Aberration ≫ Jarchie

F I F T Y - S I X

Seventeen Years Old ❣︎ December

"Merry Christmas Eve!" The redhead greets happily as he opens the door to his house and allows FP and Jughead to come in for dinner. They haven't done something like this in ages, not since his mother left.

They haven't spoken in years, it's been about 12 or 13. He doesn't tend to think about her much anymore, in fact he can't remember much about her. There's not many pictures of her anywhere, he completely forgot what her voice sounded like, it's like he can't even remember her ever living and breathing here.

It's funny how time can do that.

Most of November and this month has been a crazy blur for him. Archie, his dad, and Jughead had a long talk about what college was best for him, and he ended up applying to about 20 schools. Some are close by, some are far, some are close by NYU. The money situation is a big issue, but that's what student loans are for and his highest concern is getting into a school first. It's not that his grades are terrible, but he's just a plain, average student. He decided he wants to major in psychology and maybe become a social worker or a therapist. He wants to help people, something him and Jughead have in common.

Bottomline, after all the stress of getting applications on time it's nice to sit down and have a nice holiday dinner run by a bunch of men who don't know how to cook.

It's the thought that counts though.

"Okay, so I was thinking pancakes?" Fred laughs. "We can add red sprinkles on them, it'll be festive." He pushes, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I'm always in the mood for pancakes. I can make the bacon?" FP adds before standing by Fred's side in the kitchen.

"I can pour orange juice into a cup?" Jughead suggests.

"I can get plates and stuff!" Archie says excitedly.

"I'm praying for you guys when you go off to college." FP laughs.

The four went to work preparing Christmas Eve dinner, which only took about thirty minutes, before setting it down on the table and digging in. The table begins to fill with mindless chatter and happy laughter as time ticked slowly on the clock behind them. As it starts to get later, Archie and Jughead clean up the table and get ready to go back to the latter's place. Archie prefers to stay the night there because Jughead's bed is bigger and they can actually sleep together.

"My gift for you kind of sucks." Jughead sighs as they're sat on the floor of his bedroom.

"I doubt it."

"It's a regift."

"Oh, well yeah maybe it might." Archie laughs.

"Okay, open it and I'll explain it." Jughead bites his lip before reaching into the space between his vanity and the wall and pulling out a wrapped package.

Archie takes the package with a smile and cleanly opens it, the way he's always done. He's not one to save wrapping paper, he just likes how it looks when it's unwrapped perfectly. His eyes widen in recognition at the sight of the hard leather cover and pretty worn pages.

"Juggy, is this..."

"Yeah." He smiles shyly.

"You kept it all this time?"

"Mhm, it really came in handy."

Archie just continues to look at the notebook and back at his boyfriend with shock before Jughead interrupts his gawking with alaugh. "Just open it already."

Archie nods before opening the front cover and looking at the title before reading it out loud.

"Thoughts From A Bad Place."

"This notebook helped me so much over the last few years and it explains a lot. I know I'm not very good at expressing my feelings or being honest about them, but everything that's happened to me and everything I've felt is in there. I couldn't really think of anything I could give you that would hold as much meaning as this, so here it goes." Jughead breathes out.

"I think I'm going to cry." Archie laughs weakly before turning the page and revealing the note he wrote when he was only 6 in his crappy handwriting.

"Dear Juggy, this is our 3rd Christmas Eve together! Can you believe that? I got this book 'cause you are really really smart. You write a lot. And you like it too. I don't see why. But I accept your interests like how you accept mine. You are really good at words. I know you are gonna be an author when you grow up! I love you! Love bestfriend, Archie Andrews" Archie reads out loud with a smile on his face.

"You trust me enough to have this?" Archie says incredulously before looking back over at Jughead.

"Yeah of course! A lot of it is about you anyways. And I hope you don't get mad at me for some of the awful things I wrote about myself. I was in a bad place okay? The last thing I want to do is worry you, that's in the past." Jughead promises as Archie nods.

"This is probably the most meaningful thing someone's ever gave to me." Archie whispers before closing the notebook and holding it close to his heart.

"Don't mention it." Jughead blushes before Archie gently lifts his chin and connects his lips to his.

"I guess I should probably give you my gift now, huh? Jelly Bean helped me make it." Archie smiles once he pulls away. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small wrapped box which Jughead takes curiously.

"Look away, I'm about to destroy wrapping paper." Jughead smirks evilly, causing Archie to roll his eyes. Jughead rips it open in two seconds and opens the box, smiling wide at the bracelet inside. It's one of those string bracelets that people make into intricate patterns, but in the middle there's a fancy charm linking the two sides together in the shape of a notebook with words engraved on the back of it.

"Change the world with the power of words." Jughead reads aloud. "I love it, I love it so much. Put it on me please?" He says eagerly.

"Of course."

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I didn't bother editing this. I got lazy. So sorry for typos and stuff. Usually I'm kinda good at catching errors I'm just out of it.

Anyways, all my books updated today 💖