dollhouse [jughead jones]

when she found him

"Jughead?"

She didn't know whether she was happy or upset to find him there. Obviously, it was always delightful to meet him at the diner during their free time, since it was the only thing left to do in Riverdale besides the Twilight when you didn't own a social life.

But the thing was, he wasn't supposed to have free time. He wasn't even supposed to be in town, yet here he was, typing on his laptop without acknowledging anything or anyone from the outside world, brows furrowed, more focused and determined that she had ever seen him.

Even after she had called his name, he hadn't looked up from his computer screen, not slipping out of his bubble, so she approached his booth and stood in front of him.

"Jugs?" she called, louder this time, and eventually, he looked up and met her gaze.

The look on his face was priceless –yet hard for her to figure out. He still had his signature nonchalant attitude, yet an ounce of alarm and surprise was perceptible in his demeanor.

"Lily?" He answered, the slight shake of the tone in his voice betraying his inner nervousness.

She crossed her arms, a natural reflex of hers when she felt either uncomfortable or angry, which, in this case, was a singular mix of both. This helped to calm herself down, and at the same time, had the simultaneous effect of masking her weakness and giving her a more threatening aura, which made her look slightly more intimidating.

"So... you're back?" She asked, not considering his attempt at starting another conversation.

He looked through the window, noticeably looking through the window, obviously searching for a way to escape this situation, panic radiating off his body.
But, deep down, he knew that she wouldn't let this go, and that she would give him hell until she got the answer she was looking for, even if it would break her heart.

So he took a deep breath, looked at her deep into the eyes without blinking, and told her the truth that she deserved.

"Archie bailed on me."

It was incredibly faint, sounding not much louder than a strangled whisper. So hushed, indeed, that she couldn't hear half of what he had just said.

"What?" she demanded bitterly, making him flinch with how intensely her voice was dripping with venom.

"Archie bailed on me?" He repeated once more, almost like a question, just a few tones louder, but enough to make the rosy shade of her cheeks drain almost completely from her skin, making the yellowish bruise pop up even more than it did earlier.

"What do you mean?" she insisted, keeping on believing that she was misinterpreting all of this, that all of the thoughts and accusations that were running through her mind at the moment weren't accurate, that she was the one in the wrong, and that everything she had believed for the past week hadn't been a big, fat lie, but it felt like the hardest thing to her at this point.

"I mean, that I wasn't on a road trip, because Archie cancelled our plans, last minute." He stated, awkwardly shifting in his seat while trying to keep eye contact, even though her instinct pushed her to just look at the ground.

After a couple seconds of agonizing silence, she looked up and met his apologetic stare.

"So you're telling me that you ignoring my texts and calls was actually deliberate?" she concluded, her eyes red and her voice slightly cracking.

She didn't want to look vulnerable, and she didn't want to look like the fact that her so called 'best friend' had willingly kept her entirely out of his life at the time she needed him the most actually affected her, but the heartbreak and betrayal that she felt was too intense to neglect.

"I'm sorry okay?" He started to apologize. "I was just really busy and..."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She cut him off, anger and misery taking over her initial calmness.

His eyes widened and he stopped mid-sentence, as a few people in the diner looked over at them, startled by her sudden outburst.

"You're Jughead Jones, the only time you're busy is when you're working at the Twilight and last time I checked you had the week off because of your fucking plans!" she hissed, uncrossing her arms to point accusingly at him.

"I'm sorry..." He said once more, standing up to face her, but when he tried to take her hand in his, she just took a step back, shaking her head.

"Sorry's not enough anymore..." she croaked, as a single tear ran down her injured cheek.

And without another word, she turned around, and in a matter of seconds, she was gone.