Circumlocution ≫ Jarchie

[Chapter Twelve]

Two Years Ago

"You really wrote these for me?" Archie gasped, holding the book in his hands. Jughead just nodded and blushed.

"Because I know I can be... distant sometimes. I don't try to be, it just happens." He mumbled. "And I want you to know I love you a lot even though I'm not good at showing it because it's hard for me to express that." He sighed.

Archie sat still with a book of poems in his hand, and honestly he felt like he was going to cry. No one has ever done anything that sweet for him. Jughead even got it bound like a real book. He began to flip through the pages and settled on one in the middle, reading it with wide eyes and a soft smile.

"Juggy..." he choked up, tears threatening to spill as he looked back up to his boyfriend.

"What's wrong? You don't like it? I mean I'm not that good of a writer I didn't really expect you to-" he began to ramble nervously.

"No, no it's amazing. You write amazingly. It was just really beautiful, that's all. I didn't even know you could write like that." Archie assured, wiping a few tears away before opening his arms out to Jughead who gladly crawled into them.

"Thank you Arch." He smiled to himself. He didn't really know how Archie was going to react to the book. He had spent months in his room writing the poems, at first never expecting to let Archie see them.

Writing was the only time he ever felt at peace. It was the only time he felt free, and the only time he ever felt like things weren't so bad. He started writing around the time he stopped cutting. It was a good substitute, an even better one that Archie and Jelly Bean both approved of. Writing became one of the only things he liked to do. It was something that nobody could take away from him, especially since his father managed to take everything from him. He took away his pride, his humility, his worth, and his faith, but nobody could take away his writing.

"I love you so much, you know that?" Archie smiled as he hugged Jughead tighter. Jughead nodded in response, but he didn't know. He didn't know that. Something in his head would never let him believe it, but he always liked hearing it. "What do you want to do today? We could stay in or we could-"

"Go roller skating!" Jughead pulled away excitedly.

"Alright that's out of the ordinary." Archie chuckled.

"It'll be fun." Jughead rolled his eyes before getting up.

"I've never been roller skating before." Archie admitted.

"Then this is really going to be fun." Jughead smirked. "Don't worry, I'll teach you."

"No you won't! You're going to laugh at me when I fall on the ground." Archie pouted.

"Okay, but after that I'll teach you." Jughead giggled, causing Archie to smile. He'd do anything to hear that sound. "C'mon get dressed. And after that we can go wherever you want to eat and I'm paying for it because I hate when you pay all the time." He pointed out.

"Why?"

"You know why." Jughead groaned before pulling Archie off the couch.

"Fine, fine." Archie laughed.

***

"Okay, I hate roller skating." Archie grumbled from his position on the floor as Jughead continued laughing at him, tears flowing shamelessly out of his eyes. "Are you going to help me up or just continue making fun of me." He pouted, reaching his hands up to Jughead. The latter wiped some of his tears away before accepting the gesture, only to get pulled down by Archie so he landed right on top of him. Jughead busted into another fit of laughter as Archie laughed too, the two lovebirds oblivious to the world around them as they sat on the floor laughing their heads off.

"Guess I found something that Archie Andrews isn't good at." Jughead giggled before rolling off of him and picking himself back up. Archie tried to do the same but ended up falling on his butt again, earning more laughter from Jughead.

"How are you so good at this." Archie shook his head, holding out his arms again before Jughead actually helped him up.

"We used to come here a lot. Before my dad started getting bad and my mom left." Jughead said awkwardly, still holding Archie's hand and gently getting him to skate with him.

"What was your mom like?" Archie questioned softly.

"She was beautiful." Jughead admitted. "She was kind, caring, and she loved us a lot. I'm not sure why she left. I guess the only thing I don't like about her is that she didn't take us with her." He finished.

"I get that." Archie nodded, wobbling a little and squeezing Jughead's hand for support.

"What about your mom? What's she like?"

"She's very... I don't know. We face time every week but we're not close. She takes her job very seriously and that's really all I know about her. She tries to get me to open up to her but I haven't seen her in person since I was about 3. I can't really say much about her because she hasn't given me the chance to learn much about her." Archie shrugged.

"I get that too." Jughead smiled.

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Another update cuz it's almost Christmas and I'm excited.