#I miss wearing my warm sherpa lined denim jacket outside

[emily-mooon]

Watched Over The Garden Wall today and I had to draw Jonathan as Wirt and Will as Greg in the shows artstyle.

[lilibug--xx]

Awkward Encounters

Chapter 2/3  

Here is the archive link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12245094/chapters/27881679

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Jughead seemed to float around the mall after leaving Victoria’s Secret. Thoughts of his date on his mind making him step light, even in his black combat boots. He stopped to sit on a bench outside the game store, where he picked up his promised offering from Veronica. He looked over at the food court briefly before deciding he could wait until his date to eat again.

Where should he take her? What kind of food did she like? What should he drive – his motorcycle or should he ask to borrow Archie’s truck? Should he go home and change clothes? Should he get her flowers? Maybe he should call Veronica and ask- ugh forget that idea Jughead. Should he clean the apartment? - what did she mean by dessert exactly? The low tone in which she had spoken combined with her eyes growing dark he couldn’t help the tingle that started to burn up his spine. Tie him up and eat him – she could do whatever she wanted.

His thoughts were so consuming he didn’t even realize he had driven home. Jughead was standing in front of the apartment he shared with Archie with his key in the lock. Okay then. Might as well take a shower.

After getting squeaky clean and washing his hair he ran a towel through it, leaving his beanie off to let it dry. He pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans sans rips and a black belt. Deciding on a dark grey button up, he left the top bottom undone and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, loosely tucking it into his jeans. He lay back on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. He still had a couple hours before he had to pick Betty up.

He pulled out his phone and set an alarm before closing his eyes and locking his arms behind his head. He didn’t usually nap, but he felt this swell of feelings he couldn’t identify – anxiety Jughead, you know thee well, and just felt like trying to clear his mind for a bit. He didn’t actually sleep that many hours regularly, as he had a touch of insomnia that more often than not required pills in order to get at least six hours. But he finally managed to doze off for a little bit while imagining Betty’s hand raking through his hair. Jughead was always one of those people that secretly loved to have his hair played with – it made him calm and sleepy.

He didn’t dream but rather heard a soothing voice that seemed to lift that clawing pressure on his shoulders. It sounded vaguely like his mother’s voice, but he wasn’t even sure of the sound of it after 8 years without hearing it.

Next thing he knew he was waking up to the alarm. He turned it off and stretched his arms above his head in a yawn before slinking back into the bathroom. Jughead always had some sort of under eye-bag situation going on, but he didn’t look too bad today. He ran a comb through his hair and brushed his teeth. Sticking the beanie back on his head was a force of habit, his hair was an intimate thing for him so he generally kept it covered up. The fact that he only had one hat that he’s been wearing for literally years was another story.

He looked in his closet at his selection of jackets: dark denim with sherpa lining, light denim with sherpa lining, black denim, a red velvet blazer Veronica had given him that he’s never worn, and a red flannel jacket with sherpa lining. His wardrobe was really varied. He looked over to his desk, eyeing the chair with his black leather Serpent jacket resting on the back of the chair there. Old faithful it was.

Grabbing his extra motorcycle helmet from the floor, Jughead looked around for a moment before deciding to throw on his black and white stripped suspenders, doing them up properly instead of hanging off his hips like normal. Despite the fact that he was against the societal idea of hipsters it just so happened that their fashion sense aligned.  

Jacket on, boots laced, cash in wallet. He was ready to roll. Arriving late was usually his forte, but he didn’t want to make a bad impression on a first date. So he had time to park his motorcycle, secure the helmets, stick his beanie back on and walk inside the mall. Making his way past the food court, the air teasing his stomach with the smells of greasy pizza, warm pretzel dough, and spicy Chinese food.

Betty was waiting for him right in front of the store. She had a dark grey cardigan (that oddly matched his shirt) on over top of the outfit he had seen her in earlier. One button was pressed closed at the column of her throat, right where he wanted to kiss and lick the skin of her neck – to feel her pulse under his tongue and – alright getting carried away there.

He looked her up in down in an obvious way while he grinned. She rolled her eyes before thrusting her hand out to him. “Betty Cooper, nice to meet you,” she said giving him a formal introduction after their informal meeting earlier.

He took her offered hand, bending slightly at the waist and brought it up to his lips as he pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. “Jughead Jones. May I just say you are a vision among us mere mortals, ” he couldn’t help the angel reference.

