#stupid jarchie stupid jughead stupid stupid stupid

[stargazinglesbian]

take my never to be completed riverdale WIP off my hands this shits embarrassing i hate gay people

[thejugheadparadox]

you wrote a 116 page jarchie screenplay? 👀👀 feel free to share it

yeahhhhhhhhhhhh 😳 hehe i always all the time want to share this stupid overserious thing that i secretly think is really pretty good that i dedicated like half my 2020 to bc i was on furlough from my job for lockdown <3 not technically 116 pages anymore bc i reformatted it for ao3. also it relies on post killing mr honey rvd break canon only. gay ass jughead forever. pls tell me what u think love u

[hbogirls]

what are your favorite riverdale characters, ships, friendships, storylines + ranking of the seasons? :)

characters: i could probably write a literal essay on each and every one of them, but my top girlies are cheryl, betty, and archie

ships: the short answer is whatever's funniest, but the long answer is that i would kind of love for jarchie to go canon. and beronica would be icing on the cake. choni also holds a special place in my heart for unclear reasons (read: i think they're cute and it overpowers my need for narrative logic). i think cheryl is kind of bad for toni, but i think she's also worked hard over the time jump to get better. or at least weirder (complimentary). veggie was also kind of a delight; just two gorgeous wannabe mobsters and their beautiful little scams. i also really genuinely love jabitha. easily the healthiest, most functional relationship the show has ever seen. finally, the truth of the matter is that any dating combination of the core four would be interesting and fucked up in a different way, so i think regardless of how things end, it'll be narratively rich.

friendships: betty and cheryl!! weird, scary, pretty cousins who maybe sometimes kind of hate each other but will also do anything for each other? very slay. betty and veronica is also very compelling, especially in early seasons, so i'd love more of that in season 7. jughead and archie.... well yes! fellas is it gay if you mythologize your best friend as a shirtless folk hero? i also really want betty and toni to do more together!!

storylines: THE FARM!! when chad michael murray stood up and clapped at the musical, i felt like jesus must've felt when he ascended into heaven. i also loved literally everything about season 6. rivervale was so smart and well-planned, and the way it all tied together was perfection. it's not queerbaiting, it's saving the world. the way things all came together with the mothmen storyline was also deeply inspired. my favorite running joke, which i guess is a bit of a storyline, is hermione on rhony. hiram and veronica's entire relationship arc is kind of everything. oh and abigail and thomasina and poppyseed and all of those historical riverdale lesbian character studies!! i am literally so certain there's stuff i'm forgetting because i'm doing this off the top of my head and i need to get back to my rewatch!!

seasons: okay this is by no means definitive because the seasons don't exist super separately in my head for some reason? but this is a vague contour of my thoughts: 6 > 3 > 5 > 4 > 1 (feels stupid to have it relatively low because it came out of the gate giving everything and setting a wonderful stage) > 2 (and 2 is such a good season, i'm just scared of the black hood lmao)

[warriorprincesstramp]

I know what ras said about archie being at his most innocent in season seven but until I see it I don't think I'll be able to shake the idea that just like in rivervale archie knows or discovers a lot more than we think

[bireggiemantle]

I'm realizing that I forgot to promote this here soooo

I wrote a new fic called Remember That Night on ao3. its a s1 fic where Jughead attempts to pierce his own ear while living at the Andrews' house, and ends up having some much-needed late night conversations with Archie at the same time.

