One taste of her poison, and he was addicted
"You've always said I'm full of venom, maybe it's time I bite." -JR
#12 in riverdale
#4 in archie
#1 in Jughead
#1 in serpent
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Bella hugged her knees as she perched on one of the broken down trucks left idly in the field. The sun was high in the sky as it blared down on the open space, reflecting off of the large screen plastered towering in the distance.
Bella sighed as she dropped her head slightly so it would rest on jugheads shoulder, still content on watching the old movie shuffling on screen. He chuckled lightly through a mouthful of popcorn and peered down at the petite girl.
Something he had missed for those two absent years was the comfort they had once found in one another. Bella had normally bulldozed her way through life with a sharp tongue and sarcastic comments.
But he missed the side of her that no one normally saw, the girl who would take emotionally captivating images and send her story through a lens.
There was one photo that he truly loved, one that brought imagination into an other wise bleak life.
A 9 year old boy stood on top of a rusted car, hands outstretched and peering up toward the bright blue sky. His crown beanie clung to his head, ignoring the visible wind whipping through the air.
A smaller girl, his sister, was lying on the bonnet and rolling her eyes at his behaviour. But it was Bella who captured it, allowing the suns flare to splash against his skin and for his silhouette to dance against the Polaroid.
Black sharpie scrawled underneath; the king of the castle, the prince of the serpents.
*******
"The drive in closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is riverdale... no forget riverdale, the American dream." A delicate hand fell against jugheads shoulder as he raved against the closure of the beloved theatre.
He looked up to see Bella Rhodes softly smiling at him as she refilled the mug of luke warm coffee.
"We get it, you're a movie buff." She grinned, not bothering to look up at the pair sitting in the same booth. As she was about to retreat her hand back against her frame, jughead quickly enclosed his against her own; leaving a shock of pulse tracing her skin.
He looked up with solemn eyes and she could read the pain in seconds, nodding slightly in recollection.
"We will fight Jug, we will fight with all we have." At her comment his hand fell and his frown replaced with a soft smile.
The comforting moment shattered as another piped in, the peace slashing against the brunettes skin as it clattered to the floor.
"Bella." Betty Cooper pleaded, forcing the gaze of the serpent to snap viscously toward the blonde. She scowled as she stepped back into the walkway, ready to storm back past the counter for solitude.
"Sorry Bets, I forget you think you're an archaeologist; digging up the past even when asked not to." Bella muttered, spinning on her heels and heading straight back into privacy.
"Wow, what a bitch." Veronica snarled, sipping on the milkshake she had encased in her hands. Jugheads gaze snapped to the new girl, eyes narrowing down on her petite frame.
"Maybe tone down the commentary Veronica, Bella may seem like a bitch to you. But at least she knows when to shut up." He argued, already on edge with his favourite place closing. Veronica fell back into the seat and nodded, pulling her gaze to her hands.
Bella idly watched the customers through out the night, noticing when jughead got into another rant about the drive in as his body hunched and hands flailed.
What she couldn't predict was the music teacher waltzing in with the familiar redhead, and for the tension to be impeccable. Bella watched in interest as Betty rose from her seat and darted toward the trio that was the Andrews family and gundry.
She saw the anxiety rage in the freckled boy as he was pulled outside, soon followed by a raven haired girl in curiosity. Bella slipped back into the walk way and headed to jughead, now the only one left in the confused booth.
"What was that about?" She asked as she jumped over the boy so she could sit and lean against the window.
"Teen drama gone wrong." He replied, handing her the cold basket of fries that were left half eaten on the table. Bella curled her knees so she could rest her chin on them and grinned at the scrawny boy.
"Sounds ominous. Imagine Archie Andrews breaking the rules for a teacher. And Gundry none the less." She fathomed, taking and handful of chips and almost inhaling the lot.
Jughead didn't reply at her comment, and just gave her a pointed look. One Bella knew too well.
"No." She almost burst out laughing, a hand clasped around her red lips.
"No, you're joking aren't you." She continued, shaking her head as a fit of laughter rang into the air. Jughead didn't need to say a word for her to know what he meant.
Riverdale had really changed when she was gone, and all the people in it. She went to climb out of the booth and investigate, curiosity the main frame of mind. But jughead clamped his hands against the table so she couldn't clamber out, and shook his head.
"No Pea, don't go stir the pot." He remarked with a slanted brow, and a sly grin. She huffed in response and fell back against the window, peering out to see a heated argument roll off into the air.
"Next you'll tell me you have a thing for our English teacher." She grinned wickedly, eyes flared with something other than interest.
"Oh yeah, ofcourse." Jughead replied, narrowing his gaze jokingly at the girl next to him.
"I mean it would make sense, I don't think I can remember you ever liking somebody. Maybe you just couldn't tell me because it was a teacher." Bella laughed at her comment, but something she said had sent the boy mute.
He looked down at his hands for a moment and played with the half empty basket still left idly on the table.
"Jug I was joking." Bellas voice was softer, a hand falling against his bicep as she tried to grab his attention. He turned with a new smile painted on his lips and pulled the beanie further down.
"I've known you for long enough, I think I'd know if you liked someone." She chuckled, grabbing the beanie and shoving in on her head. Jughead protested but let her have it still, noticing the way it fitted her perfectly and matched her wide smile.
If only she could've seen from his prospective, maybe then she would know she was wrong.
