delicate [Jughead x Veronica]

back to normality

Jughead

We returned from the Lodges' cabin on Sunday evening, which involved cramming all homework into one evening, which wasn't enjoyable for any of us. Betty and I headed to Pop's to  cram as much chemistry work in as possible, over a burger and a milkshake. We didn't talk much about the events of the weekend, which had been playing on my mind on repeat. Kissing Veronica.

Never had I even looked at her in any way other than a friend: an acquaintance, really, forced to be friends despite our opposite opinions on nearly everything. There was no way we couldn't be friends - I was dating her best friend, and her mine. Also, her boyfriend and her best friend were childhood friends. By all means, we should have been best friends too.

But there was always something intriguing about Veronica. The way she would defend her families actions, despite her better judgement, was almost honourable. It infuriated me at times,  because I despised her family so much, especially her father, but I respected how she stuck up for them against all odds. I know for a fact I would do the same for my father.

And although she wasn't my type, I could appreciate her beauty. She was the opposite of Betty in nearly every way, and not someone I would usually be attracted to, let alone kiss. Well - I didn't really get much say in the matter. She was kind of in front of my face with her lips against mine before I had time to protest. 

But since it happened, my opinion of Veronica Lodge had changed. I still loved Betty and only Betty, but I kept on replaying the kiss in my mind, and turning the reality into my imagination, wondering what further could have happened. I imagined my arms going to wrap around her waist, instead of flailing uselessly and awkwardly at my side. I imagined her hands going to the back of my head and tugging on my hair, her kiss deepening as she did so. I imagined Betty and Archie were gone, and it was just us two in that hot tub together, alone...

It was crazy, and every time I let my mind wander I shook it out, as if it was a catchy beat in my head playing over and over again and I was sick of it. Because I was - I shouldn't have been thinking about Veronica like this. I shouldn't be wishing I could kiss her again.

We returned to school the following day, still a bit high from our eventful weekend. The first thing on Betty's schedule was to confront Cheryl - it was her who broke it to me over the phone that Archie and Betty kissed weeks ago (the reasoning for Veronica and I kissing in the first place.) I tried to convince Betty not to say anything, but instead she just got angry at me.

"Why shouldn't I, Jughead? She almost ruined the entire weekend for us."

"But she didn't," I replied softly to counteract my girlfriends exasperated tone, grabbing her by the wrists to stop her tugging on her hair. "We had a great weekend. Interesting... but it was fine in the end - right?"

"I guess..." she murmured, looking down at the ground.

"So, let's leave it with Cheryl. We don't know what she has going on right now."

We headed to homeroom where we were joined by a very tired looking Archie Andrews, his red hair a mess and his varsity jacket adorned with stains. "Did you just roll straight out of bed, Archie?" I questioned, unable to hide my amusement.

"I went straight to bed last night, didn't do any homework and couldn't find clean clothes," he groaned, leaning back in his chair in a typical 'cool guy' fashion. "Betty, do you think I could copy your math? Mr Picer is going to kill me if it's not done."

"Sure, Arch," Betty replied with a sweet smile, and I felt a strange pang of jealousy as I watched him smile back at her. 

"Where's Veronica?" I asked suddenly, noticing her chair was still empty. Just on cue, she wandered in through the door, looking completely careless at the fact she was late. I couldn't keep my eyes off her - mainly because everyone looked at Veronica when she walked into a room, but also because she looked pretty amazing. She always made effort, but this morning she looked like she'd stepped straight out of one of those fashion magazines she always preached to us, elegant beyond her years.

"Miss Lodge, you're late," Mr Sykes sighed as she sat down right in front of Betty, diagonal to me.

"Sorry, Mr S. Monday's just aren't my thing," she smirked, glancing toward Archie who was sat beside her, before catching my eye. "Morning," she whispered, a playful look on her face.

"Morning," I managed to stammer back, my heart racing as I did so.

~~

"Ugh, Archiekins... you know if you ever come to school like this again it's going to get really hard to be your girlfriend anymore? I've got a reputation to worry about here."

It was lunch and Veronica was fussing over Archie, trying to fix his clearly unwashed hair which was proving futile. She gave up eventually, moving on to pick at her fruit salad, moving all the pieces of melon to the side whilst she ate the rest of it slowly. I had never really watched her before - never really caring - but now I was, I was beginning to learn all these weird quirks she had. When we were in math, I noticed she was writing with her left hand. When I asked her about it, all she said was "I like writing numbers with my left. Words with my right." She intrigued and confused me all at the same time. 

"I'm sorry, Ronnie, I was just tired after the weekend," Archie responded, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. "You tired me out, babe."

"Is it just me, or are these two kinda grossing you out?" Betty whispered as Veronica and Archie started whispering together, making me feel slightly nauseous. I pretended I didn't care, looking to Betty and anywhere apart from at those two, but my stomach was pulling in knots.

I was thankful when lunch was over and I could go back to class, away from Archie and Veronica and their public displays of affection. I had no idea why it bothered me so much - I guess I was still feeling funny about the whole Archie/Betty thing, and my kiss with Veronica had shaken things up dramatically.

Veronica is just your friend, I thought to myself, feeling frustrated. You're having these weird feelings... of jealousy and anger and... almost like you like Veronica? How could you like Veronica? You love Betty! And Archie loves Veronica. It's crazy. Totally crazy. You're crazy, Jughead.

I put it down to immaturity and the fact that it had only been 2 days since the kiss - it's gotta be totally normal for an out of the ordinary kiss like that to play on your mind and confuse your feelings. 

Because my feelings were clear - or at least they should have been. I loved Betty. I didn't like Veronica. 

I really, really didn't.

~~

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