[archieism]

that little smile jughead gets after archie apologizes and leaves him by the bleachers in season one episode two cw show riverdale is stronger than an entire decade of homophobically canon destiel there i said it

[invigilandi]

             ship aesthetic → jughead jones && archie andrews feat. @goodnessfilled

                                  sickeningly sweet like honey, don't need money                                                             all I need is you

[jarchiecentral]

Favorite Jarchie Moments 123 of ?: when you didn't show up to my wedding i knew you'd be doing something stupid

Chapter One Hundred: The Jughead Paradox

[tibby]

hey tibby. can you give me a quick synopsis of the jarchie longcon? i'm not going to watch riverdale but i'd like to learn through osmosis

here is a VERY quick run down of it and doesn’t cover archie’s general relationships with men/possible gayness outside of jughead:

in 2003, roberto aguirre-sacasa sets out to debut his play archie’s weird fantasy, in which archie moves to new york, falls in with leopold and loeb, and realises that he’s gay. he receives a cease and desist letter from archie comics the day before the premiere, and is forced to remove all archie references and make it weird comic book fantasy.

roberto goes on to write several episodes of glee. after he departs, one of the characters makes a comment about “archie comics fanfiction where archie and jughead are gay for each other.”

roberto is hired as the chief creative officer of archie comics, and is later the showrunner of riverdale.

jughead is established as the narrator of riverdale. his only interaction with another character in the pilot episode is when he and archie accidentally meet at pop’s diner, and jughead says the gamechanging quote of he was looking for the girl next door. instead he found me.

archie says that he’s never been able to feel whatever it is he’s supposed to feel with betty.

in episode two, gay kevin asks “are we 100% archie’s straight?” reggie jokes that archie and jughead must have killed jason together, as some kind of pervy blood brother thing.

jughead notes that he would do anything to protect archie.

jughead has been living in a closet at school, not wanting to live with his alcoholic father. archie discovers this and invites jughead to move in with him, which he does for the remainder of the season.

cheryl refers to them as “bert and ernie,” historically thought to be husbands.

a lot of the s2 conflict is based around archie and jughead’s relationship, due to archie falling in with rich mob man and greatest character of all time hiram lodge, while jughead is allied with the southside and actively opposed to hiram. despite this, archie agrees to help jughead be a drug runner. it’s at this point that he tells jughead “you know, i had this stupid idea. that after graduation, instead of going to college, we’d both move to new york. you were this writer, and i’d be this musician, and we’d both live in like the east village or something, just doing our thing.” “where are betty and veronica in this scenario?” “they’re roommates on park avenue.” not only is the new york dream a reference to archie’s weird fantasy, but archie’s ideal future involves him living with jughead, and he only mentions their girlfriends when jughead asks about them - and even then, they’re still not in the main picture. archie is jughead’s past and jughead is archie’s future.

jughead and veronica kiss, at which point betty points out that the only members of the core four that haven’t locked lips are archie and jughead.

archie goes to prison, fittingly named leopold & loeb, where he has his first gay kiss, and is immediately stabbed afterwards. jughead, at this point in time, is playing a g&g game that parallels archie’s prison break, and refers to the moment as a judas kiss.

archie and jughead go on the run together and it’s all very intense and homoerotic. they go to hide with jughead’s estranged mother, who immediately suggests that they’re a couple, and “always knew” there was something between them. she is not convinced when they deny it.

archie is diagnosed with gay by the school therapist.

jughead’s facebook header is revealed to be a picture of him and archie.

archie has his second gay kiss in the musical episode. he later kisses betty, and they perform wicked little town (reprise) while dancing in their outfits from the pilot episode. once again: jughead is archie’s future, betty is his past, veronica is his present. all roads lead to jarchie.

everyone else is banned from prom, so archie asks jughead to go with him. jughead replies oh, i’d be honoured, but i’m not putting out. gay kevin quips let the fanfiction begin.

jughead writes an elaborate story in which the gang kills their principal, mr honey. in the original version, jughead betty and archie are pro murder. in the revised one, archie is the voice of reason, the “good guy” of the story, while betty is still a villain. jughead’s writing FRAMES the show, he is the narrator, he writes stories about the stuff that happens to them, and it is always about archie. archie is the star of jughead’s life.

veronica and jughead find out about barcheating, breaking up varchie and bughead. despite this, jughead and archie say goodbye on good terms, and jughead completely forgives archie. he later imagines seeing archie at pop’s diner a year after their graduation, and is saddened when he realises that it isn’t.

