JUGHEAD X READER - “TOLD YA”
There was something wrong, and it didn’t take a genius to figure that out - despite the fact that (Y/n) was a self-proclaimed genius. He had been off all day, avoiding her all week, and had spent the last hour deliberately not looking at her. The group were sat at their lunch table, making friendly conversation about school and work and other trivial things that high schoolers were concerned about. But not him.
Jughead had sat for the past hour twiddling his thumbs, or looking at his plate or phone with mild interest. But never at her. When she made a joke he barely laughed, and even when she spoke to him directly he gave her clipped and bored answers. And it was becoming infuriating.
Betty could feel the growing tension and her friend’s bubbling anger, a quick solution popping into her head.
“Uh, (Y/n) I need to go to the bathroom” she stood up from the table, sending the girl a look filled with a hidden meaning “Wanna come?”
“Sure” the girl grumbled, walking away from the table as quickly as she could. They had barely made it to the bathroom before she let out a frustrated growl, her annoyance finally reaching its peak.
“I’m sick of his attitude” she grumbled, leaning against the wall as her blonde friend topped up her lipstick at the mirror “Why the hell is he acting all cold?”
“He’s probably just got a lot on his mind, I don’t think it’s about you personally” Betty reassured her “Has he mentioned anything that might be upsetting him?”
“That’s the thing; he hasn’t spoke to me in a week. No texts, or calls, or little meet ups at Pop’s. Nada. It’s like he’s cut me out of his life!”
“Hmm” Betty frowned “That’s really weird”. She knew her friend had the tendency to overreact, however the tension she had felt sitting there during lunch was undeniably real. Before they could talk over the problem more the bell rang, both girls sighing and heading to class.
(Y/n) couldn’t pay attention no matter what she did, her brain just kept wandering back to her best friend, and why he could possibly hate her so much seemingly overnight. Was it something she had said or done? Was she really just reading into the situation too much? Answerless questions buzzed around her head until finally the last bell rang and she raced out the school doors, now determined to get some clarity.
She spotted the familiar beanie almost instantly, calling out his name as she pushed through the crowd to get to him. Either he didn’t hear her or he chose to ignore her, but either way his pace seemed to quicken, making the girl sprint to catch him. She grabbed onto his shoulder, spinning him around so he faced her.
“Come on we need to talk”
She dragged him over to a quiet corner, making sure no one else was listening before she started. Arms crossed over her chest, she jutted out her hip and narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him.
“What?” he frowned, clearly growing nervous by the way she watched him, itching the back of his head.
“Don’t what me Mr!” she huffed “What the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing” he shook his head, now avoiding her eyes by glancing off to the side.
“Nothing, seriously. That’s all I get after all these years of friendship” the girl scoffed “Don’t try and kid me, Jug. You sat there all lunch and wouldn’t look me in the eye, so there’s clearly something up-“
“I have no idea what you’re talking about” he shook his head “You’re reading into things too much”
“I know when something’s wrong, and maybe if we just talked about it-“
“There’s nothing wrong”
“Don’t lie to me!” she cried out, throwing her hands down in frustration and stepping closer.
“You don’t want to push this (Y/n)” he muttered, edging away from her and turning to leave.
“So you will admit something’s wrong then!” she laughed darkly reaching forward to take his hand “Jug-“
“Fine! Yes!” he spun round, eyes clouded with anger “Something is wrong!”
The girl gulped slightly as he glared down at her.
“You! You are my problem” he sighed when he noticed the hurt look on her face “You’re driving me crazy, because you’re my dream girl, okay? You’re smart, like way too smart for your own good, you’re nice but you don’t let people walk over you, you’ve got this spark. And god I fucking love that you put me in my place, and you hold my hand when you’re afraid during scary movies, and you are always the first one there when I say there’s trouble. And it’s driving me insane, because it’s getting pretty hard to just be your friend. Or at least for me to keep this all to myself”
(Y/n) blinked dumbly after he had finished, still trying to fully process his confession. He glanced down, biting at his bottom lip as his eyes filled with tears.
“Told ya. It’s not something you wanted to hear” he sighed “Look, I’m sorry for being an ass. I’ve been completely unfair and horrid these past few days…I’ll just go”
He had barely made two steps away from her before she grabbed his shoulders once again, spinning him around and pulling him towards her. She reached up and kissed him quickly, catching him off guard so much he didn’t even close his eyes or get to savour the moment as she pulled away almost instantly.
“You’re right, you have been acting like an ass” she smiled softly “But you’re wrong, because I have wanted to hear all of that for like a year, so now you’re an even bigger ass for making me wait”
“A year” he chuckled, moving to wrap his arms around her waist “That’s a long time. How could I make it up to you?”
“I have a few ideas” she smirked, reaching up for another kiss.
