Picnic || jarchie

seven

Jughead smiled as he watched Archie attempt to play his guitar. Today was a good day, because for once he wasn't crying over Jellybean, or feeling empty, which he considered a win. The trailer used to smell like spearmint gum and filled with childish giggles. But now, Jughead was fourteen and the world was against him.

However he had some moments where life still felt he didn't cry when he was with Archie. Archie was the only thing that felt like home still. Archie would let him lay on him while he played video games. The boys would just sit in silence. No 'How are you feeling, buddy?' or 'do you want to talk about it?' Archie would let the boy be sad. Nobody else did that. He loved Betty Cooper, but whenever they hung out she forced him to be happy. She would do all the things they used to do together, but fake. It was like Betty Cooper believed that Jughead had lost all his Jughead-y attributes and the only idea that she had to get them back is to pretend like it never happened. Good thing he was a good actor.

Today he laid on Archie's bed and listened to Archie play cords. He had been given the guitar a few weeks ago for getting his first A on an English test. Jughead didn't have to fake a smile when Archie came running at him down the hall, clutching a piece of paper and screaming with joy. Archie had wrapped his arms around the boy and picked him up and swung him around. Archie had never done well in school, but this time he had gotten this A fair and square.

Archie was still trying to get the hang of it, and he had bandaids on his fingers from pressing them on metal strings for so long, but it made him smile, and he sang. Jughead knew that Archie liked to sing, but he didn't know Archie could sing. In a way it was strangely awakening. Jughead knew everything about Archie Andrews and yet he had never heard the red head sing. That is until he got his guitar. Archie liked to sing old 80s love songs, At the top of his Lungs. At first it had almost frightened Jug. One minute he was laying on Arch's bed, flattened and sad. The next, Archie was screaming the lyrics to Every Breath You Take and jumping around his bedroom.

Today however, Archie was singing Heaven, and trying, keyword Trying, to dance. Jughead sat on the bed curiously as Archie dipped his guitar like it was his dance partner.

"Baby you're all that i want, when you're lyin here in arms" Archie sang, spinning around to put the guitar back in its stand.

"im finding it hard to believe we're in heaven," Archie crossed the room, to grab Jughead's hand. The boy in question let out a nervous laugh and gripped the bedsheets, babbling things like, 'I don't dance'

"And love is all that i need!" Archie's voice bounced around the room as he pulled Jughead up and grabbed his hands. Jughead laughed, and Archie pretended to look offended.

"And I found it there in your heart," Archie let go of one of Jughead's hands to press it against his chest. Jughead felt his heart flutter as he looked up to meet Archie's treehouse brown eyes. He let out a small giggle as the boy continued to sing.

"It isn't too hard to see," Archie twirled Jughead, watching with complete adoration as the boy smiled and laughed pulling at Archie's hands, "We're in heaven."

"Oh once in your life, you find someone who will turn your life around, Bring you up when you're feeling down" Archie smiled as Jughead joined in with the words. The two teens danced around Archie's room, stepping on each other's sock covered feet.

"Yeah nothing can change what you mean to me," The two boys sang their hearts out, not caring who else could see or hear. They were in their own separate world, just Jug and Arch. Jughead's beanie was long since forgotten on the bed and his curly hair was bouncing up and down as he sang. Archie thought that he looked more gorgeous than any girl at school could ever look, but pushed the feeling as far back as it could go. He could never feel that way about his best friend.

"And baby, you're all that I want! When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe,We're in heaven." They finished and Jughead continued to laugh. Archie began to realize that this was the first time in months he had seen the boy really really laugh. The way that Jughead used to laugh when they would lay on the grass in the backyard and talk about what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Jughead would lay down next to him and ask Archie if he had made a decision on what he wanted to be. Archie changed his mind every week.

Today though he felt certain, "I think I wanna be a squirrel trainer!" Jughead had laughed, the exact same way he stood laughing before him now. It was a special, warm laugh, one that was meant for Archie's ears only and it made him feel like chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. Jughead would tell him, like he did every week, that it wasn't a real job. Every week, Archie would ask the same question afterwards, "What do you want to be again, Juggie? I forgot."

Jughead would turn silent, no more chocolate chip laughter. Instead he would stare at the sky intently and reply in a hazy tone, "I wanna be just like my dad." Archie would ask him what he meant. Everyday it would be something new, 'I want to chew spearmint gum.' or 'I want to stand up to mom like he does' or his personal favorite, 'I want to have as many friends as him. They all dress the same too. Leather.' If anyone asked him, Archie would tell them that maybe he didn't forget what Jughead wanted to be, maybe he just wanted to hear him talk about something he loved again.

Maybe it was the soft warm chocolate chip cookie memory, or the cheesy 80s love song. Or maybe, it was the way the sunset in the slightly open window in Archie's room reflected off jughead's eyes perfectly. Whatever it was, something possessed Archie to lean in and press his lips onto Jugheads'.

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