Just Friends ▻ Jughead Jones

31

It ended up taking three hours for Victoria to get ready for homecoming.  She had never taken that long to get ready. Of course, knowing her, if she was doing it all alone, she would be putting on sweatpants and a hoodie, but Alex insisted on helping her get ready.

She wore a red mid-thigh dress that wasn't even hers, it was a dress that her sister had in her closet but never wore. They were in Victoria's room and the younger blonde was sitting on her bed while Alex tried to do her make up. She couldn't sit still and Alex ended up hitting her hard with the wooden end of the large makeup brush, "What the hell was that for!" Victoria complained and Alex groaned in annoyance.

"Just stay still, I just need to apply eyeliner to the second eye," Alex told her calmly.

Victoria scoffed, "How the hell am I supposed to stay still when you're poking a pointy stick into my eye!" Victoria argued loudly, but Alex, of course, ignored her.

Alex smiled when she finally finished, backing up to get a better look at her younger sister, "You look beautiful." She complimented Victoria, who got up from her seat to take a look at herself in the mirror.

She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked like a different person in her own opinion. She was wearing makeup, her hair was curled and half of it was up, she was wearing a dress, she didn't look like her usual self. She didn't want to admit it to her older sister, but she loved her new look, "I look like a fricken clown." She remarked.

"A least you look like a beautiful clown." A familiar voice spoke up, causing Victoria to turn her head.

She smiled when she saw that it was Jughead standing in her doorway. She was wearing a black tux and Victoria had to admit, he looked hot.

Victoria walked over to him, "You don't look too bad yourself, Jones." She replied.

"Ready to go? Our parents are waiting in the car, we're all driving to Alice's together." Jughead asked her and Victoria nodded her head yes.

"Ready as I'll ever be," She answered as she followed Jughead into the hallway.

"Remember, children! No glove, no love!" Alex shouted out to them jokingly, which made both teenagers turn to look at her, their cheeks tinted red with embarrassment.

As Victoria went to turn the knob to the trailer door, Jughead quickly spoke up, "One more thing," He spoke up.

Only a short moment after Victoria looked up at him, Jughead had kissed her and Victoria immediately kissed back.

_____________

"Super delicious, Mrs. Cooper," Victoria told Betty's mom at the dinner table.

At the Cooper residence, Alice, FP, Eliza, Jughead, Betty, and Victoria, all crowded around the table in the kitchen having dinner together before Homecoming, which Eliza and FP weren't even attending.

"Sure is, Alice," FP agreed with the blonde as Alice walked over, placing a plate of food in between Jughead and FP. She placed a hand on FP's shoulder as she did so, causing Eliza to quietly chuckle, "It's been a long time since I ate something that didn't come in a combo meal or a snack pack."

The whole group laughed as FP's comment and Jughead glanced at Victoria, who was sitting across from him. He sent her a small smile, which she gladly returned. Betty sent them both a glare when they did so, still clearly not over Jughead and herself being broken up.

Alice walked over to her chair at the head of the table and took a seat, sighing as she did so, "So, FP, Eliza," Alice spoke up, "Betty tells me that the two of you are working for Fred Andrews now." Both FP and Eliza nodded their head in response, confirming what the female had just said, "How do you balance that along with your other responsibilities?" She questioned and everyone seemed to look up at her with puzzled looks.

"What? Like being parents?" Eliza replied, still a bit confused, yet still figured that her former friend was referring to being a Southside Serpent.

"And being apart of the Southside community," Alice corrected the blonde Serpent.

"Mom," Betty warned her mother, not wanting the homecoming dinner to go downhill with Alice asking all these questions.

"You can say Southside Serpent, Alice. I'm not ashamed, neither of us are," Eliza answered Alice's question before FP continued on the answer.

"And it's not just us, there's a bunch of us working on Fred's site," FP said.

"So if you don't mind me asking the two of you, I mean, I'm just curious...How did the two of you make your living before that? I know I'm not the only one who knows you lost your job at the auto shop about a month ago, Eliza." Alice asked them curiously.

"We scraped by," FP answered for both himself and Eliza, "Odd jobs."

Alice stared at FP for a moment, slowly nodding her head, "I know that you worked for the Drive-In, Jughead, before it was closed," She told the Jones boy before looking over at FP, "Did you find work there, too, FP?"

FP stayed silent and Jughead turned his head to look at his father, "Dad?" Jughead spoke up, trying to gain his father's attention.

"Well, I hung out a bit. What can I say, I'm a movie buff." FP informed them, causing them all to quietly laugh.

"So tell me, were you upset when Hiram Lodge bought the Drive-In land, Eliza, FP?" Alice questioned once more.

Eliza sighed before she began to answer, "Stuff happens." She answered vaguely.

"Let me rephrase that, were you surprised?" Alice corrected herself, causing Victoria to look up and give her own mother a confused look, wondering what the hell Alice was referring to.

"What is she talking about, Mom?" Victoria asked her mother, who stayed, sharing a glance with FP.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Betty was quick to get up, "I'll get it," She announced, walking over to the front door.

Betty opened it to find her father at the door. She greeted him happily before they both headed to the kitchen, where Alice sighed, rolling her eyes when she saw the male. 

"I thought you said she wanted me here?" Hal asked his daughter.

"She does," Betty replied quickly, "I mean, it's homecoming after all. Our families should be...coming together. Right, Mom?"