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serpent-jugheadjones · 7 years

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The Partner Revealed - Part 5

Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader

Description: Their investigation on Jason has to take a break while they try to save the Drive-In.

Warnings: None I can think of.

Word count: 5384

A/N: Can’t believe I’m already on Part 5. You guys are awesome for the reading. Sorry it’s such a slow burn. Yep, there’s a subtle Supernatural reference... Thank you @jugheadxreaderinyourhead for helping me with vocabulary.

Jughead’s point of view

Jughead is woken up by loud noises at the Drive-In. He goes down, still in his boxers, ready to strike in case it’s a burglar, but it was just the manager. Seeing him makes Jug feel at ease again, relaxing his muscles, although the fact that the man is putting things in boxes can be a little concerning. “Hey, Jake. What’s up?”, he asks, puzzled. “Here’s your payment, Jughead.” The man hands him a thick envelope. “This is a lot more than I earn.” He tries to hand him back the envelope, for he might have given him the wrong one. “Oh, you don’t know yet. They’re shutting down the Drive-In.”, Jake says, while throwing his belongings into the cardboard box in a somewhat rough manner. Jughead stays silent with a dumbfounded expression. “It’s the month’s salary, next week’s advance and a little extra for all these years of good work.”, Jake explains the amount of money and goes back to packing. “Why?”, he simply asks, still thinking it could be a complete joke. “It was bought off.”, the man says sadly. Just like for Juggie, that place means a lot to him. “You should read this.” Jug takes the letter in his hands with the explanation from the Mayor. He can see the man reminiscing about his youth, talking about how he used to take his dates there, or that he worked at the projection booth douring high school, having managed the Twilight for most of his adult life, just as in many occasions they’d talk about all those things. But it was all going down now.

Jake loads his car with the last of the boxes full of memorabilia and personal objects. He closes the trunk door and shakes Jug’s hand, who is now fully dressed, including his beanie. “Take care of yourself, kid.”, he says with a lot of weight on his words. Jughead is left standing there, looking at everything like it’s both the first and the last time he’ll ever do, until the car is no longer visible. He remembers when he started working there and Jake found him sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor, head on his backpack. He was scared to death of being thrown out and fired over it, but the man simply walked out and came back half an hour later with a rollaway bed, a pillow and some blankets he assembled in the projection room without a word. With all that in his mind, he doesn’t even have time to think about what Betty found out regarding Archie and what she might do with such information.

He returns to his room and sits down on the bed, staring at the letter for a while, not being able to read past ‘It will be demolished’.”. His home away from home, the place in which he has had a few happy childhood memories is being torn down. Jughead looks at the envelope containing his last payment and then at the projection room he’s been living in for the past 2 years, wondering what the hell he’ll do next. He just grabs a jacket and leaves, walking for miles without paying attention to anything. The words from that piece of paper stand out in his mind: anonymous buyer, shut down, scheduled demolition… He adds a few on his own, like jobless and homeless. When this upset boy finally stops to look around, he recognizes the front door he’s standing on: Y/N’s. “When did she became the person I go to when I’m in need?” he asks himself and turns back. “Jughead!”, she shouts. He’s already walking away, not wanting to trouble that outstanding girl with that, when he feels her hand holding his. (She’s not gonna let him go.) He’s actually incredibly thankful she did that. Truth is he doesn’t want to be alone in that moment. He’s just not good at asking for help.

They walk in still holding hands. “Do you wanna talk about what happened?”, she asks, letting go of his hand. “If you don’t mind, that’s the last thing I wanna talk about.”, he answers, missing the warmth of her touch. “I have pizza. Pizza makes anything better.”, she says, taking out the box from the fridge and putting it on the pizza pan to heat it up. “Agreed.”, he tells her, but what really makes him feel better is seeing her. “Your parents aren’t home yet?”, he inquires, looking around, noticing pictures of her as a kid on the walls. “No. There was an emergency somewhere, with some patient.”, she tells him with little interest. “And they just leave you?” He wonders if that sounded rude. “I’m used to it. To be honest, I enjoy it.”, she tells him and he relates to her fondness for being alone, although right now he prefers being with her. “It’s my mom that doesn’t like it. My dad is the love of her life – she can’t stay away from him. But she’d like to be home more often.”, Y/N explains and he wonders if his dad was the love of his mom’s life; if so, how he stopped being.

