Riverdale Series - Tumblr Posts

Fight with a Snake ~ Jughead x reader

Word count: 1,429

Warnings:  violence, some swearing

Summary: The reader is fed up with Cheryl and starts a fight. Jughead calms her down.

A/N: I know Cheryl joins the Serpents after they loose the Wyrm but I really liked the idea of the reader being a bartender there.

I had been a Serpent almost all my life. After my parents died and I had nowhere to go they became my family, my home. They were everything to me. The Serpents had saved me from so many situations – from Ghoulies, drug dealers and even some Bulldogs.

Currently I was standing behind the wooden counter at the Whyte Wyrm, our fortress. No matter how bad it smelt of whisky and old cigarette smoke it was still my favourite place.  Whenever I could I spent my time there in this safe haven. That was one of the reasons why I had started bar tending a few years ago.

“Hey Sweet Pea, want any more?”, I asked the admittedly handsome guy, who for a change sat at the bar instead over at the pool table. Looking up at me he nodded and I turned to get him a refill. That was when I saw her out of the corner of my eye – a flash of red in the otherwise black crowd. Cheryl Blossom. She walked into the bar, Toni right by her side – as always. She always walked in like she owned the place, hips swinging side to side, head high in the air. As per usual all eyes were on her and I knew she loved the attention. Rolling my eyes I whirled around and took a bottle of beer from the fridge. I turned back to the counter and gave Sweet Pea his drink as the oh so marvellous Cheryl Bombshell made her way towards the bar.

“Hey, there!”, the newest member of the Serpents greeted me overly cheery and ordered a shot of Tequila. While I retrieved the bottle of spirit she continued talking to me. “You know you should change up your look sometime. It must get boring constantly wearing more or less the same outfit.” Cursing her on the inside I ignored her snarky remarks and filled the shot glass for her. These remarks seemed to be a constant companion of hers or at least around me. There was always something she had to criticize about me, be it my looks, what I said or what I did, something was always wrong. I should’ve been used to it by now but it still bothered me.

Just as I wanted to turn and put the bottle in it’s rightful place Cheryl said something that made the boiling pot of anger inside of me finally overflow. It wasn’t because her words where worse than those before or anything it was just the drop too much in an already full glass. “I’d say you should cut your hair, get a new haircut, this one doesn’t look good on you anyway.”

Taking a deep breath I clenched my jaw. My fingernails digging into my palms. Full of anger I threw the bottle that was still in my hands onto the floor which caused a loud crash as it broke on the wooden boards. “That’s it!”, I roared which caused everyone to shift their eyes to me, “I have had enough of your snarky, bitchy little comments.”  During my outburst the girl in question moved a few steps back in surprise.

I jumped over the wooden counter and landed only a few feet in front of her pretty little high heels. “You just barge in here like you own the place, but you’ve been here for like what? A month?” With each word I took an angry step closer to her. I was furious.

“(Y/n)”, Toni tried to calm me down by laying a hand onto my arm. Ignoring her I continued my rant right up into Cheryl's face. “You are no Serpent”, I spat out full of spite, “Prancing around in your expensive shoes and dresses, living first in Thornhill and then in Thistlehouse. You have no idea what it’s like to struggle to survive, to grow up the way we grew up. You will never understand the loyalty and the sense of family we feel towards each other, you bitch!” And with that I did something I had been wanting to do for so long. I punched her square in the face.

A shocked murmur went through the crowd. No one had expected something like that to happen. Not quite yet satisfied I connected my fist with her face again. Of course she tried to fight back. Even tough she landed a few hits – none of them very painful – she was no match to me. After all I grew up with this kind of fighting – with your bare fists, with switch blades. Cheryl on the other hand was only used to bow and arrows, but this time her oh so fancy weapon would not help her.

During the first few punches no one moved all still too shocked. Once the shock had passed chaos broke out. Some Serpents cheered me on them too being sick of Cheryl, others shouted at me to stop. Toni of course tried to keep me from her girlfriend but the furry gave me a strength that Toni couldn’t stop. Only when Sweet Pea was able to get a hold of my arms did Cheryl avoid any further punches.

