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juggydunes · 7 years ago

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Would it be a sin? Chapter 2

You guys... I’m so sorry for the wait. I swear. I am truly ashamed. Everytime I’d open the word doc, words would vanish from my brain. But I managed to resist and now this has been written, edited ( At 5am, so please... be gentle) and posted. Hopy you guys enjoy. As usual, this is unbeta’d and any mistakes are mine. PS: I would like to dedicate this to @wordsonpages1 because she’s awesome and encouraged me to actually get some writing done. <3

Summary: "He thinks this is the reason there are books and poems about music, this is the reason music has been around for ages, because of people like her."

Ao3 link

Jughead is messing with some melody on the ukulele he leaves on the office as they wait for everyone to arrive. He’s had it since meetings had become a common thing.

Jughead’s muse was fickle and when his inspiration showed up, his fingers would itch to write down the melody, play it and make it clear in his head. That’s where the ukulele had taken residence on Cheryl’s office, much to her chagrin.

Slowly,his fingers start playing a song that’s been stuck in his head all day. Smiling lightly when Archie starts to hum along the tune. It takes only a few seconds for Melody to use the table as a drum, lightly tapping her hands on the surface to the rhythm.

Sometimes you've got to bleed to know,

That you're alive and have a soul,

But it takes someone to come around to show you how...

Archie starts singing with a smile. Jughead enjoys these quiet moments when they get to jam out like when they were teenagers in Archie’s garage, not a single care in the world for them beyond doing music and enjoying the process.

Now there are moments of stress where Melody wipes a tear off her cheek because she misses her family. Archie will sometimes knock a few shots whiskey alone as he watches the road fly by. Valerie would go out at night and not return until the next day, sometimes that place would be Archie’s bedroom. Jughead locks himself in his apartment to surround himself with his instruments or a book and blurt everything he feels into a notebook.

The songs on the radio are ok,

But my taste in music is your face,

And it takes a song to come around to show you how...

Jughead joins Archie singing, both of them smiling along with Melody, Valerie moving her head to the beat. He can feel the stress leaking out of them little by little as they lose themselves in the song. This is where he feels more comfortable, like this is where he’s meant to be.

She's the tear in my heart, I'm alive,

She's the tear in my heart, I'm on fire,

She's the tear in my heart, Take me higher,

Than I've ever been...

By the time they reach the final chorus, Jughead and Archie have found the perfect way to harmonize their voices. Archie hitting the higher notes when Jughead voice covers the rest. There’s a glint in Archie’s eyes, a certain kind of happiness that he suspects has to do with seeing him let go and sing along his best friend.

Jughead lets the song die slowly, the last Than I’ve ever been done by him in a light rasp that sounded more like he was speaking than singing, eyes closed. A few claps make him jump from his seat, turning around to see Veronica, Betty, Cheryl and two other men that Jughead recognized from being in Betty’s band.

“That was so good! I love Twenty One Pilots.” Betty says, blinding smile on her face. It makes Jughead smile a little in reply. “I didn’t know you could sing.” She says as Veronica and all of them come into the room.

“He does the backing vocals.” Archie answers, coming behind him and patting Jughead on the chest. He winces a little at the cave man act, then sees how her eyes light up at the sight of his best friend. “How are y’all?”

“We’re good, thank you for asking.” Betty replies, as they sit on the large table. One band in front of the other with Cheryl in one end and Veronica plus a production man next to them. “This is Kevin and Reggie, by the way. Guitar and Drums.” Betty says, pointing at them. Kevin waves somewhat awkwardly and Reggie nods, his hands on the pockets of his jacket nonchalantly.

“Of course you’re good. You’re about to sign on a great deal with our own Archiekins here. Who wouldn’t be good?” Cheryl says, raising her eyebrows. It makes Jughead snort at her words.

“Archiekins? I like it.” Veronica says. He catches the way Archie is giving Veronica his infamous Andrews smirk and has to control himself from rolling his eyes.

“We tried to make it his stage name but he wouldn’t give in.” Valerie says, faking a pout at Archie.

“Yeah, contrary to popular belief I actually want people to take me seriously…” Archie defends himself.

“Could’ve fooled me, buddy.” Jughead mutters to himself. Betty chuckles and he realises she’s directly in front of him. He smiles shyly in return.

