Alphabet ≫ Jarchie

G is for Gourmand

Gourmand— a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess

☀︎☁︎☀︎

Jughead hated eating in front of people, especially his boyfriend, Archie. He'd always turn away when he brought a spoon to his face or wait for Archie to look elsewhere before plucking fries into his mouth.

The best part was when Archie got up to use the bathroom, because then Jughead didn't have a problem finishing his food and actually enjoying it for a few fleeting minutes.

It was just too hard to eat in front of someone who was skinny and fit. It felt like Archie was judging him, though he knew that wasn't true. Archie didn't care that Jughead was overweight. He didn't care that he liked to eat. He loved him. He told him that all the time. It just never stuck.

Every time they went to a restaurant or a diner together, Jughead ended up with a to-go bag because he'd much rather enjoy the food at home by himself than pick at it in front of Archie in an unnecessary attempt to seem less heavy. He was always hyper aware of his weight. When he was at home it didn't matter. When he was in front of other people, it did.

"Where do you want to eat today?" Archie questioned as he jogged up to his boyfriend on a rainy Friday afternoon. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day. I think I'm going to pass out."

Jughead bit his lip at that. He didn't eat much either and he was really looking forward to going home and drooling over the ice cream he left in the freezer. He couldn't do that with Archie around though. "We can go wherever you want. I'm not that hungry," he mumbled as they fell into step.

"Since when do you turn down food?" Archie joked, though Jughead couldn't help but to take that as an insult.

"You're right. I don't because I'm a fat ass," he tried to joke back, but it only made Archie frown.

"I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to offend you. I hate when you call yourself fat, even when you say you're joking," he reminded him as he entwined their hands together.

"Well it's the truth so..." Jughead replied exasperatedly. He gave his boyfriend's hand a soft squeeze and tried to change the subject so that he'd let it go.

But Archie never let things like that go.

By the time they made it to Pop's, Archie was still going on about how beautiful the boy was and how he wished he'd just talk to him about how he felt about his weight instead of making jokes and deflecting like he usually did. To make him shut up, Jughead ordered a milkshake and fries and tried his best not to think about how disgusting he must look by doing so.

Archie knew though, he must be an idiot not to know that Jughead hated eating in front of him. It's why he went to the bathroom in the middle of every meal and why he made sure to act like he was distracted when he was eating to make him feel comfortable. He never called his boyfriend out on it though, because he didn't want to make him feel even more uncomfortable in front of him.

Jughead watched with amusement as Archie ate the burger in front of him like he hadn't eaten in days. He also managed to drink an entire milkshake, finish his fries, and steal some of Jughead's. He wished that he could feel that comfortable eating like that in front of him.

With a sigh, Archie leaned back in the booth and started complaining about how he was still hungry.

"Skinny people stuff their faces and never gain weight so I'm not surprised," Jughead said, rolling his eyes. He knew that his boyfriend wasn't necessarily skinny and he also knew that commenting about the way skinny people ate probably made them feel just as awful as Jughead did when people commented on how he ate, but he was too bitter to care.