Struggling to get out of Sweet Pea’s grip I stomped on his foot making him hiss. He still wouldn’t let me go so I threw my head back hitting his nose full force bruising it badly and maybe even breaking it. Sweet Pea let out a noise of pain and loosened his grip on me.

In that moment Jughead Jones, the Serpent king and my boyfriend, walked into the Wyrm. Noticing the commotion he incredulously asked: “What the hell is going on in here?!” Seeing him made my anger subside and I hung in Sweet Pea’s arms exhausted.

After one of the bystanders told Jughead what had occurred he took me by the arm and moved with me through the door next to the bar and into the small storage room, one of the few somewhat private rooms in the building.

“Here come sit down”, the black haired boy pointed towards a few crates. I followed his orders. What was all that about?”, he inquired softly worry in his eyes. “I... I...”, I tried to get out but was hindered by violent sobs. I wrapped my arms around myself and the tears started to fall from my eyes. “Hey... hey... shh... everything will be just fine”, Jughead comforted me wrapping his strong arms around me and patting my back. For a few minutes that was how we stayed, his arms wrapped around me pressing me to his chest, my head buried in the crook of his neck crying onto his iconic S-t shirt.

After calming down a little I finally looked up at him again and started explaining only interrupted by a few quiet sobs and sniffles. Jughead was listening attentively.

“It’s just that... I’ve been a Serpent for a long time and... now Cheryl just marches in like she... owns the place and it feels like she is pushing me out... and she is just a stone cold bitch who thinks she is better than everyone especially...  me. She’s constantly criticizing me whether it’s my hair or my choice of shoes that day – there is always something. And I just couldn’t take it any more. Her words just hurt really badly. I’m so so sorry that I started that fight. I know I shouldn’t have done it.”

Jughead gave me another hug and I was finally calm again. “It’s OK. All of us do things like that.” He sat down next to me on another stack of crates and took my somewhat bruised hand into his. “You know what, just ignore her. I know it’s hard to do so. She is sometimes quite annoying. And you don’t have to worry about her pushing you out that will never happen. All of the Serpents, everyone of us, knows that Cheryl is nothing compared to you. She just likes to make a show out of everything which isn’t necessarily a good thing. I can’t just kick her out because she’s a bitch”, he ended with a grin.

After a moment of content silence he continued with a smile: “Please don’t do that again, I have enough trouble with one hot head.” Thinking of some of the past actions by Sweet Pea the two of us had to chuckle.

Caressing my cheek Jughead then added: “And I would never let anyone push you out, after all you’re my Queen.” He leaned in and kissed me.

Lost and Found ~ Jughead x reader

Part 2  Part 3  Part 4

Word count: 1,359

Warnings: none that I can see

Summary: The reader isn’t living with her parents any more and is looking for a place to crash. She meets Jughead.

A/N: This takes place during the first season, around episodes 4 to 7.

Looking around the small and dusty little hut I collected the last few of my belongings, stuffing them into my backpack. Lately I was living in this old and abandoned hut on the outskirts of Riverdale. It was hidden by a grove of trees so that it wasn’t easily visible from the street that led by. I really liked the place, it was quiet and peaceful, a safe haven of my own, but no matter how idyllic it was I had to move. Over the years of being abandoned and not taken care of the building, it had become rather unstable. Just a few days ago when I left for school I was almost hit on the head by a loose roof tile. So I finally made the decision to find a new place.

Walking over the little table under the old glass window I reached for the picture that was lying there. I sighed when I saw it. It was a photo of me and my parents. It was already bent from being carried around without a frame. The last time I saw my family must’ve been almost a year ago. We had a huge fight about morals and how my dad should get a grip on his life which ended in me deciding to leave. I wouldn’t live in a household where alcohol was drunk like water.