Her cheeks flushed and he took pleasure in getting that reaction from her. “What a gentleman, thank you,” Betty pulled her hand back and looped it around his elbow, tucking herself into his side as they began walking the way Jughead had come from. “But I’m no angel.” She teased, mouth curling in a small smirk as she turned her head back to watch their path. Well, that was an interesting development. His interest in her was only growing with each passing moment.

“So, I’m assuming that you’re the motorcycle type,” She started again, glancing up to him. He realized then how small she was against his frame – that she’d probably have to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him.

“You’d be correct in that assumption,” Nodding his head toward her as they weaved through the other mall goers. “Do you like motorcycles?” She must not dislike them if she agreed to go out with him, that assumption on the tip of her tongue.  

“I do! I’m also kind of an old car buff, I blame my dad for that. I used to help him fix up old cars that he was restoring for customers.”

“That’s hot.”

She swatted his chest with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around his arm. “Jughead!” that prompted him to look down at her, watching her eyes roll back into her head at him. The hand on his chest lingered for another moment before disappearing.

“You’re telling me that I can’t find a girl who knows her way around a car attractive? Why are we going out then?”

“It’s just embarrassing when people make a big deal out of it. I know I look like some bubblegum princess, but I’m not.” Betty didn’t sound offended, just tired. Like she had those thoughts running through her head a lot.

“Princess? Nah, you’re a Queen.” He couldn’t help it. They walked through the automatic doors, her grip on his arm tightening in an affectionate  squeeze as they walked outside.

“You’re sweet,” she said accepting the spare helmet he pulled off the back of the bike as they approached.

Throwing a leg over the bike he settled down, scooting up as far as he could so Betty would have enough room on back. “Like bubblegum?” he questioned, pulling his beanie off quickly and plunking his own helmet on his head. He shoved his hat in his jacket pocket. He didn’t miss the way her eyes had darted to his hair.

Her hands fiddled with the strap under her chin, answering as she sat down behind him tucking her legs up underneath his, bracketing his hips and sliding her warm hands around his waist. “Right now? Like black licorice. Ask me again at the end of the night and I might have a different answer.”

Spicy but sweet? Medicinal and bitter? Did she love it or hate it? Black licorice was hard to describe – which he supposed was adequate for now since she only had a vague impression of him and most of it of visual.

“I look forward to seeing if your opinion changes,” he tossed over his shoulder as she tucked her head down against his shoulder. Revving his bike up, Jughead grinned at the thrum under his hands, the sound booming in his ears. Betty’s arms cinched tighter around him, her chest pressed fully against his back.

He hadn’t really thought about where he wanted to take her before getting on the bike. But he knew exactly where to go once he started driving.

There was this place downtown he wanted to take her to where the streets were lined with old brick buildings, most of them were local stores - McAllen’s Apothecary, Lloyd’s Sweet Shop, BBB music, and many more. He stopped the bike in front of a small store called Mom’s Kitchen. It was a store that sold a variety of items including kitchen gadgets and vintage décor as well as  homemade pasta sauce, jams, pickles, dried noodles, and various other food stuffs. Basically Jughead’s favorite store. The symbolism of him enjoying places with ‘Mom’ and ‘Pop’ in the titles weren’t lost on him – they felt like home.

They untangled themselves from each other, Jughead securing the helmets to the bike. Beanie back on his head, he put a hand on Betty’s lower back pressing her forward gently. They started to bypass the store and head down the alley right beside it.

Her eyebrows rose but she didn’t stop walking. “You’re not trying to murder me are you?”

“In broad daylight? I’m not an idiot, Betty.” He winked at her.

They came around the back of the building and around a wooden privacy fence to a patio area. It was full of wooden tables with chairs, fairy lights hanging from the awning overhead, potted roses, and mason jar candles on tables. There were a couple of people already seated, some with drinks and some looking over menus. The back of Mom’s Kitchen was a restaurant and Jughead always preferred this outside space whenever it was still fairly warm out.

“Jughead, this is amazing.”

Betty was still looking around as he guided her to a table after making eye contact with an older gentlemen that worked there. “Yeah, it is.” He pulled her chair out for her at a small table in the corner between the fence and the building. He moved her to sit with her back to the wall so she could see the rest of the area before sitting across from her. He took off his jacket, slinging it around the back of his chair before sitting down.