The pizza is eaten before any slice even has a chance to cool down. Then they talk for hours, about the first time they watched ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and could barely blink, their favorite potato chips flavors, how they both love Edgar Allan Poe, some video games they both play and even a little bit about things he wrote before starting the novel. Jughead even forgets about the Drive-In. That girl makes him feel things he never felt before. He’s never even had a crush on a fictional character and now all he wants to do is be there, looking at her and hearing her talk about things they love. “I can’t help but notice you haven’t used the free food ticket I gave you.”, he remarks, wondering if she hasn’t used it because she’s not into him. Besides, it can be the last time he’s able to. “Wasn’t aware there was an expiration date.” They both laugh. “I was saving it for tonight, obviously. Come on, Jones. Buy me dinner.”, she says with a confident smile, something he had never seen on that pretty face before, and it matches her. “It’s a date… Did I just say that out loud? No, thank god. Also, did I just call this a date?” He rambles in his own mind.

Y/N’s point of view

The Chock'lit Shoppe isn’t far from her home. Even in the slow speed they’re going, it won’t take them too long to get there. “Sheriff Keller stopped by this morning, before you.”, Y/N tells him as they walk. “He’s been going around door to door.”, Jughead reports. “He heard about the fight and wanted to know about my involvement with Jason.”, she says mockingly, with air quotation marks, immediately noticing a barely perceptible frown on Jug’s face. “I told him he should come back another time, when my parents get home. I’m pretty sure he found that suspicious.”, the girl adds. “He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing. I mean, nothing like that was ever supposed to happen in Riverdale.” He stops as the Sheriff drives by them not failing to stare until he was out of sight. “It’s starting to look a lot like Salem during the witch trials.”, he delivers it eerily and she can see he’ll use that in his novel.

They arrive at Pop’s parking lot. The red light form the neon sign shading their faces, the amazing smell of food being cooked inside watering their mouths. “Jughead!”, someone shouts and they turn around. Betty, Veronica and Kevin are walking towards them. “Hey, guys.”, Jughead responds unexcitedly. “And who’s this?” Veronica asks curiously. Y/N’s just about to answer, detecting Jughead’s difficulty in finishing his sentence. He’s stuttering on ‘she’ when Betty finally answers for them. “This is Y/N Y/L/N. She’s writing with us at the Blue and Gold.”, the blonde reveals and both Veronica and Kevin move on to a different conversation. “Am I?”, she inquires with a quite puzzled expression. “Yeah, if you take my offer.”, Betty concludes hopefully. “What offer?”, Jug asks, even more confused than Y/N. “Betty called me last night inviting me to work with you guys, but I’m not a writer.”, she says, expecting that would be the end of it. “Acording to my mother, you are.” Betty is not comfortable to bring her parent into the conversation, but she’s kinda desperate. “Alice is kind to say that. But if that internship taught me anything, is that I’m not cut out for it.” Y/N tells her, remembering how hard she had to work to keep up with the Coopers. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”, Kevin interrupts, already walking in. “I’m Veronica by the way.”, the raven-haired girl introduces herself, shaking Y/N’s hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m a fan of the DIY manner you used to deal with the Chuck situation.”, Y/N says, observing Betty doesn’t take that the same way Ronnie does.

Hermione Lodge comes to take their orders as they sit in a booth. Jughead chooses the place in front of Kevin and Betty quickly sits next to him, leaving both Jug and Y/N wondering if she didn’t notice they arrived together for a reason, but neither being able to tell the girl. Veronica is already sitting next to Kev, so Y/N finds a chair to sit at the corner of the table, felling a bit left out. “So sorry about the Drive-In, Jughead.”, Kevin says, taking a sip from his soda. “What about it?”, Veronica asks indifferently, like she’s just making conversation. “They’re shutting down and demolishing it.”, Kevin explains, as if it was some simple small town gossip. “The Drive-In closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale... No, forget Riverdale, in the coffin of the American dream.” Juggie sounds as if he was holding that in all day and now she knows why he looked so doom and gloom earlier. Y/N has a hard time processing the news but doesn’t fail to notice how poetic Jug is, even with the saddest of things. “This doesn’t make any sense.”, she agrees. The Drive-In is where she’d go with her father to watch cult movies and then they’d discuss their opinions afterwards at Pop’s. She can’t imagine that special place not existing anymore. “As the godfather of indie cinema, Quentin Tarantino, likes to say...” Jughead starts, but is cut off by Kevin. “Please, God, no more Quentin Tarantino references.” Y/N definitely doesn’t feel the same way as Kevin over Tarantino references. “What? I’m pissed. Not just about losing my job, the Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. We should be trying to save it.”, Jughead claims desperately and Y/N is just about to back him up. “In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there?”, Veronica asks rhetorically, making Y/N look at her with contempt, wanting to prove her wrong. “Me.” Y/N starts saying, but is cut off by Kevin, who she thinks has the annoying habit of doing that. “People who want to buy crack.” They both look at each other reprovingly. “And cinephiles, like me and Y/N, car enthusiasts.” Jug looks at her thankfully, really appreciative of her help on the subject. “Anyways, it’s closing because the town owns it but didn’t invest in it. So when an anonymous buyer made Mayor McCoy an offer, she couldn’t refuse...” Jughead is trying to explain, but Veronica cuts him off. ”Anonymous buyer? What do they have to hide? No one cares.”, she speaks her mind, laughing. “I do.” Both Y/N and Juggie say at the same time. “Anyways, you guys should all come to closing night. I’m thinking ‘American Graffiti’, or is that too obvious?”, he changes the subject a little bit. It’s visible he’s already thinking of other options. “Anything starring Audrey Hepburn, or Kate Blanchett.”, Veronica votes and Y/N thinks it’s probably because the girl herself looks like she’s been taken out from one of those movies. “Or ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’.” Kevin suggests and Y/N wonders if they only enjoy movies they can relate to. She also wonders the same about herself. “You do have Tom’s jaw, Kevin.”, she says. “Thank you.”, he says and she’s not sure if it’s utter thankfulness or sarcasm over being compared to a killer, although a very handsome one. “Betty, your choices?” , he looks at the blonde girl who’s been silent this whole time, snapping the girl’s attention into the conversation for what seems to be the first time so far. “Maybe ‘Pretty in Pink’. How about you, Y/N?”, the Cooper girl wants to know, and Jughead stares at Y/L/N intently. “I think ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ is a good fit.”, she shoots. Hermione arrives with their food, putting an end to that debate.