After finally being finished I carefully sneaked out of the shed not wanting anyone to see me. I hadn’t told any about my living situation and I wanted to keep it that way. The pity. Seeing it in their eyes whenever they set them on me – I hated it. It was not like I was a damsel in distress. I knew exactly what I was doing and I did not want or need their pity. To be completely honest, I actually kinda enjoyed my new lifestyle – moving from one place to the next, never knowing where I would end up or what I would discover. It was fun. Adventurous. Thrilling. Exciting. Reminiscing about everything I’ve experienced so far, I made my way to the best diner in town.

When I arrived at Pop’s I entered and ordered a coffee. Receiving my drink I moved past the tables and sat down at one further away from the door. I often came here. I loved sitting in silence and observing all the different customers. Sometimes it were just teenagers hanging out after school, trying to forget all the stress exam season held for them. Other times it were families with annoying children crying for desert. Once in a while I even saw a few Serpents quickly passing by.

This time when I looked up I noticed that most booths were empty as it was already late – the sky outside quickly darkening. The closest booth that was occupied was a few tables down on the other side of the aisle. Sitting there next to the window was a guy my age, wearing a grey crown shaped beanie, on the table in front of him there was a laptop. He had raven, slightly curly hair and mesmerizing light blueish-green eyes. His eye brows furrowed in concentration as he focused on the words he was writing.

I had seen him around a few times, mostly in school hanging out with Archie, Betty and the new girl – Veronica Lodge, the popular raven haired girl. His name was Jughead Jones.

Although he was friends with them, was a part of their group he was an outsider. He was different, dressed differently, had a different view of things. Being quiet and keeping to yourself, like he often did, didn’t make you popular – didn’t make people like you.

And believe me I know what I’m talking about. For I too am an outsider. I am the girl in the back of the class, the girl that everyone forgets about. The quiet one that has no friends. Normally I enjoyed going more or less unnoticed that way I didn’t have to spend my time with talking to people or something like that. But sometimes I hated being that girl. Sometimes I just wished I could be like Betty and Veronica, be ‘normal’ - whatever exactly that was.

I was ripped out of my gloomy thoughts by the waitress asking whether I wanted anything else, so I ordered another cup of coffee. When the woman went to get my drink I focused back on Jughead. He was still concentrated on the text he was writing, still typing in the separate letters with such a passion I hadn’t seen with anyone in a long time. Wondering what he was writing I kept observing his actions. He seemed so mysterious, that was what I liked about him.

When my order arrived I thanked the lady and reached for my backpack and took my sketchbook and a pencil out. I liked sketching, it was sort of therapeutic, it helped me sort my thoughts and I often came up with good ideas. In hope of getting an idea of where I could stay next I started drawing the handsome boy I had never actually spoken to.

Once in a while when Jughead looked up from the monitor he caught me starring at him. Replying with a look of suspicion he then turned back to his work. It was obvious that he didn’t trust people easily.

After a few silent hours sitting there with my pen in hand, I had finally thought of a place to go and was on my way to the only more or less safe place I could think of at the moment – Riverdale High.

The next morning I awoke in the stuffy little room I found at school. It was located towards the front of the school near the entrance. The supply closet wasn’t really used any more – at least I hadn’t seen anyone ever enter the room and the dust that had collected on the shelves supported my theory.

Still tired I stretched and bumped my hands on the rather low ceiling. 6:00 am – it felt like it was a lot earlier than that. I had to get dressed and ready before school started, so I moved over to my back pack and took out my clothes. Grabbing my grey jeans and black long sleeved shirt in one hand and my toothbrush and some other toiletries in my other hand I made my way on to the main hallway.

Recalling the where the showers were situated I remembered that the women’s showers were located on the far end of the building while the men’s were right around the corner. I knew I should take the long way to the female one but who am I kidding here, it’s way too early in the morning, I was lazy and I was the only person here at this ungodly hour. So my decision was pretty obvious and therefore quickly made.

I turned the corner to the boy’s tiled facilities and stopped dead in my tracks. Unlike I expected I actually wasn’t the only person here. There, standing only a few feet in front of me, he was.

Jughead.