“I heard that, buddy.” Archie says, narrowing his eyes at him. Jughead gives him an innocent expression and grabs the bottle of water in front of him, taking a sip.

“Shall we start?” Michael, the producer, says with a bored expression on his face like dealing with twenty somethings sucks the life out of him.

“We shall.” Cheryl answers with a big smile. She gets up and starts handing everyone papers. “I left pens in the middle of the table for everyone to sign with. I checked those papers myself so they’re perfect. Let me break it down… Basically, signing these papers you would be agreeing to go on tour with Archie and the bad as their supporting act. You would have 45 minutes to perform, the recommended amount of songs is around 9 but you get to mostly manage that. The first leg of the tour is happening in two months, this is sort of last minute to be honest.” Cheryl’s eyes wander towards Archie and Jughead in apprehension. “You’d also be able to sell your merch in the stands we’ll give you. As I mentioned earlier, the first leg will involve 26 venues and for the second leg… if everything goes alright we will call you back.”

“Can we have a moment to read this?” Veronica says, all business now with a shocked Betty by her side, she looks like she’s processing information.

“Of course. Take all the time you need.” their manager answers.

“There you go.” Jughead gives the contract to Cheryl after signing it. They’re come very far with their relationship from high school. They actually trusted each other now, a development that happened after a real serious talk they’ve all had about actually making the band work. He barely looked over papers she handed him before signing anymore.

“Thank you, Jones.” The papers of the rest of the band follow while Veronica, Betty, Kevin and Reggie look over their papers. “Don’t you dare, J.” Cheryl says a few minutes later when Jughead’s hand moves towards the ukulele sitting on the chair next to him. He sighs, frowning at Cheryl who only gives him a stern glance like he’s some restless kid… which, alright, he kinda is.

“These look okay, Cheryl.” Veronica comments.

“You sure you don’t want to check those with a lawyer?” Cheryl asks her, moving her hair behind her shoulder with a flick of her head.

“Well, considering I’m one… it kinda has been checked.” Veronica’s sly grin makes her look sort of wicked to Jughead’s eyes.

“Wait, you’re a lawyer?” Archie asks, sounding surprised when she nods at him. “Nice.”

Veronica smiles at him in a way that would make Jughead fidget in his seat, but Archie only gets this really intense look on his face he’s only seen when he can’t play something and will practice it until he gets it right.

“Betty has good taste in managers.” The guitarist, Kevin, says with a smirk as he looks at the blonde.

“In friends, Kevin, in friends. ” Betty tells him and the two girls share an adoring look before Betty breaks it to hand Cheryl the signed papers. “There you go, Miss Blossom.”

“Miss Blossom, I like it.” Cheryl says. “I shall keep you, dear.”

“You should run while you still have time.” Jughead tells Betty, who smiles in amusement at him. “Save yourself.” he whispers dramatically before finally grabbing the ukulele.

“As you can see, Betty, I need people who truly appreciate me around here. I’ve been around these hobos for too long.”

“Hey!” Archie says. “I haven’t done anything.”

“Yet, Archiekins, yet.” Cheryl clarifies, gathering the rest of the paperwork. “Well, kids, that’s all. I officially welcome you to the tour.”

Betty claps happily with a dopey grin on her face, next to her bandmates who look equally excited. If Jughead looks really hard he thinks he can see her eyes being glassy at one point. Archie appears with a bottle of champagne and pours them on some toasting flutes that he’s never seen before.

Jughead barely has a sip after they toast, merely to keep appearances, not that anyone beside his friends will notice or know he doesn’t drink much alcohol and least of all champagne. He enjoys the contagious energy of the room, almost tasting the happiness rolling off on waves from Betty and her bandmates.

“We should continue celebrating. My house? What do you guys say?” Archie says when the champagne is gone and it’s time for them to leave the offices. Jughead closes his eyes briefly because he’s supposed to stay at Archie’s apartment today and he really wants to just crash on any flat surface he can find.

“Are you sure?” Betty asks, wide eyes.

“I’m always up for a little party.” Reggie says, nodding and grinning.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You in?” Archie directs this last question to Veronica, who doesn’t seem as inclined to celebrate as the rest of them. She looks over at Betty and Jughead can see some weird unspoken conversation happening before she turns back to Archie.