after archie leaves riverdale, jughead squats in the andrews house for about a month before college. he doesn’t tell anyone this. it should be noted that he had been living with betty for the past year, and had the option to keep doing so, but it didn’t “feel right.”

everyone comes back to riverdale after seven years, jughead is once again homeless and archie has a “buddy” from army. jughead eventually moves in with archie again, and even refers to him as sweet prince. even after years of radio silence, archie is jughead’s safe place to land.

tl;dr: riverdale is a revenge scheme fifteen years in the making so roberto aguirre sacasa can get back at archie comics for not allowing him to premiere his gay little archie play, and all roads lead to jughead.

[backseatloversz]

jarchie. and., anderperry. listen to me. dont. do not perceive this post. hear me out, though. ok? its like. i had this stupid idea. after graduation instead of going to college we'd both move to new york. you were this writer, and I'd be this musician. thats!!!! literally fanon anderperry. -> jarchie is real. jughead🤝todd my poor little meow meows. archie🤝neil golden boy under too much pressure. anti parallels; anderperry is 'i could make him better' and jarchie is 'i could make him worse.' meeting in hs/childhood friends. (both friends to lovers though.) todd initially pushed neil away jughead is the one always going back to archie. even though he like. probably shouldnt. um. yeah ok. thats all

[go-ldy]

Riverdale 5x03

Man, I found this episode hard. There were some poignant moments, but there were also a lot of moments that were frustrating as hell. My emotions are mixed. But mainly sad. Hold me.

It really says a lot about this show that despite setting aside a whole episode dedicated mostly to character building and relationships rather than plot, it still felt like the show bit off more than it could chew. So much felt rushed including Bughead’s breakup.

anyway, the positives first:

Varchie were beautiful in this episode, and I am so happy for my Varchie mutuals for the care put into developing them and giving them this kind of send off (esp. considering the mess of 4x17 and 4x18). I loved how Archie’s flashback of his life over the last three years was just 90% about Veronica and how much she means to him. It especially contrasts to the BA “flashbacks” from 4x17 l o l. 

Archie spontaneously deciding to join the army and shipping out on an actual bus 24 hours later was so Archie and so Riverdale.  “Archie, there’s a war going on!” made me laugh out loud, IDK. 

Veronica, Betty, and Jughead chasing Archie down in the jalopy to say goodbye was a sheer delight.

Betty Cooper: FBI trainee, default law enforcement officer, yearbook editor, serial killer genes, daughter of the black hood, sister of notorious killer Charles Smith - ALSO class Valedictorian! (Can u still be class Valedictorian if you were once suspended for cheating on a Quiz Show? Riverdale High says ‘yes.’) Good for u, B. Coop.

yessssss at Hiram Lodge being forced to put Sheriff Keller back into a job to arrest those kids hiding out at Archie’s boxing studio (and Archie didn’t notice that these youth were squatting there for months ?????? lmao). I KNEW RIVERDALE DID NOT HAVE A SHERIFF THESE LAST FEW EPISODES. Truly the lawless hellhole we have come to know and love.

Jughead staying in the Andrews’ home while it was put on the market to be sold was hilarious to me. I know it was supposed to be sad - and it was - but ALSO, can you imagine perspective buyers coming into the house only to find that there is a homeless person camping out in there without furniture or electricity or heat? “Why is there a rolled up sleeping bag in the corner?” “Is that a typewriter on the floor?” “Did I just step into an old can of soup?” JUGHEAD, MAN. They probably had to turn off the electricity and heat to save money because he was single-handedly keeping the house from selling.

It was very sad that Jughead was the only one who showed up at Pop’s a year later (and then sees a blonde girl come in and immediately his eyes light up because Betty before the disappointment o m g, murder me), but also a surprisingly relatable moment? I barely remember my own high school graduation, but I do remember that my high school friends felt like everything to me at the time, and I have since fallen out of touch with, uh, all of them. Life happens.