When I walked in he looked up at me in surprise only to meet my shocked expression. Jughead was standing at one of the sinks, a toothbrush in his mouth. He was shirtless, only wearing grey pants with his typical suspenders. I had to admit that he was definitely good looking, more muscular than I would’ve suspected. His head wasn’t adorned by his signature grey hat – I had never seen this much of his gorgeous locks. After spitting out the foam and rinsing his mouth he leaned on the edge of the sink.

I was still rooted to the floor watching him cautiously. “What are you doing here?”, he questioned raising an eyebrow. At that question I crossed my arms defensively in front of my chest. “I could ask you the same”, I replied defensively. Silence answered me. Of course he wouldn’t. So I gave in, “I’m crashing here. Got a problem?”, and carried on to the showers without waiting to hear his reply.

Lost and Found Part 3 ~ Jughead x reader

Part 1  Part 2  Part 4

Word count: 1,162

Warnings: none

Summary: The reader isn’t living with her parents any more and is looking for a place to crash. She meets Jughead. 

A/N: This takes place during the first season, around episodes 4 to 7.

The next day I avoided him at all costs. I even got up an hour earlier than usual just so I wouldn’t have to meet him. I needed the time to sort my thoughts.

I just couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. I knew it was just a one time thing, this would never happen again, so my heart should stop fussing about it. But it wouldn’t. Every time I thought of the intimate moment we had or a picture of his captivating face with his alluring smile appeared before my inner eye my heart started to ache.

The thing was I didn’t like getting attached to people, especially to people who did not reciprocate the feelings and it was clear as crystal that Jughead Forsythe Pendleton Jones III did not reciprocate those feelings. So I had to ignore and forget about it.

Attachment wasn’t something I was big on. Not being attached meant being free, being able to do what I wanted. It made moving on – both emotionally and physically – so much easier. One didn’t have to consider whether one’s decisions would hurt anyone that one loved. I had even considered moving to a bigger town/city after graduation hoping to pursue my dream of becoming an artist. So no, commitment and attachment weren’t on the top of my list of things to-do. And the way Jughead reacted showed he didn’t want to be bound to anyone.

Having finished that train of thought I started to replay the events of the evening before in my mind. Maybe I just imagined that he leaned in. Oh god, if I did that I just made our whole acquaintanceship awkward. If that is what truly happened I could just slap myself, I thought facepalming.

Man, the moment was so cliché, it was almost kinda cringey. I had probably seen too many of these stereotypical romantic kisses on TV and in movies that my head made me think that he had inched closer, that this was my romantic moment. God, that’s so embarrassing! I wish it never happened – well, a part of me does. It is better if I don’t act on my feelings and act like everything is normal.

And that was exactly what I did. The following days I pretended that nothing had happened. When we saw each other in the hallways we subtly nodded at each other but further than that we didn’t show pay the other anymore attention just like we always did.

After our situation had cooled down some more we started hanging out more often. I made him go to Pop’s with me to eat dinner together instead of spending the time alone. It felt like we had finally become friends although Jughead still sometimes seemed like he was avoiding me and was hesitant around me but it was getting better and we opened up to each other – talking about our situations at home and our dreams and hopes.

A few days later during school time I was frantically searching for my dark haired, green eyed companion and found him sitting in the student lounge with his other friends. Leaning casually on the door frame I watched them laughing and talking together for a few minutes. When Jughead noticed me I pushed myself off of the door frame and slowly made my way towards the group sitting on the chesterfields in the centre of the room.

As I approached his facial expression showed his confusion and the rest of his gang watched me in surprise. A few feet away from him I nervously said: “Hey, Jug, could I talk to you for a moment? Outside?” while avoiding his friends’ gazes. “Uh... yeah... sure”, he stuttered and followed me out into the hallway which was more or less deserted.

“So... what did you want to talk about?”, my friend asked casually leaning against a locker. “Well... the thing is I have a slight problem”, I replied while cautiously looking around whether anyone else was listening in on our private conversation. Jughead cocked his head in interest and worry. “You know the place that I crashed in... well, someone must’ve found it and told Weatherbee ‘cause Mr. Svenson was told to raid out the place.” His eyes widened in disbelief. “Really?!” I nodded. “Oh shit! What happened to all of your stuff?”, he asked aghast. “They put it into the Lost and Found box but I already got it all back and put in my locker.”