“That’s an odd combo.” Kev says and looks at the trio who just walked in, making everyone turn heads. Archie with his dad and Miss Grundy, of all people. Betty quickly walks out without Jug or Y/N even having a chance to stop her. They know perfectly well that approaching him like that isn’t a great idea. “What’s happening?”, Kevin asks confused, just like Veronica. “Trust me, you don’t wanna know.”, Y/N responds, hoping they’ll let it go, but it actually makes them more interested. As soon as Betty walks out with the ginger boy, their curiosity grows. Unfortunately, none of them is about to tell why the blonde needed so desperately to talk to Arch. Y/N has just met Betty, having no long lasting friendship loyalty to her, and she doesn’t even know Archie, but she wouldn’t want to be told on if she was in that situation. “What’s happening out there? Do we know? Is it about me?” Veronica asks hurriedly and Y/N thinks how self-centered that girl has to be to think everything is about her. “I have a strong inkling.”, Jughead says vaguely. “I’d stay out of it if I were you.”, Y/N advises the New Yorker and she looks surprised Y/N even knows what’s going on. “But you’re you and I’m me. You do you, girl. I’ll be back.”, Veronica spits on her way out. Kevin respects their privacy out of fear of the unknown.

Jughead’s point of view

Alice shows up to pick Betty up before things get worse. Archie walks back in to his table as if nothing has happened and Veronica looks both pissed and surprised at the same time. “I’ll leave this to your very capable hands.”, Jug tells Kevin, who is desperate for gossip. “Y/L/N, if we may?”, he says pointing at an empty booth on the other side of the diner and she quickly gets up waving the ones staying good bye. They sit in front of each other, just the two of them. “As it should’ve been all along.”, the beanie-clad boy adds trying to salvage what could’ve been their first date. “Why didn’t you tell me about the Drive-In?” That’s exactly what he’s expecting her to ask. “I wanted to forget about it.”, he says sadly now that the anger has gone. “I want to be able to help you, Jug, but I can’t if you won’t let me.” He can hear the honesty in her voice. “Help me print out and distribute the flyers about the last screening?”, he asks for her assistance. “Absolutely. But we shouldn’t give up yet. We have to hit pause on Jason’s investigation. It’s not like we have any new leads anyways.” He nods in agreement. “We should talk to Mayor McCoy about keeping the Drive-In.”, she suggests and he realizes it would be incredible if they could find a way to change her mind about the sale. He’s also amazed at her tenacity to fight for something that is probably doomed, because it’s the right thing. After all that happened this night, he’s glad he didn’t call it a date. It would’ve been a complete epic fail. He pays for Y/N’s food as she hands him the ticket. “Keep it.”, he tells her. “Give it back to me when you need a free meal.”, she says, putting the piece of decorated paper in his jacket’s pocket. He can feel her finger gently touching his body. If they weren’t in a diner full of people, he would’ve probably kissed her.