“Sure! Only if you’re buying, though.” Veronica winks slyly.

“Any time.” Archie answers, grinning back at her. “Okay guys, let’s head out!”

“You coming with?” Jughead asks Cheryl, who is lightly chatting with the producer as she gathers the contract papers and puts them into a folder.

“Oh no, I have a date night with Joshua.” Cheryl tells him. “Some relaxing before the chaos starts.”

“Okay, say hi to him from me.” Jughead says, already walking backwards. “See you soon, chief.” He turns to the door, almost colliding with Betty and Kevin who are chatting near the door in hushed tones. “Whoops, sorry.”

“No damage done.” Kevin says, lightly guiding Betty towards the exit. “Is Archie’s house far from here?” he asks.

“Uhm… not really. I’d say it’s 15 minutes.” He replies, pressing the button for the other elevator. Reggie, Veronica and Archie laughing as they enter theirs.

The trip on the elevator is passed in a short almost comfortable silence. Jughead leans on the side wall, closing his eyes for a minute before the doors open again, leaving them on the entrance of the building.

“Hey, Jug, you okay taking Betty, Kevin and Valerie? I’ll take Veronica, Reggie and Melody.” Archie says as soon as they step out of the elevator. Jughead takes a deep breathe. Act nice, they’re the best supporting act for us. You can’t screw this up.

“Sure. Are you guys okay with that? My car is a block away.” He turns to ask them because, unlike Archie, he does have some manners… most of the time.

“Yeah, of course. We could take a cab there, thought, you don’t have to drive us.” Betty insists, he finds her attitude endearing and briefly wonders if she’s always so soft.

“It’s not trouble. I need to drive my car to Archie’s one way or the other, taking you doesn’t bother me at all. Come on…”

They make the short walk to his car, Kevin and Betty chatting by his side, Valerie joining the conversation occasionally. Jughead turns down the music that begins blaring on his speakers as soon as he starts the car, feeling slightly disappointed when Valerie sits on the front seat, leaving Betty and Kevin on the back.

“Oh, you’re in a Muse mood?” Valerie asks, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

“Somewhat.” He simply answers, aware of the people listening.

Valerie knows him too much, especially about his moods, as the band likes to call them. Said moods include the battery of his phone dying because he will lock himself up on his home studio, unreachable, only to come back to life with a few new songs and dark circles under his eyes. Like clockwork, Jughead will start listening to Muse days before and sometimes during. There’s just something about the band that makes him feel ethereal and like he can handle everything that’s thrown at him, a powerful force flooding his veins.

“A muse mood?” Betty asks from the back. Jughead can see her frowning on his rearview mirror.

“A long stupid inside joke. Apparently when I hear Muse I get philosophical, annoyingly so. I personally disagree.” Jughead tells her, carefully avoiding the realness of it all.

“You say that because you’re not the one making a joke only for someone to start a rant about the purpose of life, creativity, how Tarantino is a cinematic genius or all of those together.” Valerie chuckles when Jughead glares at her.

“Well… in his defense Tarantino is a cinematic genius.” Betty says, shyly.

“Thank you! Finally, someone with a brain.” Jughead yells, lifting his hands for a second before putting them back on the steering wheel. “Don’t listen to them, Betty. We’re smarter and they’re just jealous. We’ll make our own band full of Tarantino and Muse.”

“We’ll be instantly famous.” Betty plays along. “We can write odes to Quentin.”

“I like the way you think.” Jughead looks at her in the rearview mirror, catching her eyes for a second and he can’t help but smile back at her, content spreading through his chest.

“Don’t give him any more ideas, girl.” Valerie tells Betty, smirking. The comfortable silence taking place for a few minutes, the music softly playing.

“We’re here.” Jughead says, pulling over next to Archie’s car.

“How the fuck are they already here?” Valerie asks, frowning as they get out of the car.

“You know Archie, his childhood dream was becoming speed racer.” Jughead kids, making Valerie laugh.

He opens the door to the apartment with his key, music can be heard from the outside. Jughead is already mentally preparing himself for the imminent headache as he opens the door to Archie’s obvious bachelor pad.

