Through the Glass

Footsteps and Leather Boots

Jughead and I had fallen asleep on the unfurnished floor of my new living room with a pizza and the electric fireplace quietly whirring.
As daylight ripped through the curtains and slowly began to shine on our faces, we knew it was morning.
"You have school," I said as I checked my phone, avoiding all the messages and calls from Archie and my dad, before looking at Jughead who shrugged.
"I don't really mind missing a day," Jughead said with a shrug and I shrugged back.
"Won't they call your dad because you aren't-" I was cut off by my phone ringing. It was the school.
"Hello?" I asked into the phone.
"Hi Miss Andrews. We're calling to see that Forsyth Pendleton Jones III is home with you instead of at school?"
I'm never going to get over hearing Forsyth Pendleton Jones III.
"Yeah, he's here with me." I spoke into the phone, eyeing Jughead suspiciously as he refused to make eye contact.
"Alright, we will just need an absentee note explaining his reason for not attending when he returns to school," the receptionist said and I raised my eyebrow at Jughead.
"Have a nice day," I said and ended the call. "Want to explain why they called me instead of your father?"
"I may, or may not, have changed you to my legal guardian instead of my father," Jughead said slowly, seeing how I would react. "Don't worry it's just at the school. You won't be taxed for me or whatever the government does,"
"Why the hell did you do that?" I asked him as I crossed my arms, the ruffled material of my blue dress still tight against my chest, now dry after the rain.
"My dad doesn't care like you do. You seem actually interested in how my day was. He just uses me for his unemployment checks,"
Frowning at the young boy, I nodded. "Alright, Jug."
"Really?" Jughead looked at me, surprised. I picked up a piece of pizza from the box, surprised that it was still warm. We had only ordered it three hours ago, but it was warmer than I expected.
"When my dad and Archie leave, we'll take showers and get changed. You can help me pack if you're so keen on missing school, young man."
Jughead groaned at the idea of manual labor and stood from his position on my unfurnished living room floor.
The next hour had quickly passed before Jughead and I got back over to the house.
I hopped into the shower first, grateful for the ability to take a damn shower without being questioned about who I was dating, or without someone dying.
Q would have known exactly what to do in this situation, too. This fucking sucks...
I shook my head as I turned the hot water off, changing into an easy outfit for moving day before I turned my music on, Jughead in the shower connected to Archie's room.

A song popped through the speakers of my phone, 10,000 Emerald Pools played and I began to throw clothes into a bag.
"I'll dive in deeper, deeper for you
Down to the bottom, ten thousand emerald pools
Down to the bottom, ten thousand emerald pools
Under water
Time is standing still
You're the treasure-"
Jughead ran into the room, a panicked look on his face. "Your dad is here. Music off!"
"What?!" I asked Jug, shocked as I turned the music off. "Shit!"
"Hide!"
I quickly ducked behind my bed and Jughead sped from the room as we heard footsteps enter the house. From what it sounded like, Dad walked into the kitchen, to the living room, then walked back out. I didn't know for sure, though, until I heard the familiar closing of the door.
"It's a good thing you parked in Betty's driveway," Jughead said when he walked back in and I stood from my position on the ground.
Jughead and I spent a few hours packing our stuff up, before hightailing it back to my new house, that wasn't six blocks away.

*****

"What the hell?" I heard and saw FP talking with Jughead outside in the garage.
"Shit," I said as I quickly walked to the front.
"You took my boy outta school?" FP asked, faking anger.
"He threw up this morning. All over my new hardwood floor," I shrugged and Juggie nodded, going along with the lie.
"So you made him your Bitch?" FP asked, amused.
"Like I didn't make you my bitch, too?" I asked FP with a quirked brow and Jug burst out laughing, carrying one of the many cardboard boxes, this one marked up, labeled with KITCHEN, from my car into the house.
"I knew you were a good one," FP snapped my ass before kissing me quickly.
"Hey, you can help too," I spoke to FP as he pulled away, and he sighed, grabbed a box, and began to follow me inside.
Was this what we did now, were we a family?
"I gave you the biggest room," Jug smirked, "but I took the second biggest as payment for hard labor,"
"Where my room, Maddy?" FP asked jokingly as he set a bathroom box down in the pile.
"Lord, FP, are you four? You don't get to go into my bedroom until those clunky ass boots come off!"
Jug snorted and took another one of his boxes to his room.

*****

Jughead had gone back to Archie's house, insisting on walking. I offered nearly ten times to drive him home, but he wanted the time.
FP stood next to me as I started to cook. I was already getting tired of the pizzas that Jughead and I ate from the moving process.
FP watched my hands as I worked with the vegetables.
"Is it true, what you said?" FP asked me as his hands found their way to my waist, pulling me closer to him.
"About what," I smiled over my shoulder at him, spreading the vegetables in the slow-heating pan.
The lights were dim all around us and music was lowly playing from the audio system that Jughead set up earlier that morning.
"That," FP said as he placed a kiss on my neck, "all I had to do to get to your bedroom was take off my boots?"
I hummed as he pressed another kiss on my neck, the vegetables now beginning to sizzle, just like my heart.
"You want to test the theory?" I asked FP, turning the stove off before turning to him, breaking away from his grasp. He now had me pinned to the stove.
I smirked at the man who kissed me passionately as he pulled away. "Take your boots off, FP."