Jughead arrives early at school to hand out as many flyers as he can. Archie finds him on one of the hallways and starts rambling about Betty discovering his affair with the music teacher. Jug cares about his friend, but he has more important things in his mind, like the roof over his head that is about to be demolished. Even if he didn’t, saying nothing was the most moral choice. He couldn’t either betray Arch and tell Betty not to do anything or warn the red-haired guy without going against Betty, who wasn’t wrong. He assures his friend Betty wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. Despite everything, he can’t miss the chance for some irony. “We’re both trying to hold on to something much older than us.”, he says, as he glues a poster on the school’s wall with a near perfect drawing of James Dean, made by Y/N, revealing the movie of choice: Rebel Without a Cause. Could he make it more obvious he’s falling for her?

Y/N is waiting for him outside after their last class, for they planned of walking to the town hall and talk to the Mayor. “Interesting friends you have.”, Y/N states, referring to the previous night’s scandal. “Archie and Betty are my friends, the others were just there…” He knows how mean that sounds. “So, only the womanizer jock/musician and the absent-minded blonde? Not the gay kid? Or the deluxe rich girl?”, she hits him with the same level of sarcasm he strikes the world with and they both laugh.

Mayor McCoy is not pleased with their visit and she makes that pretty obvious by not giving them her full attention, messing around with papers they are sure could be dealt with after the 15 minutes they asked for. Jughead looks longingly at the town’s model in the middle of the room and Y/N walks right to the Mayors desk in a stern way, demanding to be heard. “The Drive-In is a piece of this town’s history. You want to throw a 75th Anniversary Jubilee while you destroy our roots?”, Y/N asks with conviction and Jughead doesn’t think he could’ve put it better himself. “It’s called progress, Miss Y/L/N. Do you think we kept everything exactly like it was 75 years ago?”, the Mayor asks like Y/N is a kid and that angers Jughead. “There must be something we can do to keep it.”, he demands with a hint of desperation. “I’m sorry, but the Twilight Drive-In it’s a blight that’s become a cesspool, and a hangout for criminals… and transients.”, she says with little regard to the people who love that place. “And the deal’s done. Andrews Construction is scheduled to demolish the lot on Monday.”, she adds happily like that’s a job well done. “Mayor McCoy, when I was a kid, my family and I would go to the drive-in all the time. We couldn’t afford tickets for everyone, so my sister Jellybean and I would hide in the trunk until we parked. We’d sneak out.”, he chuckles and notices the soft expression on Y/N’s face who was listening attentively. “It’s like I’m home.” He emphasizes the word ‘home’, hoping that a more sentimental way could get to her. “Thank you both for your input on this. But the future of Riverdale is at stake. There’s nothing I can do.” She motions them to the door.

Jughead has the look of defeat all over him. “We’re not giving up. We can talk to Mr. Andrews. If he backs out, it will at least slow it down until we find a permanent solution.” She cups his cheeks talking very close to his, making Jughead’s heart skip a beat. He takes a moment to regain control of his body after she let go of his face. “I should be the one to do it. I’ve been best friends with his son all my life.”, he says trying to find an explanation to why he doesn’t want to involve her in this without having to mention his drunk father. “Makes sense. Let me know how it goes. I have to meet Betty for something anyways.” He thought she would be hurt by being left out but it actually surprised him she has plans with the blonde cheerleader. “Are you guys friends now?”, he asks with jealousy. “I wouldn’t go that far. She asked if I was in for some sleuthing. It’s probably Jason-related and she just wants my opinion.”, she explains. “So, about tomorrow… I can borrow my mom’s car. And I was wondering if you’d like to watch the movie from the audience’s point of view one last time?”, she asks with so much insecurity he thinks it’s cute. “I’d love to. I’ll fix the roll and meet you there.”. He looks at the beautiful smile now forming on Y/N’s face, not realizing he has the same one on.

