riverdale

Diners , Drive in and rings

The Six APCs sat in a corner booth at Pop's. All sets cozied up and coupled up, Anthony and Lily snuggled together on the right side, Cheryl sat next to James while Megan was sitting to Mason  and Carter and Jason sat in the middle with more than an 3 inches of space between them and there was a definite awkwardness surrounding them.

The last conversation Carter and Jason had, had been an argument on Monday. Of course they had spoken since then but always in a group setting and never directly to one another and while tonight was technically a triple date all the couples would be in separate vehicles which meant the two would eventually have to have a conversation.

The sun was still in the sky but beginning to fall closer and closer to the tree line that surrounded the small town. People weren't quite clearing out of Pop's just yet but soon people would be racing to get good spots for the final show at Twilight. Cheryl and James and Mason and Megan and Lily, were each engrossed in their separate conversations, Jason was leaning against the back of the booth scrolling through his phone and Carter was leaned against the table picking at the basket of fries they had ordered over an hour before; they were cold but she still couldn't keep her hands off them. It was mindless, picking up the fry and popping it into her mouth, she didn't have to think while she did it and that was a good thing for the time being. She was brought back by the sound of Cheryl's voice.

Cheryl : "Care ,are you coming?" Cheryl asked, everyone already standing and waiting for her.

Carter took a moment to breath, nodded her head and then brushed the salt from her fingertips before sliding out of the booth. Once she was standing Jason slung his arm over her shoulder and Carter forced a smile onto her face as half the patrons watched the group of them walk out of the diner and to their cars. Once outside the couple's split off to their separate vehicles. Lily and Anthony taking hold of each other's hands after sliding into his deep red Bentley, quickly starting the vehicle and driving off. Cheryl , Megan , James , Mason of the parking lot in Mason's cherry red Massarotti excited as could be. Carter and Jason just tried not to look at each other once they were in the safety of the impala, even with the top down and the setting sun still washing the world in a warm light no one was looking at them anymore and they could not pretend to be happy for at least a few moments. Carter crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from Jason, he looked at her one last time before starting up the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

It wasn't a long drive from Pop's to Twilight and Carter watched the sign as it came into view. Where it had once said 'Closing Soon' it now held the title of a movie, 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', and for a moment the anger and discomfort of being beside Jason melted away and Carter was filled with the joy of Jughead keeping his promise. 

Once parked Jason turned off the engine and turned to look at Carter. She still sat stiff with her arms crossed and an indifferent look on her face. He unbuckled and opened his car door.

Jason :" "I'm going to concession, you want anything?" He asked but Carter still sat looking out of the windshield not even making any indication that she had even heard him. Jason shut the car door and turned to her. "You're going to have to talk to me sooner or later."

Carter :""I vote for later." 

Jason : ""Look, I'm going to the concession stand, I'm going to bring you back a pepsi and a popcorn and possibly some candy if they have anything good, when I get back we are going to talk." Jason looked to her waiting for a response but when one didn't come he opened the door and got out of the car.

Once she could no longer see him in the rear view mirror Carter relaxed and dropped her head back onto the headrest. It's not that she didn't want to talk to Jason, she just didn't particularly want to talk either. She wasn't thrilled with how she acted earlier in the week but she knew everything she said was true which made it hard to apologize.

Jason wasn't gone long and when he hopped into the backseat, as opposed to behind the wheel, Carter head was still thrown against the seat and her eyes were shut. At first he didn't try to talk to her but as more cars pulled into the lot and the darker it became he knew it was only a matter of time before the movie started and he would never get her to talk then.

Jason :"Car seriously we are going to talk before we leave tonight and if you don't want to be talking during the movie I suggest you get chatty real fast."

Carter sighed then began moving to the back seat. Once situated she turned her body to face at Jason. 

Carter : "I'm not sorry for what I said Monday. I'm sorry about how I said it, but I refuse to be sorry about what was said."

Jason nodded and took her hand in his. 

"That's okay, you don't have to be sorry about what you said, you were right anyway.  I was being selfish. I pursued her to get back at my family for forcing me, us, into this life.  But on other hand this whole thing being jealous of polly ended a year ago" He smiled softly and squeezed her hand.

Carter :""Why does it feel like all of our conversations are either fights or apologies?" She asked.

Jason :""Because they mostly are." He sighed, after a few moments of silence "Hey, I know that things are hard right now with us, but we have to get throught it" 

Jason : "I want to show you that I really am committed to making this work and that we may not be 'Meggie' or 'Lanthony' but we, 'Cason/carson', definitely have a better ship name than they do." He started, causing the two of them to laugh. "In all seriousness though,  I'm yours and I want you to be happy, as my friend and future Mrs. Blossom, I think that you should be friends with whoever you want and I'm not going to stop you, I won't let Cheryl stop you either."

Carter : "Thank you Jason." It grew quiet between them as she rested her Head on Jason's shoulder. "Why do you think it's so much harder for us?" She asked softly.

Jason :""Because I don't think you and I were meant for this life. I think we were meant for things far greater than being APCs" 

Carter : "things like what?"

Jason : "Having a real life, with real passions and hobbies. Really falling in love and having real jobs and being the people we feel like we are as opposed to the people we present ourselves as. Cheryl was always meant for this life, she loves the parties, house parties or cotillions, she loves being the center of attention, she enjoys the grandeur of this life, I never have and neither had you , you do it because you have to , because you were raised to be like this but the question is "Are you happy?" " 

 Carter looked up at him with a smile. 

Carter : "At least we're both the same that way." She leaned up and kissed his cheek before resting her head back onto his shoulder just as the show began.