“Oh, how very Leonardo DiCaprio of you Jughead.” She said appraising his whole outfit now that she could see the suspenders. He pulled his right elbow back over the arm of the chair, leaning back comfortably and throwing his head back as quoted from the movie she was thinking of back to her “Never let go,” he said with a smirk, left hand reaching up and brushing his nose out toward her before dropping it back to the table.

The older gentleman Jughead had made eye contact with came over with a flourish, brandishing two menus from his apron and giving Jughead a good squeeze on the shoulder.

“Mr. Jones! It'sa so good to see you again, has been a little while, no? I was worried. I'ma glad to see you with such a fine lady this evening!” the salt and pepper haired man gave a big grin to Betty. “I’ll grab some water for you twos,” his Italian accent made Betty giggle as he walked off.

“He’s certainly loud, isn’t he?” Betty opened up her menu to look over the options. Jughead didn’t make any moves to open his, just looked after the man as he disappeared inside the building.

“You definitely know when Giorgio is in the room,” he shrugged, a fond smile on his lips.

“So what’s good to eat here?” The blonde questioned, her fingers trailing over the menu as her eyes followed. The names of rich Italian dishes littered the pages, and Jughead knew them all without opening the menu.

“Betty, everything on the menu is good. Believe me when I say I’ve tried every dish here.”

“Wow, you must really like this place then, huh?” she tilted her head, looking across the table at him. The flame from the mason jar candle flickered, casting a glow across her features that made him take a slow breath. “Yeah, I really do. But like Giorgio said, I haven’t been here in a little while.”

Before she could say anything else, Giorgio had come back with two glasses of ice water and a basket of bread. “Ready to order?” he glanced between Jughead and Betty, arms crossed behind his back.

Jughead looked to his date, her eyes darting down to the menu frantically.

“What’s the chef’s special tonight?” Jughead asked, bringing Betty’s eyes back up.  

“Tonight is braised beef, roma tomatoes, mushrooms and tortellini in a red whine sauce,”

Betty pressed her lips together making a little ‘hmm’ before speaking, “That sounds really good actually, I think I’ll have that!”

Jughead nodded at Giorgio and he collected their menus happily. “Double the usual order then, excellent!” he floated away, back inside the building.

“Usual order? Do you bring all your dates here Jughead?” she was teasing him, left elbow coming up to rest on the table, her chin resting on her palm as she leaned forward.

He shook his head a little, fingers flexing as his fingers rapped against the table. “Actually no, I don’t.” He often came here by himself to be honest, he just really liked the food and the atmosphere. “I bring my little sister here a lot,” which he did do as well.  

“How old is she?” Betty genuinely seemed curious, and it made Jughead hesitate. He didn’t really like talking about his family because it was such a sore spot for him. “Jellybean is 14 and already cooler than me,” rolling his eyes he thought of his raven haired sister.

“Jellybean and Jughead huh?”

“Nicknames. The real thing is much worse, I promise,” he offered her a wink, taking a sip of his ice water and pulling an ice cube into his mouth to crunch on. Thankfully Betty didn’t press him further on his family, but instead offered up something of herself. “I’m the younger sister in my family. I’ve got an older sister, Polly… and an older brother, Chic.” Her hands were suddenly fiddling with the bread and his eyes didn’t miss the slight shake of them before she started tearing it into pieces.

He simply nodded his head to her, letting that go. Obviously they each had some baggage that was maybe a little too heavy to explore on the first date.

“How about we play 20 questions?” Jughead offered, grabbing a piece of the bread she was playing with to throw into his mouth. They had really good sourdough here.

“Ok, me first.” She tilted her head again, leaning back into her chair and looking at him with an intense gaze.

“Are you in college?” he bristled slightly, it was a valid question but she could have maybe said it differently or maybe started with something else. He supposed she just wanted to make sure he wasn’t in a ‘gang’ full time. The jacket did give some questionable vibes.

“Yes, I’m in NYU’s English and Creative Writing track, you?” he tipped his head back at her, playing with a piece of bread.

“I’m actually doing Mechanical Engineering, at NYU as well.” Well, guess she liked fixing things more than she had let on earlier. He was impressed to say the least.

“That’s petty fucking cool. How old are you exactly?”

“I’m 19. I actually graduated high school a year early, so I should be the same year as you.” she admitted shyly, like she was trying not to boast.

“You’re only a year younger than me? You must have been pretty dedicated to your studies,” he thought on his own grades in high school – average, he was just trying to go along without being noticed and that had worked splendidly.