Y/N’s point of view

Y/N stands at the address Betty texted her. Despite she’s not late yet, the Y/H/C girl has her doubts if she’ll really come or if this was just a prank. Thankfully, before she has time to fall into a panic attack over it, she spots the blonde Nancy Drew walking her way, alongside the raven-haired princess. “So much for letting this go.”, Veronica says as Y/N now realizes they are standing in front of Geraldine’s car. “Wow. Are we really breaking into Grundy’s car right now?” Y/N asks while Betty pulls out a slim jim out of her bag. ”How do you even know how to do that?”, Veronica asks whispering and looking around. “My dad and I fix cars together. Thank God, she drives an old…” Betty looks at the other girls with a proud look since she has successfully opened the blue beetle’s door and they all get in. “I have to say, when you said sleuthing I figured it was about Jason and not breaking in the music teachers car.”, Y/N whispers and Betty quickly looks around the car. “If I’m committing a felony, I need at least to ask the question. Are you doing this because you still have feelings for Archie, or…”, Veronica asks and that makes Y/N huff and fall back on her seat felling her body hit something. “No. We’re doing this because Grundy has Archie under some kind of sexual spell, and he won’t listen to reason. We’re looking for anything that proves Grundy isn’t as clean as she says she is.” Betty says. “Probably what you’re looking for.”, Y/N says and hands her a lock box she found on the back seat and Betty expresses a deep ‘thank you’ with her eyes. “Bobby pin.” She looks at Veronica who obviously had many hidden around her perfect wavy hair. “Ok, Ms. Gyver.” Veronica hands her the bobby pin and she masterfully opens the lock. “Nancy Drew detective handbook?” Y/N asks impressed. “Yeah!” Betty is proud to be compared to such a wonderful writer. She opens the box pulling out a driver’s license with the name “Jeniffer Gibson” and Ms. Grundy’s picture making the girls question the teachers real identity. However, what really surprises them is the gun Betty pulls out. They hear noises in the house. “We gotta go.” Y/N urges, already opening her door with as much care not to make a noise as she does when sneaking out of her room when her parents are home. Those little outlaws leave.

Betty convinced them they should tell Archie about what they found. Y/N really wants to be left out of it as she doesn’t even know Archie. But she was involved in it either she likes it or not. Obviously the red-haired wasn’t too pleased about the illegal actions the girl took, but he couldn’t deny that it’s suspicious for his lover to have an ID with a different name and a gun, considering a student was shot. He said he’d deal with the situation on his terms, not Betty’s, and Y/N thinks he’s right. Even if what the lovers are doing is wrong, it’s not their business. They leave with a very angry Archie slamming the door on them.

Y/N hadn’t looked at her phone while she was out breaking the law with Betty and Veronica, so when she get’s home, there are a few texts to answer. She skips her mom’s, going directly to Jughead’s.

From: Jughead

No luck with Mr. Andrews.

From: Y/N

Then let’s think of something else.

He doesn’t reply after that and she’s sure it’s because it must be a lot to take in. She has a lot of unfinished homework to get to. Since they became friends, she’s been spending her time in getting to know him rather than schoolwork. Fact is her parents wouldn’t be pleased if her grades started getting lower, which creates a strong conflict, because she really wants to keep his friendship. Y/N decides to sleep a bit less to try to make everyone happy, including herself, by making a cup of coffee to get her through those papers. She eventually falls asleep on the desk with only a few words left to write on her last essay.

Y/N takes one last look at herself in the mirror before leaving for the Drive-In. She’s not usually worried about her clothes the way Veronica and Cheryl are, because she feels there are more important things than appearance, but right now she wants to look good. She chooses a black see-through buttoned-down shirt that barely shows her bralette underneath, a red wine jacket, dark gray skinny jeans and simple converse shoes. She lets her Y/H/C hair loose and natural. The girl even attempts on wearing some lipstick, giving up at last because it feels too much.

She arrives quite excited at the Twilight, only second to the Serpents, who were probably there a lot earlier. Looking at the big sign showing “Rebel Without A Cause” makes her blush. The girl parks her mom’s 1967 Impala in the middle of the field where the lights from the concession stand won’t be visible and the noise from the gang won’t be too loud. The smell of fresh popcorn fills her nostrils and she buys two buckets, since Jughead will be joining her. Not too long goes by and the whole space is filled with cars. It has been a while since the Drive-In is this crowded. So sad to think it will be the last time.

Half the movie has gone by and Jughead is still in the projection booth. Y/N wonders if she’ll be stood up one more time. The Serpents are being loud and obnoxious, making it hard to hear what the characters are saying. Thankfully, Y/N has watched it many times before, enough to memorize the lines. She can faintly hear someone screaming back to the gangers, telling them to shut up. When she looks behind her, she sees Verocina sitting back down in Kevin’s truck. Everyone hunks in agreement.

The passenger door opens and Jughead sits next to her. “Took you long enough.”, she says, handing him a half empty bucket of popcorn. “Yeah, I ate it.” He chuckles, resting his hand on the back of the seat. “Smooth.” She thinks, glad he did that. Jim has just kissed Judie and Y/N faces him. He’s leaning in, getting closer to her face, brushing the locks of hair away from her face, glancing at her lips. She’s desperately waiting for him to finally reach her. Perfect mere inches from contact are ruined by one of the Serpents turning on his bike to leave and the noise makes him back away, quickly opening the car door. “I should get back to check on the film...” Before she even has a chance to reply, he’s already out of sight.

