My Hero In Leather |Jughead Jones|

Chapter 9

I have never been nervous. At least not this bad. I'm sitting with Toni and she's trying to reassure me. "You don't have to do this," she whispers into my ear. "I can have Fangs or Sweet Pea get you out of here."

"Toni. I want to do this. I'm just a little terrified you know," I'm being honest. Mostly. I don't tell her part of the reason I don't want to do this is because I didn't see Jughead and I want him to see. I think a part of her knows that though.

"I'm going to go up there with you. I'll do it with you," she places her hand on my shoulder and I smile at her. It's funny. She's really beautiful and she's kinda like a female version of Jughead. She's really fucking beautiful actually. Jesus. I think I like Toni.

"Thank you so fucking much. I owe you forever," I hug her and she laughs lightly.

"You sure about this," I hear FP behind me ask.

"Yeah. I am," I look at him and I can see him smile. It's small but still evident.

"Well then you better get up there," he says and I nod. Toni stands and pulls me up. I can feel myself shaking. She gives me a reassuring smile and then we walk onto the stage. Holy shit everyone is staring. I can see Fangs and Sweet Pea and in the very back is FP. Then there's Jug. He's with Betty and...

No fucking way. He brought Archie who brought Veornica. Archie looks annoyed and disappointed. Well this is going to be the most awkward thing in the fucking world. My brother was about to watch me strip on a pole.

The music stars and Toni meets my gaze as I look over at her. She gives a nod and then we begin the dance.

...

Everyone's clapping. Probably for Toni. I have to say though that I didn't do bad. FP walks onto the stage and Toni hands him something. It's a red and black Serpent jacket. "You did good," FP whispers into my ear as he slips the jacket onto me.

I can see Archie from the corner of my eye and he looks pissed. Veronica looks suprised. Betty is actually fucking smiling about this. Probably because she saw somebody else do it and Jughead has no expression. I avoid direct eye contact with any of them. Instead I hug Toni.

"You did amazing," she exclaims and I smile.

"I hope this is all worth it. My brother is going to kill me," I laugh when I say this though. She laughs too. It's kinda beautiful. I feel someone hug me from behind and I slightly scream. I turn and see Fangs smiling.

"What was that like," he asks.

"Fucking terrifying," I say and he laughs. I watch him pull out his phone and stare for a moment and then it vibrates and he turns and walks out the door. I look at Toni and she simply shrugs.

"What the hell," Archie yells behind me and I sigh and Toni gives me a reassuring look. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to Archie. Don't be a dick about this," I snap and he stares at me.

"Why the hell did you choose to be a thug," he says and Toni scoffes.

"Jughead is also a thug then to be fair," Toni snaps at him and everything is extremely tense.

"Don't forget Braeden. He's done it too," I snap and with that I turn and walk away.

I can feel the prescence of Toni behind me. "Wanna go do something. Anything," I ask and she nods. I slip my jeans back on quickly and we leave.

...

I wrap my arms around her waist as we drive down many streets. She gave me her helmet after ten minutes of arguing.

I can't forget that look of anger in Archie's eyes. He called me a thug. So I guess I lost my brother's love and support.

We arrive at Pop's and she smiles at me. "Gotta love this place," she shrugs and we walk inside. We take a corner booth and she sits across from me. "You okay," she asks and I feel her hand resting on my shoulder.

"I'm fine. If Archie is going to be a dick about this then he can fuck off," I mutter but I'm lying. This actually fucking sucks.

We order a couple of milkshakes and drink them silently. I felt the seat next to me get taken and Braeden smiles at me. Fangs sits next to Toni and I chuckle to myself. We're the new core four.

We chat at random times about dumb things. It is nice. We don't get calm moments very often anymore. I don't think we will ever have them again. Not while Riverdale is extremely fucked up.

Toni decides that we should probably get out of here and go to our designated houses. "Do you think I'll even be welcome with Jug right now," I ask her as we walk out and she looks at me.

"Jughead would never lock you out Jasmin," she reassures and I know she's probably right. I don't even know if I can face him though.

She began to drvie and I kinda loved the feeling of my arms wrapped around someone while they drive down the road. As we pulled to a stop I could see Jug waiting for me in front of the house. "You going to be okay alone with him," she asks me and I nod. She gives me a reassuring smile before leaving.

"Hey Juggie," I say softly and walk towards him.

"I see your still wearing the jacket," his voice holds no emotion.

"You know what Jughead. You can be pissed off at me, but you do not have to be a dick about this. And you fucking told Archie? You realize how fucked up that was to do. And of course you had to bring Betty along because you just can't do anything without her can you? If you don't want me here then I'll leave. I'll go live wtih Braeden. At least he isn't an absolute asshole about everything," I snap at him and begin to walk away.

He grabs my arm and turns me towards him. "Of course I want you here Jas. I love having you here. I love you, but why the fuck did you think you had to join the Serpents. What good is that going to do you," he asks me and I clench my jaw. I want to hit his pretty face right now.

"I don't know Jug. I really don't know, but I choose to and you don't get to yell at me because you don't get a single say about what I do," I bark and he kisses me. Bad timing Juggie. I push him to the ground and stare.

"Oh my God Jughead. You don't get to just kiss me when you are still in a fucking relationship with Betty. That's so fucked up. I think I should change my living arrangements. Tell your dad I said thanks for letting me stay," I say and before he can stop me I turn and bolt away. I feel tears forming in my eyes.

Braeden, hope you have room on your floor.