Old Habits Die Hard (Riverdale)

eight

I woke up almost hanging off Toni's bed. She was at her vanity brushing her hair out. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the smell of pancakes and sausage.

"What's that smell?" I yawned and rubbed my eyes clear.

"On Sunday the grandparents here in the park all make breakfast at the pavilion. My grandpa is probably there now with everyone else. We can head over there" She said putting sandals on.

"Do I have to get dressed?" I questioned looking at my tank top and pajama shorts.

"Of course not. Everyone wears pajamas it's like our tradition" Toni said pointing to her own pajama outfit and laughing.

We got up and headed to the pavilion. Many adults and kids were sitting at the picnic tables eating a variety of eggs, pancakes, and other breakfast foods. We made our plates with plenty of food and I said hello to my Uncle and FP. Toni pointed towards Jughead at a table sitting by Fangs and Sweetpea. We headed over to the table and Toni sat next to Fangs. I hesitantly took a seat next to Jughead.

"Wicked hickey you got there Soph" Sweetpea said laughing at me. "Who'd you get it from?"

"Wish it was from you?" I said teasing him back. Jugheads hand became a fist on his lap.

"Hell yeah I do" He winked jokingly and we continued eating. Jughead remained mostly silent while we all talked amongst ourselves.

"How are you and Betty?" I quietly asked Jughead genuinely concerned. He turned to me and sighed.

"I want to show you something" He said standing up "Come with me."

I followed him back to his trailer and we went into his bedroom. Not going to lie I was pretty skeptical here. He sat down on his bed and pulled out his laptop. Then he reached behind him and pulled out the envelope with my name on it from underneath his pillow. Gently, he patted the spot next to him on the bed and I took a seat. Jughead opened the envelope and pulled out a small flash drive and plugged it into his laptop.

"Jug-" I began to question what was going on.

"Just watch" He said as a video pulled up onto his screen. Turning the volume up he clicked play.

My dad appeared on a shaky camera. Jugheads voice came from behind it telling him to go ahead.

"Happy Birthday Angel Face!! I cannot believe you're turning 15 already. Haha I remember when you were in diapers.." My dad kept talking and my eyes welled up with tears. Pictures of my dad and our family came onto the screen with music playing in the background as he continued to talk. I was speechless. "Happy birthday baby, I love you so much" my dad said and his voice cut from the video. More pictures of me and my dad came onto the screen until Jughead appeared.
"Happy Birthday Sophia. Thank you being one of my best friends. I love you" Then the screen went black.

I turned to Jug with tears running down my face and not having any words to say.

"I was making a birthday video with everyone but then your dad he.. passed away and I changed it to mainly him. I wanted to give it to you but you left and we stopped talking." He sighed and looked down. In that moment my heart was full and it wasn't for Archie or my other friends. My heart aches for Jughead Jones and I finally felt it. It overwhelmed me and I didn't know how to deal with it. So I did what any confused girl would do. I stood up and ran out of Jugheads trailer. My flip flops were terrible to run in but I didn't stop until i got to Toni's. Grabbing my clothes and keys I quickly got into my car and drove home with tears still streaming down my cheeks.

***

I spent the rest of my day in my room listening to headphones with my door locked. I didn't feel like facing my feelings. My phone was full of text messages unopened. I made sure Toni knew I was alright but I ignored anyone who tried to reach me. Finally someone had the nerve to call instead of text. It was Archie. Thinking about it first, I decided to answer him.

"Hello" I said blandly at him.

"Can you come over? I wanna talk to you about yesterday I think we should" He said sounding nervous.

Sighing I knew it was the right thing for me to do. "I'll be over in a minute" I hung up and threw some shoes on.

My eyes were puffy from crying and I put my hair into a bun. I headed over to Archie's and just let myself in.  Hesitantly I went up to his room and found him sitting on the bed.

"Hey" I said going and standing against the window.  He stood up and stood across from me.

"So about yesterday.. where are we going from that? I care about you so much Soph and if doing what we did yesterday puts our relationship in jeopardy I don't want it. I need to know what you're thinking" He said pushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

I sighed. "I'm just so confused and I don't know what I want. Jughead just messes with my head and-"

"Do you have feelings for Jughead, Sophia?" He asked looking concerned.

"I- I think I do but everything is so easy with you Arch except that you have V" I said getting flustered. "Everyone chooses everyone but me"

"Sophia. You have to do what will be the best for you. I will always be here for you no matter what we decide to be or if you decide to be with him. Choose what you know is right" He said putting his hand on my cheek. Thoughts flooded to my head. He was right. I knew I had to make the right decision. I was going to find Jughead and talk to him.

Suddenly a noise came from outside and I turned around to see Jughead. He was climbing into Betty's room through her window. My heart raced. A minute ago I was about to go to and tell him how I felt but seeing him going into Betty's room hurt my heart.

"Before I do that Archie.." I said turning to look at him. "Lets make one more bad decision first"

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into me where he kissed me roughly. He pulled my shirt off and went down to my neck and my mouth opened partially. I lifted his shirt over his head and he pushed me against the window. The sound of it was sure to make Jughead and Betty look through the window but I didn't care. In that moment I didn't care about anyone but myself.

***