“So they know that you stayed here?” “No... god no! I told them story about constantly losing things. They bought it.” Jughead exhaled deeply like he had held his breath most likely fearing for his own safety even though I was somewhat hoping it was for my sake. “Can I help you in anyway?”, he questioned. “That’s really nice of you but I’m fine... I just wanted to tell you that I won’t be staying here any longer.” “What?!”, he exclaimed shocked making some students glance at us.

“Shh”, I hushed him and made him lower his voice. Jughead muttered an apology. “I’ll leave as soon as school’s over. That’s why I wanted to let you know now.” It hurt seeing his seemingly painful expression – if I wasn’t imagining that as well – the corner of his lips lightly pointing downwards and his eyes wide. “You can’t! Where will you go?” Trying to lighten up the mood with a soft smile I answered: “I don’t know yet but I’ll figure it out. I always do. It really will be too suspicious if I stay here as well and anyway I saw Mr. Svenson lock the door to the storage room earlier.”

“Please (Y/n), at least stay the night. Then tomorrow we can figure it out together”, he begged me standing up straight. It was so unlike him to plea for something and I couldn’t stop myself from hoping that it was only because of me. His sea green puppy dog eyes didn’t help me with my refusal so I gave in. “OK, fine.”

As Jughead went back into the student lounge I stayed behind resting against one of the classic blue lockers caught up in my thoughts. That’s when I heard Veronica Lodge speak up. “So, you and that outsider girl?” “Her name is (Y/n)”, Jughead corrected her. I knew I shouldn’t listen, this surely wasn’t a conversation meant for my ears but as soon as my name fell from his lips drew my interest.

“What’s going on between the two of you?”, she asked suggestively and full of curiosity. “N... Nothing.” It hurt hearing him say that. Technically it was true. There was nothing between us. We hadn’t even spoken the words ‘friend’ or ‘friendship’ towards each other. With a pang in my heart I quickly left not wanting to hear more of the conversation. Although my heart still ached from Jughead’s short answer earlier today I kept my promise and spent the night in school.

Lost and Found Part 2 ~ Jughead x reader

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Word count: 1,744

Warnings: none that I know of

Summary: The reader isn’t living with her parents any more and is looking for a place to crash. She meets Jughead. 

A/N: This takes place during the first season, around episodes 4 to 7.

Over the next few weeks the two of us avoided the other not sure what we thought of the other person’s presence. And every time we did coincidentally met the other we eyed him dis-trustingly and quickly carried on on our separate ways.

It was a late Sunday afternoon. The weather was already turning a little cooler – the end of summer in reach. I had decided to spend the day exploring the school and sketching. That was the reason why I was sitting on the edge of the flat roof of the school building.

My feet dangling in the air and the sun rays warmed my face. My hand moved swiftly over a page of my sketchbook, which was resting on my lap, depicting the landscape seen in front of me. Trees, the setting sun, a few houses. In simple moments like this I enjoyed life. Being alone, occupied with my own thoughts, doing what I loved – in my eyes that was the ideal way to spend my time. On days like this I didn’t have to spend my thoughts on problems and burdens.

The sudden squeak of the big metal door, that led onto the roof, tore me out of my pleasant daydreaming. I flinched and almost dropped my things. Turning around I saw Jughead standing in the door frame his laptop under his arm. “What are you doing here?” Standing up I collected my things, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I was sketching. What about you?”.

Considering his options whether he should tell me his oh so mysterious secrets for a few moments he finally settled on sharing. “I’m writing a novel.” So that’s what he was doing when I saw him at the diner. I wondered what he was writing about, but I didn’t ask, not wanting to push the boundaries of this conversation and our ‘relationship’ - whatever exactly it was. “Well, have fun.” - Small talk never was my strong suit.

