Circumlocution ≫ Jarchie

[Chapter Eight]

Trigger Warning: Abuse
Two Years Ago

A boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes continued to glance over Archie from afar, making sure that the redhead knew he was checking him out. Archie just smirked back before shaking his head and watching his boyfriend smile and continue to teach a little girl who went by the name of Penny. Jughead tutored a few 5th graders at the library from time to time to make some extra money for him and Jelly Bean. He honestly didn't mind waiting around for him to finish tutoring, but it was utterly boring.

"I'm Clay." A voice sounded from the left of him. Archie looked up at the blonde lazily who decided to take the seat next to him.

"Archie."

"So, what brings you here? You like watching children?" He asks, causing Archie to chuckle a bit.

"Actually, my little one is in there." Archie responded casually.

"You have a child? Not gonna lie, that's a little bit of a turn off."

"You know what's even more of a turn off? My little one is the attractive one teaching the little girl math." Archie laughed before pointing at Jughead.

"Ahh, so you have a boyfriend. The cute ones are always taken." Clay shrugs.

"So does that mean you're taken?" Archie raised an eyebrow, unconsciously flirting back. Old habits die hard.

"As a matter of fact, I am, but I don't really remember that sometimes." Clay hinted.

"So then what are you doing here?"

"I work here, I'm taking my break." He shrugged.

"Must get pretty boring at a library."

"Uhuh, but I usually find some way to pass the time." Clay smirked before getting up. "I better get back to work, maybe I'll see you around?" He said hopefully.

"Maybe." Archie smiled slightly. From there on, waiting for Jughead to finish tutoring became way more interesting. Archie wouldn't say Clay was a friend, because they didn't do anything but flirt and tease each other, but he also wouldn't say they were more than friends. Archie wouldn't dare to put a hand on Clay, no matter how much he did everything but beg him to.

As time continued and Archie and Jughead got more serious, the last thing on Archie's mind was Clay. It was a snowy day in December when Archie was glad he decided to stay in the car and talk to Reggie about the upcoming game they had tomorrow instead of messing around with Clay. Jughead came running out of the library 10 minutes earlier than usual with a frantic look on his face. He looked about on the verge of tears and Archie gasped when he saw the sight.

"Reggie I'm going to have to go." He said urgently before hanging up the phone and unlocking the door as Jughead reached for the door and got in.

"You have to take me to my house. My sister is there and my dad is there and we just have to go please!" Jughead said urgently as he buckled in his seatbelt and stared at his boyfriend.

"Whaa-" Archie began.

"Drive!" Jughead yelled, causing Archie to buckle up and step on the gas.

The two had been dating for about a half a year. That being said, Archie still didn't know much about Jughead. He didn't know about the abuse or the patterns of new scars on his boyfriend's wrist. He didn't know about the mental breakdowns or the alcohol or his dad. Archie didn't know anything about the raven haired beauty except for the fact that he loved him, and that's the one thing Jughead could never grasp.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Archie begged as he continued driving almost 20 miles over the speed limit.

"I think you're about to find out." He replied sadly.

Ten minutes later, they appeared at the crime scene and Jughead practically ran out of the car. Yelling could be heard from inside the lonely house along with the shatter of glass. It was then that things were starting to click for Archie. He ran after his boyfriend who was making his way up the steps, fumbling with his keys to open the door. Jughead let out a sigh of relieve when he was finally able to open the door while Archie just stared at the scene in front of him dumbfounded.

FP stood over Jelly Bean with a broken beer bottle in his hand, his Jawline set in anger and his eyes filled with void. Jelly Bean laid on the floor with her hand held to her cheek and her eyes closed shut with fear. To Archie, this was hell, but to Jughead? It was a blessing.

To Jughead, it could've been much worse. In fact, it has gotten much, much worse. This? This was a relief. Jughead lunged in front of her body, hugging her to his chest as his father fumed at the sight of him.

"There you are. I've been looking for you." FP seethed before smashing his bottle on the ground. "This place is a mess. Can you not do anything right?"

Jughead glanced at Archie for a spilt second before getting up and turning to his dad. "Okay, I'll clean it now." He said quietly before getting met with a harsh slap to the face, sending him staggering backwards.

"It should've been done before I got home." He yelled, pushing him towards the ground to get him out of the way of the staircase. Jughead landed on a shard or two of glass as FP made his way up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut with a bang.

At once, Jelly Bean and Archie both ran up to Jughead and lifted him up as he moaned in pain. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I should've-" Jughead began, staring guiltily into his sister's eyes.

"You wouldn't have known he was coming. It's not your fault." Jelly Bean reassured before gesturing for Archie to start attempting to take the glass from the beer bottle out of his back.

"It's my job to protect you and I didn't. You're hurt." Jughead frowned, reaching an arm out to her cheek. Archie bit his lip before lifting Jughead's shirt up and inspecting the damage. The glass wasn't in too deep to hurt anything, all it needed was a little tug although there would be some breathing.

"This is going to hurt a little bit." Archie said softly before beginning to pull out the shards. Jughead whimpered and whined a bit at the sharp pain, but Jelly Bean made sure to soothe him until Archie was done.

"I'm sorry we have to meet on such bad circumstances, but I'm Jelly Bean." She smiled before sticking her hand out to Archie.

"I know. He talks about you a lot. I'm Archie." The redhead tried to smile, but he just couldn't. He had so many questions and felt so much pain.

"I know. He talks about you a lot too." She smiled, ignoring the expression on his face. She knew he must have hundreds of questions, but it wasn't her place to answer them. "So, I'll just be over there pretending that I can't hear your conversation." She said sheepishly before walking a few feet away and sitting on the couch.

"I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore." Jughead said softly.

"Why wouldn't I? You're not making any sense." Archie furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why would you?" He mumbled.

"Why do you think this would change anything? Why did you keep this from me?"

"Because now you know how worthless I am." He barely whispered. Archie said nothing, to shocked at the statement to do anything at all. "He hates me as much as I hate me, and that's saying a lot." He began crying. That's when Archie wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and tried to assure him that everything would he alright when it wasn't. Nothing was ever going to be alright and Jughead knew this, but he allowed the redhead to whisper these sweet fantasies into his ear.

The rest of the night was spent by Jughead confessing everything; the abuse, the self harm, and the constant hatred. That night, Archie learned everything he needed to know about Jughead but it didn't really matter.

None of those facts interfered with the one he knew all along; Archie loved Jughead.

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I have so many ideas for this now I'm so excited. You have no ideaaaaaaa. Watch me get bored of this again though ugh I hope not.