The stuff that was meh:

In theory, I am not opposed to the idea that Jellybean became the auteur/voyeur because she felt neglected and wanted attention, but it still feels like Jellybean is only about 25% of a character. Like, we heard a lot of other people (mostly FP and Jughead) tell us about JB’s motivations, but did JB have a single speaking line in this episode where she actually got to express to anyone what she was thinking and feeling? ugh. 

I don’t care about Falice, but ????? @ FP’s solution to fix JB. So... taking her back... to her drug dealing mother who did not even show up for her own son’s funeral.... is better than a child therapist? Fine. 

Nobody seemed to have any lingering reactions or trauma to Charles being a serial killer?? Like what. Is he even in jail? Or did Betty just let him go? This is actually quite inconvenient for me from a fic-writing perspective. Nobody is a better deux ex machina when Betty or Jughead need something in fic - just call their brother Charles who works for the FBI! I guess that’s done now.

I did feel for Alice, and Alice is not a character I usually feel for because she is the worst. But her husband and eldest son ended up being serial killers, Polly is in an insane asylum, the twins have disappeared from planet earth, and now FP is leaving her. Damn. That is a lot.

So did Choni breakup? It literally happened so fast with so little emotional fallout. Whatever, I don’t care about Choni.

The Beronica and Jarchie scenes were so rushed and forced. I just don’t get this storyline, y’all. What was the point of doing what they did with Betty and Archie in 4x17 and 4x18? Was it simply to break up our two main couples? Veronica and Jughead should have each had the time and space to be angry with their BFFs over what happened (because as crazy as this town is, it is still a massive betrayal) but instead they were both like: “NAH IT’S COOL SHIT HAPPENS LET’S HUG IT OUT.” It didn’t feel earned. I feel like RAS & Co. wanted the immediate drama of the ~kiss but also wanted to have this touching, Core 4 friendship moment before scattering them. What was the point. (I KNOW, I KNOW, ‘IT’S RIVERDALE’ but these characters matter to me ok and I want to understand where they are coming from.)

Bughead

This episode was... very hard. There were some cute moments, but the breakup felt so rushed and... empty? For the most part, we still have no idea where Betty’s head has been since 4x18. Presumably, she has been wracked by guilt, but terrified of telling Jughead the truth in case she ended up losing him (which, it turned out, was exactly what happened).

The scene in their bedroom where she tells him and they kiss desperately was a beautiful scene and the acting from both was oof. But I feel cheated that we did not actually get to see them talk about “us” as Jughead suggested. So did that conversation happen or not? And then to be told in a voiceover and montage that they grew apart in the space of about 45 seconds.... it was all very empty, and painful. I just.... :( :( :( 

I guess we are supposed to assume that Betty and Archie’s kiss created this chasm between them that they were unable to talk about or address head on. But it was so rushed, very “tell not show.”

anyway, this stupid show has made me sad. I AM SAD. My heart is :( @ the unspoken hurt between them that they won’t talk about for seven years. And this show is never going to address the hurt between them in a realistic or satisfying way because it is Riverdale. Usually I would immediately reach to fic to get out my feelings, but in this case, I feel more like hiding in my zombie AU then dealing with how sad this all is lol. Is that insane? That’s what Riverdale does to us. I take heart in the fact that I am not alone in my madness.

[godheadjones]

guys i was reading a betty vs veronica snippit and like in the beginning archie and jughead are like "whod win in a battle" and it was stupid shit first like this car vs this car then this fast food place vs this fast food place then people in their class then jugheads like "what about us" and archie says "we're not dating jug, i keep telling you that" guys jugheads thinking about dating archie and he tells archie "hey i want to date you" jarchie confirmed

[thejugheadparadox]

