Alphabet ≫ Jarchie

Enunciate II

Dedicated to @92KARA

Enunciate— The one where Archie likes Jughead but can barely bring himself to say a word. Also see: wow that took me a while to figure out as well.

☀︎☁︎☀︎

"Your voice is so pretty," Jughead gushed.

"You're so pretty," Archie thought to himself.

"Why would you keep it to yourself? You just don't like talking?" Jughead asked. All he did lately was ask questions, ever since Archie revealed his ability to speak.

Archie shook his head slowly and sighed, not knowing exactly how to explain it. He managed to avoid this conversation for years, skating around questions with a nod or a shrug. There wasn't much room to dodge them now.

"So it's not that you don't like talking? There's more to it?" Jughead pried again. He hopped off of his bed and joined his friend on the floor quietly. This was the first time they've hung out by themselves in weeks. Jughead felt himself missing Archie, missing his voice. He was beginning to think that he imagined Archie speaking to him, it's been that long.

Archie nodded, growing anxious. He felt as if he were being interrogated and he hated it.

"Can you please just tell me why?" Jughead whined, poking Archie's arm.

The redhead jumped a bit at the contact, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He reached into his back pocket, took out his phone, and typed quickly.

"Can you stop pressuring me to answer questions???"

Jughead got the hint and scooted away from him with a guilty expression. "Sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Y-yes," Archie replied quietly, offering a smile once Jughead's eyes widened in surprise. He knew that Jughead wasn't trying to be rude, he was just curious.

"Please do that more often," Jughead whined.

Archie shook his head, amused, and went back to typing on his phone. Honestly, muttering that little word took a lot out of him.

"If I did it more often, it wouldn't be as special and then I wouldn't get to see your eyes light up like that."

Jughead leaned over him and watched as he typed, rolling his eyes once he finished. "Yeah, Yeah," he mumbled. "Will you ever tell me why you won't talk?"

It's not that Archie wouldn't talk. He hated when Jughead phrased it like that.  It's not like he could pick and choose when he wanted to share what was on his mind. While there was nothing physically preventing him from doing so, he found it rather impossible to open his mouth in most situations. His doctor told him it was a result of his PTSD, a coping mechanism he developed to deal with a situation his brain hadn't allowed him to remember. He didn't choose to remain silent, he felt he had to. The worst part was, he didn't even know why.

Archie, not wanting to get into all of it, typed out a simple sentence.

"Doctor said it's PTSD"

It didn't come close to describing all of it, but he figured it was better than nothing. In fact, that was his philosophy. The things he could say, the times where he could speak, were better than nothing. There was a time he wouldn't talk at all, not even to his parents, his doctors, or the walls. The very thought frightened him, terrified him even.

Eventually, it became easier. Talking to his parents gradually became less daunting as he warmed up to them again. He barely had any problems speaking to them now. It almost came naturally, if he got past how hard it was to concentrate on the task of forming words, and then sentences, and then stories, all while keeping his stutter to a minimum.