Alphabet ≫ Jarchie

Gourmand II

Dedicated to @EpicUnicorn13 and anyone  else who relates to Jughead's story 💕

Gourmand— The one where Jughead is insecure and overweight but Archie loves him to death despite what Jughead sees as "faults." Also see: I cried over all of the comments because Jug's character is loosely based off of me.

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Light flickered and silence roared. A yellow glow coated shy skin. It wrapped around wobbly knees and stretched over thick thighs. It shone over zebra stripes and dipped into dimples. It prodded a pale stomach and accentuated rolls.

The mirror glistened and for a second, the reflection faltered. The person in front of it was almost unrecognizable without their cloak. Stripped bare, no longer able to hide, Jughead was forced to face his biggest bully; himself.

The raven haired boy took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He was met with disappointment, as always. There was always something new to discover within his reflection. There were new stretch marks, of course, and there was more cellulite. His stomach had extended, yet again, and he was sure that if he wore bras, he'd have to go up a cup size. He already went up a size in his jeans last month.

His weight gain wasn't a shock to him, but it was hard to view the results. It was hard to see the results of him, as his parents told him, "wreck his body." It was reminder of how repulsive he actually was, and if he could avoid looking at himself in the mirror he would.

It was that time of year again, his annual doctor's visit. He'd built up a fear of doctor offices over the last few years. It started when he reached 150 pounds during middle school. That's when his parents told him he had a problem, and everyone in the doctor's office solemnly ducked their heads down and passively listened on as his parents ridiculed him.

Standing on a scale was one of his most reoccurring nightmares. Jughead could practically hear the doctor's scoff and his dad's amusement whenever he thought about it. The numbers never went down, they only went up.

When he reached 200 pounds, he began to start his own exams the day before. It was more of a preparation for the inevitable rather than an exam. He'd strip, stand in the mirror, and count. He'd count all of his imperfections and compare them to last years.

He didn't bother this time. There would be too many to count.

Rigidly, Jughead glanced at himself and tried to dispel the bad taste in his mouth. There was nothing he liked about himself, and the more he stared the more he found the task impossible.

Why did Archie love him? How could he?

Jughead shook the thought out of his head and turned away from his reflection. He grunted and bent over to grab his clothes from the mess of hoodies on his floor. He wondered how much he weighed now? Surely, he'd broken 300.

He got dressed and flopped onto his bed. His face was distorted, worried about tomorrow even though he'd convinced himself that he wasn't. He wanted to say that he was immune to it by now, but it never stopped hurting.

He let thoughts of what he was missing out on drift him to sleep. He had a habit of blaming everything on his weight. If he wasn't fat, he fantasized, he'd have more friends. If he wasn't fat, his parents wouldn't be so disinterested in him. If he wasn't fat, he wouldn't have to worry about Archie leaving him. If he wasn't fat, he could be happy.

He dreamt up his usual nightmare. Archie was there, but eventually he left. All he ever had was a empty room, a scale, and a mirror.

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