He has white bare walls, a comfortable couch with a huge tv and a guitar rack on the other end of the living room. Archie doesn’t really have a home studio, choosing to use Jughead’s, even buying some gear for it himself. Jughead and Archie worked best together so they had decided it would be useless to spend money in two studios when they could have one and buy all the good stuff.

Jughead get himself a beer from the fridge as the rest talk and get comfortable in the living room. He later sits with them, picking one of the comfortable chairs and enjoying the chatter and laughter going on in the room. He thinks that maybe this could work, if they’re already getting along nicely, maybe tour could work . He feels like a broken record, but after all he’s been through it stills feels like everything could fall apart any minute.

A smile spreads on his face, relaxing further on the chair and laughing along with his friends as Archie tells a tour story of how Valerie accidentally kicked something and Archie’s guitar stopped sounding. His friend, in a break of genius, had asked the sound guys to bring him an acoustic guitar and they had done the rest of the show unplugged. It had been one of the greatest experiences in Jughead’s short life, the energy he had felt that night as the crowd went silent to listen them, softly singing along… he would never forget it. He vividly remembers going back to his apartment afterwards and crying like a baby because the emotions were too big for his chest.

It’s a while after when he makes his way to the balcony to have a cigarette and to get away from the noise if he was being honest. Times like these he wishes he could adapt more to social events like Archie or the rest of the band does, but they simply drain the energy out of him. He needs to prepare himself mentally each time. Concerts are different, that’s probably the only social interaction that he absolutely loves.

The night is quiet, a slight breeze cools his heated skin and clears his thoughts. Jughead watched the smoke from this cigarette disappear into nothingness, so enraptured on the simple action that he doesn’t notice her until she’s right beside him.

“Can I have one?” She asks, nodding towards the cigarette in his fingers.

“Why, Cooper, I didn’t picture you as a smoker.” He says, passing her the box and lighter, watching as she lights the cigarette. He notices how she closes her eyes at the first drag, her shoulders relaxing a little.

“I’m not. I just like to smoke from time to time.” She tells him, leaning her arms on the rail. “What did you picture me like?”

Her question surprises him and he turns to really look at her. She’s looking back at him, unflinching, eyes a little glassy from the alcohol, but open and curious as they stare at each other. Jughead looks at her polka-dot short sleeved dress, her wavy blonde hair braided on the top, black ankle boots and the tiny key necklace that adorns her neck. She looks amazing, there’s no denying that.

At first, Betty wouldn’t really stand out from other girls, but if you look closer, Jughead realises, you could see the fire in her eyes. He can see the passion and determination in those green eyes, it makes him want to lean forward so he can take a closer look, perhaps, right into her soul. The air changes the longer they stare at each other.

“Well, you seem like the kind of girl that has this whole vocal chords ritual, a voice freak if you will…” He states, putting the cigarette back to his mouth. “Kinda like Archie does.” The tension vanishes with the sound of her laughter.

“I actually kinda have a vocal chords ritual but I do indulge in a cigarette every now and then.” Betty answers with a smile.

“Such a rebel.”

“So… how long have you known Archie?” she asks, not looking at him.

“Since we were little kids. Our parents were friends.” Jughead replies, used to this question.

“Wow, that must be cool. Growing up and then touring with your friend.” Betty sighs. “I’m really glad I got this gig, to be honest. I can’t believe this is really happening, I’ve been a fan of Archie for a while but I sent the supporting act request on a whim. Veronica talked my ear off for two days before I actually sent it, I had no expectations at all.”

“Well… you’re really good. You deserve it.” He simply says, not knowing how to answer, his stomach twisting a little.

“To be completely honest, this feels a little like a dream… being in his house, being here with you, your bandmates. I can’t believe I’m going on tour with the dude that makes me cry with his songs sometimes.” Betty says, chuckling self-deprecatingly.

“What?” Jughead asks, a little dumbfounded, her words running through his head.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a little silly, I guess, but the first time I heard Ode to sleep I cried like a baby.” Betty tells him, smiling shyly. “Don’t tell him that, It’s a little embarrassing. But it hit me so hard…”

Jughead’s heart is beating wildly in his chest, he tries to look nonchalant but inside it feels like a cocktail of various emotions spilled on his brain. His stomach twists painfully as he listens to her go on and on about the amazingly written metaphors and exceptional narration of a story in just one song. He feels sick, his headache is back.

