Circumlocution ≫ Jarchie

[Chapter Twenty-Five]

Present

"Thank you for today." Archie says shyly as they head back on the road, now cruising down Main Street.

"Thank you for today." Jughead says back, reaching over to grab his right hand and intertwining their fingers. "In a perfect world things would work out between us." He smiles.

"They would." Archie insists, giving his hand a squeeze.

"But this world isn't perfect." He repeats.

"But what if it was?" Archie whines. "What if... what if you came to London with me? Is that crazy?" He asks excitedly.

"It is crazy." Jughead laughs.

"No. Think about it. Nothing is here for you anymore. You can come with me to London and be there for my surgery and if things don't turn out right you can always come back here. But if things do turn out okay with my surgery you can stay there with me and we can try again. We'd work. You can write as much as you want and hell yeah I'm going to force you to go to therapy but I'd be there with you and we can just leave everything in the past." Archie starts to ramble.

"Archie... don't say things like that." Jughead laughs nervously.

"Why not? I mean it. Come to London with me. I'll have my mom buy you the ticket right now she won't say no to me. Do you have a passport?" He practically bounces up and down in his seat.

"Yeah but-"

"Perfect! C'mon! What's holding you back?" He frowns.

"This is the apartment right here." Jughead gestures for Archie to turn, which he does with a roll of the eyes before putting the car in park.

"What's the problem?"

"Archie. I just saw you for the first time in a year. I'm just coming to terms with forgiving you over the whole Jelly Bean thing. I just confessed my love for you that I've been trying to suppress for a year. I owe fucking drug money. My life is in shambles. I'm unstable. I just found out that you have cancer and a 30% chance of making it out of surgery alive. This is all too much to soak in right now." Jughead starts to ramble as well, shaking his leg out of anxiousness.

"Think about it on the plane ride to London. It's a pretty long ride. I know you've always said you've wanted to go on a plane before." Archie raises an eyebrow.

"Archie. This is serious." Jughead huffs.

"I know it's serious. I'm being serious."

"Why do you think this is going to work?"

"Because I love you with all my heart and fate had to have brought us together today. Just, please say yes Juggy. It would mean the whole entire world to me." Archie begs, staring at the raven haired beauty intently.

"I can change my mind at any time?" Jughead sighs.

"Anytime before we get on the plane and after we land in London, yeah."

"Then I'll go pack my stuff." Jughead smiles brightly.

"Really?!" Archie claps his hands.

"Yeah. Why not? Like you said, there's not much here for me now." Jughead shrugs.

"Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is happening!" Archie laughs before pecking him on the cheek quickly and practically opening the door for him. "Hurry up and get your stuff."