Picnic || jarchie

seventeen

the time skips in this chapter jump around a lot. its also very long. v e r y long... please bare with me hahaa.

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Jughead sat in a booth at Pop's with his friends. The recording device that had been retelling Joaquin's story had just stopped, and the girls across from them were silent.

He shuffled in his seat, quickly grabbing Archie's hand in his own underneath the table. He couldn't believe it, the mystery of the bullet hole in Jason Blossom's head  had been underneath their noses the entire time. They just needed to prove it.

Veronica took out an earbud and put it on the table, her face blank. She turned to look at Betty, "Well, our stuff  isn't nearly as good now."

Jughead let out a sour laugh, picking up the phone again to see the picture of Jason. He thought back to Cheryl's party. To standing in Jason's room, not knowing who the boy really was. Because the Jason Blossom that Jughead remembered seeing in the halls was captain of the varsity football team. He was cocky, and chased around Polly Cooper since they were little. He wasn't smart, but he wasn't an idiot like Moose Mason either. Jason Blossom was something in Jughead's life that was just average. He was just there.

And now, as Jughead holds Archie's hand underneath the table he realizes just how much more Jason Blossom was. He sat up slightly and put the phone down, "There's two last things we need to do before we go to Sheriff Keller," He explained, "We need Cheryl's access to the cameras. Im entrusting B&V on that. And Archie and I will go talk to my dad."

Betty looked up, "Actually, i had a different plan." She spoke for the first time since they had arrived at Pop's. She looked at their confused faces, sighing, before explaining her plan.

-

Jughead shuffled at his feet as he and Archie went to say their goodbyes. They were being ridiculous, he told himself as they stood behind Pop's for privacy. They weren't going to die. It was just that, they didn't know what they were going to find. Things were all happening so fast, it was only yesterday that they were so clueless, not even knowing if Jason had been shot.

Jughead looked up at his boyfriend, trying to contain his worry. He saw the same concerned look on Archie's face. Jughead reached up to place a hand on his cheek, "Archie, please stay safe. Can't have Clifford blossom confusing your red hair for Jason and killing you too." He tried to joke.

Archie chuckled softly, pulling Jughead in by the waist, "Juggie, everything's gonna okay." He whispered. Before Jughead could respond, Archie leaned in promptly, kissing him. He wrapped his arms around the shorter boy's waist.

Jughead was started, but only for a second before he kissed back, his hands flying up to run through Archie's hair. His stomach was shooting fireworks and flipping around, leaving him breathless. For a second, he was okay. There was no murder, no Riverdale. It was just Archie. Just his Archie Andrews.

They pulled away, breathing heavily, foreheads pressed against one another. Jughead's eyes fluttered open to meet Archie's, giggling awkwardly as. he pulled away, trying to fix the red head's now messy hair.

Archie just pulled his hands away and sighed, "C'mon Sherlock, we got a mystery to solve." He announced as they turned the corner to see Betty and Veronica impatiently waiting for them. Jughead smiled sheepishly, trying to pretend like they weren't just kissing.

Veronica smiled, "Alright Archie-Kins, we got Riverdale's very own Lady Macbeth to rangle." Archie stood there for a second, looking to Jughead, who just laughed and sighed. He  mumbling something about freshman English class before pushing Archie towards Veronica.