Braking Hard (Riverdale-Jughead Jones)

9

I was looking at Sweet Peas bike which had come in about 3 days ago when there came a knock at the garage door. I wiped my hands off with a rag and stood up to see Garret.

"We have 2 kids here, wanna see you boss." He told me and I sighed.

"Shut the garage door for me will you Garret, can't be bothered with the stool right now." I said patting him on the shoulder. He smiled slightly but soon realised and stopped as he reached for the garage door.

I walked over to the gate and groaned as I noticed who was stood talking to each other.

I stood with my weight on my left leg and one hand in my pocket, the other still holding the rag.

"Well looky who it is. Blonde Beauty and Frightening McMean." I said sarcastically. They spun around to face me and locked eyes for a second, their face filled with hurt before jughead stepped forwards to talk to me.

"We kind of need a favour." He told me. I sighed and flipped the rag onto my shoulder. I lifted an eyebrow and stared at him.

"We need a car." Betty blurted out. I rolled my eyes and looked away. "No seriously. It's for the serpents." I turned to Jughead sharply and he gave me a timid smile.

"I kind of made an error in judgement. I may have challenged the Ghoulies to a street race."

"Jug! Do you know how stupid that is!" I snapped.

"Ok Al! I'm sorry, just please. Help us out here. You can scream at me later." He begged, his hands literally together.

I crossed my arms but he just stayed stood still and I eventually turned and walked towards the garage.

"What were you thinking!" I spat at him as I reached up while stood on the stool to push the door higher.

"I wasn't thinking, I just acted. Problem being if we don't win, Serpents merge with Ghoulies, and they get Southside High, the Whyte Wyrm, and-"

I turned sharply. "Sunnyside Trailer Park." I finished for him. "Jug are you kidding me! Its not just serpents living there. You know that! I live there too!"

"I know! I'm sorry, but that's why we need you to help us. What cars are good for street racing?" Jug asked. I turned away and started flicking through my log as I rattled off some good cars.

"Probably, a Nissan, a Mazda, Ford Fiesta is ok, definitely a Porsche, but if you're looking for something more modern then a Honda Civic would be good." I finished.

"Do you have any of those?"

"Well I have a Honda Civic but it's being picked up in two hours so that doesn't help." I snarked. "You're not using any of my babies though, you can use a temporary car, so basically only ones in here." I gestured to the garage around me. "And none of the ones out there." I pointed to the yard.

"What other cars do you have in then?" Betty pushed.

"Well, I have a Ford Escort, not the best for racing, a Volkswagen Beetle hatchback which is totally not good, a Toyota Land cruiser, and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle." I listed from the log.

"Who do the land cruiser and the Chevelle belong to?" Jughead asked pointedly and I flicked another page over.

"The land cruiser to a Mr John Blackwell and the Chevelle to Mr Reginald Mantle. From school." I read from the pages.

Betty and Jughead looked at each other. I slammed the book shut and leant on the table.

"I have a catch though." My voice rang through the garage. They turned to look at me and I smiled innocently. "You have to finish fixing up whichever car you choose." I dusted off my hands and picked the rag off my shoulder slowly.

I stalked over to the bike and knelt next to it as I started polishing it. I could hear Jughead say something under his breath to Betty before they turned their attention back to me.

"We know Reggie. We'll use his." I nodded curtly and turned to face away so they couldn't see the expression on my face and I took a deep breath to attempt not to cry.

I saw Betty heading over to the car as Jughead's stared at me polishing the bike from the corner of my eye, and I tried to be subtle as I watched him watch me.

He began walking to me and I quickly averted my eyes back to the bike I was polishing.

"Look, Al." He started.

"Jug, please don't. It's been a week, and none of you have talked to me. I'm happy without you, you're happy without me, why do we have to bring anything up?" I snapped, pausing the polishing for a second.

"No Al, this is important. I need to talk to you." He grabbed my hands and I yanked them away.

"Then talk. Can't promise I'll listen though." I looked away and polished as he took a deep breath.

"Me and Betty aren't together. We never were. We're just friends!" He protested.

"What so you just didn't like me enough is that it?" I threatened, waving my rag at his face and standing.

"No! I was worried that you didn't like me! In case you haven't noticed, I'm weird." I chuckled through the tears that had begun working their way down my face and I whacked him with the rag.

"Of course I liked you Jug! You're sweet and caring, and everything I could ever dream of in a boyfriend!" I wiped my tears away.

"Liked? You used past tense." Jugs smile fell and he turned to leave but I grabbed his arm and swung him back round.

"Now who's being paranoid." I said, hugging him tight.

"You know, I really like you Alison McFarlane." He rested his head on top of mine.

"I like you too, Jughead Jones." I whispered, my eyes closing slightly. "But, I kissed you. Like badly kissed you."

"We can redo it. Simple. That, what happened. Didn't count. It was a practice. Ok?" He held both my shoulders and spoke firmly.

"It was a pretty bad practice, I dread to think how the performance will go." I chuckled, wiping away a small tear that had made its way down my cheek.

"Well in theatre, it's good luck for the dress rehearsal to go badly. It would have been worse if it went well. So don't worry. It will be fine." He spoke slowly, and I laughed at this. "Come on then. Betty and me are going to fix up Reggie's car, and something tells me we might need a hand." I tutted and pulled my hand from his.

"My offer was for you guys to finish it. Fully. On your own. Having help from the fully licensed Mechanic is kind of cheating, isn't it?" I smirked and walked over to a bike, grabbing a helmet. "When's the race and where is it?"

He walked over to me and threaded one hand in mine, out eyes meeting and holding there.

"I'll take you when it happens. The bike is?" He asked, confusion on  his face at the bike next to me.

"Mine. Officially. I own it. Like as in I bought it." I went to continue but Jug  chuckled at me.

"I get it. So you don't need a lift in the mornings?"

"Of course I still do. This is just to get home from here and here from home. No way am I letting this near the football team!" I joked.

"Nice. Now can I call you my girlfriend?" He learnt in and I put a finger on his lips.

"Not so fast tiger. You have to work for the title of boyfriend. And I think I want to wait. I've decided that I want my first kiss to be perfect, not just after a fight in a dirty mechanics yard." I grinned and he smiled gently.

"Of course." He gave me a massive hug instead and began walking back over to Betty, who'd already popped the hood of the Chevelle.

"See you round Frightning. I'll be at my trailer." I shouted, hopping onto the bike and clipping the helmet tight before driving off back to La Bella Vita.