Before~
The night you had your first kiss had started out like most of your other nights- with a very long, drawn out argument with your parents because if it was one thing you sadly shared with your mom and dad- it was that no one ever wanted to stop the fight.
It got to the point where it was almost fun for you in a weird kind of way.
But tonight this fight was ended early when you left them, slamming the front door closed behind you as you walked away. You didn’t expect them to follow, and they didn’t.
As soon as you made your way to your best friend and crush’s house, you had the idea that you were going to find Juggie there and only Juggie since he had told you before that Archie and his dad were out of town with Archie’s mom.
But when he answered, Betty showed up behind him.
“Oh, hey, Y/N. Come on in.” Juggie greeted you, smiling naively.
It took everything in you not to break down right there. Instead, you offered a smile right back.
“Hey, Juggie. Betty.” You acknowledged her presence as well even though you didn’t want to. “And, no, it's fine. I didn’t know you would have company tonight. I’ll leave you two alone.” Your voice accidentally cracked on your last word and you quickly turned around as to not let either of them see you crying.
Juggie wasn’y going to let you leave so easily though and followed you out, letting Betty know he would be back in a second.
“Hey,” He stopped you by putting his hand on your shoulder and stepping in front of you, “What’s wrong?”
He was so sincere about it and you couldn’t help but let the tears flow at that. “Everything.” You admitted, “My parents basically flat out told me no matter what they aren’t going to let me go to NYU. And we’ve been arguing more than usual. And I miss you, and I want to see you more. But you’re with Betty and I just...” You stopped there, sobbing then. “God, this is stupid. I’m stupid.” You sat down. Right there in the middle of Archie’s sidewalk.
It wasn’t long before Juggie sat down next to you and pulled you closer, letting you sob into his shoulder. “What do you mean I’m with Betty?” He asked all of the sudden.
You paused, trying to catch your breath. “Well, you are, aren’t you?”
He shook his head, chuckling softly. “I’ve only been spending a lot more time with her because I’m helping her with the school newspaper. Besides, why would it matter to you?”
You shrugged, drying your eyes with the sleeve of your sweater, “I dunno.”
When you looked up at him he was smirking, “Well, if I didn’t know better I would say you’re jealous, Ms. Y/L/N.”
You scoffed at that, “I do not get jealous, Forsythe.”
His smile faded at that and you thought for a split second you had gone too far by calling him by his real name. And then his lips were on yours.
It all really happened so quick but you honestly couldn’t have had it any other way. And for that moment nothing else mattered, everything was perfect.
If only it had stayed that way.
~~
“Hey, cutie.” You smiled brightly upon running up towards him while he worked at Andrews’s construction site. Once you were close enough, you threw your arms around his neck and kissed him roughly.
He smiled, lifting you up so that your legs wrapped around his waist, smiling against each other’s lips.
“Get a room!” Archie called out jokingly, throwing one of his work gloves at Juggie.
You laughed, burying your face in the crook of his shoulder.
“Shut up, Andrews!” You called back, sticking your tongue out at him.
He laughed, running over to the two of you to get his glove back.
Juggie finally let you back down.
You two had been dating for two months now and had grown even more inseparable every day. And though neither of you had said it yet, you both were dangerously in love with each other.
“Sorry, I just missed you.” You whispered, biting your lower lip. You couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes fell to your lips again.
“It’s fine, I love your visits. They’re what keep me going on work days.” He whispered back, running an ungloved hand through your hair before kissing your forehead. “Once I get off work maybe we can go to Pop’s together.”
You smiled softly, “I’d love that.”
Everything fell silent before you quickly flicked his hard hat off of his head and began to run backwards away from him, “I’ll see you later.” You laughed.
~~
“Where are you taking me?” You laughed as you held his hand, walking through some lightly wooded area.
“To your death.” He joked, causing you both to laugh softly.
It wasn’t long before there was a clearing and there sat a slightly broken down house. It wasn’t terribly run down, but it was visibly obvious that it needed some TLC.
“What’s this?” You asked, stopping when he did.
He smiled back at you, “This is mine. Well, not yet. But I’m gonna make it mine.” He replied before letting go of your hand and taking off towards the front door, which you followed him to.
It really was beautiful but the river was even more beautiful. You smiled when he tried to open the front door and it almost fell inwards.
You stepped over the door and into the house, looking around yourself. Bunches of faded painting surrounded you on the walls and some on the floors.
You could tell at one point the paintings had been beautiful but somehow being faded made them even more beautiful, like a woman who had aged well.
“You want to make this yours? But it’s so...”
“Old, run down, a piece of shit.” He finished your sentence, laughing softly, nodding. “I know. But it would be something I worked on, you know? And it’s not like anyone is going to notice.” He shrugged.
“I think that’s sad.” You whispered slightly, looking over at him.
“What?”
“You work so hard on something, make it beautiful and new. Then no one ever knows. Kind of like these paintings. Eventually they were forgotten and turned into basically nothing. I think that’s sad. But also tragically beautiful.”
He nodded. “I guess.”
“But if you want help, ever. I’d be more than happy to. I could do the painting of the walls or fixing the door.” You laughed at the last part, so did he.
He walked over to where you stood, looking at you like he wanted to say so many things but none of them could ever truly be said. You knew this look well, especially from him.
He pulled you closer to him, pressing his lips against yours. You tugged at hi hair, knocking his beanie off onto the floor. You opened your lips, deepening the kiss even more.
Somehow you ended up against the wall, running your hands down his back.
It was weird how one minute you could be innocently kissing and then the next you could find yourself up against the wall.
Eventually, you pulled away, trying to catch your breath. “Juggie?” You managed between heavy breaths.
He only nodded, not breaking eye contact with you.
“I love you.”
He paused, and you got nervous. “I’m in love with you.” He said instead.
You looked down at his lips before smiling softly, kissing his lips so hard that he stumbled backwards.
That was the night a lot of firsts happened for the both of you.
~~
The day after that wonderful night was when everything began to tumble downhill, slowly but surely.
It was the day that you got your college acceptance letter. It was the day you had to choose between NYU, Or Juggie.
Then there was the whole thing with your parents not wanting you to go that far for college.
“I don’t understand why you guys can’t just be happy for me!” You yelled, and you could see the anger on your parents’ faces.
“New York is a dangerous place, Y/N!” Your dad yelled back.
“I don’t give a fuck.” And that was that.
You ran over to Andrews Construction and paused when you saw Juggie working and joking around with Archie. You couldn’t do this, you couldn’t leave without him.
“Juggie!” You called out to him, forcing a smile as he ran over to you.
“Hey.” He smiled, grabbing you by the waist and pressing a quick, firm kiss against your lips.
“Hey.” You repeated, “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
His smile dropped at that, but he nodded. “Okay, yeah.” He turned to look over at Archie and the rest of the crew, letting them know he was going to take a quick break and then took you inside Mr. Andrews’s office. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”
You shook your head but managed to continue smiling. “I want you to come to New York with me.” Your voice wasn’t barely a whisper when you spoke and you found it hard to keep eye contact with him.
It fell so silent that you could’ve almost sworn he stopped breathing.
Then it happened, the sentence that ended almost everything at that very second. “I can’t.”
You finally made eye contact, “Why not?”
“Because my life is here.” He replied, reaching out for your hand which you yanked away. You could almost see the pain cross his face at that.
“I’m sorry. I leave in two weeks for NYU. And I have to go.” Then you walked out of the office knowing that everything was over.
