The One with A Complication (JUGHEAD X READER X ARCHIE)

Chapter 9

                                                  The One with A Complication (PART 9)

You swirled your straw around in your strawberry milkshake, unable to stop your lips from curling into a faint smile as your friends carried on a conversation in their regular booth at Pop's. Archie was there, but you didn't really care, you didn't want to ruin your group of friends because of him.

"What do you think, Archiekins? Should I go for the full-on Like a Virgin Madonna look for the dance, or stick to the sultry, Vogue ensemble she wears in the music video that we all know I could pull off in such a big way? You all know the one." Veronica leaned forward to take a sip from her double chocolate milkshake, a confident smirk twitching upwards as her lips met the straw.

"Totally," Kevin chimed in from his seat next to you, nodding his head in admiration as he squirted ketchup onto his plate of fries.

"Ronnie, isn't that more of a "(YOUR NAME)" sort of question?" Archie wriggled uncomfortably next to Veronica, looking hopelessly clueless as he tried to meet your gaze for any sort of assistance. "I'm probably not much help in that department."

"Actually, that's more of a Kevin question," Kevin corrected him, propping his arms on the table and leaning across the table towards Veronica. "And I totally agree with you pulling off that Vogue lace top, although we might have to make the sheer part of it a little less sheer for school if you know what I mean. What do you think (YOUR NAME)?"

You heard your name being called, but all you could think about was Jughead's hands on your face and the way his lips felt against yours. Your whole body tingled at the thought of it, making your faint smile evolve into a full-on grin.

"(YOUR NAME)?" Veronica waved her hand in front of your face, but when you didn't respond, a quick nudge to the leg underneath the table caused you to finally jolt to attention. "Earth to (YOUR NAME)!"

"What?" You shook your head out of its daze to meet your friend's curious expressions across the booth.

"Is there a boy hidden in that milkshake or are you just on a much-too-intense sugar high?" Veronica raised one eyebrow flirtatiously as she held her hand out to reach for the milkshake. She knew what was going on, Betty had told her. "Either way hand it over, best friends share remember?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about my next article and-"

"Does it involve bare-chested football players because if it doesn't, not even you could write an article interesting enough to smile like that, (YOUR NAME)," Veronica sat back in her seat and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she waited for you to explain yourself.

"Veronica's right, (YOUR NAME), you do seem a little distracted today," Archie agreed, his brows furrowing together in concern if it was still about him. "Is everything alright at home? If its because of me, Grundy and me are over, she left the city with no-"

"Archie, I told you I didn't want to talk about that, I don't care, as long as we all stay friends. It's past." You reminded him, picking up the straw from your milkshake and pushing it back in again. "And I'm honestly fine you guys, really. Stop worrying so much."

They all eyed you skeptically, but didn't mention again. Instead, Archie jumped into a story about something that happened at football practice earlier that day until the chime on the door drew their attention to the front of the diner.

"Jughead!" Veronica stood from the booth to wave him over, gesturing frantically enough to cause the table to shake in protest, expecting that one of you would spill the tea.

Your head snapped up at the sound of his name, causing your straw to plop back into your milkshake, splashing tiny flecks of whipped cream onto the tip of Kevin's nose.