Jughead’s point of view

Joghead closes the projection booth and slides down till he hits the ground. “What the fuck was that?” He has never kissed anyone, never even wanted to. But then there he was, just about to do it, and he truly wished it had happened. Best of all, he could see she did too. If that darn bike hadn’t made him self-conscious of the risks of his actions, he probably would’ve. He’s not used to being scared, so he just left her there to be alone in his safe haven one last time, but in deep regret.

The movie ends and the loud noise of cars leaving makes him look from the small window at the field. Her car is the only one still parked. Jug wants to go down, but he can’t face her now. His phone buzzes.

From: Y/N

Do you need a ride?

From: Jughead

Nah, thanks. I still gotta fix some stuff, it’s gonna take a while.

From: Y/N

Ok. Good night, Jug. Sorry we couldn’t save the Drive-in.

He’s relieved at her messages. He was expecting her to be mad but it seems as if she could read his mind and know he was just afraid of being rejected. Jughead watches her driving away, wanting to scream for her to come back. Instead, he keeps his mouth shut with dread. He proceeds to pack his bag with whatever he can make fit, mentally preparing to leave for good in the morning, not even sure yet where he’ll go to, his dad’s place being the last one on the list. When he finally lays down, both his mind and body are tired and he falls asleep immediately, letting his unconsciousness continue the act he left unfinished earlier.

He grabs his heavy bag containing all his belongings and some souvenirs from the Drive-In. He takes a look at the walls that were about to be destroyed and he wants to add something of himself to that place. He tags “Jughead Jones Wuz Here” adding a crown on top with spray paint. After leaving his mark on the world, he’s ready to leave but is met face to face with the Southside Serpents’ leader. Anyone else in his place would probably shiver, but he was at ease. After all, the man standing in front of him is his father. FP may be an alcoholic gang-banger, but he truly cares about his son. He ensures his father he will be fine, mostly trying to convince himself. And he leaves The Twilight Drive-In without looking back.

#Jughead Jones #Jughead Jones x Reader #Riverdale #Riverdale Imagine #Jughead Jones Imagine #Forsythe Pendleton Jones III #Thank you mom for proofreading #thank you jugheadxreaderinyourhead for being awesome #Jughead x Reader #Riverdale Imagines #Jughead Jones Imagines #Juggie Jones #fanfic #imagine #Jughead Jones III

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jaxxonpollux · 5 years

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seattle ramble

not as nauseatingly hipster as i expected it to be, not as portlandy. still has a ton of young people in beanies with old timey mustaches, composting and diy culture. i guess i just have a bad taste in my mouth with those types of people from my run-ins with hip sects in columbus. but the waterfront is beautiful, and the mountains on either side. the big cranes down next to the highway, the drawbridge, the "hollywood hills" feel, wealthy folks' houses tucked up there on display. the waterfront especially is awakening some real love of the sea in me, something my dad left in me from his yacht club sailing days. makes me want to move someplace by the water, or be a fisherman, something like that. a class of preschoolers was having lunch down at the sculpture park, and they even had little signs put up on the walkway to say they were in session. it was quaint, slice of life

downtown was nice and busy, not very many businessmen like i would expect, a ton of places to eat. i guess it's not much different from downtown columbus, but it feels much wider and spacious. the roads all have bike lanes and trolley lanes, and the hills make everything seem so dynamic. a lot of construction, like you'd expect. city's always growing and changing

went past an argentine steakhouse with tango classes. went past a cat cafe with little pawprints on the sidewalk leading to it, from a few blocks away. a lot of graffiti and vandalism in some spots, but none of it feels gang-related or anything. and most of it is really nice and polite? stickers that say "love yourself" and "sissies rule!" soft anti-police warnings in a place that doesn't seem like it needs heavy policing to begin with. i can only imagine it comes from high school and college kids posturing, practicing their tags, flexing their conceptual art muscles. ran across a few sprayed graphic art portraits too, some of which were repeated here and there, someone's character. whiffs of pot every now and then when you walk down the street. lax rules about people riding their bikes on the sidewalk, like really lax.

and then there's oddfellows, which i wandered to again on the second day. it seems like it's a pretty well-established place; they have their own building with a few different businesses and it's a multi-purpose type of place. bookstore, coffee shop, and apparent student study hall on one side, bar and restaurant on the other. cup of coffee for 3.50 which is where you wanna be for students (i only say that because this place is packed with students right this moment, and maybe like one old guy reading the paper).