IM GONNA SAY IT JARCHIE IS A NO FROM ME IS ARCHIE DEF A CLOSETED GAY HELL YEA IS JUGHEAD A RAGJNG BISEXUAL HELL YEA BUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTT I WILL NOT STAND TO SUPPORT JARCHIE SORRY NOT SORRY BROSKIES

you dont even understand how important it is to me to make you see the light of jarchieism now. i scoured the internet for a disproportionate amount of time to find the perfect jarchie edit to save this town once and for all and decided on this one by @lonesomedotmp3 but idk if i can trust my judgement rn tbh. it made me feel a lot of things. its just like. you know i had this stupid idea that after graduation instead of going to college we'd both move to new york you were this writer and id be this musician and we'd both live in like the east village or something just doing our thing

[1892]

just read ur riverdale amv masterpost and is the lost jarchie amv the one that's edited to make it seem like they kissed one time and it completely fucked them up? and jughead says it was just a stupid kiss or something like that? bc i think about it once a week and didn't know anyone else missed it <3

YEAH. and betty goes are you and jughead, like, together?

[thatiranianphantom]

Recappin’ Riverdale, 1x02 : A Touch Of Evil

Clicketh the read more for some random thoughts! 

- I’m pretty sure Jug pronounces “irrevocable” wrong

- Penelope actually being comforting?

- Ahhhh Jason’s corpse. You stuck around....longer than anticipated.

- JUG STOP NARRATING I BEG YOU

- Things that nobody notices but me - Betty has never changed her phone case. I change mine every 2.5 days. 

- And again, we are meant to thirst over Archie and overlook the grooming

- The fact that he’s sleeping with her and still calls her “Ms. Grundy” when they’re not even in school is just...so ick. 

- Fred being the ONLY A+ parent in Riverdale. And yes, I am very much including all the parents we haven’t met yet. And yes, that very much includes Hermoine Lodge and 1 FP Jones.

- Hal being the moral high ground. Kiss me, I love it. 

- Alice Cooper would have been a very effective serial killer and I will die on that hill. 

- Yeah, while I completely believe Archie didn’t OWE Betty his affection, this walking to school scene was weird for me

- I hadn’t realized how little Jughead was in the pilot before now

- Ah yes, the show, with its usual subtlety, wants you to know JUGHEAD IS A MOVIE BUFF. Please accept that as why he makes references a teenager would never get. 

- Mrs. Phillips? I thought that was Mrs. Bell?

- Veronica trying to make up for her perceived sin is adorable. She so wants to hang onto Betty. 

- “And his cold-blooded killer is walking the Green Mile to sit in Old Sparky and fry” - oh Cheryl. 

- It breaks my heart how Veronica is so genuinely trying. She wants her and Betty to be friends so much

- Archie struggling with thoughts. He may have two, which is a thought and a half too many. 

(I really don’t hate Archie. I actually find S1 Archie kind of endearing)

- Oh so this is Dr. Curdle? And we’re to believe that Dr. Curdle Junior who looks deadass older than this dude, is his son? Please, Riverdale. 

- You, my approximately 1 reader, should know that I skipped the whole song and Grundy scene, but I am upset Betty didn’t eat those cupcakes

- Cheryl is so Cheryl. I am writing a chapter in her perspective for someone else is singing along, and I am already excited about it. 

- “It is not my fault he doesn’t like you.” That’s...true. 

- “We were meant to be best friends” I love this Beronica content I miss it 

- “I’ve never felt the way I’m supposed to feel about Betty.” I feel like we don’t pay enough attention to this.  

- This pan down shot of Betty. I know it’s supposed to be intimidating but it just comes off as...ridiculous?

- I saw this post, I think by my fandom twin @go-ldy​ and @arsenicpanda​ where it’s like there’s always two friends forced to be the responsible friend to the stupid friend. I think that’s what Jughead is invoking here, the “oh my god Archie sleeping with your teacher is a BAD idea!”

- A kid is dead. LOL. Remember when they used to care? 

- I’m really loving this swoopy hair that Jughead has

- There’s a lot of intense staring here. Getting some Jarchie vibes. 

