassure her, but she wasn't listening to reason.
     "I was the intended target, this wasn't supposed to happen to them but for some reason they got affected too, and it's all because of me!" she exclaimed, tears rolling down her eyes.
"Y/N, are you okay?" a voice asked softly, and she looked up to see Archie approaching slowly.
"Not really, but you know my house did just burn down so I think I have an excuse not to be." she sassed, her bitchy and bitter mood spewing out with every word she spoke.
"Yeah, I guess that was kind of a stupid question." Archie said, rubbing the back of his neck. Y/N shrugged slightly, not giving much thought to anything the ginger haired boy had to say. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened, and I'm sorry my dads being a stick in the mud about letting you stay with us, but we'll get this sorted out soon, promise."
"Oh really, is that a promise you can actually keep?" Y/N retorted, anger bubbling up. "Because at this point Archie, I doubt you can keep these motherfucking psychopaths away from me, from killing me, or burning down the next building I happen to settle into. Wanna know why I doubt that? Because you're a teenage boy, and if the police can't do jack shit for me, then what makes you think you can?"
"Okay, that's enough." Jughead said, placing his hand on Y/Ns shoulder but she slapped his hand away.
"Look, I'm just trying to give you some hope in all of this, I didn't mean to offend you." Archie apologized, and Y/N rolled her eyes, her gaze falling back to the burnt building before her.
"I'm going to go talk to somebody, see if we can get some protection for you." Jughead said after a few seconds of silence between the three of them. He stood up and made his way to the officers, and Archie just stood, staring down at the y/h/c girl. Try as he might, even when he was with Betty he couldn't shake the feelings he harbored for Y/N, and he hated that she was going through this. It seemed like her light was fading away, and he wanted nothing more to catch it before it was gone for good.
"I don't mean to be a bitch to you, Arch-" she started.
"Don't worry about it, you've got a good excuse to be." he said, giving a fake laugh in an attempt to lift the heavy gloom between them.
"Doesn't matter, you're only trying to help, although I think it's useless. Don't waste any resources or optimism on the girl who's destined for death." she commented harshly, and Archie sat beside her in Jugheads previous seat.
     "I wouldn't say I'm wasting it, anyways it seems like you could use some optimism, I don't like how that sentence sounded." Archie lightly teased, but Y/N just scoffed.
     "Was it not chipper enough? Sorry, I'm in such a great mood although I'm being hunted, my house is burnt down, and everything I've worked for in Riverdale is now reduced to ash. Man, I fucking love life." Y/N spat, glaring at Archie and giving a fake smile. "Better?"
     "You know what? Life sucks sometimes, and hell, it's not fair to anyone 100% of the time, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be a bitch to the people who are just trying to help you out, make life a little easier. Yes, anyone would agree that your situation is more serious and extreme than the usual persons, but you can still find the kindness in your heart to have a little compassion for those around you as well. We're just trying to help." Archie fumed, standing from his seat next to her. Y/N stood up as well and grabbed his hand as he tried to walk away, turning him to face her.
      "I'm sorry, I just- I don't know what to do now, I'm alone and homeless and I've got a target on my back." she cried out, squeezing Archie's hand and he pulled her into a hug, embracing her tightly.
"Just let the police take care of this, Y/N. Lay low, don't go to school, I'll get your school work from the teachers, we can figure this out." Archie said, holding onto the sobbing girl.
     "What if I get someone else hurt? Wherever I go, they'll find me! I can't be around people, what if they go after them too?" she questioned in between cries, trying to calm herself to the soothing feeling of Archie's warmth against the cold.
      "Those who love you will only want to help keep you safe, no matter the cost. It doesn't worry them, you'll be okay." he said and she nodded into his chest.
     "You're not going to leave me, are you?" she asked quietly, and he shook his head.
     "No, absolutely not. I love you, I'm not going anywhere." he said, and he felt as Y/N tensed up. She slowly backed away and looked up at the red haired boy, confusion and interest written all over her face.
     "What?" she asked, wiping a tear from her face. Before he could answer though, Jughead came and wrapped his arm around Y/Ns waist, slightly pulling on her.
     "I think it's time we go home, you need some rest, and maybe some tea." Jughead said softly, and Y/N nodded.
     "Sounds good." she said, not taking her eyes off Archie. What did he mean he loved her? Like a friend love or did he still harbor those feelings from all that time ago?
     "Night Archie." Jughead said, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist as they began to walk away.
     "Night Jug, goodnight Y/N, talk to the both of you soon?" Archie called as they walked away, and Jughead just put up a thumbs up as an answer.
     Y/N and Jug walked most of the way silently to the trailer, Y/N huddling into Jugheads side. Her mind was racing, thoughts of her burnt apartment, those other poor families, and Archie's confession. It was all becoming too much to handle and all she wanted was to cuddle with Jughead and forget this whole day. She felt bad though, a little guilty because no matter how much she wished she didn't, she was a little excited at Archie's confession. Her chest warmed up slightly at the thought of being in love with him, although she didn't know if she'd ever love him as much as she did Jughead. She was torn, and didn't know what she was going to do-
     "Y/N?" Jughead said softly, looking her deep into her eyes. She hadn't noticed they'd stopped walking or that he was right in front of her.
     "Yes Jug?"
     "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, and she shrugged.
     "Not exactly, but I'll get through it." she said, and she brought her into an embrace.
      "I'm so sorry, your strong and I'll help you in any way I can, you know that right?" Jughead asked, and she nodded into his chest, holding onto him tighter. "I love you, you know that right?" he asked, and again she nodded.
     "I love you too," she said, this is what she wanted, no matter how much the thought of Archie tempted her. This felt right, safe, like home. They broke apart and he took her hand, walking the rest of the way to the trailer.
     "What were you and Archie talking about?" Jughead asked, breaking the silence once again, and Y/N slightly panicked.
     "Nothing really, I just kind of cried and he was attempting to soothe me." she said, and Jughead nodded.
     "And nothing else happened?" Jughead asked, and more panic set in. Did he know?
     "No." she slightly lied, and her heart sank. What was she supposed to tell him though?