Betty seemed to think his words over before hardening her gaze. “Well, I was very dedicated. But it wasn’t about learning – it was about getting away from my parents.”  

“Why did you want to leave so badly?” he himself had reservations about leaving his sister alone with his father to attend college.

“My parents are crazy, trust me. One day I might get into it more. The short story is that they are very controlling, strict, and wanted things for me that I didn’t want for myself.” Jughead had noticed that she had clenched the hand that wasn’t propping her chin up very tightly into a fist, her knuckles turning white with the pressure. He brought his hands out and captured her fist in his palm, cradling it and bringing her attention to what was happening. Her eyes widened, immediately unclenching her fingers, splaying her palm flat between his bigger hands.

“What’s your favorite color?” Jughead asked a lighter question, not wanting to dwell on some thing that was bothering her. She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with affection. “It’s actually pink, but like cotton candy pink.” He wasn’t surprised, but it suited her personality.

“Well, for your information – mine isn’t black.” She feigned a look a surprise, raising an eyebrow at him. His hands had started to play with the skin on the back of her hand, his thumb running a slow circle. “It’s green, like the color of your eyes.” He said looking up from their hands and into her eyes.

He wasn’t kidding. He hadn’t really considered having a favorite color prior to meeting Betty, because how could you just like a single color enough to deem it the best when there was such a multitude to the color spectrum? But looking into her eyes he could see the appeal. If everything had turned to shades of black and white he would miss the color of her eyes the most.

She was blushing, ducking her head into her shoulder. “Jug…” his heart skipped when she used the nickname his friends called him. He squeezed her hand, her head popping back up.

She decided on the next question, her lower lip between her teeth as she chewed on it. “Favorite movie? Mine is Pretty in Pink.”

“It’s very hard for me to pick a singular movie to name as my favorite Betty. I’m kind of a cineophile. But I’m particularly fond of The Princess Bride.”

She let out a laugh and he thought for a second that she was going to make fun of him, his stomach clenching uncomfortably. He tried to pull his hands away, only getting one back as she held steadfast to the palm trapped under hers. She had stopped laughing and was shaking her head. “I was only thinking how funny it was that our favorite movies were way before our time. Like we were born a little late,”

Jughead let out a ‘hmm’ as his stomach relaxed, free hand drumming the table. “So you like the 80’s?”

“You should see my room Jughead, I think that would answer your question well enough.” His eyes darkened at her words. Of course he would like to see her room, her bed, underneath her clothes..

Giorgio chose that moment to set down their dinner plates in front of him, their hands springing apart at his arrival.

Betty let out a soft “oh” as she took in the plate of food. It was one of the reasons Jughead loved to eat here, the portions were huge.

“How are we supposed to eat all of this?” she asked, eyes filled with mirth as she watched Jughead eagerly begin to dig in to his dish. She unfolded her napkin and carefully stirred the noodles, vegetables, and meat around in the sauce.

“I’m a growing boy Betts, I need to eat.” A version of her name slipped out, much like her calling him ‘Jug�� earlier and it seemed to have the same effect on her. She gave a little chuckle, lips smiling around the fork she had brought up to take a bite.

“Oh my god, Jug!” she let out a low moan, her shoulders slumping in her seat as she seemed to relax completely in the chair. He snickered at her, he told her the food was good. “I think this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” she said scooping up another bite. He murmured his agreement around his fork, not wanting to talk with his mouth full.

The rest of dinner passed smoothly as they continued to ask each other questions while eating their meals. To his surprise Betty was able to eat most oh her dish and then she let him finish it off.

“Now, I was promised dessert.” Betty said after wiping her mouth with her napkin – her lips had stayed that same cherry red color all through eating and drinking. He blinked and brought himself up to her eyes which were twinkling. The sun had dropped low in the sky at this point, the fairy lights and the table candles providing enough low light to be considered intimate.

“There’s this amazing pecan blondie with maple cream glaze and ice-“ she shot her hand out to grab his wrist from across the table, her nails pressing into his skin lightly, the muscle in his thigh giving off a twitch. “You had me at pecan blondie.” She licked her lips, pulling her hand away. “Let’s share?” she offered and Jughead couldn’t help but nod.

Giorgio had taken their empty plates away, returning with glasses of milk for each of them and a sizzling plate with a large chunk of pecan blondie, 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream piled on top and 2 spoons. He let Betty pick up the cup of maple glaze and watched as she poured the entire thing over the dessert before swiping her finger into the empty cup to get the last remnants. Finger popping into her mouth, he followed the movement with his eyes. “Shit, Jughead that’s amazing.”