- See, here’s my problem with this show. They tell us Beronica are best friends. That’s backed up with a decent amount of time together, last season aside. But they also tell us Jug and Archie are best friends. And aside from a few moments in a few episodes, I really don’t see a lot of narrative scaffolding for this. 

- Look at Betty’s season 1 outfit

Compare that to the cropped sweaters and miniskirts of season 4. In the hands of better writers, we could say that her confidence has evolved and so has her wardrobe. But I somehow doubt that’s the case here. 

- Gonna say I like the replacement Reggie better. Nothing against Ross Butler, but Charles Melton brings a certain Handsome Squidward stupidity to the role. 

- Love the reaction to this Archie/Reggie fight. Like, they want to stop it, but not really enough to intervene. Betty just looks mildly exasperated. 

- “I want to do this thing with this girl” you’re coming off as speaking about something entirely different, Arch. 

- Again, a lot of intense Jarchie staring. 

- Archie recoils from Betty touching his eye. We saw that, right?

- This doesn’t even sound like Josie singing....

- Jughead is looking straight at Betty with an expression that further solidifies my theory that he was into her LONG before they started working together. 

- I love how he goes straight around Veronica. I need more Jeronica snark in my life.  

[bireggiemantle]

hey guys :) so I wrote a little jarchie drabble (that turned out to be longer than I expected lmaoo) about them moving in together in early season 5

-

The keys feel heavy in his hand, and he's all too aware of their presence there. Archie's out with Eric, so it's Jughead's first time coming here alone. He's hesitant to call it his home, but for now it's kind of all he has.

He does his best to keep his eyes focused on the door as he approaches the house and inserts the key, ignoring the imposing presence of Betty's house next door. It's hard enough facing Archie again, let alone Betty.

The door creaks open impossibly slowly, and Jughead is careful to be quiet as he steps inside. He doesn't want to be loud, too bold, too obvious, because even though he's alone here, this isn't his space.

There's a guest bedroom upstairs that Jughead's been keeping his stuff in, sharing the closet with Eric while crashing on the couch. It's a temporary solution, at least until they're both back on their feet, but it's still annoying.

Jughead starts to make his way up the stairs, running his fingers along the banister as he walks. The tip of his pinky catches on a stray piece of wood about three steps up. He remembers snagging it with his palm at fourteen, Archie stabbing him with tweezers as he tried to take the splinter out.

This time Jughead withdraws his hand before the wood can find a home in his skin, placing it back into his pocket.

It feels strange being back here. The house looks more or less the same, with the walls still painted the same color and the furniture still arranged the same way, but the details are off. There are paintings hanging up that Jughead doesn't recognize, books sitting on the coffee table that he hasn't had a chance to memorize, and photographs scattered throughout that he's never seen before.

In a way, he still feels welcome here; Archie didn't hesitate to let him in with open arms afterall, but there's also a part of him that seems out of place. He no longer knows Archie's house like the back of his hand. He no longer spends every waking moment here, creating a space for himself in the pictures on the wall and the jackets he's forgotten in Archie's bedroom. It's been seven years since he's even been inside this place, and the time spent away hurts.

There's a few rolled up posters in his bag, and while he knows Archie wouldn't object to hanging them up, something about the action seems wrong. It'd be overstepping, reinserting himself into a space where he isn't as welcome as he used to be. If Archie wanted to remain best friends, he would've called him more than twice after graduation.

The first time was probably an accident anyway. About five years ago Archie had called him in the middle of the night and Jughead, more than a little warm and tipsy, didn't hesitate to answer.

He doesn't remember much of the conversation now, but he does remember that Archie sounded upset, his voice muffled and unsteady in the way it always was when something was up.

Jughead stops at the top of his stairs, groaning as leans his head against the wall and runs his hands down his face.

What's he even doing here in the first place? He's got deadlines creeping up on him, debts hanging over his head, and rent due on the apartment him and Jessica possibly still share, but he's thrown it all away to come back to Riverdale because he couldn't resist Archie's plea.