i still don't know shit about coffee. seattle is horny for coffee. i ordered an americano because that's what annie ordered yesterday. it's more bitter than a standard coffee, i think. i think? but i would need to probably line up an americano, a cortado, a macchiato, and a cappuccino for a taste test before i could tell the difference between any of them. it's like wine, every type tastes different, and every brand tastes different, and they often overlap. one man's malbec might taste just like another's pinot noir. same with coffee. there's probably someplace in this city that has the perfect coffee for my tongue, "the best coffee in seattle!" if i even liked coffee. but there are so many places that serve their own brand of coffee, trying to find that place would be like trying to find a droplet of pepsi in a bottle of coke.

yesterday annie insisted i try a wine from the bar, a rose. not as dark as others i've had, not as mild. it was nice enough. my first actual drink at a bar too, a glass as expensive as a cheap bottle from the grocery store. actual selected and curated alcohol (side note, curator always makes me think of charlotte from sex and the city for some reason, even though she was an art dealer not a curator. whatever!)

also had a sip of some alcohol the bartender was chattering about, in a conversation i couldn't really keep up with at the time. a lot of jet lag and a little disoriented trying to take it all in, meeting my friend for the first time and whatnot. the alcohol, the name of which i've already forgotten, was apparently really popular in (chicago?) and some lady started making it in her basement after the original dude died because it was so beloved. anyway it tasted alright at first, and then coated your mouth and throat with this weird bitterness that developed into all sorts of terrible flavors over the next few minutes. it was a fun drink at the very least! but not a go-to, i don't really know what the hell people in (chicago?) think is a good time.

they (bartender, annie and etc) also had a very animated conversation about a restaurant with wood paneling that baffled me just a little bit. that must be some seattle-ism, i can't remember the last time i got excited over interior design, if it ever happened at all. the bartender seemed like the kind of guy at which i could get really infuriated and jealous. he seemed a little bit like the "have you even heard of that?" type. showoffy, i guess, but my impression of him was so brief that it would be really unfair to skewer his character like that. still a stranger to me. i'm sure he's the nicest guy in the universe, or whatever.

and annie! is a sweet girl, and more attractive than she is in pictures. a little shorter than me, seems like she's growing up into a very stable adulthood, like, mentally and physically i mean. actually i don't know what i mean by that. like she has the manual for her 30s, she has drive and standards and takes care of herself as well as she can. not married yet, maybe not even of interest to her, maybe still not completely in love. or maybe in love but the rest of daily life doesn't make any sense for marriage yet. she said she had a crush on that bartender, which i thought was kind of funny. but it makes sense, like her brain is still shopping around for excitement and success and something fresh and new all the time. and other adult stuff too, health insurance, sensible habits, trying out nicotine patches again. some concept of where she wants to be in ten years, a commitment to baker's life, a love of creating and inventing recipes. not as harebrained and scattered as she thinks she is, i've known people way worse. studious attention to her plants, like trying to put together the puzzle pieces of having a successful and thriving houseplant (side note, houseplants seem really symbolic sometimes??). it's cool when someone has little projects and it doesn't make you feel envious, just glad for them.

her boyfriend is nice, seems a little trodden down, like a lot of depression under the surface. not like me, wearing my depression right on my dumb face. he seems kind of your average sort of intellectual composting seattle young guy, nothing outright offensive about his character. also seems like he has a few big ideas tucked away, again, diy things, projects he wants to work on if the universe ever found a way to give him the time and money to do it. seems like the kind of guy who likes hiking but gets bored of it after a while. stuck in the same kind of situation as annie (and myself, to some degree), works as a line cook, or probably any kind of cook he wishes to be depending on where he wants to work. never making enough money. seattle is so highly saturated with restaurants, becoming a chef seems like something you could slip into easily if you're drawn towards food at all.

by the way, when did money get so stupidly important? sometimes all i can ever talk about is money, and i just hate the stuff. the only times i care about money are when i see my friends talking about needing investors to get their dreams started. or when i see those preschoolers at the park and start thinking about my own future kids and the opportunities i could give to them. or when i see the waterfront here and get a huge wanderlust boner, half wishing i could hit a reset button and grow up all over again in another part of the country, try to do it better than i did already. it really makes me seriously consider going all-in on a pure money-making job. i told annie i spend all of my money on my friends, and hearing stories and having so many talented broke people in my life really makes me wish i could help. i wanna finance things and put my eggs in every else's basket (which could easily lead to me like, losing everything, but it's just the kind of person i am).

it's really weird every time i see couples squabble. it always feels like a precursor to something kind of bad, because the fights are always something that... like, they're something that you have to have been working at for a while. like your personalities have to be grinding up against each other for long enough for little things to really start driving you crazy. like when one person has the day off and doesn't do the dishes, which is something my boss literally complained to me about her husband the other day. small deal things that get amplified by feelings that have nothing to do with whatever it is and become Very Sizable Deals. i can't tell if annie has a bad temper or if there's just like a vague upsettedness bleeding into places where it doesn't really belong. we talked a lot about our careers and life goals at lunch and there's a lot of frustration there on both ends. probably a lot of people our age feel that way, feet stuck in the mud.