I walked past him – or at least intended to, but me being me I instead bumped into him, dropping some of my things one of them being my sketchbook. Falling to the floor it just had to open on the page with the pencil sketch of him. As quick as humanly possible I picked it up closing it. To my incredibly amazing luck he had of course still seen it. Just a quick glance being enough for his trained eyes. “What was that?”, he inquired. “Nothing”, I replied defensively. “Why did you sketch me?”

“You’re not the only one with secrets”, I said and rushed off not wanting to actually tell him the reason. Yeah sure, I liked to capture the mysterious and he was mysterious as hell, but I also had ulterior motives, that I didn’t even want to admit to myself. He was plain and simple beautiful and I might have some feelings – not anything big, let’s rather say interest – I had some interest in him and in his mysterious, secretive ways.

From that encounter onward we tolerated each other. We would spend time in the same room without running off, sitting on the roof top both of us searching for inspiration. Our behaviour grew less defensive and a little more trusting. I wouldn’t call ourselves friends, ‘cause there was no way we were that close, but if I had to put a label on this relationship it would most likely read ‘acquaintances’. While Jughead was still quite quiet, not overly friendly and on the fence, I started to really enjoy his presence even if it was just accompanied by silence.

Furthermore I actually started to find pleasure in bothering him, whether it was giving him weird nicknames or stealing his crown like beanie. The only thing I didn’t dare to mess with was his laptop and novel. The way he took it so seriously he might one day become some sort of professional writer. I loved annoying him for the confusion it caused him was just too hilarious.

Having fun bothering him meant popping up out of nowhere where ever he went.

So that was what I was doing when I walked into Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe one dreary evening. Greeting the waitress I ordered myself some dinner and walked over to Jughead who was more or less hiding behind his laptop monitor. Sliding into the booth so I sat across from him I cheerfully greeted him: “Hey there, mystery boy! How’s the novel going?”

Raising his eyes, looking at me sternly he then ignored me and continued writing his manuscript. Not being very bothered by his reaction or rather the lack there of, I proceeded talking about this, that and the other – about how my day was, about a new book I read, about the weird three-legged dog I saw on the way here. I talked about literally anything and everything hoping to spark a conversation – to no avail. Well, his loss, ‘cause I was an amazing conversational partner.

A few hours of one sided conversation later the two of us were ready to head ‘home’, walking side by side down the dark streets of Riverdale. “By the way”, I turned my head to the side to look at the slightly taller boy, who in turn looked at me. “I’m thinking of finding myself a new place to crash. The possibility of being noticed is to high if we both stay”, I carried on a hint of sadness laced into my voice. “Hey, you’ll finally be rid of me. Aren’t you happy?” Trying to lighten the mood I chuckle (not a fullhearted one) and elbowed his side. As oh so often Jughead stays quiet. Giving up to make him respond we continue to walk in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

Reaching the school building we had to climb up a tree and sneak in through a window on the first floor, that luckily someone had forgotten to close, as the entrance doors had been locked. “What an adventure!”, chuckling I finally broke the quiet that was slowly but surely growing a little awkward.

Thanks to the fact that he was taller than me Jughead’s steps too were somewhat longer than mine and I had to slightly pick up the speed of my steps to hold up with him. When we arrived at the staircase leading to the ground floor of course something had to happen that could literally only happen to me – I tripped over my own two feet. Naturally something like this had to occur to me, I was the clumsy one after all. Dropping things for no reason, running into people – things like that were more or less already a part of my daily routine.

Jughead, who was standing at the open spot where the stairs turned, turned around in surprise when he heard the surprised noise I made. Of course he would be surprised, stumbling over his own feet wasn’t something that was likely to ever happen to him. He always had a safe step, was agile like a cat never loosing his footing. Not only was he agile but he also had an air of elegance about him, the same that our feline friends have.

To my misfortune I wasn’t able to catch myself and stop myself from falling so I closed my eyes and braced myself for the unavoidable impact – a sharp pain I knew too well.

It wasn’t quite true that I never was noticed, most of the time I wasn’t noticed. But there were some off days when I actually was detected – well, never in a good way. Days when the jocks – Reggie and his bulldogs- seemed to be in the need to bother someone. I, for an instance, had been a target of their actions a few times mostly resulting in them violently shoving me to the floor.

