hungry | bughead

Saccharine Syrup

The sunlight reflected off red satin sheets that morning. Veronica Lodge, lying in bed with her legs twisted in the sheets. Her shiny dark hair framed her groggy face and rosy cheeks. It was Saturday, a whole five days after witnessing Betty and Jughead's date and the brunette still made attempts to avoid them.

She wasn't angry, she just was . . . nervous. She was scared her friend would not accept her after what she did to the blossoming couple. Veronica tried to break them up, which is not something best friends do.

Veronica sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes and checked the time; 8:43. She groaned and lied back down in bed. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, but in reality was only ten minutes. She couldn't sleep. The guilt set her heart ablaze and it clenched sorely and felt empty. She had to fix this.

Archie was sleeping. He slept because it was the only thing besides playing the guitar that let him relax. His dream was pretty fearful though, flashbacks of Betty when she cried, a compilation of  all the times Archie ditched her for Veronica, and a dramatic reenactment of Betty and Jughead's date floated in his mind. He turned forcefully in his sleep and groaned in anger and sadness at the memories.

His eyes finally opened. The sun peeked through his curtains and birds chirped sweet melodies outside. He tossed his sheets off his legs and sighed. He was tired of feeling guilty. Tired of being sad. Tired of being without his best friend Jughead.

Archie stood up and looked into the mirror. He had grey bags under his eyes and dry lips. His back cracked loudly as he stretched his arms. He sighed and began combing his fingers through his hair.

  His mother came to the door, "Archie, Veronica is here to see you."

  The redhead walked to his phone to see it was barely 9:24. He groaned and opened the door. Veronica marched in quickly, her small black purse hitting against her leg. She wore something surprisingly simple. Black jeans and a large striped blouse that lied at her shoulders. The brunette was breathing heavily, Archie didn't know why, but she seemed like she was nervous.

  "Archiekins hurry and come with me."

  The male teen yawned and rubbed his left eye, "Ronnie, I don't know what's going on but-"

"It's about Betty and Jughead."

Archie stared at her for a long time before finally speaking, "Ron, I don't want to bother them anymore after what happened."

  Veronica sighed loudly and grabbed his cheeks, pulling his face closer to hers, "It's nothing bad. Now get dressed and come with me."

  The redheaded boy sighed and began searching for a decent outfit to wear. Veronica stayed out the door and made a phone call. As soon as Archie emerged from his room Veronica dragged him out by his arm and began making her way down the stairs at a quick pace.

  He has no idea where he was going, and his parents didn't either. Veronica could care less. Her black limousine awaited them outside accompanied by her butler Smithers. He smiled at the two and opened the door.

  The black haired teen called Betty. 
 
  "Hello Betty! I'm coming to your house! Invite Jughead over too! Toodles!"

  The redhead stared at her wide eyed with his mouth dropped open. She smiled at him before tapping quickly on her phone.

  Betty was, to be frank, scared. Veronica had been avoiding her since she saw the blonde while on her date with Jughead. On top of that, Veronica hates Jughead, so having to ask him over per Veronica's request was very suspicious. Jughead was already at her house. The two lied on Betty's bed, listening to the soft music in the background as Jughead watched Betty write in her diary.

  The doorbell rang. The  couple heard Betty's parents open the door. There was chatter, then a lot of noise. They escaped the blonde's room and began their trek down the stairs.

The scene before them was shocking. An entire buffet was laid out before them; a breakfast buffet. Jughead could barely peel his eyes away from the glorious display before him. Pancakes and waffles and sausage, bacon and eggs and toast and juice and yogurts. Betty was confused, but she was also hungry. A van was parked outside which many people entered and exited, bringing food into the home. The next thing to arrive was various pastries, muffins, doughnuts, bagels and much more.

Veronica was the mastermind behind it all. She had to make it up to them. Jughead loved food; and Betty loved compassion. Veronica planned to show a lot of compassion.

Betty's parents had already made themselves comfortable and already taken their share of food from the buffet. Archie also treated himself to a few pieces of bacon and small pastries. Jughead was practically drooling as he stood still and awaited Betty's reaction. The blonde was still in awe of it all. Veronica brought a breakfast buffet? It was strange, but Veronica had always been full of surprises. 

  The brunette brought a plate of waffles and held it out for Betty, "Would you like some?" she smiled. Betty hesitated a bit, but let a soft smile decorate her lips. Jughead figured he could help himself to the rest and left after running his hand along the small of his girlfriend's back. 

  The tension in the room was thick. The only thing that distracted from the awkward air was Caramel rubbing against Betty's leg; and even then the silence was still only broken by the clattering of silverware on plates. Jughead sat on the couch, which he usually did at the Cooper's home, and Archie shuffled over with light steps. What he would say he didn't know, but he was ready to make it clear he regretted what he had done. 

Jughead was first to react, watching Archie from the corner of his eyes, "What?"

The redhead took a large gulp and sat down.  The words in his mind fumbled to his tongue, "I'm-I'm so sorry."

Jughead looked at him through his half-lidded eyes and smirked,"So you bribed me with food so you could talk to me. You're too smart Andrews."

Archie chuckled, "Veronica bribed you. I just came to apologize to my best friends."

The black-haired male smiled this time, "You are forgiven. But next time me and Betty do something together, don't be an ass. Don't follow us."

Archie blushed at smiled shyly, "I promise."

Veronica could barely hold herself together. She picked up the syrup from the table and made her way towards Betty. It was hard for her to think of anything to say without almost crying again. She wished she never did those things to her blonde friend.

The brunette sat next to Betty on the opposite couch from Archie and Jughead, where the blonde watched them intensely. Veronica smiled and handed her the syrup. Betty smiled awkwardly and poured the sweet substance over her waffles. She stared at Veronica for a few seconds cutting a piece of her breakfast.

"Why did you bring me all this food?"

Veronica sighed and turned to face Betty, "I'm so sorry. I'm such a terrible friend I should never have done that I'm so stupid and selfish and-"

"Stop it. You are none of those things Ron. You were mad, it's okay. I know you don't like Jughead and that our relationship was a bit shocking to you and you weren't happy about it. It's okay. That's just how you are believe me I'd know."

Veronica could feel the tears wanting to escape her eyes again. She hugged Betty tightly and repeated apologies over and over again.

Betty hugged her back and smiled brightly, "Come on now, help me eat all of this food."

"I have to, the caterer cost me $500."

They both giggled and made their way back to the kitchen, Archie and Jughead trailing behind.