i hope it's some comfort to annie that i still really look up to her in a lot of ways, and in my eyes, she really has accomplished a great deal. i do still look to her as a mentor, even though that part of our relationship is still in development. really bummed i couldn't get to work with her the other day, i wanted to see what she was like in her element. i wanted to see what would make her raise her eyebrows about what i do in the kitchen and show me Her Way of doing it. she's just threatening enough to be a good teacher, i think. and she's had enough bad mentors to know what to avoid when she's consciously in that zone. i'm bummed!

i sometimes wonder what it would be like if we ever got together, during that minute we had the hots for each other. either she would have shaped up to be a very different person or i would have. i think she made right decisions, and she dated guys that could show her things i couldn't have, experiences and hobbies and new passions and friend networks and generally stuff that intimidates me entirely. like going to bars and shows, or being handy with a screwdriver. maybe it's just my low self esteem talking again, but i'm glad i didn't have the chance to drag her down.

i still want to be a better person, i just live a very slow life. half the things i discover make me feel like a newborn baby, i've spent so long isolated in my own head. i can't even really appreciate seattle in the Big Picture sense because i get caught up on really stupid small

details with such bright eyes. like when i was trying to cross the street and the crosswalk sign kept audibly telling me "wait!...wait!...wait!" and then when it was time to walk, it started playing what seemed to me like the beginning of a techno song. people back at home are going to be so disappointed when i tell them the story of the techno crosswalk sign, but those are honestly the things i paid attention to. i guess i get a really limited sense of seattle by noticing those sorts of things, i'm not gonna be able to tell people what seattle is like with any accuracy. i hope people don't ask about the trip too much. i'm failing miserably at taking enough pictures to accurately portray the place so that i don't have to explain it...

i act so idiotically flippant with money when i travel. i literally throw it in the garbage. i'm not like, a wealthy dude or anything, i just stop paying attention to prices when i'm "vacationing," and i let future me worry about it. i wonder if that leaves a sour impression in people's mouths, that i spend money like it's poisonous to me and constantly say stuff like "don't worry about it" when people tell me something's expensive. who am i, the great gatsby?? mediocre gatsby maybe. the truth is i'm just so violently eager to treat people to something nice when i have the opportunity, and i never want to spend on myself. i desire so little, and i only really value companionship and love and dumb poetic things like mountain views and puns in barbershop windows ("y'all comb back now, ya hair?!"). i hope i don't come off as a huge cunt, anyway.

i should probably walk back to the hotel now. need to remember to take pictures of oddfellows in case people ask about it. it's been giving me an inordinate amount of anxiety for some reason.

stopped at the bookstore at oddfellows walking out, why the heck wasn't i shown this before? took a peek at the cookbooks, they all seemed really good quality, unlike the ones you find at half price books, and in the poetry and fiction section, i started to notice all these little tabs on the shelves; they were notes written by (other customers? seemingly) who wanted to promote the books they had read. it made my fucking english major heart melt. look! there is still a place where people are excited about reading! maybe i'm just really sheltered and these places are all over, but it was the first time i came across it. i guess i've seen employee recommendations at barnes and noble back in the day, but this was a different level of adorable. anyway i got really horny for reading and spent 90 bucks on books.

and a tote bag. i don't know what it is about seattle, but i've been feeling like a huge asshole when i don't have a tote bag with me. i went to the grocery store for snacks and was really miserable when they asked "if i needed a bag." there's only one grocery store in columbus that i've been to that really expects you to bring your own bag, and i always dismissed it for just being in a self-righteous neighborhood. but i get the impression that most of seattle is pretty eco-friendly, or uh eco-award, so i feel like a real sore thumb when i go around like your average terrible human.

maybe i just don't walk often enough, but i've found myself very much in disagreement with about half of the crosswalk signals i've come across today. it's comforting seeing that just about everyone else out on the streets shares this view; i witnessed a great deal of jaywalking today and committed it quite a few times myself. walking around all day really kind of inspires me to do the same in my own city. i'm always complaining that i've lived in columbus all my life yet i've experienced so little of it. maybe that's what it takes, a long walk in a neighborhood that isn't my own. poke my head into a restaurant or antique parlor every now and then. the areas i've lived in are not very friendly to walkers. i used to get threatened walking home from high school, back when skinny jeans were popular. some people are just really, really not a fan of skinny jeans, for reasons i don't really wish to decipher

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