The hard impact never seemed to come. Instead I felt something soft touch my face and something warm wrap around my waist. Opening my eyes again I look up and see Jughead’s beautiful face right in front of mine. Shocked I take a step back. Jughead who had caught me and whose arms still had a tight grip on my waist didn’t expect my move which ended up in both of us toppling over.

Luckily Jughead caught my fall again. He was sprawled out on the cold and grey PVC floor. I had landed on top of him.  Embarrassed about the position we were in and how close our faces were – only a few inches apart from each other – I buried my face in my (h/c) hair and pushed myself up on my arms.

In the meantime Jughead had propped himself up on his forearms. After muttering different versions of ‘I’m so sorry’ and ‘This is so embarrassing’ I finally brought up the courage to look at him again only to meet his mesmerizing eyes starring at me a hint of something I couldn’t quite comprehend in them.

His gaze shut me up mid sentence. Being this close to him, feeling the warmth that radiated off of him, his breath on my cheeks – not in a creepy, endangering way but in a very comforting one – all this caused my ‘interest’ to kick in. I felt the heat rush up to my face, blushing. My heart started thumping like I was running a marathon, my breath speeding up as well due to the close proximity.

For a second or so I thought I saw a light blush creep onto Jughead’s rather pale face but as soon as I blinked it was gone. It felt like we were sitting like that on the cold floor starring at each other for hours. In reality we probably only had been in this position for a few seconds. At that moment it seemed like the attractive boy was slowly but surely leaning into me causing my heart to beat faster and I collected up all of my courage and eliminated the distance between us by lightly pressing my lips to his warm ones.

But... he didn’t kiss back. Maybe it was because he was surprised by my reaction, surprised that I liked him back, maybe he didn’t like it – I don’t know what his reason was. The only thing I knew in that moment was that I was super embarrassed – it was so cliché – that I quickly pushed myself up off of the ground and rushed off.

Lost and Found Part 4 ~ Jughead x reader

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

Word count: 1,362

Warnings: none, I think

Summary:  The reader isn’t living with her parents any more and is looking for a place to crash. She meets Jughead.

A/N: This takes place during the first season, around episodes 4 to 7.

When I woke up the next morning I was lying in my sleeping bag in the small room under the stairs that Jughead occupied. Next to me I heard the slow and steady breathing of the aforementioned boy who was only partly covered by his own sleeping bag. He was still sleeping soundly, his hand was lying next to my body – stretched out like he was reaching out debating whether to connect it with my body. It took all my willpower from taking it into my smaller hand. After all I didn’t want to wake him from his peaceful slumber.

I enjoyed studying him in this state. I hadn’t seen him this relaxed before. He always wore that brooding look and the lost-in-thoughts frown of his. Turning onto my side so I was facing the boy beside me I continued observing him – he had such a gorgeous face, such enthralling jade green eyes and those cute little birthmarks that I adored. And not to forget/start on those strong lips? which were currently faintly turned upwards into a soft unconscious smile. Oh those kissable lips – they made my pulse speed up just by thinking of them and what they would feel like on mine. Oh god, I should stop thinking of him like this.

Man, I knew I had feelings of some sort for him but not like this. This was becoming far more than just a short lived crush on an attractive boy.

It couldn’t go on like this. I should leave. Today after school would probably be the best, but I couldn’t tell him. If I do he’ll try and persuade me to stay. If he does so my resilience would just crumble to dust. I didn’t want to hurt him. Presuming I stayed I wouldn’t only hurt myself by pining after him I would also hurt Jughead by sticking around him with all of my mess. I couldn’t and wouldn’t burden him with my emotional baggage. Even if it hurt him when I leave that pain will subside and it would be less painful than if I stayed.

So my decision was made. I would leave this evening after school, I would leave him a note on his sleeping bag in which I would apologize for not telling him in person and then I would slip into the most likely already dark evening and find somewhere to stay the night.