“Yeah… he’s great.” Jughead answers when he realises Betty’s looking at him like she’s expecting a reply. “Hey, do you mind if we go back inside?”

“Sure…” Betty looks a little surprised, but they head back to the party where she’s called by Veronica as soon as they step inside the living room.

The sick feeling stays with Jughead the rest of the evening, making him quieter as his friends talk. Thankfully, nobody seems to notice he isn’t really laughing along like he was before. He waves the group goodbye from the sofa as they head to the door, sighing in relief as soon as the door closes.

“Okay, spill.” Archie says, coming to sit beside him.

“What?” Jughead asks, frowning at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. Other might not know you so well, but I actually can tell when something happens to you. It’s my superpower.” His friend says, grinning at him, proud of himself. Jughead chuckles before sighing.

“It’s nothing important.” He looks down at his hands for a moment. “She told me that the first time she listened to Ode to sleep she cried.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Archie says, turning to face Jughead fully, arm on the back of the sofa as he smiles.

“Yeah… she also told me not to tell you because it might be embarrassing because she was such a big fan of you and your lyrics.” Jughead’s voice drips with a bitterness he wasn’t expecting, it makes him frown.

“Jug… she doesn’t know.” Archie says softly. “Nobody knows.”

“Valerie, Cheryl, Melody and a bunch of other people do…” He tries, knowing he sounds like a child.

“It doesn’t count if they’re co-workers, man…” Archie tells him, hand on his shoulder. “You don’t let anyone know.”

“Yeah, I know…” Jughead sighs, rubbing his face with his hands. “It just… the way she spoke about the songs, man… you should’ve listened to her. It was like there were something precious.”

“They are, Jughead, they truly are. You know…” Archie starts. “We’ve talked about this, all you gotta say is tell me and we’ll change it. People should know you’re the writer of these amazing songs…”

“I know.” Jughead stops his friend, suddenly feeling more tired than he’s felt in weeks. “It’s okay. I don’t need that, it was just… a moment, you know? I’m happy with the way things are. Besides you’re the jock of this relationship, you’re the only built for fame, my friend…”

“Jug…” Archie starts as Jughead gets up from the sofa.

“I’m going to bed, pal. I’m just really tired. Everything is okay, I swear. We’re okay, forget I said anything.” Jughead tries, eyes silently pleading his friend to drop the subject.

“Sure.” Archie says even though he doesn’t sound sure at all.

Jughead walks down the hall to the guest bedroom that’s more his than for guests and closes the door behind him before taking his clothes off and falling into bed.

He knows Archie is trying to talk to him. He’s been trying to talk to him for years now, since they started this whole music career and Jughead refused to let people know he was the intellectual owner of most of their songs. He’s painfully aware of the way insecurity played a role on that decision, but he also wanted to make music without the pressure of the fame.

Jughead was comfortable as the sidekick, comfortable being the bassist of the grand Archie Andrews. In the intimacy, they knew they were a band, but for the public Archie was a solo artist that had the graciousness of taking his best-friend as his bassist. But Jughead thought he got the best of both worlds... going on tours, writing, playing music and all that without the pressure of the fame, the interviews and photoshoots he saw his friend go through daily.

The way Betty had spoken of his song brought something he had spent his whole life repressing… the desire to be seen. All his life he had taken the role as an observer. Observing as Archie grew popular in high school, observing how people looked at Archie and really believe that he could be the next big artist. Being the observer kept him safe . He knew what it was like and wore that as a comforting second skin. Sometimes, though, like tonight… he craved the “spotlight”.

There was a moment when he had to restrain himself from telling her the truth. That’s me! I did that! That’s mine! Those are my words!... He chuckles bitterly at the idea now, how naive. At this point, he doesn’t think anyone would believe him if he went and said he wrote most of Archie’s songs. Hell, sometimes he isn’t even sure. Not that he would ever try it. Too risky, he thinks.

Feeling weirdly defeated and extremely tired, Jughead closes his eyes.

He dreams of green eyes and disappointed glances.

#bughead fanfiction #bughead #riverdale #betty cooper #jughead jones #betty x jughead #riverdale fanfiction #mine #my fics

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