Her voice was really making his muscles ache with tension, his palms sweaty, his body heated. He grabbed a spoon and shoved a bite of the ice-cream in his mouth in an effort to cool himself. “Yeah, I know. I told you,��� he shrugged a shoulder, gaining composure as he took another bit of the dessert. They traded taking spoonfuls, crashing their spoons into each other and fighting over the last bite. Betty finally got her way and accepted the last bite off of Jughead’s spoon as she leant across the table, her lips closing around the spoon in his hand. Her eyes were locked onto his the entire time and he felt his lips part, his breath seeming to halt until she leant back in her seat and sighed happily.

The next few minutes passed by in a bit of a blur, he paid the bill and they munched on some chocolate mints while he took her through the restaurant and back up front to the store to look around. They ended up back out by his bike when a breeze caught them and Betty shivered. Jughead immediately brought the jacket he had slung over his arm across her shoulders. It was large on her, swallowing her small frame but damn did she look good in his leather. Her arms snaked through the sleeves and her pink painted nails peeked out from the edges of the sleeves as she hugged it around herself.

“Let’s get you home,” he said softly, taking the helmet she wore and bucking it under her chin after he swept her hair over her shoulders.

She murmured her address to him, climbing onto the bike behind him and pressing herself to his back like earlier, her thighs tucked up right behind his. The warmth of her body plus the fire that was raging inside of him was enough to keep him warm on the ride to her apartment.

They walked into her building about 15 minutes later, a large brownstone building with multiple apartments. They climbed 2 flights of stairs, him following her until she stopped at what he presumed was her door. Betty pulled his leather jacket off and handed if back to him. Jughead pulled it on his own shoulders while she murmured how good of a time she had with him tonight. They shared cell phone numbers, the evening winding down as the silence got more awkward. He was absolutely planning on texting her, probably even right when he got home. He hoped she felt the same things he was, but she seemed quiet since he had put his jacket around her earlier.

Her hands were searching the little purse that hung at her hip for her keys. Suddenly she stopped and looked up at him with wide eyes. He was about to ask what was wrong but before he could her arms were suddenly around his neck and her lips were pressed to his. He responded eagerly, eyes sliding shut as he slanted his mouth against hers more firmly. He gripped her hips, pulling her body close to his as he backed her into the door of her apartment.

Betty’s hand were gripping his neck, dipping down under the collar of his jacket, nails scratching against the material of his shirt. Moving his lips against hers he nipped at her bottom one, taking it between his teeth and sucking on it. Her lips parted as her head fell back against the door. Jughead swooped in, running his tongue along her swollen bottom lip before diving inside her mouth. His body turned hot, like someone had started a fire in the pit of his stomach. He pressed his hips harder into the small blonde, her back arching up as he did.

Her fingers were leaving tiny electric shocks as the pads of her fingers pressed down against the skin of his neck, her hands gliding around to the front of his chest.  Their tongues tangled together in a heated clash. He could taste the maple and chocolate on her breath, feel her chest against his,  heaving as they both began to struggle for air. She tore her mouth away from his, panting and tilted her head to the side as he descended down her jaw papering kisses until he got to her throat.

He pulled a hand from where he was keeping her hips pinned between his and the door and undid the single button of her cardigan at the base of her throat. He then swept her hair away from the side of her neck, his hand staying there on the back of her head, tangling in the blonde waves. He kissed the hollow of her throat before moving up and to the side, grazing over her pulse which was thrumming against his lips. His own heart pounding just as fast. She gave a breathy sigh, her hands now clutching the front of his shirt.

Jughead licked a stripe of skin from her neck up to her ear before nibbling gently on her earlobe. “Juggie..” He felt her thighs clench together between his legs. He groaned at that, loving the way his name sounded rolling off her tongue, his stomach clenching in desire.

Betty’s hands came up to his cheeks, taking hold of his face and pulling him from her neck. She leaned in kissing him softly this time, catching his own lip between her teeth and giving him the same treatment she had received. He tightened his hold on her hip, the hand in her hair drifting down to snake around her small waist and pull her impossibly closer. She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before leaning further up to his ear.

Her voice was haunting as she spoke, breath tickling his ear and sending a delightful tingle down his spine.

“Would you like to come inside?”