The sound of wind chimes (a Jarchie fanfic)

Chapter 3: Coming out

The day after the party and their kiss, Archie and Jughead walked around the school not trying to tell people that didn't go to the party that they kissed. As they walked past Betty's locker they saw her and Kevin look at them sort of confused. 

"Do you think they're... dating?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know. Perhaps we'll find out at lunch" Betty said, shutting her locker as Cheryl walked up to them.

"What are you two talking about? Archie and Jughead walking around the halls without the rest of the clique? Seems pretty.... weird, don't you think?"

"Yeah. They always walk with us" Betty said, an investigative tone in her voice.

"No need to become a detective for this one, Nancy Drew" Cheryl said.

Kevin was about to say something but the bell rang for first period. Betty and Cheryl walked off toward their class and Kevin went toward his class and sat near Archie and Jughead. "Hi, guys" he said hoping to start a mini conversation.

"Hi, Kev" Jughead said, his eyes not looking up from his laptop.

"What's up?" Archie said, staring at the front of the classroom.

Kevin wanted to ask what was on his mind but the teacher walked in with a raven haired girl. "Class, we have a brand new student to Riverdale High. Please welcome Veronica Lodge."

Veronica stepped forward and began a speech to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Veronica Lodge. I'm from New York and my family moved to Riverdale for a fresh start. I don't know anybody here so I'm looking for friends. Thank you and I hope to get to know everyone!" 

The teacher pointed to a seat up to the front and Veronica sat down. "Thank you, Miss Lodge. Okay please say 'here' when I call your name for attendance."

The class was a repeat of the previous year with a "welcome back" slideshow describing the rules, dress code and other stuff. It was hard for Archie to not look at Jughead without anyone, especially Kevin and his gaydar, to notice. Once the bell rang he was safe to look at Jughead. "Hey, maybe before lunch we could meet up in the student lounge."

"Yeah, I'd love that" Jughead said, smiling cutely.

'Ugh, did he have to be cute while smiling?' Archie thought, biting his bottom lip.

After three classes, Archie waited for Jughead inside the student lounge. People don't usually come into the lounge during lunch, so it was the perfect time for a secret rendezvous. Jughead walked in and shut the door. 

"I know we're not exclusive yet but I just wanted to do this" Archie said before placing both hands on Jughead's cheeks and kissing him softly. After a few minutes, he pulled away.

"I needed that" Jughead said softly.

"Well, there is something that we both need to do. We need to come out to our fathers. The sooner the better. We could do it at the same time."

"I like that idea. I think my dad was gonna go see your dad anyway so I can just come along."

"Great! You can just come over after school anyway. Like you always did."

"Yeah. Let's go to lunch. The gang's probably wondering where we are."

"Yeah, let's go." 

Archie kissed Jughead on the cheek and grabbed his hand, leading him to the hallway and to the cafeteria.

After school, Archie and Jughead were sitting in the living room waiting for Jughead's dad, FP Jones, to show up. Archie's dad, Fred went to the kitchen to heat up some pizza rolls and to pour glasses of water. "So, Jughead are you liking sophomore year so far?" he asked breaking the silence.

"Oh.. um.. it's good, I guess. I get to see my friends and I get to go to the blue and gold and work on stories."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, FP walked in. "Okay, so I heard that this is an emergency meeting. What's up? And why are Archie and Jughead gonna be listening?"

"Because dad, this isn't a meeting between you and Mr. Andrews."

"Please, Mr. Jones. Sit down. And you should sit down too, dad" Archie said.

"Dad, I need to tell you something. And if you want to disown me then that's fine. I'm gay and at Cheryl's party while we were playing 7 minutes in heaven, Archie and I kissed. We kissed today at school."

"Jug, I support you. You're my son. As long as who you'll date treats you right then I have no problems with it" FP said.

Jughead smiled. "Thanks, dad."

"Dad, I need to tell you something too. I'm gay" Archie said slowly.

"Son, how long have you known that you're gay?" Fred asked.

"Since third grade. That's how long I've had a crush on Jug."

"Well, if you two both like each other then go ahead and date. I support you guys."

"Thanks, dad."

Archie got up and looked at Jughead. "Do you wanna be my boyfriend? But, keep it a secret until we feel like it's the right time to tell the group?"

Jughead smiled and nodded. "I never thought you'd ask."