Hold On || Jughead Jones

The Stranger // Part Three

You'd think at some point in my life, I would stop subjecting myself to the presence of hospital rooms. I hated them, the memories associated with them, the food, and especially the smell. Being here with Veronica helped, but my skin still crawled at my surroundings.

The quiet atmosphere of the medical building could've lulled me to sleep if it weren't for the constant, distant chatter and rattling of equipment. Veronica was leaning against the wall at my side, allowing me to put my weight on her as we waited.

"Excuse me, room 260? Lodge?" A familiar voice filled the hallway as we perked up, Veronica getting to her feet as Archie Andrews turned the corner. "Ronnie! I'm sorry I missed your calls."

My sister shook her head as she closed the gap between them. "Where have you been?"

"I came as soon as I heard," Archie dodged her question, "How is he?" He looked through the window where Mom was seated at Hiram's left side, holding his hand tightly in hers.

I sighed and stood up to join the duo. "We don't know. He just got out of surgery," I explained as I stopped at Ronnie's side.

Archie glanced at the window then back at us. "Well what the hell happened?"

Veronica blinked a couple of times before responding. "He was shot," She said bluntly, "Sometime after you ran out of the SATs."

On the way to the hospital, Veronica had expressed her concerns about whether Archie was involved or not. As much as neither of us wanted to admit it, there was no ruling out that he didn't have some kind of an influence in the attempted murder. It all fit together too well.

"Sometime after I..." Archie trailed off as he pieced together what she was saying. "Wait, you don't think that I-"

Veronica shook her head. "Did you?" Her voice cracked as she asked the question on our minds. I was pleading Archie had nothing to do with this, that he didn't let revenge get this far. As much as I wanted Hiram to pay for everything he had done, there was part of me that did not want it to end like this.

Archie shook his head, his face completely taken back. "No. But the fact that you can even ask me that," He paused to look at Veronica. "It's over, isn't it?" My sister once again didn't have an answer, leaving Archie to grasp it on his own before he left without another word.

Ronnie's head fell onto my shoulder as she took a shuddery breath. I knew she wanted to be strong through this, but everyone was bound to break sometimes, Veronica included.

--

The next day and a half was full of visiting, talking, questions, and a couple of tears. I couldn't find it in myself to describe my emotions or what I was experiencing. Part of me wanted to go to Mom, but I knew she had enough on her plate already that I couldn't bring myself to pester her more.

In distraction, however, I invited Jughead over after leaving Veronica at the hospital. I needed a night off to let everything go. A brief-turned-long phone call caught me up to speed with Tall Boy's fate. I knew Jug was having a party with the Serpents later that night but I had zero intentions of going and instead, figured I could use the time to relax and get my thoughts together.

"Hi, babe," I greeted as I let him through the door of my apartment. He tossed his jacket over the couch before returning my greeting with a kiss. "Missed you," I mumbled as I shut the door with my foot.

"How's Hiram?" He asked, his hands cupping my cheeks as he looked down at me. It was a question I had heard a lot these past 48 hours and I would probably go crazy if I heard it even more.

I sighed, "Stable, so I guess that's good. Veronica had a suspicion that-"

"That Archie did it?" He suggested, earning a nod from me. He frowned and let his hands fall back to his side. "Yeah, I thought about that too, but as much as Archie wants Hiram gone, I can't see him being the one to pull the trigger."

Jughead's statement made sense, and I believed him with as much suspicion that I had. I couldn't see Archie being the one to ever pull the trigger on someone, even if it was Hiram Lodge. 

I made my way to my room where a rerun was playing on the screen of my TV. Jughead kicked his shoes off before jumping face down on the bed, a loud groan escaping his mouth as he landed. I couldn't stop the smirk on my face as I crawled up on the bed behind him, settling myself on the curve of his back. My fingers reached out to massage his shoulder blades, earning a louder groan from him as he relaxed into the mattress. I continued the motion for a while before moving to run my hands through his hair. 

"Oh you sneaky little girl," He flipped over unexpectedly as both of his hands wrapped around my wrists. "I always know when you're up to tricks."

I shrugged, leaving the teasing pout on my lips. "You're just fun to touch, that's all."

Jughead had my back against the bed comforter in a second, his lips hovering just above mine. "You're an absolute tease, princess. Are you sure about this?" I could see the concern in his eyes along with the hesitation, especially how the last time ended.

"Promise," I mumbled before closing the gap between us with an eager kiss. "Been thinking about you all day."

Jughead's eyes practically darkened with my words as he licked his lips and tossed his shirt to the floor, throwing mine the same shortly after. "Fuck. I love you."

"Then show me."

--

sorry this part's short. i didn't feel like keeping up with the Serpent party stuff so I resorted to pre-sexiness instead lmao whoops