Dark Hearts || Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones [1]

You Know Him

YOU KNOW HIM

Everyone else is probably asleep by now, but Ellie Cooper can't close her eyes without seeing Jason's dead body. So she decides it's best to go take some fresh air, so she exits her house and is welcomed by the cold air outside. Ellie sits down on the small stairs, a blanket, she brought with her, wrapped around her body, and a mug, with tea, in her hands.

The sound of a door slamming catches her attention, and Ellie turns her head over to the house next to hers. She watches Archie climb down his steps, and a part of her wonders where he's heading to so late at night.

Archie jumps slightly when he notices the lights are on in Eleanor's front porch, and that's when he notices her, for the first time. She stands up as he approaches her.

"Ellie." He frowns in confusion, because why would she be outside so late. "Are you ok?"

"I can't sleep."

"Jason?" Archie guesses.

"Can't take that picture out of my head." She mumbles, her eyes empty.

"Yeah. Me neither." He looks down at his feet, a question haunting him as he looks back at her now. "Ellie, are we ok?"

Ellie sighs with the sudden call to reality, and nods. "Sure. You're one of my best friends."

"Speaking of that," Archie starts, and it pokes her curiosity, so he continues. "I talked to Jughead. He said you tried to talk to him."

"You talked to him?" There's this giant smile on her face, right now.

"Not much, just found him at Pop's." He shrugs, and takes a step forward due to his own curiosity this time. "But you never told me why he got mad at you? I mean, I know why he stopped talking to me but..."

"Let's just say that" Ellie looks down inside her mug, with her sad green eyes. "I wasn't a very good friend."

Archie tries to comfort her. "You're one of the best friends I could ask for." 

"Thanks, Arch." She sighs loudly, and says her goodbye. "Well have a good run. I'll go inside now, it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah, sweet dreams."

. . .

Betty got up rather early.

When Eleanor wakes up, from the very few hours of sleep she managed to get, she walks up to her window, in hopes to get a little sun to boost her energy, but instead she sees her sister and the red-haired boy next door walking together on the side walk to school. A smile appears on her face. She's happy those two are back to properly speaking with each other, and that gives her some hope that things can move on and even, who knows, get better. 

The worst part about this morning is yet to come, because once again Eleanor has to face breakfeast with her parents, alone.

"It's gonna be a long night for us." Hal smiles.

"It's going to be a lot of late nights." Alice corrects. "I mean, an acidental drowning, who cares? But the sociopathic son of the wealthiest family in town, murdered?"

Ellie looks down at her food, and sighs. "This is why I don't have breakfeast most mornings."

"She's right, Alice." Hal warns, he can understand that talking about this is painful to his daughter, he was her friend, after all. Despite everything.

"Again?" She looks over at her husband. "First with Betty and now –."

"I'll go now." Eleanor stands up, she isn't in the mood to witness yet another fight between the Coopers. She's tired of those. "Have a good day."