You Got Me || Jughead Jones

The Wrestler // Part Two

The next few days passed in a blur of storytelling and laughter. Felicity and I got along so well, it was like we had known each other our whole lives.

"Wait, wait." I attempted to catch my breath as I wiped tears from my cheeks. "He got stuck inside the thing?"

She nodded, biting her lip to keep her smile hidden. "And the door was jammed shut so it took them another two hours to get him out."

"Oh, God." I took a deep breath before drinking my water. "Your poor brother."

Felicity rolled her eyes and waved me off with her hand. She flopped down on her stomach next to me, coffee gripped tightly between her hands. "He was fine besides his pride. Anyway, whatcha working on?"

I shrugged, turning my laptop screen to face her. "New article for the school newspaper. Jughead wanted me to review it but I have a feeling it's not such a good idea."

"Why not? Seems like an interesting topic to me." Her eyes scanned the piece.

I sighed, "It wouldn't be the first time the paper's gotten backlash for something we've written. It's gotten...graphic, per se. I have a feeling this one is going to be the same way."

"Well, I think it's cool. Standing up for the truth? That's a good thing. Jughead might be onto something." She offered me a smile as she pushed my laptop back to me.

The sound of singing interrupted our conversation as I recognized it to be Veronica's voice. I groaned, looking at Felicity apologetically. "Sorry about her. I'll be right back."

Felicity nodded as I stood up. I closed my bedroom door gently behind me as I walked into the hallway, my course ending at Ronnie's bedroom. I walked in, seeing Archie sitting on the edge of her bed, guitar in his lap. My sister stood a few feet away, still singing at the top of her lungs for who knows what reason.

I cleared my throat, causing her to stop. "Hey, uh, Lis and I are trying to get some work done so do you think you can quiet down?"

Veronica turned to give me an annoyed look. "Seriously? You blare your music louder than Times Square on New Year's and you're asking me to stop singing?"

I blinked. "Uh, okay. Nevermind, forget I asked."

A rapid knock made me jump as Daddy made his way in. "Hey. What are you guys doing in here?"

"We're just working on some Picken's Day songs," My sister responded, sitting down next to her boyfriend. "Archie's agreed to help."

"Yeah, but we can take it to the living room-" Archie tried to wiggle his way out of the conversation.

Daddy held his hand out. "No, no. Not at all." He looked towards me. "Princesa?"

"Leaving." I pointed towards the door before exiting, not wanting to interrupt this any longer. I shoved my door open, a loud groan escaping my lips.

Felicity looked up from her phone, an amused look on her face. "Lose that battle?"

"She's being such a bitch," I complained as sat down next to her, pulling my laptop back to me. "Sorry, you probably didn't want to hear more family problems," I apologized.

She shook her head, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No worries, Vanna. It happens to the best of us. What do you say about some popcorn and movies until I have to leave?"

I nodded, finally closing out of Jughead's article. "I say that sounds fantastic."

--

Jughead's article went public the next day, and as predicted, not many were happy. In this case, however, I was surprised to see it was Toni that wasn't pleased with my boyfriend's work.

Currently, she was ranting her ass off to him in an empty classroom while I sat behind her on a desk. As much as I wish I could defend Jug, I knew he stepped over the line on this one. He can't twist stories around for his own benefit anymore. It's not fair.

"I get it," Toni finally calmed down enough to sigh, "You hate the Northside. You hate that instead of inviting you to a party, they asked you to work it. It triggers all your rage about being born on the wrong side of the tracks. But this?" She shoved the article in his chest. "This wasn't your story to tell."

I watched silently as she stormed from the room, her heeled boots clicking as she did so. I turned to Jug as he sighed heavily, throwing the article on the desk behind him.

"Riverdale, 100. Jughead, 0." He closed his eyes and threw his head back.

I pushed myself off the desk to walk towards him. "For what it was worth, your story was good."

I could almost feel him roll his eyes from my spot. "Sav, you and I both know I overstepped boundaries."

"Yeah," I admitted, shrugging my shoulders and my hands locked behind his neck. "But that doesn't mean you don't make up for it. Apologizing goes a long way, Jughead. You of all people should know that."

His eyes opened as he pushed a stray curl from my eyes. "You're right. But apologizing is the hardest thing to do."

"I know it is, but you owe that much to Toni and her grandfather. Fight, Jughead, but fight under someone else's orders for once." I gave him a small smile as the bell rang. "Come on, Wonder Boy. We've got class to go to."

--

My headphones found themselves tucked back in my ears, a normal since Christmas when Varchie decided to mark territory...well, everywhere. Now though, it was because Daddy was having an argument with Archie and thanks to his study being on the other side of my wall, I could hear every single word. I had already texted Ronnie so she could rescue the redhead from the evil clutches of Hiram Lodge.

After she responded with a thank you, I focused my eyes back on the book in front of me, jumping into the novel again. As I scanned the words, my eyes were distracted by the light reflecting off the ring on my finger. I blinked a few times to clear the blurry dots from my vision, the stones clear to my eyes.

There were hundreds of memories I wish I could've shared with my brother as well as my mom. I knew I'd never get them back, but instead, I was lucky to be given a better family, people who actually cared about my wellbeing. That extended onwards to Jughead, Betty, and Archie and even beyond them. Riverdale had given me a chance to start over, to make life actually count instead of letting it roll by.

My phone vibrated on my lap, pulling my attention back to reality as I noticed a text from Jughead. I placed my bookmark in between the pages before setting it down and unlocking my phone.

Apology went...somewhat well. He is making me help fix it though.

I shook my head at his disappointment with having to fix his mistake. I typed back a response and closed my phone, tossing it somewhere on my bed before opening my book again. Time to escape the drama of Riverdale and delve into the drama of a fictional universe.

--

okay once again, sorry for the shortness but there's literally no interaction between characters during this episode.