He's always been a little stupid when it comes to Archie.

He debated texting Betty after he got the call, wanting to ask if Archie reached out to her too, but after retyping the question a couple of times he ultimately deleted the message and turned off his phone.

The actual act of coming back to Riverdale wasn't very hard; Jughead only had two bags to pack and a very small list of "goodbyes" to say, but the emotional toll of returning was intense. The town seemed to loom over him, awaiting his arrival with dark eyes and a crooked smile.

Jughead presses his back flush against the wall and slides to the ground, bringing his knees tight against his chest.

He says nothing, simply sitting there, his gaze fixated on the doorknob across from him.

Riverdale isn't all bad. There's good memories here, buried deep underneath the bad ones, and there's always a chance to try again now, to make his image of Riverdale more positive than it was before.

His friendship with Archie is slowly mending itself, he's becoming closer and closer with Tabitha, and he has a couple of mostly stable jobs under his belt, so he might as well be optimistic about things.

Jughead goes to bury his face back into his hands when he hears the door open loudly, sending him into a frenzy to stand.

He smoothes his sweater and rushes to tuck his bag into the corner of the closet before making his way back downstairs.

Archie is sitting in the kitchen, two milkshakes in his hands, and his face lights up as he notices Jughead walk towards him.

"Eric and I wanted to get lunch, and I know how much you like Pop's, so I thought I should bring you a shake."

Archie slides one of the cups across the table, inviting Jughead to take a seat beside him. He obliges, taking a sip.

"Thanks, Arch."

"Anytime."

A silence settles into the air between them, thick and tense. As always, Archie is the one to break it.

"Sorry I haven't been home much lately. I didn't think I'd be so busy lately."

"It's fine. It's not like I need a babysitter."

Archie laughs. "If anything you'd be babysitting me."

"Haven't I always?"

The conversation continues on, switching from discussions of schoolwork to fond memories to a new video game Archie's managed to get his hands on. The topics are a little boring, but they're safe, and it's so much easier than dwelling on the actual issues they've been facing.

At some point the two of them find themselves moving over to the couch, with Archie throwing his arm over the back and Jughead curling up against the armrest. They've been in this position a million times before, together on the same couch, empty milkshake cups resting on the table beside them. It feels like he belongs here in this moment, like the house has finally started making space for him again for the first time since senior year.

Maybe it's the familiarity of the situation, or maybe it's the newfound confidence he has as an adult (however slight it may be), but Jughead finds himself closing his eyes and giving in to it all, leaning forward and pressing his lips against Archie's.

The kiss is gentle, chaste, and Jughead thinks he might be shaking as he initiates it.

"Shit. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" He feels his cheeks flush bright red as he pulls away, guilt seeping in and the dreamy haze slips away.

Archie places a hand on top of his. "Hey, it's okay." he pauses, squeezing Jughead's fingers underneath his own. "I wouldn't say no if you wanted to try that again."

"You're serious?"

Archie nods.

Jughead lets his free hand wrap itself around Archie's jawline, his thumb resting inches from the corner of his lips.

"You're absolutely sure?"

Archie smiles. "Yeah, Jug, I'm sure."

"Okay. Okay, cool." Jughead leans forward, hovering closer to him for a few moments before taking a deep breath and sealing the deal.

He feels Archie's fingers twist into his hair, holding them together. There's a hint of desperation in the kiss, a suffocating feeling of inevitably, and Jughead's clutching onto Archie so tightly he's afraid he might be leaving marks.

Archie's smiling when they part, wide and lopsided, his eyes soft and half-shut.

"Maybe I should start spending more time at home if this is how it's gonna be."

"Shut up." Jughead says, swatting his arm lightly, but leaning back in for another kiss.

He moves his stuff from the spare closet to Archie's room within a few days worth of Archie's pleading, and by next month there's at least five of his posters on the living room walls.