It was an hour since I walked out of the school building with all of my things. Wondering whether Jughead had already found my letter I rounded the next corner. What would he do when he had read  those handwritten words? Would he just ignore the fact that I left and confront me tomorrow in class? Or would he come looking for me? I was kinda hoping for the latter ‘cause in the dark and cold I started to regret my decision. Some fear started to rise in me especially now that I was on the south side of town.

I had never really been to the other side of the tracks. I grew up on the Northside, up until a while ago I had lived with a typical, happy white picket fence northsider family. This change in scenery originated from the fact that I needed a place to sleep. Lately I hadn’t seen any abandoned buildings around the Northside, I didn’t have any friends I could sleep over at and there was no way in hell I could afford to spend a night at one of the extremely fancy and expensive hotels.

So I had scratched all of the little money that I had left together and had gotten on my way to one of the cheap, dingy motels in the part of town that was despised by so many people.

From the distance the red neon sign of the motel was clearly visible, the parking lot beneath it empty. Just as I reached the parking lot I picked up quick footsteps behind me. My heart sped up. Please, don’t let it be one of the Serpents or even worse one of the Ghoulies. I wasn’t able to defend myself against one of the gang members.

“(Y/n)!”, I heard a familiar voice call my name. Stopping dead in my tracks I turned around and there he stood – Jughead – the only person I hoped to see. Out of breath he supported himself by hands on his knees, doubling over gasping for air. I stood there, observing him and waiting for his next move. I feared that if I made the first move I would make things awkward again, as at the moment I trusted neither my words nor my actions.

Finally able to breath air normally, Jughead walked over to me. “How did you find me?”, surprise filled my voice. “I just had a feeling”, he answered shortly taking a step closer. Scanning my face trying to figure out how and what I was feeling he then continued: “Why did you leave?”

It was such a simple question and I knew he was already aware of the reason but it was so much harder to say it to his face. Part of my brain wanted me to just run into his arms crying, apologizing and asking him for forgiveness. The stronger, more rational and less emotional thinking part of me immediately pushed that option away. “I’m sorry, but I had to – I still have to. You read the letter”, I broke the silence my eyes starting to tear up. Jughead’s gaze softened as he saw my teary state and he took a step towards me. Now there were only a few feet of empty space left between the two of us.

“You know it’s better for the both of us.” And with that I turned away walking towards the entrance of the reception area. I didn’t get very far. After a few steps I was stopped by a tug on my wrist. I turned around to Jughead and pulled my wrist from his grip.

“No, no I don’t know that”, he said determined. “Jug, I can’t.” I tried to leave again but like the first time the boy in front of me held me back. This time he held on tighter and I didn’t pull away. Looking up at him I saw his eyes big with plea.

“Please... please stay, stay for me.” His softly muttered words made my heart jump. Sighing I responded:  “I really don’t want to hurt you.” “You could never!” Looking nervously down at his feet he let go of my wrist and anxiously scratched the back of his neck before he continued with a whisper: “I... I love you, (Y/n).”

After those few words everything was silent. Jughead shyly looked up at me to see my reaction to those three meaningful words. I was shocked. Never had I expected – not even considered – that the boy I was crushing on might return those feelings. After a few seconds in silent shock a smile started to make its way onto my face and I carefully took Jughead’s hand into mine.

“Well... I don’t know what to say”, I told him softly. Jughead embarrassedly looked away. “I’m... I’m sorry I made this awkward but... but I had to tell you”, he said slowly pulling away but I held on to him which made him turn around to me again.

Now it was my turn to blush and be nervous. “You know what... I think I’m in love with you too.” With those words his eyes widened in surprise not having anticipated my response. Then a smile crept onto his face as he pulled me close.

He gently caressed my cheek with his hand making me blush even more. As I looked up at him I got lost in his beautiful green eyes that swallowed me like the waves of the ocean. He slowly leaned in. Closing my eyes I leaned in as well.

And we kissed under the moon and the stars – and yeah, under the red glow of the neon sign advertising a cheap room for the night.

I felt like I was lost but finally found.